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3Em|>maI ^parliament
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THE NORTHERN: STAB,. SATUBDAY, AUGUST 6; 1843.
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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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HOUSE OF LORDS—Tuesday , August 1 . The Koyal Assent -was siren by sommiBsioa to the Woollen ManufactHrers'Bili , the Loan Smm&m Act Continuance Bill , the Bridges { Ireland ) Bill ana syreral-pixrai&bllls . ... _ . ! Efae Commissions for T * 3 dng Affidavit in Scotland ana Ireland BiU was read ajsecond tune , and ordered to be committedon Thursday . Tlie Duke of Wzu . tkgtok presented papers relating jto Scinde by command of her Majesty . Tfteir Lordships thenadjonraed to Thursday .
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HOUSE OP COMMONS—Hoxbat Jto . t-31 . Mr . Hotb withdrew bis motion for ordering the Auobjoet-Gesebjo . to prosecute Messrs . Wabd and WnSnisoHi . the agents of Lord Dekgakkok at the election for Durham * SsTeral BOls were read a second time . On the motion of Mr . Chbutophee , an order was i « ued ibr committing to Newgate a man named Samuel £ otts , for affixing forged names to a petition presented to the House . The Ojr 3 er « f the Bay for the second reading of file Ssotch 43 ) nrch Bill was then read , and Sir J . Gbxba 31 went into a long statement of the objects of the Act , -sri-fbing that thegen-ral principle of not opposing the second readings of Bills that hare passed the other House might be obserred on the present occasion . _ _ _
Mr . Wxiia . CB opposed the Eecond reading . He denied that this Bill had been brought in at the suggestion of ibe General Assembl y of Scotland ; it was clear that it originated at the suggestion of ber Majesit ' s GoTernmenu Be could , state many things to . show how sincere the secession from the Church of Scotland had been . It had . created the greatest degree of admiration throngbout the country , and lie believed if ibis Bill passed into a law , great numbers more wonld flee from ihs Established Church , ^ ind flock to the Free Church . He moved that tbe Bill be read a second time that day six months . Mr . B . Cocerasb supported the Bfll .-Mr . B . TJIHEBPOKD was sorry a BiH bo important should bare been bronght forward bo late in the session ; be condemned it as disregarding the Act of Union , as an inTason of Ibe rights of patrons , which ¦ w ere now to be giTen to a Church—to a priesthood , Trio -were the worst depositories of such a power .
Lord J . Russell pointed oat the confusion that prevailed throughout the Bill , between the declaratory and en&etive clauses , stating that clauses of theformer description were most unwisely introduced , and made a -d&itgerons precedent . Mr . Fax Maule said the ministers who bad left the Church bad seceded more in sorrow than in tiger /* Had tkey , as baa been alledged , been desirous of securing more power in the Church to themselves , they wouldiaye bad nothing to do bnt
to hare accepted Lord Abkhbkes * s Bill of . 1840 . Hut the present . BUI and that Act "were sot the same . He objected to the present Bill that it threw too much power into the bands of the Church ., Sir S . Peel closed tie debate , in a speech of no great length- He said it appeared to him that many of the obserrationsbe had heard during the discussion bad 310 direct bearing on the measure discussed . The great and main question was , whether the House would agree to this measure , or abandon any attempt to legislaie on the subject .
On the division that took place on the close of SIrIL Peel ' s address , fee numbers were— . For the Second Beading , 98 ; Against it 80 ; Majority , 18 . The House then proceeded to some of the other business on the paper . The Txrl of Li > conr post-JKmedtSl next session £ he Metropolitan Bnildings Bffl . The Theatres ^ Regulation Bill and the Slave Trade Suppression Bill were read a second time . The third reading of the Irish Arms Bill was postponed till Thursday ; and the House adjourned at two o ' clock .
THESDAX , ACGC 5 T 1 . The House had a morning sitting , the chief bnsi-DBS 3 of which consisted in discussing the London Coa 3-wbippers BiIL At the afternoon sitting , Colonel H ~ hbbooks Stored the issue of a new writ for the borough of Sadbnrj . MtvJBza ~ sxoxsinoved , as sn -amendment , that leave be gjTfcn to bricg in a bill ioBrake an ifieotnal inquiry into the bribery and corrupt practices alleged to exist in the borough of Sudbnry . Considerable discussion ensued , but ultimately the House divided , when the amendment wr 3 carried by 138 to 25 . " Mr . Waed bronght on bi 3 motionr— " That an hnmbls address be presented to ber Majesty , xe-. presenting loiter Majesty that , in the opinion of this House , it is not by measures for the repression of local violence that the discontents of Ireland
can be allayed , bnt by removing those grievances whieb have ^ formed for many years ibe snbject of recorded complaint and remonstrance betweeothe two countries . That amongst the most 'prominent of these Is the Jaw by -which the whole ecclesiastical property of Ireland is assigned to the clergy of a Email section of the population , and that' this House , deeply impressed with the belief that such a law is not conformable Joreason , or to the pracilcs « r any Christian , pledges itself , after providing for existing proprietary rights , and for the claims of her 2 J * jestyV Protestant subjects , cordially cooperate with her-Majesty jo effecting sacs a set * flement of Ghurch property in Ireland , as wfllre-— ove iH iost ground of complaint , and give"satis-9
faetion to the Irish people . * He supported this motion by an able and elaborate speech , tracing much of the existing condition of Ireland to the estai > K = hed XSxarch . Ireland had }> een only partially © Dngnerea * when the Helotmed Church was introduced ; ' grasping clergymen were sent over from England , who , as Spenser complained , looked simply to their own temporal interest ; and that great instrument of the Reformation , prayers in the satire tongue , was neglected in Ireland , for to this bonr the JSitgKsB -Liturgy had sever 3 > @eii translated into Trichi fieviewiiig the history of tbe countrydespoliations , confiscations , penal enactments of earlier times , and the struggles , efforts , insurrections , and ' concessions of more . modern days—be
