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THE ANTI-CORN L4.W LEAGUE
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W« understand that
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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 1841.
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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
The Anti-Corn L4.W League
THE ANTI-CORN L 4 . W LEAGUE
MEETING AT THE CROWN AND ANCHOR TAVERN . fhom ora losdos cosbjbspojtdent . Wednesday Evening , March 3 Ut . This being the day appointed for the " great" onesided display at the Crown ud Anchor , we ma . de application lor a ticket of admission t ? the meeting , the rooms" of the League , 448 , Sirand , but were informed that all the tickets the Society eould tpart had been disposed of : en stating that we were connected with the prees , the factotum in waitin * replied , that they had " sent tickets to the press . ' B That i 3 . " said w « , " to such of the press as you wish to be present . " On this , a conference was held between the two worthies in attendance , and one of them—we are not quite sure if it were the gentleman who is so great an adept at knocking hats off , when oarties diffsr from him in opinion—stated , that if we
-would present ourselves at the Crown , and Anchor , he would recollect us , and admit us among the reporters . In » few minutes from this application , the representative of a London contemporary ( the WeeMg Dispatch ) , made a Bimil&r application ; and we understand , was still worse snubbed . " Are you favourable to the objects of the meeting ? " was the preliminary inquiry ; the gentleman did not feel bound to answer that ; and as several other question ? of a similar character were asked , the " jacks-in-office" wen told that ihej made too much " bother" to render k worth while attending the meeting at all , and the . applicant left in disgust , Not so , howeTer , with us : — we resolved to accept the proffer of the * jack inoffice , '" No . 1 ; so , at one o ' clock precisely ^ we presented our proper person at the aoor of the Crown and Anchor Tavern .
Mr . Knock-off Hats lecturer secretary Stdtly Smith , read the ( report ) of the committee ; and a thumper it is . Mr . Villiees , M . P . moved the first resolution , in a speech full of lamentation for tao naughty , naughty Chartists , who wouldn ' t let the Leaguers throw dust in iheir eyes without rubbing them . He was followed by the Rev . Dr . Pte Smith * who was sadly ashamed of his brethren of the cloth , for being so backward in coming forward now , when snug quarters have been provided for them , by the exclusion of the Chartists .
As the moment when the Rev . Dr . Smith had concluded , and before the question was put , a stranger in the meeting begged to ask if the object sought to be attained might not be achieved by growing more corn in our own country 1 He maintained that there were other and vast questions commingled with this : —he particularly alluded to the currency ; and if he were called upon to choose between the oppression of the two , he would prefer that of the landholder to the wealchy aristocrat . A member of the Committee rose to order , and the Chairman decided that it would be inconvenient to allow the gentleman to proceed . Mr . stewabt moved , and Mr . Ricaudo seconded , ihe nexi resolution .
These speakers were folio wad by a Mr . Fostkb Smith , a merchant , and Mr . Ewaet , who , taking occasion to denounce the Chartists , was stopped by a gentleman in ihe meeting , who claimed the right of reply , if the speakers were permitted to go on in this strain . Dr . "Wads came next . He seldom attended public meetings now , and he would almost say , he would attend no more , until he saw unanimity among the middle and working classes . It was not necessary io have at eTery meeting a cuckoo cry of " The
Chattel ! the Charter ! " aad be deprecated the hostility of the two classes . He preferred what was practicable and could be had , to what was impracticable , and could not be had , or at best was far distant . The Reverend Doctor , then —( amid . loud cries of " question , " )—referred to the Chartist movement in favour of Teetotalism , and urged that men who could take such a step , might be safely looked upon aa tho ^ e who would not long remain in error , and that they would soon see that the course they were pursuing was not the most likely to conduce to their avowed objects .
Mr . Waters , from tae body of the meeting , said that the light of the League had not yet reache'd his mind . He agreed with Mr . Yilliers that nothing tended so much to the advancement of truth a . 3 a full , free , and open discussion ; he referred -to the recent debates in the Commons on the Poor Laws , in proof that the present House would never repeal the Corn Laws ; and maintained , thai before this question coald be fairly entertained , they must aseertain what is the amount of the export trade , the productive power , and the amount of consumption in this country . Looking at the operation of Jointstock Bank 3 , and oiher moneyed interests , he contended that a repeal of the Corn Laws would be productive of grtat evil to all classes of the com-Baunny . Mr . Palisk avowed himself a middle-man , and urged on the public to exert themselves in the terms of the resolution .
