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THE STOETHEEff STAE. SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 1841.
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THE O'CONNOR LIBERATION MEDAL.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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TO THE CHARTISTS AM ) WORKING MEN OF LANCASHIRE . FELLOW CorxiBTlLEX , —The time being nearly Coma when your friend and the untiring cbaiapion of Ttmr righto , Feargus O'Connor , Esq . will be liberated from a lelotfs cell , we , the Demonstration Committee , bow address 70 a on tendering that gentleman some public toten cf respect for liis arduous labours in behalf of our common humanity and the cause e £ universal Mid equal justice . To offer inducements in order to stimulate you to discharge this debt of public gratitude , it mil be only necessary ta examine his career in and out of parliament . Possessed of fortune and influence , we discover him identifying himself with the industrious poor in tbeir struggle for political enfranchisement , casting -wealth and influence npon the altar of our common humanity , and devoting his time , health , and purse , to the emancipation of faia country from the miseries of rl »«« legislation .
Educated for the bar , his profession might hare enabled him to realise a fortune , but the callous iadifference to haman Buffering peculiar to the profession never entered into the ardent temperament of O'Connor ; possessing an unbounded besevolenee , united with the greatest steadiness , hs laid out bis talent * fox the elevation cf our race ; for years he continued to agitate the doctrines contained in * ur Charter , aad it is no * saying too much -when we assert , that to him more than to the labours of any man the cause of Universal Suffrage owes its present proud and iuvulaer&bie position . His devotiea to your cause was noi tte artificial excitement o £ a public meeting , but it wslb the calm evenness of purpose which carried him onward in the face of obstacles ; the solitude of an unmerited confinement was anable to daunt his bold and indomitable spirit ; but he meets his friends as he left them , the advocate of Universal Suffrage , and no surrender .
We are ttat going to recommend him to your admiration , because he has wealthy friends and powerful connectioBs , but because he used these advantages in advancing the temporal well-being of those "who had them not Wealth without public virtce has failed to command the reverence and esteem of the working man of this country . Had this no ; been tie case , such men as Lord Brougham , Grey , Russell , Eobhouse , Hume , aad others , whose names were at one time considered sacred to the cause of human liberty , would till have been ths objects of the working man ' s adulation , but their sun has for ever set , their v- ^ utBce for ever gons , and they are only remembered as illustrating their apestacy of former principle and abandonment of foraier friends ; O'Connor has stood true to his friends and principles , and you will , we doubt not , make it appear that your feelings and attachment remain , so far as he is concerned , unchanged .
What is then required of you in welcoming him from Prison ? we ask you to unite with your feilow labourers n giving him a marked expression of public respect , and we expect you will unite in overwhelming thousands to give him a demonstration of attachment , about which there can be neither mystery nor mistake . We appeal to the trades with feelings of perfect confidence . Have you forgot , ye working men of England , his labours in defence of the Dorchester labourers aad Glasgow Cotton Spinners . ' At his own erpenee he defended their esuse , and their restoration to home was the consequence of his Herculean exertions . Give honour to whom honour is due , and show you can appreciate the labours of ttose men who defend the lights of labour .
To the Meads of Chartism we can scarcely oSer any inducements , but what h&TB been already noticed t by you . HU labours in print , and in person , to spread j Chartism , you know already ; his labours for your j friendB you still remember . When John Frost , Zepna- j niah Williams , and William Jones , were committed I by Whig treachery , and had to take their trials for ) high treason , O'Connor flew to the rescue % his puise 1 and talents were employed for his chosen friends , and to him , almost exclusively , we owe the preservation , of ' the Welsh patriots from the horrors of a public execs- j taon . i
? for will the females be behind in this work , and we expect the Female Association of Manchester to take : up this business . Look at his protest against the New j Poor Law Amendment Bill , when a set of Commissioners were invested with a power which set all the ; charities of our common nature aside ; be denounced-j the impious and unchristian measure , and exhibited its ] bideousness in all its deformity . Ye wsmen of England , and of Manchester , do your j duty on this occasion , and show yon love yonr families , I by the manner in which you receive thi advocate of i roar families' political rights . i
All the duties arising out of the relations in which yon stand , show the propriety of honouring your friends so far as tney advocate your principles . We a ^ k you sis men to do your duty—the title of man eclipses all the other titles that a mortal can confer ; it implies , a capability of reasoning and thinking , it involves iht possession of an immortal nature susceptible cf the most reined pleasures , and capable of the loftiest acquirements—it i 3 the charter by which you c ' . aim tu txerdse the immunities of freemen—unite your thoughts , conilane yonr sentiments , and yoar treil directed mestal power will soften down public opposition cud niultipiv the nuscber of your advocatesand frientif .
We Eoacityouas men seeking the immunities of freemen and citazanship . Who taught you first to feel that you had tiia mark of humiliation upon your foreheads , and that you possessed pawers , the extrclse of ¦ whiebtj-rannicai rulers bad kept in abeyance ? it was liis tongue and pen which were alike consecrated to this high and hallowed object— ¦ dth him ani es . c 1 i other , let us renew our plighted faith on the day uf his coming among you , aad afresh pledge ourselves in one another ' * presence to carry cut the principles of political equality and universal lioertv .
We ask your icflneuce on that day , in the name of yonr country ; and , as countrymen , yon are uniting £ 0 assert yoar right of subsistence en the soil of the land that gave yoa birth—yon e ; aim of the oligarchy , who have monopolised all the go&d things your hands produced , srd who have assumed the exclusive po-a-er ol making Iaw 3 Into the bargain—you claim b * both Whig and Tory , alifce heartless and unfeeling , a fair distribution cf yonr nation's wealth and political infiueaee—your demand , in order to be powerful , mnsi
be united—your claisis , in order to be effective , mist be asserted simultaneously . Let the d&y ci his liberation be tie marked epoch from which yon can date your country ' s emancipation . Let Manchester and its masses be the centre from wMch will eiuinatw a fetling which will force its way into the wide circumference of your nation , caiil the barriers that Btand between you and your liberties , too weak for a united nation , skal ! give way before the fores of public information , and flse , like straws before a whirlwind , when raet by the uncomDromMcg demand of a united nsiion .