snowed that our whole policy m Ireland -was as absurd and Tuinous as it was crneL The tithe system , which- seemed as If contrived by the deril himself to frustrate the efforts of the Church , and io bringf ibe reformed leligion into contempt , was maintained with pertinacious stupidity , and enforced with ill the rigonr of law among a people ¦ wh o . did not belong to tbe establishment ; and even when at last the necessity of relieving the" people from ibis burden compelled Parliament to legislate , it -was -preceded by s fierce party struggle-With reference to this topie , 1 he entered into a refiewofhis own labours in this field ; the breaking 'up of Sir Robert Peel ' s administration in 1835 by the " appropriation clause ^* tbe ultimate abandonment of that principle by the W 3 rs Government and
party , which be regarded as a great ~ calamity ,-inasmucb as it broke faith with the people of Ireland , and threw doubt on the lononr and faith of pnblic men . Tbe mam evils which sfflicted Ireland were to be traced to the statute-book ; probe these evil ? , and the Church would be found at the bottom . Who was the author of the great " moral miracle /* the temperance movement ? Not the Church j but one of those bumble men , on whose bead the wisdom of our ancestors would bare set a price a century ago . Taking the census of the population and the last report of the Ecdesasfical Commission , hestated the episcopal population of Ireland at 752 , 000 whose religiouB instruction cost fifteen fihillingB per head , while that of the Presbyterians wab only Is per head , though he had never heard that the one was the less
moral or religious than the other ; while nothing was reserved for the Instruction of the Roman Catholics or Dissenters . After giving some amusing reminiscences of ibe secular and political spirit in which ecckaas&cslpreferments ; from bumble chaplaincies to bishoprics , vrere regarded andgobbed in by-past toiesjbepioeeeded to the present condition of the Ghnrcb ^ Ireland , admitting that much improiement tad taken place , bnt poinfing out those nnions orjireierments which still continue the - ppprobnum of its ecclenaEtical government , and rounded on tnis portion of bis speech by gran * extracts from fiieeoCTesponaence-with Trf ^ te ^^ faTonred t * \ £ ^ Z £ T ° ^ Ti ^ S Bn ' facing that tbe old fee&ig still existed . Tbe Catholics -were now eight millions ; they could no longer betreated asaseparite « ommnmty , or regarded as the "bewere of wood and drawers of -water" which Bean Swift described them to b * . > t ftem break np the iriEh BstabKsfcment nd of
; get its enmbrous machinerv ; gire to the wnoie Irish eommnnity aa eaual anil Air dare in the distribu&m of the tithe fund -rest it m the hands of commisEioners for this purpose respecting rested rights , allotting an eaual scm in proportion to the population , to tbe three religions and , iy » bold and fearless policy coneili&te a people wio still smart under a deep sense of hnmiKation and long-continued wrong . Prance and Spun iad tried the exterminating policy , and bad lost the choicest of their population . By obstinately -Epfmanjr eAQcessioD , -jye icst ibe United Stares . It ¦ was only ~ bj jielfling to tne people or Scotland on the score of their naHonal religion , that the union with that country was obtained and completed- and from all these examples hB called on the House to be prudent in time , and substitute a wise , a generous , and a confiding policy , for the narrow and jealons spirit in which we hare hitherto , acted towards
Ireland . Mr . Casew seconded the motion in a neat and effective address . liord :. Error characterised Mr . Ward ' s motion , -wiieri exponnded by bis speech , as being- at once l « 3 d jmd dEfinite , TiFhieh brought them at once io an assneoxrflje ^ gnestion-of the maintenance-or snfcveraon ^ f ^ fitabKBhedVChnrch of Ireland . Without arpledge for its Kcnrily , the Union would not haTVbeen acoomplished , nor emancipation acbievjed ; snd as be saw do ojfiVanEnce between a Protestant £ 3 Yereignsnd a Proiestant ChurcQ , SO ^ ftCOul ^ flOt admit ikst the removal of the one wi ^ itjfea ^ MB would placs tho Bomaii Cstholice Q&v&mesuBa
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footing of equality with their other fellow subjects . The inviolability oi the Irish Protestant Church was x leading idea ii » that resolution relating to emancipation traced by the dying hand of Gratt&n ; and the advocates of that measure , the most opposite in character , Phuket , Cannin g , and Cestlereagh , ill enforced the same opinion . The Protestant people of England and Scotland were not yet prepared for tbe spoliation of the Irish Establishment j nor was it yet come to the alternative of that spoliation or civil war . Mr . O'Connell now held opinions on the snbject different from what he and other leaders expressed when emancipation was granted ; and without a distinct oompact , not all the influence of the Dnke of Wellington and Sir Kobert Peel would have sufficed to carry that measure . ; On the conclusion of Lord Eliot ' s speech , the debate was adjourned .
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THE CONFERENCE . The necessity for the assembling <> f this body is now universally felt , and all but universally acknowledged . On tbe point of desirability , therefore , nothing more need be said . The very general expression of opinion , almost throughout the whole , country , settles the point that we must nave it . Nor is there much disagreement as to time and place . Birmingham is , by a great majority of localities fixed upon as the most likely place ; ' and we think
an examination of the rotes come to and reoorded , will shew that a great majority are for deferring its assembly to the first week in September . We take it , then , as settled , that a Conference there must be . We take it , too , that it is nearly settled teTiere it is to be holden , and the Jime it is to meet ; for whatever contrariety of opinion may have existed as to these two latter points , every one will give in to what is the expressed wish of the majority .