Mr . Thorxlet , H . P . for Wolverhampton , moved ' a resolution pledging the Association to continue its -exertions . Mr . Milteb Gibson seconded it . Mr . Pearsk and Mr . Wilson supported the resolution , which , after toae able remarks by a stranger in the body of the meeting , was pas by th ' e Chair- i man to the rote . ' I Mr . Wahbcktos ( the chairman ) conld Dot let this opportunity pa > s without again * ' harping" « u the tyranny of the Chartists ; he regretted the position i
they had taken up , and expressed his opinion , that if such a course be persev « red in , the gagging bills of Lord Caalereagh wouid be Carried into effect to a worse extent than they ever were before . In conclusion , Mr . Warbunon said , "Don ' t let us bring this question before the House so unsupported by the people as to render our cause ineffectual . Remember , the Corn Laws are like a game at nine pins (!!!) if you knock down one , the rest will fall . " [ Query—Would not the Charter act as & floorer ?] l&e resolution was then put , and carried unanimonslv .
A . Mr . Coates , ( who certainly did not look as \ though he ictnlcd bread , or beef either ; weighing , j at a moderate computation , some twenty-two Btone ) , ¦¦ moved the thanks of the meeting to the Chair- ' man , f . _ . r las exertions on this and other occasions , in Opposition to the otit-ds £ iou 3 , (; tr ice repeated ) Corn Lvws ; which beiag seconded , was carried ; nnanimoo ? ly , and the Chairman having again j briefly tcucied on the conduct of the" naughty j Chartisis , " by way of admonition , the meeting j separated at five o'clock .
We obtained , sub ro .-a , a sight of a subscription i list , amounting to a&out £ 5 . 0 to begin next year's campaign wiih ; amorig-n . ihe names down , we I noticed the following : —Messrs . Warbarion and i Alcock , £ 50 each ; Mr . Gibson , £ 25 , &c ., &c . Mr . Francis Place , chairman of the Business Committee , was on the platform , near the chair ; and the report congra-uia-. ed the meeting npon the decline of apa-. hy m the middle class , and the cessation , to a considerable extent , of the hostility of the working ciass . Th-3 seii-graTulaticn was cot bad , considering they took tohrable good care to shut out anything like *• hstiiUy'' in the shape of working men . Postscript , Half-past Seven . .
Sines closing my report , 1 learn that Mesn-3 . Clea > e , Watson , and others , though possessed of proper tickets , were refused admission ; the former gentleman being told that , " if he w « uid promise not to cisturb or interrupt the meeting , the comjnittee would be happy to admit him / ' Thi = of course , was indignantly refused , as unworthy of those who made the offer , and , if accepted , would be still more unworthy of him who accepted it . Mr . Wat . -oa declined going up stairs on ' similar grounds ; and Dr . Roberts Black , one of the very first at tne iormation of the Association , happenm * to come up at the moment , w ^ so disgusted at the S " L ° Ll ! ° ? i ? » wfn «« S honour
. , ^ their own tickets , that he left the place in dudgeon At this t ; ms there was ^ u . te a troop of poli .-e , wuh several inspectors , limn * the passes and staircase and a youth , wno has lately received admission into several Cnarus ; societies , and partaken of public subscription * , was employed by the League to point out the Charusis as tney presented themselves Wly forty individuals were thus spotted , and not allowed to pass the bar . Fortunately ; these indmduais evinced more patience than their oppanen-s did prndL-nce , or the consequences might have been a eon * ct . On the whole , toe affiir £ a fi&e , ^_ ttea ui free aiscussion , " and a new aode of- promoting public opinion .