Let us on that day avoid all improprieties ; keep from my s ; ep which ¦ vtc-bk ! jeopardiz ? Jj \ it ku ;*; ana your peaceful , stern , unyielding devotion to ycur cause , will shew what a people esn do when they are prepared to will , is ; tyranny and injustice will hide in their murky den fr .-m the face of an intelligent people , and that God , in -whose name yen hoisted your banners , will smile upon tlie effects you ^ re making , su-1 crown your labours with complete success . Already our prospects are beginning to brighten . The wrings of centuries are beginning to be to ? weak to
Cham the human spirit ; those unnatural antipathies which separated man from man ere giving Tray , to bitter feelings , so fcj as our own order is concerned . L * t ns demonstrate ourselves worthy of the principles we have betn advocating—let us venerate , and as far as ts can emulate the acts of such men as Hunt , Cubbett , Beaumont , Emmett , Cartwri ^ ht , O'Brien , and last , thouchsot least , tie gentleman , who coining amciiz you , you wi ; I ; assemble to welcome , yre mean O Connor ; iud the silva .-tion cf our common country , aad the politics ! freedom of its citizens , will be the noble prize of ycur devotion to the cause of eternal right .
That happiness acd prosperity may be the portion of our country , and that , our countrymen n : ay seen trjoy the rights tii frtecom , is the sincere wish , or a shall be the cjniiaztendeavour of yours in the cause cf equal justice , The DEJiO'siBAiiorf committee .-Signed in behalf of the Committee , James Haeiuso >\ Joseph Lisney . Thohas Davies . James Wood . CUE . ISI 0 V 2 ES Doyle . Thomas muhhav . W . GaiFFis .
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J" 20 H OVZ LOXDOX COEPXSPOXDEXT . Wedrtesiay Evenu . 3 , Aug . ISA . LOXBO >* DELEGATE MEETING . This body m ^ t on Sutdiy last , August 15 th at the room , 00 , Old Eiliey . ill . A . Wilson ¦ vras ealird to the chair . The minutes were read and conSmed . It w ^ s reeelTed : — " That ILe names of the members cot present at the ConancsceEeut of business be t ^ ken down , to reinind them of tfceir delisqueucy . "'' The Bum of 15 ; . 4 & . ins received for tie use of the Council .
The Observation CosunitUe reported : — " They had unanimously elected Mr . Whieler as permanent chairncn to the coiumittee . " They also laid before the Council "A plan for visiting the Metropolitan Districts . " The tlin after some slight ali-enticns bad been made therein was adopted for one month . The committee also reported " That st the ensuing meeting they should bring cp an address to fhe ChzriUU of Great Britain for thsdeltgVits' adoption or itjtctlon . " The il-naging sxd Fimtccs Comraittee were not prewired , at this early period of their eittiup , with areport Mr . sispson , en the resignation cf Mr . WatMns , was . elected a member of she Finsace Commutes .
iit Watkins was then ad-Jed as a member of tne OtajBCTatiafe Cons mittee . ' Tb&mK&es 01 Messrs . Bid ' ey , Wheeler , Stiiiwood , " Tttwell Mid Wattins trere given in , as permanent lec-* Jareajfc lie Louden district . * -ftjaH ^ nanie of Mr . Culvertouse being given in , a ¦ " . bmVS gcmatiGD . ensuec , wLen it was decided on a morion " * fU&SfJSg . J . Watiiiij , seconded by iir . gjnpsoa .
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" That the services of no person should be a- » epted , as a lecturer , who is not a member of the National Charter Association . ' * The localities are requested to Bend in tb . e names of persons , feeing members , who are qualified far this important office . The Secretary was instructed to "write to the Executive for five hundred of tke ww issue of cards . A deputation , consisting of Messrs . Ridley and Watkins , was appointed to assist the masons on their visit to the coppersmiths . Mr . Worthlnfton gave notiee of motion , — " That for the more readily and punctually transmitting the funds to the Executive , each locality shall send its quota to the Delegate meeting once per month , to be immediately forwarded to the Executive . "
Mr . Hogg rendered an account of his office of trea surer to the late coanril , stating the amount of funds in his hands . His conduct was highly approved of , and he was ordered to retain the amount of money in his hands , until the accounts of the late council be fully settled . The meeting then adjourned .
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THE " PEOPLE'S HOUSE . " Suppose , for a moment , that we snppend all controversy with Reformers about principles and details , and endeavour to discover by the only remaining means , "whether or not the Reform Bill has in reali ty made ice Lower Heuse more the " People ' s Kocso" than it was under the old borough system . Reformers tell us , that in every measure of theirs
is to be lo ' iind the spirit of the BiD , if the dull people could only discover it ; while we assert that each Parliament , from 1832 to the moment cf the last monster ' s dissolution , -was a banditti of common plunderers—a gang of self-constituted placemen , pensioners , tcs-eaters , and idle paupers , having no interest in common with the people ; and , therefore , not the "People ' sHouse . " Indeed , Englandhasnever vst had even a Reformed Parliament : each
Eueces-Eive House has been retiirned upon the spur of the moment , and upon some clap-trap . In 1832 , the electors returned " a trial" House ; in 1 C 34 , they returned a " pat-out-the-Tories" House ; in 1837 , they returned our " beautiful-young-Queenaud-Reform" House ; and in 1841 , they hare returned a " holy-agricnltnral-church-and-state House . " ¦ Never , since the passing of the Bill to the present moment , haTe we had a House returned upon any defined political principle . The moat which was
tested by the last , or that could have been tested even in the event of a Wkig majority , and that majority being sincere , was a williDgness to try experiments as to the easiest means of procuring & ready penny , by raising the wind outsido . But the Whigs having failed , what , we should be glad to know , is to be discovered of ths principle of Reform in the constitution of the present House , or the '* Pariiamentum indoctum , " or lack-learning Parliairens / ' who , we suppose , would make edncation the test of electoral fitness ?