I t i s time , then , now thai all preparations were duly made . Tbe delegates are to be appointed . The fandB for their expenses are to be raised . Tbe subjects for their deliberations have to be considered , and general instructions given . And a scale of Representation bas to be determined on . Oa the latter point , we may Bay that it will not be needful for the Conference to be a v&ry l arge body ; not so large as the one that assembled in Birmingham in December last ; nor as costly . We deem the proposal of oar Sooth Lancashire friends , for a
large district representation worthy of great consi > sideration . By caution and prudence in tbe selection of delegates , this course may be made to answer the intended purpose best . A small number of well-informed business-men , active , intelligent , and prudent , will be fax better for all good end 3 , than a large number of persons selected without regard to these essential qualifications . A small committee always performs more work , and better , than a large one , even when personal
qualifications are eqaaL In this case it is business alone that is to be attended to . We want men of aptitude , to take up the floating mass of proposals and suggestions for Organization , and ost of the whole form a ? a € matbsed plan : one that ! shall be perfectly leg ** ; secure to us the pfiOTEcnow of the law ; be , withal , workable , and easy to be understood ; having tbe duties of all , body and bead , members and office-bearers , plainly defined . This is what is wanted to be done in the first instance .
This is the main work . Now for this purpose a ** smallish" number of wise men , well and judieionsly selected , will be far preferable to a large body heterogeneously mixed together . The Question of expense a also deeply involved : and it fortunately happens that the least expensive mode will answer best for all other purposes . This is not a trial of strength between two
opposing parties , where it Is needful that each should pnt forth its full measure of power , to sway public opinion on its side . It is a meeting for business , to give national sanction to the best , most comprehensive , legal , and workable plan of Organization that can be devised . Bo not these reasons and con . siderations , then , support tbe proposal of oar Lancashire friends for large district representation 1
At tbe same time great care will be requisite in tee appointment -of delegates . These should be chosen for their business-talents and prudent devotedness to the great cause that will be entrusted to their care . They will not nc 9 d to be " orators . " Speech-making will not be the work tbe delegates are sent to perform . Ability to speech-make alone , therefore , is no qualification for the office . Sound , practical , discriminating common sense is what will be mainly required .
To these matters , then , we now invite the immediate attention of the Chartist body . Look out your men- Determine on the scale of representation . Prepare your funds . Agree upon , and give your instructions . There is another point , ' to which enfilcient attention has net been devoted . It is in our opinion all-important ; and we have waited to see whether it would be taken up by tbe Chartists generally , without being pressed npon their notice . It has arrested a glance here and there ; and a word or
two have occasioBally passed respecting it . Bnt not enough has been either said or done : in relation to it . We mean the question of Scotch TJmion with the English 1 Is it n&t desirable to effect such an Act of Union between the two bodies of English and ScoUh Chartists , thai shall work so well that neither party shall wish for w Repeal" ? Why should they be disunited ! Is there any benefit to be derived from it ! Is there any benefit in disunion ? If it be needful for the English
Chartists , and for the Scotch Chartists , to have separate and distinct Organizations , because of the advantages accrnciDg from general action and systematized movements , surely it would be sot less advantageous to nave a real General Union for all , which should promote feelings of amity , induce oneness of purpose , and direct energetically the whole force of public opinion noon any one given point ! This is an " Extension of Commerce" in good works that even we think would be beneficial 1 Could not it
be effected ? Is it not worth the trial 1 Should we not endeavour to accomplish it ! We think every sincere Chartist will , with alacrity say " yes" ! Then let us to the work . Let us to the endeavour . SCOTCHMEN , what sat tou ! Give the proposal due ¦ consideration . Weigh well the advantages to be derived to yourselves , to yonr English brethren , and to . the common cause , by such a junction . Reflect well on it ; and let us have your decision . ENGLISHMEN , ¦ what sat too ! Is the active and prudent
co-oporation of your untiring unswerving " brither Soot " worth the seeking 1 Is it not worth courting ! Will it be nothing to unite with a body of people who have stnek true and steadfast ; through good report and through evil report , and conducted their affairs without one mishap ! See the field of exertion widen before yon , and see the number of well-drilled marking labourers : ready to do their part in gathering is the rich and ripening harvest ! See too the extended range ot
selection for first-ofiioe-bearers that opens oat . Many parties fear the experiment of another Executive . They fear that envy and jealousy may be again at work , and produce more division and disunion than -we even now have , or have had . Would not this in a great measure be prevented , by bringing in new parties to act I—parties who bare no parlizans —who have not at their backa those who will be dissatisfied if they do not get in ; and others at their heels who will be dissatisfied if they do .
To the Char tists of both countries we commend these considerations . Weigh them well . They are deserving of jour every attention . Accomplish the work , and you will find that it will be of the utmost service to the movement , giving it an impetus that will amply satisfy for the pains takem Let our Scotch brethren look to this matter well-If they decide in it 3 favour , no doubt their English irethren win be happy to meet them at the Conference , to consummate the oesrirable object . If the place of meeting is inconvenient , the Scotch people L ,
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hare bnt id » y bo ; and we are sure that every effort will be made to accommodate them , compatible with convenience to all . Having considered the question of the Conference and its labours in a Bomewhat circumscribed sense , we shall next take a more general view of the whole ) question , and indicate several other matters which will of necessity urge themselves on the attention of the assembled body ; and which it will be well to canvass over some little beforehand .