PtTinoxCoHHmEE .-This Committee held their weekly oee in- last evening , at the Dispatch Coffee House , Bnde-lane , Mr . Murray in the Cnair Ml . Parker having resigned the d £ ee of Secretary a tow of thanks was unanimously passed to him for his z = slons erertious and rateable 6 erriees ; and Mr Balls waa elected as his successor . Upwards of 80 petitions , in behalf of Frost , William ? , and Jones ; of O Connor , Peddie , Carrier , and others ; as well a ? of the Charter , rrere referred , and thii day forwarded to Messrs . Hnme , IHincombe , &c for pre-* entatien to the Honourable House .
Thb Fiksbcbt Chartists held their weekly » eeti » g on Monday evening last , at Lant ' a Coffee -House , Mr . Ball * in the chair . Mr . Colrerhoosc addressed the meeting at some length , when the folsowing aesoJitfiofl was agreed to ; That this meeting folly approves of Mr . O'Connor's pltn , as recommended in the Northern Star ,- anii urge npon the Coartists of the metropolis to take the bosi efficient m ? ans to carry it out . " A rote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the business of the erening , and the meeting adjourned until Tussdav next , the 6 ± of ApriL
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Ai trb Htotikgdos Assizes , on Friday the 26 th nit ., James inglett , aged ninety > four was found guilty of manslaughter . He was a cow-doctor , and jilt } gnorantl r * c ministered to his wife aniver SLn ° JLl * M . - M >^ l ciDe- He was therefore sentenced to be impriaoisd for a fortnieht .
W« Understand That
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Zephaniah Williams , one of the three Chartists , and who was employed as an overseer at the coal mines , has made his escape from Tasman's Peninsula , taking with him four men , one of whom , Darned County , formed part of the crew who ran away with the commandant ' s boat some months since . When the Tamar left , two of the party , County and Rooke , had been taken near East Bay Neck . —Habart Town Courier , Not . 17 . - Anothke Kobuk Blackgua&d . —At Marlborughstreet Police-court , on Friday , Lord George Lofius was brought into Court to answer for being drunk the overnight , and refusing to pay a eab fare . The policeman , as well as he could , being frequently interrupted by the noble defendant , said he found Lord
GeOrge Loftus drank , and creating a disturbance with ih « cabman , whose fare his Lordship refused to pay , and he then removed the drunkard to his wellknown quarters , the Vine » street Station-house . The reply of Lord George Loftus was , that the policeman was a b—y liar . Mr . Dyer , in evident disgust , told Lord George Loftus he should be fined for swearing . Lord George Loftu 3 told Mr , Dyer he had no business to believe that b—y thief , the policeman , before a nobleman . Mr . Dyer Bwd every time Lord George Loftus swore , he would impose an additional fine . Lord George Loftus Baid the Magistrate knew nothing about law . He had studied the law , and he was able to instruct the Bench . The cabman gave his evidence . Lord George Loftus swore he he would give the cabman a b—y trood licking .
Gaoler— " Be quiet , the Magistrate will fine you . " Lord George Loftus— " B—t you , who are you ?' First "Usher— " Pray don ' t use such language here . ' Lord George Loftus— " Go to h—11 . " After a good deal more of the same sort of behaviour , Mr . Dyer told the Noble Lord that his fine for drunkenness and non-payment of the cab fare , amounted to eight Bhillings . There were also eight oaths , at fiv » shillings each , for which be also fined his Lordship . Lord George Leftus— " You aare not fine me . If you do , it ' s at your peril . " Mr . Dyer— " If the whole of th « fine is not paid , I shall commit you . " Lord G * orge Loftus— " Commit me ! Oh , then 'Isonnanby' will let me out . " His Lordship was removed from the bar , and having paid £ 2 8 a . he was released .