But to the consti ' . uiion of the House—for to that wft appeal from all consideration of principles and details ; and what do we find ! Why . the curious fact and extraordinary anomaly , that out of 658 of ( he people ' s representatives ^ 200 , or nearly one-third of the whole , is composed of Lords , Rt . Honourall es , Honourahlesj and Sirs ; the numbers beiog
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65 Lords , 55 Rt . Honourables and Honourable ? , and 80 Sirs . Now , sorely , the 120 Lords and Honourables , at all events , should not belong to the House of Commons , and for these reasons : firstly , they are , for the most part , represented in the Upper House by fathers or brothers , or " heads o families : " and , secondly , the Lower House , being but a preparatory seminary , they cannot be considered as being under the control even of the constituent body , which ia some instances may be righteously nsed by the electors over their representatives . Indeed , so far otherwise , we have had
frequent instances of late of the fact , that loss of popular confidence by a pure time-serving Whig , is the best title to the peerage . We have within this week seen an augmentation of some half dozen Whig Peers to aid the opposition in the Lords ; and we find that most of them , ( Sir H . Paknell , Sir Hussky Vivian , and Earl Belfast , to wit , ) were out-cast Commoners ; and we are informed upon authority which we have every reason to credit , that in the event of Lord Worsley ' s being defeated in the County of Lincoln , his name would
have swelled the augmentation list . We do not stop to enquire whether tha majority of the two hundred LordB , Honourablea , and Sirs , are Whigs or Tories ; that is upon the event of a Whig or a Tory administration , which would belong to-and be quartered upon the idle pauper's fund ; but we unhesitatingly assert that all , one and all , will ever be found marshalled against the interest of the working classes upon whose sweat they live , when any question of labour is submitted to them for legislation .
What can snch men know of the wants of the people ! How can they be judges of those matters about which they would not condescend to trouble their heads , further than to give a vote with their party , whether consonant or not with any little notion which they may have formed upon the subject ? and then , if we add to the above list eighty gallant naval and military officers , and to them about three score barristers and attorneys , of whom our great Northern Circuit alone was blessed with
nine , ( now reduced to eight , by the melancholy death of Mr . Lister , M . P . for Bradford . ) Upon this circuit we have Mr . Cresswell , M . P . ; Mr . Dundas , M . P . ; Mr . Watson , M . P . ; Mr . Hardy , M . P . ; Mr . Aldam , M . P . ; Mr . Granges , M . P . ; Mr . Murphy , M . P . ; and Mr . Roebuck , M , P . Thu 3 we find that more than one-half of the whole House is composed of Lords , Honourables , Sirs , Officers , and Barristers ! and wo ask if labour has anything to expect from them ?
Next we turn to Ministers on both , sides , the XnB and the Outs , with their immediate dependanta for office or provision , aye , or even for the email loaf , many of them ; and these we find amount to no fewer than from sixty to seventy a-side ; or at an average of sixty-five a-side , making a total of 130 . Then the account stands thus : —Lords , Honourables , Sirs , fightingmen , men who live by feud and dissension and family quarrels and treason and violation of the laws , and men who live on place or in
expectation of place , 470 ; added to which , we have of Country Gentlemen , Bankers , Merchants , Fundowners , Manufacturers , Aldermen , Shipowners , Foreign Slaveowners , Ironmongers , Coroners , " Coal Hugj ? ers , " and Pans for Infant Honourables , Fools and Squires , 188—making a total of 658 ; and We ask , in the name of common sense , what the millions have to expect from a House so constituted , or from a constituent body which has allowed it to be thus constituted 1
Is it not quite clear to every man of common sense , that the wealthy portion of the electors overpower the poorer portion , aad that the latter must , in selfdefence , join our ranks , in order to free themselves from the trammels of the privileged of their own order ? If after the grand banquet there were any broken meat to be divided , it would be given to the ta ^ -rag and bob-tail of the electoral body , in preference to the unrepresented ; but there is now no residue after supplying the craving appetite of the hungry and the powerful ; and the poor
electors must henceforth be satisfied with the distinguished honour of being represented by proxy at the great national banquet , while they take " pot luck" with those " below the salt , " whose ranks they must now join , aad with whose society and homely fare they must henceforth rest satisfied , their only consolation being that they were left for destruction to the last , and then instead of beiag transported or entombed , were disposed oisecundum artem , ccording to the rules prescribed by their representatives , which they opposed not , SO long as others enly suffered from them .
In this state of things , is it begging the question to ask what the odds in favour of labour , whether the the Honcurables , the Sirs , the Ofiicors , the Barristers , the Merchants , Bankers , Traders , Manufacturers , are Whigs or Tories ! Wo say it matters not a straw ! The comforts of the people , iheir rights and privileges , will certainly be the straw kept floating by their breath , whilo in pursuit of their own ends . Every battle is fought in the people ' s came ; and , however decided , is gained by the people ' s enemies . Let us just see .
Suppose it possible , then , that an anti-church party was strong enough to wrench all church property from the present holders ; and suppose hat church-lands and other church property amounted to £ 10 , 000 , 000 a year ; what would be the working man ' s share ! Not the fraction of a farthing ! the spoil would be divided , and appropriation made to the officers in the good fi&ht beforo the battle was wun ; and as is the invariable practice , the officers would get all the gold chains , while the soldiers whose foolish agitation alono could insure triumph , would get all the wooden legs !