The question of Organization and the leading features connected with the subject have been long before the country ; and the further steps which it may be . necessary to take , after a plan of Organization is agreed npon , will require some time for completion . The Organization is but the means ; this direction of publio opinion , the en I . Of course the election of an Executive body , and the preliminary steps prior to such election ; rules for the appointment of lecturers , with directions for the government of thefr body ; some improvement in the slovenly method of holding public meetings hitherto practised ; as well as means to insure perfect harmony in the ranks , will no doubt arrest the attention of the delegates .
The announcement of the League at Bristol that their battle would henceforth consist in bribing electors to support ** Free Trade" principles , will naturally present to the Conference the necessity of adopting some mode by which , the non-elective influence maybe brought to bear efficiently against the elective power upon the next dissolution of Parliament . We must be cautious , lest the denial of "Free-Trade" principles by the League , and the convenient adoption of the Chartist pledge upon the hustings , should lead us into a hasty confidence in our greatest oppressors . It is evident that upon the next dissolution the tactics of the League will be to unite with the Complete Suffragists ; and , in the event of the working classes directing their undivided
attention to tbe return of twenty out-and-out Chartist candidates , the coalition will be tried to ? be effected with M Free Traders , " ready to swallow not only the six points , but name and all ! But the Chartists must bear in mind , that they do not want to make their principles in the House of Commons a mebe secondaby question ! now and then receiving the lukewarm support of >( Free Traders . " Their game is to return an active , talking , business-like , COMMONrLACB-MKASXIBB-0 B 5 TRUeTINO STAFF , who Will sit night after night , and day after day , using the House of Commons in the first instance , as a channel through which Chartist principles can be inculcated throughout the world ; and , secondly , as a rallying point round which the working classes will master with increased zeal and activity .
All these are questions which must necessarily arrest the attention of the delegates ; while it may take some time after the plan of Organization ia agreed upon to bring the necessary machinery into working order . The question of " leadership" has been very whimsically treated by politicians of all schools , agreeing for the most part in denouncing " leadership *'; while every party tends to the recognition of the principle . Are . not delegates , although instructed as to their course , "leaders" pro tempora and with tbe consent of the people 1 Axe not the members of an Executive Committee acknowledged
"leaders"land what is the object of our re-Organization , but that of recommending and practising caution in the election of leaders" ! What would be the position of a Chartist representative in the House of Commons , but that of " leader" ? How have the minorities of factions been so long enabled to bold dominion over the great majority of the people , except by "leadership" ! Therefore , while we shall be ever ready to denounce the despotism of "leadership , " we shall be eq . ally prepared to defend the principle , as tbe best , indeed as the only , means of marshalling political parties .
Let us trust , then , that the sereral localities will forthwith put their shoulders to the wheel and prepare for the day of redemption ! We anticipate much from tbe bringing together of the leadess of the people . We live in times when all personal considerations must be merged in the general good . In order to make the proceedings of the Conference instrumental in establishing the strength of the popular will , we would strongly urge upon the men of
Birmingham the propriety of making arrangements to give OUR rGREAT LEADER , Thomas Ddncombe , Esquire , M . P ., a public entry into Birmingham on some day during its sittings , and to invite him as a guest to a tea party on the Bame day . This will have the double effect of doing honour to the champion who has fought our cause alone , while it will prove that we are thankful for good intentions . If England has her Attwood , the good intentions . If England has her Attwood , the
Chartists have their Duncombe . Both are presenters of Chartist National Petitions ; with just this difference between them : one raised up the ferment , and was frightened at the monster he had creatod . He slunk from his post , telling us that all tbat he meant by the People ' s Charter and Universal Suffrage was " Little Shillings " and " One Pound Notes . " The other undertook his task in far more difficult times , and performed it
manfu lly , and has stuck io us ever since I Never let it be forgotten tbat it was Attwood that proposed the National Holiday ; tbat it was Muntz and Douglas that commenced the "Physical Force" Movement , when they went to Scotland to establish Rifle Clubs , and sell rifles at l * 2 i . 6 d , each ! And never let ic be forgotten that when the first approach of < anger was manifest , the whole sqa&d RAN AWAY , Attwood saying he only wanted the " National Holiday" for the ¦*» Little ; Shilling" 1 !!