Extexsitk Plunder . —Christopher William Davis , a fine-looking young man , who wore the uniform ot the 1-ith light dragoons , was charged at Worshipstraet police office , on Saturday , with having stolen property to a large amount from his late employers , Messrs . Savory and Co ., the fancy stationers , &c , in Conrhill . The father , mother , and brother of the prisoner , were committed last week , charged with having extensively robbed the same prosecutors , and they are now in Mewgate awaiting their trial . Mr . Knowlts , the chief clerk to Messrs . Savory , stated that the prisoner had been in their service as errand boy , but he was discharged sometime since , in consequence of beiDg detected in an act of embezzlement . At the examination of the relations of the prisoner ,
for robbing the prosecutors , nothing whatever transpired to implicate the prisoner in the transaction ; but a few days after their committal a young person , named Saiah Burford , called at the prosecutor *' , and delivered up a quantity of property , consisting of work-boxes , dressing-cases , and a larjje assortment of elegant fancy articles , which she had received from the prisoner , and wkich were identified as being the property of Messrs . Savory . Having receiTed information that the prisoner had enlisted in the 14-ih dragoons , witness proceeded to Houns-] ojv barracks , with a sergeant of the Y division of police , whe took him into custody : he would have
left the country in a few days , his regiment being under orders for India . Sarah Barford , a yoang woman , of delicate and prepossessing appearance , the daughter of a warehouseman in the custom house , stated that she had known the prisoner for about eight years , and he had presented her with tke articles produced . She had not the slightest suspicion that they had been dishonestly obtained , until about a week ago , when she happened to read an account in the papers of the examination of his relatives at this court , upon which she immediately proceeded to the prosecutors ' , and delivered up all the property he had given to her . He was committed for trial .
The Northern Star. Saturday, April 3, 1841.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , APRIL 3 , 1841 .
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CHURCH CHARTISM , TEETOTAL CHARTISM , KNOWLEDGE CHARTISM , AND HOUSEHOLD SUFFRAGE CHARTISM . We this week give the promised letter of O'Conjiob upon all these subjects ; and our readers will observe that the far greater portion of the letter is occupied with an attack on what O'Co . vnob calJs " Church Chartism . " We cannot think that Mr . O'Cosnos has displayed his usual acumen in the examination of this subject . He appears to us to have misconceived the whole matter . His reasoning goes entirely on the assumption that the advocates and votaries of what he calls " Church Chartism" rely on their religious services and ceremonies as an exclusive means of carrying the Charter—that they
adhere to the w Church , " and to the " Church " only , in distinction from , and in opposition to , all other means of diffusing political knowledge , and of establishing the people in possession of their rightB . Now , if any persons have been absurd enough to form such a notion of a " Christian Chartist Church , " we should be as ready to denounce it for a mischievous will-o' -th ' -wisp as either O'Con . nob or any one else ; but we cannot suppose that , even in Birmingham , so Btupid an idea can have entered into any body ' s head . Hence , therefore , the premises from which Mr . O'Con . nob Etarts being erroneous , his reasoning is necessarily all false , because all wide of the subject . It stultifies itself , too ; for he says : —
" The very essence of Chartism proclaims civil equality to lead to the universal right of religious worship as each shall deem fit . " Surely , then , the Chartists , insisting upon that " civil equality , " have a right to their own forms and modes of worship , either individually or collectively ; nor does it by any means f jllow that their claiming and exercising of that right is to be understood » denunciatory of those w > . o may not claim and exercise it . Mr . O'Con . nob asks : —
" Are all Chartists , who are not communicants of your church , it . fldel Chartists ? and if your religion is so pure as to be universally adopted by all , you must differ in faith from all existing sects ; therefore produce your articles of religious fcutb , because having founded a Church , ¦ which ia tTen a more extensive term than a sect , j-ou must haTe some peculiar faith or jeu are humbugs . " Well , but you answer either that you have no creed , or that jour creed is so universal that all men ought to adopt it . If you have no creed yon can have no church ; and , if you have a creed , and if that creed
does not embrace Catholicism , Protestantism , Dissentism , Quakerism , and all the minute ramifications of those several parent stocks ; do you not exclude all Ireland as conscientious Catholics , and all England as conscientious Protestants , Dissenters , Catholics , orlnflilels ? So that if you have no peculiar faith you have no title to the designation you have taken ; and if yon have a f . iith , and if it is sot & hodge-podge faith , a faith which couscientions Christians will not subscribe to , yoa become an txclusire sect of politico-religious advfctuTfcre , ready with your pions loai to pop tnto . the Caartist oven the moment it becomes heated . "