Suppose , again , that every pensioner , state-pauper , and half-pay officer , from pauper Lsopsld to the junior ensign of the establishment , wer ? deprived of their state provision to-morrow ; would a fraction of a farthing be remitted , or a fraction less of new burdens be imposed \ No , not a fraction ! Suppose , again , that the value of laud was reduced , and thereby brought nearer the reach of working men , would they be nearer getting it \ No , not a bit .
Suppose the Corn LawB were repealed , would they , while unrepresented , have any more control over the thing cheapened , or any means of knowing how the machinery for its new arrangement was worked , and upon which their very lives depended I " x \ o , no ; a thousand times No . " Suppose the whole army was disbanded , and that some new physical force steam power was found sufficient to control the mighty millions , in such case would the taxes be reduced , or if collected , would the people have any share in their distribution ? Not a fraction .
Is it wonderful , then , that the ins should declare thiEgs as they are to be very well , and their determination to let well enough alone ; or is it wonderful that the oirs should declare the wholo system which excludes them , to be erroneous and fraught with errors which the popular voice alone can rectify ? No , by no means ; but it is wonderful that the oft-burned people do not yet dread the fire by which they have been so often scorched , and to put their fingers into which they are now once more invited .
For these , and sundry other reasons , we quite agree in the opinion that the united force of the unrepresented could neither effect the dismissal of a guilty policeman nor the discharge of an obnoxious palace mesial ; that looking for administrative improvements and instalments of justice but tends to weaken our ranks , to strengthen the hands of jugglers , to disgust those who were wont to tremble before the stamp of the mighty millions , and to make them look upon the sovereign people as so many puppets , moved at will by wily managers pulling the wires of popular feeling .
An organic change must take place ! and that organic change must be to give the millions command , at least , over one of the three great cstateB ,
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all of which are said to exist only for their good and to derive power from their suffrage . We must no longer have a House of hereditary tyrants , and a preparatory school for their juvenile successors . We have now a Queen of an oligarchy—a House of hereditary fools , and a preparatory school for tools We want a House of Commons sent by the people to do the people's work ! and a House of Commons We MOST , AND SHALL , AND WILL HAYfi ! in Spite Of all the powora of Earth and Hell . Britons , rouse yourselves I the British Lion slumbers ; awake him , and as the king of beasts proclaims his sovereignty over the forest , proclaim you your sovereignty over your own House !
Ere we again appear before you , the ; clod-pele State Church Parliament" will have assembled ; let it be met by single petitions , sent from each town to our tried friend , Mr . Buncombe , that we may try his mettle in the new furnace . Three or four hundred can be sent in single sheets for one penny each . Let them be a protest against the constitution of the House of Commons , aud requiring the instant dissolution of tho body , and that the Royal writs be issued to the several returning officers to elect a people ' s House by Universal Suffrage . Say you have no House of Commons .
We must meet Peel on the very threshold of the new building : it will not do to slumber . The work is but the work of a day : it is at present tho only means of keeping our cause warm inside for the winter . The hedge fire of Chartism must be kept up . The House meets for business on the 24 th , and will then , we presume , sit no longer than the necessary time for receiving petitions against some sitting members—fourteen days .
See how timely and how serviceable to our cause the last silent monitor , that stood in close column at the bar of the House , pleading in dumb eloquence for the sons of toil ! Who would now wish that undone ! and who will now refuse to make that ground good by backing it , and covering it with a heavy fire of Chartist artillery 1 Lot your shot pour in from all quarters . Givo the preparatories not a moment ' s breathing time . Let them know that we have willed our freedom , and our freedom we will have . You have plenty of time . Class-leaders fill your sheets J men and women sign your protest ! Mr . Duncombe ' s address is , Thomas Duncombe , Esq ., No . 6 , Albany Court Yard , London .
We had a nine months' offsping in 1839 ; a fortnight ' s child in 1841 , still larger ; and with God ' s blessing , Chartism will deliver herself of a one day ' s monster in the same year . To it 1 in good earnest . Scotland , to it ! Ireland , to it 1 smal j though your numbers be as yet , nevertheless register them in time . This surely must meet the entire approbation of the moral force patriots , while it will convince the sceptical that Chartism still lives , and in spite of all opposition gains strength by opposition;—in fact , that it , and it alone , constitutes the pressure from without . Do this and we shall have stolen a march upon all sections of bitand-bit reformers , and will have put our house in order before the campaign of 1841 has closed the tenth Reform battle of might against right .
Every leader of your cause has signified approval of this course . People , up then , and do it ! Beat your last . Glasgow , you have but two days ; enough for the spirits ever foremost in the good work of regeneration . Manchester , you are within ten hours of the presenting place . Birmingham , you are within four . Bath , Bristol , Nottingham , Sheffield , Huddersfield , and Barnsley , though last , not least ; when were you behind in the good fight I Dewsbury , the first of towns ; Bradford , that returned Martin ; and Halifax , that hut for treachery would hare
returned Gully ; every man aud woman to your pens once more ! let your sacred names stand in the muster-roll of Eagland's strength . York , do your duty , and Leeds will follow . Carlisle , Newcastle , and Sunderland , will vie for pre-eminence ; while Dundee , Edinburgh , Aberdeen , and Perth , with little Alloa , Cumnock , Kilmarnock , and the Vale of Leven , will prove that their martyrs did not die in vain , and that the school-master has been abroad . Let Chartism be heard on every passing breeze ; and Cooper the glorious Cooper , will not allow Leicester to be extinguished .
Again , we say , protest against the second House of Lords , and domand a House of Commons .