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THE IRISH CHURCH . By our Parliamentary Reports , it will be seen that this vexatious and irritating question has been brought before tbe House of Commons in something lifee an understandable shape , by Mr . Ward ; and bis so doing has thrown the church-saints into grea dismay . On this question of Irish Churchism we have often had our say ; having , from the very first existence of this journal , continually shewn the necessity of banishing the last viper from Ireland . It was to little purpose that the good Saint Patrick ,
" Drove the toads down in tbe bogs , And bothered all the Tannin , " if the land was to be infested by one poisonous monster , who , like the harpy of old , destroyed all that came within its reach . The fanciful church-logic of Lord Brougham adopted by Lord Eliot , might have served for the public ear some half century back , or may , even now , do fer the outlines of a Magazine Article ; but they are tto spiritually-temporal for the ear of the landlords , and too absurd to receive favour from man . Lord Brougham , who has
recently appeared as the Tory chronometer—whereby the youngsters in the Commons may set their time , endeavoured previously to Mr . Wabd ' s motion to open tbe eyes of tbe ignorant upon tbe subject of the Irish Church , by assuring the Lords that it was no grievance at all ; that its existence imposed no tax upon the Catholio people ; and that its destruction would confer no benefit upon them . The Noble i / ord appears to look upon the revenues of the Irish Church , as a kind of chief-rent , payable by the owners of land , and subjeot to which , the land has been transferred from time to time . Lord Eliot , in the Lower House , takes the same view of the
question ; and , in the attempt to confine the subjeot to a mere question of figures , he Assures us , that the total revenue of the Irish Church , is only £ 432 , 123 . : We believe the figures of the Noble Lord to consist of the aggregate amount compounded for by Church parsons , under the compulsory Tithe Composition Act ; leaving ont of view altogether the enormouB amount of Church property consisting of glebe lands , bishops' lands , and income derived by " lay impropriateis , " which would reach , negatively and affirmatively , to more than double tho total set down as Church revenue by Lard Eliot . By negatively , we mean especially the great injustico
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done to Bociety at large by the precarious mode of leasing Church property . We do not mean that bishops demand a higher rent than lay lords , or the contrary ; but we do assert , that the peculiar conditions annexed to those contracts , and the uncertainly of tenure under them , leads to a lax , slovenly , and negligent system of husbandry , by which the largest portion of benefit , which , under better circumstances , would beconferred upon society , is wholly lost . Did either of the noble Lords take into acoount tho property belonging to Trinity College , the hot-bed of Protestant prejudice , and
the cradle of Orange principles ? If we word now settling the acoount ia good mercantile stylo between party and party , peradreature wo might be seduoed by commercial principles to make a sum of rule of three of it , and assume the calculations of tho noble lords to be perfectly correct ; : but when we come to view the question as a whole , and to consider that this kind of pepper com " rent paid to the Church , is not only an injustice as a Protestant imposition upon the Catholic people , but ; that the amount , be it large or be it small , loses its real arithmetical value : and instead of
being looked upon as a kind of chief-rent , amounting to something short of half a million annually , it is viewed as the foundation of every grievance of which not only the Irish Catholics justly complain , but as an intolerable abase agaiust which the-whole nation has set its face . It is the nestegg upon which every other grievance has been laid . It was the Upas-tree planted in Ireland , upon the conquest of the Irish Catholics by their Saxon oppressors , intended as a badge of conquest , and ; as the standard round which the Orange faction could rally , summoned by the cry of " the
Church is in danger , " It may now suit the policy of the Church-party , grown weak by abuse , to speak in tones of moderation ; but the outcry now raised against the Protestant Church in Ireland is not confined to mere Catholio dissent . It bas been forced into the Protestant camp by the Tithe Composition Bill of Mr . Goulburn whereby the Protostant grass-land , made tithe-free by a resolution of the protestaut Irish Parliament . was brought in to gavel and made to bear its proportion of the Church burden . From 1825 , the period at which this Bill took effect , the Royal , Loyal , Protestant Landlords of Ireland
have been like the Duke ' s daughter and the Moor ' s wife ; hampered with a divided duty r- the one to the Church as loyal Protestants , the other to the pocket as struggling landlords . Prior to Mr . Goulburn ' s , bill , the Protestant landlords , the Protestant parsons , the Catholic landlords , and the Catholio owners of Church property invariably made common cause in resisting tithe agitation !; that is , as long as the Catholio pauper with an acre of potatoes supported the Protestant parson , while the Protestant landlord with his luxuriant grass domain contributed not one farthing towards the salvation of his own soul ,
the : people were transported , butchered , and destroyed by the associated defenders of the rights of the Church . As soon however as this first innovation was made , there was a quickness in the landlord ' s feeling , which threw his love of Church in the shade ; and to this act , more than to any other is to be attributed the rapid progress made by the Catholic Association demanding what was called Catholio Emancipation . Goulbubn was the means of carrying Emancipation some years before it would otherwise have been accomplished , inasmuch as the Protestant landlords recognised an in justice to them '
selv . es in bis Bill , whereby they were taxed for the support of their own Church ; and from its enactment to 1829 we find tho ranks of the Catholio Association considerably swelled by Protestant volunteers . Lord Eliot , therefore , has made an erroneous calculation , when he considers Emancipation , carried in 1829 , to have been a fulfilment of a contract made in 1800 j and be is equally in error , when he would lead us to a belief that , by implication , the Emancipation Bill was a re-acknowledgment of the Act of Union . Wo , then , look upon the revenue of the Irish Church , not only as being
unnecessarily large in amount , but destructively so , as a rallying point for all the evil passions for tha ; dominant faction who look upon it as tho trophy of their party , won ia a war against the Catholic people . Surely , if any portion of the wild Indians looked upon the possession of the Gate ? of Somnauth as of national importance , and if a great EogliBh statesman acquiesced in the national prejudice , something is due to the feelings of the Irish Catholics who in the pillars of Church and State recognise the trilimph of the enemy , aa well as & barrier arresting their promotioQ . aad paralyzing their energies . Wha
has caused the necessity for a standing army in Ireland in times of peace , or of mere Church war in that country ? What has led to an extensive police establishment ? What has beon the amount of costs in the Ecclesiastical Court , in the Prerogative Court , in the Chancery Court , and iu the Exchequer Court , expended in defending the Catholic defendants against their clerical antagonists ? Have the salaries of Commissioners , the expenoe of citations to Bishop ' s Courts , the costs of bills filed in Chancery , the legal exponces of Exchequer suits , the amount of records between the Shepherds