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Does he not know that "knowledge is power , " and that little knowledge can be acquired after a continuous day of toil ! Are not all the means that ingenuity can devise resorted to by the idle merchant to invigorate himself by wholesome exercise , and ezoite him by amusemeat , after six hours of a monotonous poring over his ledger ? and will the people lose sight of the fact thatby their toil the merchant lives and partakes of excitement , luxury , and amusement , while his hours of labour are devoted to the balancing the profits upon the workman ' s toil 1
Are the rich to have a country , and are its laws to be only palatable and obeyed when they square with their taste and pander to their appetite , and are the poor who furnish all the means to have a country in which they are out-laws , and from which they are asked to transport themselves as a rslief from tyranny , oppression , and want 1 No ; forbid it " COURAGE ; " forbid it sense ; " forbid it justice , forbid it patriotism .
The struggle that has been long raging and which must terminate in the triumph of labour , has been a contest as to the best means of monopolising all the benefits of the great improvements of the day , by which the labour of the people at work has baeu increased ; while their employment wholly depends upon , the caprice of the speculator . To get ponseseionof those improvements , for national instead of
class interest , is now the people's object : and to that object they will adhere , as they have hitherto done , in spite of all opposing powers : therefore Mr . Cobden , and the lice upon the beetle , may rest assured that the next " sacred day" shall be a day sacred to the poor man's entire comforts ; to the elevation of himself and his order ; to the attainment of more rights than the generous one of having " plenty to do . "
His hours of ease must be increased proportionately with the powers of machinery to do his work . His amusements must be all , one and all , restored . If the Commander-in-Chief considers Cricket & necessary amusement and exercise for the soldier , it is also necessary for him who supports the soldier . If the-merchant requires Amusement after the monotony and ennui of calculating his profits , the workman requires Amusement after making the profit for him . If the sons of the wealthy distinguish themselves by literature , and hold pre-eminence by knowledge , the poor must have like advantages . In short , the people must now have a full share in every improvement of the age : and the day for reconciling slaves to toil by a promise of " plenty to do , " is gone , and for ever !
For freedom we contend : and freedom means more than a loaf of bread for a day ' s toil , and cold bastile as the refuge of man after a life devoted to the attainment of idle paupers in affluence and luxury . Freedom means rational enjoyment ; the liberty of doing that which does not interfere with the rights of others ; and , above all , the means of producing , by his own industry , a sufficiency to make him independent of man ' s caprice and foreign speculation . To that purpose the next sacred day shall be directed !
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MR . MEDHURST . " BRITONS DEFEND YOUR QUEEN , AND REFORM THE PEERAGE . " Do not start ! gentle reader , do not start . ' . ' the above ia not our motto , neither do we assume it , or attach to it more value than the Athenians of old attached to the drunkenness of a slave , whose intoxication was to serve as a warning , not as an example , to the rising generation . Reader , the above is the frontispiece to the last letter of Anti-Royalty " Publicola , " to himself , as Editor . It appeared in the last number of tha Weekly Dispatch .
We shall firstly lay before you all that is material of this nondescript ' s conversion to Monarchy , and then offer a few observations , not upon the document , which speaks for itself , but upon the conduct of heb whom Britons are to " defend , " we presume in like manner as she defends them , and their rights , and their Libebty . The letter runs thus : —
" BRITONS DEFEND YOUR QUEEN , AND REFORM THE PEERAGE . " " Mr . Editor , —The singular position occupied by our Queen provokes some serious reflections upon Royalty , in its nature and in its present state , througheut Europe . Our English Queen is the only European Sovereign that is not either tho contempt or the abhorrence of his or her subjects and allies , and , unquestionably , she is the only female Sovereign in existence who is not , thoroughly , a disgrace to her sex . I may go further than this , and even assert that the English throne is the only one likely to last through this , and one more generation . But my present object is more
confined to our own country , and to comparisons between her present Majesty and her predecessors or ancestors . From the death of Queen Elizabeth to the present hour , England has been absolutely cursed by the worthlessness or vices of its Sovereigns , if we except the present Queen , and the short precarious reign of the very weak man that lately occupied the throne , aud who , in all probability , would , e ' er this , have produced a revolution , had he not bo fortunately died . Under the adject influence of his wife , the present Qaeen Dowager , he was about to reverse the few good actions of his short Royal life , with tlie inevitable effect of destroying his small
popularity , and of keeping a vivid impression on the public mind of the absolute necessity of getting rid of regal government altogether , and of adapting our institutions to the intelligence and conditions of society . The public , however , are not likely to lose sight of this object , now that the Tories are coining into power ; for their excessive bad government and enormous tyranny and corruptions will bring the people to a conclusion that so abominable is the nature of Regalism , that when good fortune does bestow on us a sovereign of merit , a faction can set her power aside and reduce the nation to the tttlemrua of always having a bigot and a tyrant , like George III ., on the tnrono , or of having the Royal power usurped by the aristocracy , when the sceptre is
Iield by virtue aad talent This a fact amply proved by experience . No tyrant that ever cursed mankind was ever more vicious or absolute than < 3 eorg « the Third and his successor , and consequently they were both supported through thick and thin by the Peerage ; but now , our Queen ia as completely set aaide in England as Christiua is set aside in Spain , with this immense difference , that the Spaniards got rid of their Sovereign on the ground of her being a coufluent muss of all vices and impurities , wails !; Sir Robert Peel and his faction dispose of our Queen and trample her in the dust on no ground whatever , but that of her possessing talents and having a fine spirit , which induces her to use those talents to the public advantage .
Will "Publicola" have the kindness to read that once again , and then take ap his letter to George IV . and read it ? But , perhaps , the letter to George was but upon general royally , while the present is upon royalty " particular ! We have omitted nothing material from the royal ebulition of the old Republican , for whom " Chartism does not go far enough , as it does not destroy royalty ; " the rest of the letter is mere filling stuff in solid type , and is nothing more than a clumsy piece of criticism upon the foolish modo of electing Scotch Representative Peers , but whicb , bad as it is , is nevertheless preferable to tho royal sample which the last " pitch-forking" of some half-dozen affords .
Let us just for one moment glance at ths principle involved in the recent elevation of three of those Noble Lords . The Queen appeals to her people , and those of Duudee , Belfast and East Cornwall , of course among the rest . Very well ; her people of those places answer either negatively or positively ; that is , as at Belfast , by rejecting the Royal nominee to the preparatory school * , or at Dundee , by putting success beyond the hope of the Royal nominee . In this oase , what is the position of her whom we are to " defend" ! Why , just this : She says , " What 1 you won ' t have my three nominees in the lower House , won ' t you I then yon shall bare them in the hospital !"
But surely , if any defence is to be made for the Sovereign , it should be made by an attack upan that House to which there is an immense majority returned against her appeal aud her free trade principles ; and not upon tha House , which 8 he may at command mould to her supreme royal will and pleasure .
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So much for Royalty in general , and for 0 x 9 talented young Qaeen" in particular and jo ^ one word as to the interest which Britons have 14 defending the " Queen of mercy ; " for in that capacit y alone can we ever condescend to consider the hsad of our English oligarchy . Well , then , we hare placed the name of Mkdhdb * at the head of our article ; and , without feeling an » disposition to add to the " nervods excitement" < % that young gentleman , let us just plainly state hjj case , and his title to that Royal sympathy which he has recently received . Master ilEBHtrasr murdered
his schoolfellow with a kind of butcher's knife , which , as was proved npon his trial , he had vowed he would use if at any time a quarrel arose between him' and his schoolfellow . A quarrel did occur , and Medhubst was as good as his word ; he kiij ^ his companion . Bat as good fortune woulfl have it , and as fortune ever favours the brave Master Medhuust belonged to that class in lift who are in general able to procure the mild spirjj of the law ; and with the assistance of herMajesty ' g first law officer of the Crown , the Attorney-General as counsel , ( who could not be retained by a misd& meanant Chartist at any price , ) Medhubsi was
upon payment of perhaps some five hundred guineas special bribe , ( fee we mean , ) enabled to get a verdict of manslaughter ! and was therefore sentenced , we believe ,, to three years' imprisonment , instead of transportation for life ; another good effect of employing plain John daring his confinement . This ill-used young gentleman was scarcely under the restriction of prison rules ; he had a suite of apait ments , and was allowed the use of a turning-lathe for his amusoment . However , time hung heav / , aad " ennui" overtook the young recluse ; whereupon 0119 Mr . Dyeb , a kind of police magistrate , having found out the game , undertook to procure Medhuesi ' s
liberation upon payment of £ 3 , 000 , " say £ 3 , 000 " to some charity ; and although far be it from us to insinuate such a thing , yet that spirited little dog who writes for tht > Satirist , and who does not appear to uave the fear of thv Attorney Genekal before hia eyes , assures us that !*•• , Dyer's charity was intended to begin at home * H ^ teit , the thing came to the Lord Chancellor ' s ears , H aving been badly done ; and Dyer was removed from theo * nunission of the Peace . But then the thing did not em there ; other parties , over whom his Lordship had no control , were implicated by Dyeb , aud those parties were the Marquis 0 * Nobmakby and his Marchioness .
We only give facts , and the world knows that Phipps is a poor devil , who would go as far for £ 3 , 000 as any other Noble Lord . To proceed ho * , ever : Mebhurst was in the secret ; and although the dismissal of Dyer , and the non-interference on his behalf by the Noble Home Secretary , may have put Dyer out of court , and have rendered his evidence suspicious , yet the attorney of Medhubst , who doubtless was also in the secret , turned the whole thing to the account of hi » client . We don't by any means say , or even hint , that Mr . Quill hinted anything to the Noble
Secretary about blabbing ; but certain it is , that the liberation of Master Medhubst immediately buoceeded the expose ! and npon what grounds does tho reader suppose ! Why , upon the certificatemind the certificate—of a Doctor , who declared that tho excitement produced by the disgusting controversy between Dyer and the press had soworked upon the " sensibility" of Mr . Medhubst , and had so affected his " nervous system , " that his health might suffer serious damage by longer
confinement ; and upon that the release was sent ! and Master Medhubst was eet at liberty ! while Holberry , Peddie , Ashton , Cabbieb , and others , have suffered torture , compared to Mr . Medhurst , and not for a transportable offence : and yet has the certificate of their sufFerings , setting forth the effect likely to be produced upon their health , and signed by two millions of petitioners for their release , failed to produce any effect upon the sympathy of that talented Lady whom Bhitons are now called upon to defend ! !
O ! but there was no certificate from a regular practitioner in their case . True ; neither was there in Clayton's case , or in Hoey's case , and why ! Because they were poor working men . But let us go to the professional question . Is O'Connor ' s case there were not only a certificate , but , sworn affidavits ! very unusual things . One was made by Anthony Todd Thompson , M . I > ., the very head of the medical profession ; and the other by Mr ; Jagoe , who had attended Mr . O'Connor for more than five yeaTs ; and they merely set forth the propriety of incarcerating Mr . O'Connor in the Queen ' s Bench , instead of a felon's dungeon : yet were the affidavits of those gentlemen laughed at by the Noble Home Secretary and his understrappers 1
Again' : on Sunday , the 17 th of May , 18-10 , Mr . Cooper , ' the Noble Lord ' s own surgeon to the Queen ' s Bench Prison , attended Mr . O'Connor , and at five o ' clock on that evening Bent a certificate to the Noble Lord , declaring that Mr . O'Connob was not in a fit state to be removed , and that his life might be the forfeit ; but in fourteen hours from that very time was O'Connob conveyed a distance of 200 miles ; dragged , like a dog , from a sick bed on Monday morning , after a serious ill-ness of three
weeks , and thrown into a cold damp felon's cell , upon an , iron bedstead , without sheets or pillow , at ten o ' clock on the following night ; and the consequence is , that , as our publisher informs us , Mr , O ' Connor is not now able to stand from the very effects anticipated by his medical advisers—a state of health , produced by the very causes whicb Dr . Thompson pointed oufc in his affidavit , namely , the " cold and inhospitable treatment of a common prison . "
So much for political offenders and aristocratic felons . And now let us , for a moment , direct attention to ° the difference between Royal sympathy for low felons and Chartists of all grades . It will ba found in the following scrap , whicb we extract from the Times of last week , and which runs thus : — " Liberation op Convicts at Woolwich . — Twelve convicts will obtain their liberty this week from the . Warwick , convict-ship , stationed opposite the dock-yard , Woolwicb . This extension of her Majesty ' s Royal prerogative is in commemoration of the viBit of the Queen to witness the launch of the Trafalgar . Mr .