and their flocks arising out of actions tried on circuit , or at Nisi Prius , the enormous fees paid at Quarter Sessions by those who have been processed for tithe and against whom decrees , with all their subsequent expences in execution , have fallen : we ask ; have these " sundries , " comprising a total three times as large as that set down by Lord Eliot as the kittle sin of the Church , been taken into consideration ? Has the blood shed at Rathcormao and elsewhere been set down in the account J Has the ousting of Catholic tenants by Protestant landlords , lest ! as electors qualified by their land , they Bhould
vote for an Anti-Church Candidate , been set down in the general account 1 And , if not , are we not justified , in charging it under the comprehensive head " sundries" t The noble pillars of the Church , Lords Brougham and Eliot , were too mercantile in their mode of dealing with the Church property ; and having failed to render a satisfactory account , we ,, to whom it has been referred & 9 auditors , would make the following corrections , accepting the low total of the one , and the slight inconvenience of the other as our data , and we state the account thus : —
The Protestant Church of Ireland in account with the Catholic People of Ireland . Credit ... £ 432 , 123 : Dr . The destruction of industry , the propagation of feuds , the shedding of blood , the expense of collecting tribute ... ... ... £ , 8 , 000 000
Interest upon one half of the Na-. ! tional Debt , law expenses , Sti- ' pendiary Magistrates . &c , &c , j &o ., &c , &o ., &o . ., 17 , 000 . 000 | Frightened out of the country by Protestant Parsons and their Orange Staff ... I ... ... ... 5 , 000 , 000 Loss from bad cultivation , and uncertainty of tenure 20 , 060 , 000 j £ 50 , 000 , 000 From which deduct 432 , 123 And we find the balance due by the Church to the Catholic people amounts annually to £ 49 , 567 , 877 In this calculation we are very much under the matk , not having set down any thing under the usual comprehensive head " sundries "; and shall now conclude with a bit of spiritual tit for tat . We shall be glad to know then if the noble lords consider the complaint too load for the amount of injury 1 sustained ? and if the whole question is to be merged into one of pounds , shillings , and pence , why are the I ) Irish Orange members , and the English Plumtees ' > allowed to make such a ferocious noise , about a grant of a few thousands a year to tho College of ! Ma | ynooth ! ? We could say much more upon this unj holy subject , bat as the putrid-monster is in the death- j i tnrbes , we refrain trem disturbing that quiet which i it has ever denied to its victims . When the monster i j perishes , the only wonder will be ihat it was allowed
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to live so long ; and when it is interred , the propel epitaph upon its dry tomb and unhallowed memory will be : — " Here lies the Irish devil ! The last reptile That infested the land . "
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" SIGNS OF THE TIMES . " THE SHEFFIELD ARTIZANS . Below we present the reader with a most important address which has Within the last few days been published by " the Delegate Committee of the Associated Trades of Sheffield , " important not only for the sound truths it enunciates , but alao on account of the parties from whom it emanates , the leaders of the Sheffield Trades . These men bave hitherto had the reputation of being the mere tools of the " Freebootery , " and as such have often been daubed with the praises of the pot-organs of Sheffield Whigeery , the Independent and Weekly
Chronicle . But a " change has come o ' er the ( spirit of their dream . " They appear to have discovered the blessings ( 1 ) of former " Extensions of Commerce , " and are no way desirous of having a renewal of the dose ; consequently no approving paragraphs from the pens of the Leaders and the Wabd ' s will J now , as heretofore , reward their toils . And no wonder ; for , from beginning to end , the address is a complete refutation so far as Sheffield is concerned of all the fanciful theories on which tho " Freebooters" found their system of chicanery and [ humbug . Machinery and the
" Devil ' s-dust" system of exporting trashy articles , aro alleged by the authors of this address to be the main causes of the present distress so prevalent in Sheffield . What ; will the " Extension" men say to that ? What a picture , too , of the Sheffield profitmongers the addressers present us with ! See "the cast-metal articles sent to China ; " the " razors that will not shave ; nhe strops that take off the edge ; the scissors that refuse to cut ; the knives that presently break" ! These " oast-metal" gentry are the " respectable , " " chapel-going , " "intelligent , " and therefore the " electoral" class of the community . Will the Independent , that along with the rest of the
" Liberal" cure yelped so loudly at the heels of Mr . Ferrand when he made his famous " devil's-dust " exposures in the Mouse of Commons ; will this base Whig hack dare to defend the characters' of its " pious" aud " religious" patrons against the damning charges preferred against them by the addressers t It dare not attempt the hopeless task ! It knows well that the accusers are parties that cannot be misinformed , ior they are the parties who are compelled by the present accursed system to toil at the making of these " cast-metal" deceptions , which are fast rendering the name of Sheffield a bye-word and a mockery from the Thames to the Ganges—from the Rhine to the Mississippi .
It will bo seen that , instead of " Free Trade , ' ' which was wont to be the cry of the Sheffield trades , " The Land" is the remedy for existing evils argaed for by the addressers . This is most heart-cheering ! It tells that the thinkers among the working classes —those who mu 3 t always influence the mass of their order , are thinking to some purpose !—that these thinkers are beginning to look for the restoration of their own heritage in the land of their fathers as the means of restoring themselves and their order to a state of wellldeserved comfort and prosperity . They are right as to the end—Tas Land . THE
LAND , TH E IiAND is the only effectual remedy for the urongs of the suffering poor . But what are their proposed means for attaining that end \ The union of all the trades . Goo » , as far as it goes . A general union of the trades for purposes of experiment and partial relief will be productive of good ; and God Bpeed them is our cry . But would | they really achieve the independence and happiness of their class by again resuming their stand on the 6 oil , something more than a general Trades Union will be necessary . They must stouggle for tfiel right of self-legislation I they must ESTABLISH TH £ WUNCIPLE 3 OF THE PEOPLE ' S
CtfAHTER ! THEY MUST WIN THE POLITICAL , TO ARRIVE AT THE SOCIAL BIGHTS OF MAN . For this they are not yet prepared . There is no fear but tbat they soon will be ! They have hit upon ( fit right cure ffor ihe evils of the present system ; AM > THEY MUST OBTAIN IT BY SOME MEAKS . If Trades f / nions will not answer that purpose the Charter will ! What a glorious " sign of the times" it is to 606
the associated Trades turning their attention , to these import ant questions . Alone and of itself this single fact is sufficient to sustain hope that we shall come right at last , notwithstanding the gloomy prospect that everywhere presents itself when we look at things as they are , aud bring to mind tbe almost universal confusion and dismay that- everywhere abound . It is only to the working class that tbe politician and the social regenerator need look for means wherewith to work out his
benefioient purpose . The mind , and the M physical" to give actual emb > dyment to that mind , dwells alone amongst those whose souls have not been deadened by the 1 withering curse of Mammon ; and whose aspirations for liberty are not sent through the till , but are pure emanations from nature's self . Of that mind the address we here present , is an evidenoe ; and it is the knowledge tbat hind must eventually overcome and overthrow brute force , that gives rise to the hopeful conviction that the present system oi inequality and injustice will be superseded by one which shall recognize in eyetj man a brother tojhis fellow-man , and deal with all as the children of one common father .