Armstrong , who has the charge of the convicts in this vessel , very judiciously liberates the men by two or three at a time , and ascertains that they have left Woolwich , that they might not meet with eaoh other and spend the money given to them to any them home It is not generally known that the convicts who behave well are entitled to Is . 6 d . per -week in money , 9 d- of ¦ which is paid to them weekly , to be applied in the purchase of fine wheaten bread , or any other unobjectionable way they may approve of , and the other 9 d . per week is set apart as a . reserve fund , for tneir use when they obtain their discharge . One out of the three discharged to-day had been three years on board the Warrior , and consequently was paid £ 5 . 10 s . 6 d . "
It would be an insult to the understanding of a half fool to offer a word of comment on the above proof of Royal impudeace , insolence , ignorance , cruelty , barbarity , and treason , which mocks principle by thus encouraging vice ; and we believe the whole thing is meant as a Royal invitation to the starving millions to work in the dock yards , rather than starve . Who will not repeat " Bkiioks defend YOUR Q , UEF . N ?"
The Stoetheeff Stae. Saturday, August 21, 1841.
THE STOETHEEff STAE . SATURDAY , AUGUST 21 , 1841 .
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" The Chartists have protitd themselves more ' accurate calculators than 1 h £ middle classes . Whether their nostrum would have mended matteiss is sot xow the question ; but the result has shewn that thet were correct i . \ their opinion— that in the present state of the representation , it was vain to think of a repeal cf the CO 3 VS MONOPOLY . ******* Political power is this corNTBr , though it RESIDES IN A COMPARATIVELY SMALL CLASS , CAN ONLY BE EXERCISED EY THE SUFFERANCE OF THE MASSES . "Morning Chronicle forc-an of the Whig Ministers . ) , Fridct j , Jwy Klh . 18-1 f .
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On the i 3 th of November , the first Saturday after O'Connor ' s Liberation , each subscriber to the Northern Star from Saturday the 4 th of September , will receive a splendid medal , upon one aide of ¦ which will fee a correct representation of York Castle , with the date of O'Connor's admission and liberation ; and upon the othor side , aHkenes 3 of F . O . C . with the six points of the Charter . This medal will be much larger than either the Northern Union or the Birmingham tTnion medals ; and aa loo parctsls for distant agents -will be heavy , we have to request all friends , from those parts , who shall visit Leeds , between tha middle of October and first of November , to call at our office toz them .
The O'Connor Liberation Medal.
THE O'CONNOR LIBERATION MEDAL .
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THE SACRED DAY . At a recent Whig feed , devoured at Warrington , in honour of a defeated Whig candidate , Mr . " Stevenson-square" Cobden , in one of those exuberant pieces of rant by whicb he has made himself quite remarkable , said among other extravagancies , that thero should be a day dovoted to popular ex * hibitions in favour of u Repeal of the Corn Laws > and that the said day should be called the " Sacred Holiday . " Now , to that we say " good , very good "; but Mr . Cobden may rest assured that the " Sacred Holiday" shall be devoted to some
better purpose than the mere echoing of Whig clap-trap by an insulted people . We quite agree in the principle . We objected to the last , because a month ' s starvation was too long a period ; but we agree to tho one day : and , therefore , let every Chartist in the laud be prepared for the sacred day and let it bo a day sacred to Chartism , and not to a transfer of monopoly from tyrant landlords to tyrant masters and speculators in grain I but , above all , let every Chartist , who attends at such meetings , go PREPARED . TO 3 IEET BOTH Mr . COBDEN AND HIS God ! ! !
The treachery of this gentleman , manifested at the recent Stevenson-square meeting , renders such a precaution absolutely necessary ; and having said 60 much upon the " sacred holiday" let us now diroct the attention of our readers , for one moment , to the great advantages which they are promised , even by the best of friends , from t he contemplated changes to bo produced by the great commercial reforms . And first of the promised blessings , we find " plenty of work , " as if the people who are now fortunate enough to be allowed to exist , have not more than a belly full of that commodity every day
in the week ! Wo have mill upon mill standing still , while thousands upon thousands axe obliged to starve ; and contemporaneously we have Lord Ashley , asking that children shall only be allowed to work and cat , and walk to their food , which is not tha least of their toil , during twelve hours of the day 5 In the midst of all this exuberant humanity of Whig feeders and Tory relievers , we would just ask , is there another nation upon earth where a people vrould be satisfied with no greater privilege and no more comfort than that which proceeds from " plenty to do V *
Are Englishmen , now deprived of tho free air , with their every amusement cut off by law , their rights abridged year after year to have their tyrants for enforcing obedience to restrictions increased at the people ' s experice ? Are Englishmen , against whose very lives and liberties all who live upon their industry have conspired , to lose sight of all advancement in the nineteenth centuTy , in the midst of tho marc h of intellect ; and are they still to give twelve hours " artificial , " loathsome , slavish toil that they may insure enough of bread t
Are Englishmen , to be so dead to their own interests as to work the cold jennies by their incessant labour for the live long day , while the slave owners amass millions and live in luxury , and the slaves but allowed " the crumbs from the rich man ' s table V Are they to make £ ' 200 profit a-head per annum for their masters , and is their share to bo but " A PLENTY TO DO 2 " Has au Englishman no rights to seek , no object to achieve , beyond the mere means of a slavish existence ?
Is he not anxious to hold pace with the intellectual improvements going on in all the nations of the earth , and to gain time from labour to place himself upon aa intellectual equality with his neighbours ?
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4 : THE NORTHERN STAB . - . . . , - . , ' ¦ :. / _
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Jol-rnevkens'Trades' Hall . —A most numerous pnblic meeting ¦ was holden , on Tuesday evening , at tha Social Hall , Goswell-street Road , for the purpose of assisting in carrying out the above object . Mr . William Taylor , gold-beater , ¦ vfcb called to the chair . Mr . Elf moved and Mr . Kae seconded— " That this meeting , referring to the number &nd importance of the various trades' associations and societies of working
men Lo London , is of opinion that the establishment of a Trades' Hall in the Metropolis would be most economical and convenient , and calculated to elevate the moral character , and secure the welfare of the working classes . " The resolution was carried unanimously . A Gentleman , whose name we did not catch , moved" That this meeting is of opinion that the proposed London Joumeymens' Trades' Hall , as now enrolled by act of Parliament , 1 b deserving the united support of all parties : it would be accessible for trades meetings , for public meetings , lectures , &c ; and , therefore , we earnestly it-commend the London trades and mechanics to take up the subject frith their usual determination , as the only means of erecting so desirable a building . " He entered into a detail of the rules and regulations under
which the society iras enrolled . There waa no Chance tf . being defrauded ; the act took especial care of that , for speedy justice would be attainable . He considered that by the trades meeting under one roof , if any act of injustice vras attempted , the trades could inore promptly act than as now , having to send all round London , and , therefore , if a strike was necessary , it ¦ would be made much more effectually . The Londen Trades , he thought , thonld come out and take this subject into their most serious consideration . The proposition was made in a place where the mechanics could afford the small trifle they asked from them , it was not made in a manufacturing place where their brethren "were starving , and where it would be mere derision to ask them to carry it oat There were 15 , 000
of them , and surely in two years tney could erect the building . After alluding to the great advantages which were likely to arise from carrying out the project ; the gentleman concluded ty calling on those present to aid the association . Mr . Farren , juu . said , in secondingthe resolution , he had little left to Bay , for his friends who had preceded him had nearly exhausted the Bubjtet ; they had , however , overlooked the public advantages likely to accrue ; for example , the people were now prevented from meeting , as their forefathers used , under the canopy of the heaven , ' to pray for a redres 3 of grievances ; if they did so , they were immediately branded ' ¦ ' torch-light rebels . " There were other occasions ; for example , the election of members , when the public mind ought to be concentrated . Perhaps a
tune might arrive when another Reform Bill wonld be obliged to be passed ; and , then wonld it not be necessary for the working classes to meset—md where bo well as under their own roof ? ( Hear and cheers . ) Again , he would say immediately take up the question , for he feund a gentleman belonging to the legislature who was in favour of a traces' hall , wanted her Majesty to patronise them . He would say for himself that be wanted no Parliamentary assistance in this work . He did not like the idea , with the vast means which the trades possessed , they should be beholden to any for assistance ; let them erect it themselves . In the year 1834 , the carpenters could and did afford , for a strike , the sum of £ -20 , 000 , and the hatters , more recently , the sum of £ 17 , 000 ; and , surely , the trades
could raise tie ram of £ 15 , 000 . It only wanted to be taken np . There were no less than 152 meetings of trades held in oeb week in a central position of the metropolis ; and he would ask how much they had taken from the pockets of the working roan , who perhaps had Dot paid for the use of the rooms in money , bnt had had to pay in drink , for their accommodation ? and what accommodation ! He could assure them he had lately , with a friend er two , called at a club-house at the West end of town , and for the accommodation of 400 persons there was just room for eighty . VThat ¦ was the result of this drinking ?—poverty . Whtt at
home ?—quarrelling . Then it was time to end these scenes , and by social parties , give their wives a chance of recreation , instead of moodily litting at home . Yes , he would invite those present to see how rationally the patrons of Trades' Halls eiijosed themselves on that day fortnight at Highbury Barn , -when they -would enjoy themselves at a tea-party ; and , in conclusion he would beg to state that the rules were founded on these principles which every mechanic held in secret , if not in pnblic—the principles contained in the Charter . iCheers . j The resolution was pnt and carried . The meeting , after a Tote of thanks to the Chairman , then separated .
THE ERA 2 IERS and CopPEBSMiTiis . —We have received another address which has been issued by these trades , and which we have not room to insert ; in it they return thanks for the subscriptions already received , but implore for further and more-1 fficlent aid — : he same which hare hitherto been subscribed not being near sufficient to meet the peculiar exigencies of their case . Repeal Meejing . —A glorious Repeal meeting took place on Sunday evening , at 3 ir . Thomas Rjche ' s , Maze , Tooley-street , Borough . Several excellent spetchsa were delivered by Messrs . Murphy , Crowly , Keen , and others . Upwards of forty good men and wom ? n became feliow-iabourerg in this god-like work . It is a fact that 350 men , wernen and children , have paid their subscriptions of one shilling within a few weeks , thereby showirg their attachment to taeir God aud tteir country ' s good .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Aug. 21, 1841, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct393/page/4/
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