Yes ! Englanjd will be saved ! and saved , too , by her despised , derided , degraded , and spitten-upon , working people ! Look at all the other classes What are they doing ? What do they know of the evil that is now reaching them ? They see their property melt out ! of their grasp . They see tbat all their efforts to retain it Lare futile . They see ruin staring them in the face . They one by one drop into the bankrupt list , or the
insolvent list . They knew that all about them is consternation and alarm . They know that Ireland is agitated to her centre , for Repeal ; they know that w Rebecca" } is waging successful war in Wales , and that her " Daughters" seem to include almost tho entire population of the Principality . . They know of the ** alarming state of the mining districts , " where tho&e who daily go into the bowels of the earth with their "livesin their bands" to pro cure the means of enjoyment and comfort for the
rest of society , are required to do 60 for eightben-PENCE-a-day I They know that " Chartism" ib but iu abeyance ; that it is not " put down ; " that it merely smoulders , liable to be fanned into a terrific fUmewith the first wind that blows . They know all this , and see all this ; and yet what know they of the caose ?! | What know they of the remedy ? The confusion that everywhere abounds in the social world is not more perfect , nor more general , than tne confusion that reigns in their own minds .
Incapable of thinking clearly , it is impossible that they can apply a remedy . They bays the power ! bad they the mind , they could easily effect the change so much needed , even by themselves , to save their own property from silent but effectual transfer Lacking mind , jhowever , power is useless—nay , worse than useless ; for the efforts made by these classes , in ignorance , do but enhance the suffering to all parties , and augment the general turmoil and discontent , until confusion has become worse confounded !
If a deputation from the associated Trades of Sheffield , had waited upon the Premier , to bandy compliments with him about the " general distress ' as the Iron-masters of Staffordshire lately did ; they telling him of what he but too well knew ; and he telling ! them that he deplored the fact , and COMMISERATED with the sufferers : would a deputaiou of working men , had they gone to Sir Robert Feel , have stultified themselves and proclaimed their astute ignorance , by asking him , at one and some time , to take measures to make
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prices low , and pbices high 11 ! Would they have asked for "free-trade" to make our "FIXED burdens" more burdensome still , through reduced means ; and also asked for one Pound Notes , to raise prices to a " range ADEQUATE to our FIXED engagements" 1 Would working men have done this I And yet those who despise them ; those who ape intelligence ''; those who assume airs of superiority : those who affect to prate of "
ignorance" , and deny the producer of wealth all part or lot in political power , " because they are not intelligent" ; those who have the vote because low cunuing and a disregard of moral obligation has given them . " wealth " : these men not only made such an exhibition of their incapacity to understand the com * moneat principles of political economy , but they actually proclaimed their wonderful want of knowledge to the whole world , saying to all , " see what asses we are" !
God help thee , poor ill-used country , did thy re * demptiou depend upon the "upper and middle classes" ! Fortunately , it does not . While these are driven to and fro , beguiled by every Will-o ' -the-Wisp that shows itself ; running after every nostrum that is propounded ; attaching themselves to every species of quackery and empiricism , the working people are steadily applying themselves to discover the cattse of the evil that afflicts all ; and &S Bteadll ?
looking for tho reuedy . Assuredly as they do this , and" acquire the knowledge , so assuredly will they acquire the power to apply that knowledge to practice . England will be saved ; but her salvation will be effectuated by those who have fared the worst , endured the most craal treatment , suffered the greatest indignities , been the most despised by the gaudy painted butterflies that the corrupt maggotty system has so numerously engendered .
Of the mind that is actively at work amongst the workers , the following address is evidence . Its operations are not confined to the Trades of Sheffield . These are but acting in common with the rest of their brethren . The tide of thought has set in ! The ripple of the waves is distinctly seen ; and ere long the dry and parched beach of politics will be covered with the waters of life ; and . beauty and order displace confusion and turmoil . Here is the address of which we have spoken : ¦—M Fellow Workmen , ^—In a late address we particularly pointed to two of the hydra of evils , which have a strong influence on your trade—namely , tha vast increase of machinery , and the trashy articles
that undermine your credit and character . With respect to theformer , we again say , that notwithstanding the injury it has inflicted , it has conferred many benefits on mankind , and might be productive of a many more under a wise and humane system . As to the injury resulting from it , it would be some consolation if that was Confined to our shores ; but the vast , exportation of it to foreign countries ( and we believe at the present time we are exporting more than ever ) must , ere long , tell with fearful effect fepon our commerce , and cannot be passed over without exciting the most painful feelings , as it must be evident we are doing all ia our power to enable foreigners to close their markets agaiust us .
Nor are the trashy articles we send them calculated to allay those feelings—as we are quite certain , that the only way to save us and tbe town from ruin , must be by the excellence of our productions . To enumerate all tbe evils arising from bad and lovr priced articles , would occupy too much space ; we shall , therefore , notice those which are made of cast metal , and the commonest steel , which is very little better for purposes of utility . The trades that are suffering the most from cast metal articles , are the Fork , the Scissor , and" the Table-knife branches ; and those that are great sufferers , ia consequence of common steel articles , are the Razor , the Saw , and Penknife branches . There are a
many other trades that feel the baneful effects arising from this double cause . Indeed , as far as tho town is concerned , it is of such an alarming magnitude as behoves all classes to take the matter into serious consideration . The following facts are strikingly illustrative of tho co ; . (' i ' ion of the employed aud the employers in ihe uiureuamed trades . In the Fork Trade , for instance : —such is the overglutted state of the market , in consequence of cast metal trash , that the far greater pare of the manufacturers of steel forks are reduced to . a state of poverty aud want , in consequence of the low selling prices . The condition of the poor Grinders is still worse , as it is impossible for them to drag on any other than a
most miserable existence , working as they do at a trade so destructive to the human constitution , that the late Dr . Young once emphatically declared'Thai , under any circumstances , it was a punishment adequate to the crimes of the blackest dye to make ' the perpetrators of them work at fork grinding the remainder of their lives . ' As to the other grinding branches—and in particular the razor grinders—the poor artizans engaged therein are but very little better in circumstances to the one just named , is consequence of such a system , while the respectable manufacturers see i with the most painful emotions , their trade gradually dwindling away . The shopkeepers experience similar
effeots , by being deprived of a portion of their customers ; but the crowning evil is the loss of our credit and character as a manufacturing town . We talk of an Extension of our Foreign Commerce ! but we ought in the first ; place to redeem , our character as manufacturers of genuine articles . At this moment large quantities of cast metal articles are wending their way to the Chinese market . Thus it appears , after butchering a great number of the inhabitants , because they would not tamely submit to be poisoned with opium , we are increasing the disgust they have conceived against us as a nation , by sending them the most abominable articles that can be manufactured ; and Sheffield , ifc appears ; is to stand the foremost in such a base transaction .
"Another evil , and which has been partly caused by the breaking up of the Cutlers' Corporation , is thegreat number of little masters , who have done a great deal in producing tbe present state of things ; —still we cannot attach much blame to them—tho fault lies entirely with the system . If nine-tenths of them could only have obtained living wages as journeyman , they would never have commenced manufacturing . Necessity , which is above all laws , has compelled them to it . Dr . Holland observes iu one of his excellent works , "that their credit seldom extends beyond the duration of a week . ' And , we believe , in a great majority of cases , not so much . This renders them an easy prey to the factor
or capitalist , who ave always on the alert to profit out of their necessities ; and the dealers in hardware , act upon the same principle . Indeed , it is a well-known fact , that a coalition exists between thorn and many of the factors—their object being to force the little masters to ssll their own labour , and that vof others , for almost nothing . Can we , then , be surprised at the present etate of our workmen when their labour is thus sacrificed at tbe shrine of such unfeeling and grovelling selfishness \ Is it possible that property , in wheels , in shops , or houses , can maintain its value , under a system which forces multitudes to barter their labour for the first necessary of life , and not a sufficiency of it * We again repeat , that we do not blame the little masters for such a state of things , as they have tbe same equal right to a livelihood with any member of
the community ; and the only way to prevent them from manufacturing , must be by finding them employment whereby they can live respectably as journeymen . This is a matter that particularly interests the workmen and the respectable portion of their employers , if they mean to save themselves fr »» m Impending ruin . We could point out Other evils , bat ehaJl refrain from so doing , on the present occasion . We therefore close this part of the subject , by giving a quotation from a letter of a gentleman , of unquestionable veracity , who has travelled into many parts of the world . His language is as follows : — ' A traveller , alive to the honour of bis country , and jealous of any impeachment of its principles , cannot but be sensitive to the reproaches of foreigners complaining of English raaors tbat will not shave , or strops that take off the edge ; of scissors that refuse to cut ; of knives that presently break . ' '
M Fellow-Workmen—You will perceive from what has beeu already stated , that your position in respect to your trade , is far from bomg enviable . It seems as if you was receding Cast back to a primitive state . In fact the degrading system leaves no room for the expansion of the human intellect , To remedy this tartly , we again urge upon your serious attention the necessity of divertiug a part of your faboar to another pursuit ; and there ia none more worthy of your notice than that of the land . The most strenuous advocates of this measure contend , ' that the principles upon which it , and the preceding subjects aio based , are widely distinct—the one being political economy , the other moral economy . -The chief consideration of the political economist is
production , 2 eaviu £ disLribation to regulate itself . The moral economist would unite both , so as to produce the' greatest happiness to the greatest number . ' Tho political economist calls for great production for export , and estimates tbe happiness of the country by tho amount sent annually away ; not considering whether the masses are beaetitted by the return . The moral economist looks to production as only valuable in proportion as it increases the happiness of tho producers . It ' v ?? admit the moral axiom that 'labour is the source of all wealth , ' it ought to follow that the producers of the same shou'd be proportionately e ! eva ! ed in sooiery in the ratio of their usefuluess , and the idlers , or aon-producers , the reverse . For uuder a wise svstem of distribution few distributors
3em|≫Mai ^Parliament
3 Em |> maI ^ parliament
The Northern: Stab,. Satubday, August 6; 1843.
THE NORTHERN : STAB ,. SATUBDAY , AUGUST 6 ; 1843 .
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l A THE NORTHEjRN STAR .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Aug. 5, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct493/page/4/
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