We have no doubt that a little explanation will set all this right . Mr . O'CoKKoa , shut up in his dungeon , has not the opportunity of becoming eo well acquainted with the actual movemenU of the Chartist world as we are . He speaks of the religious movement , or what he calls Church Char tism , as though it were confined to the little cyterie of a " Christian Chartist Church" at Birmingham ; the fact being that the " Christian Chartist Churoh" at Birmingham , is one of the very smallest spot * upon the surface of *• Chrirtian Chartism . "
That which his been , we think , improperly , ealled " Christian Chartism , " and which Mr . O'Conkor now calls " Church Chartism , " is nothing more or less than the aisertion of the entire principle of Christianity ; its creed is to be found in the direct teachin g * of the Lord Je * n « Christ , which , while they interfere but little with speculative matter * of opinion , insist always and entirely upon the practice of honesty , justice , and benentlence one towards another . Such of the Chartists as are conseientiou ? , and not merely nominal , Christians , find in the
doctrines of Christianity , as taught by the Lord Jesai Christ , a full recognition of all the psneiples contained in the People ' s Charter ; they find those principles to pervade the whole of the teaching , and to be enforced by the whole of the practice , of the Lord Jesus Christ—to be the doctrine of the Bible throughout—while they find much apparent ground for many differences of opinion on mere opinionative matters ; they find that in almost all churches and chapels , appertaining to whatever sect , the principle * of social benevolenoe
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* nd justice , of civil equality and of political right , though recognised by the Bible , are denounced by the priesthood ; and hence their determination to erect their own temples , and offer their own worship , to the God of Justice , whom they serve . They find the priests generally , both of the State and Dissenting Churches , to be the bitterest enemies to civil freedom and social right ; and hence their wise resolve to withdraw their future countenance from the enemies of the faith , the wolves in shepherd ' s clothing , who devour the flocks under pretence of feeding them . They find the doctrines of civil
equality and social right universally disclaimed amongst those who are called Christians , and affirmed to b « no portion of Christianity—they believe them to be the very life and spirit of Christianity ; they are told that Christianity and Politics are separate and distinct things—they believe them to be identical with and inclusive of each other ; under these circumstances , what other course is left to them , as honest and conscientious Christians , but that of boldly asserting th « whole truth , and maintaining the practical doctrines of Christianity unvitiated \ If they do this they are
at once expelled from the several religious communities to which they now belong , and cast forth upon the world ; coolly "delivered over to the destruction of the evil one , against the day of wrath . " The Christian Chartists do not choose to be longer thus treated . They adhere practically , as well as theoretically , to their own principles—they demand the right to worship God after their own fashion , and in accordance with the doctrines which they believe to be true . Their principles have been with one consent declared heretical by tke Churoh ; but they still adhere to them , and " after the manner which is called heresy—so worship they the God of their
fathers ; " and , though they are quite prepared to meet persecution and malediction from the pillars ot the Babylon out of which they have come , it is a little too hard that they should hare it also from Mr . O'Cois-jroB , who recognizes all their principles and agrees with all their doctrines . But we are satis-Bed that Mr . O'Connoh never did intend to denounce Christian Chartism when properly understood ; but merely that bastard form of it which he supposes to exist in what is called " The Christian Chartist Church" at Birmingham , and which sets up the establishment of a new religious sect , as a subttituteftr , instead of as an accompaniment to , a political movement .
Mr . O'Coknor ' s whole letter does not contain one single argument to show in what possible way the preaching of the doctrines of Chartism on Sundays—the maintaining of those doctrines oh Scriptural authority—and the proving of them to be part and parcel of Christianity itself , can retard the advancement of the people's cause . While , on the contrary , we hold ourselves prepared to prove that , under proper and judicious management , it is the most powerful lever ever yet employed by the people , for the overturning of the mountain of corruption which stands across the highway of righteousness . Ro better proof of this can be offered than that which Mr . O'Co . nnob himself offers in the successful establishment of Chartist Churches in Scotland . He
says : — " Now , in Scotland ; ( I make what I consider a fair and tenable distinction , ) in Scotland , the establishment of Chartist Church preachers establishes for them a great object , and , inasmuch as they have not a State Church to the extent which it exists in England , they strengthen themselves by weakening the enemy in the vital point—in the seat-money ; and , further , many of the interested supporters at the Toluntury principle art our greatest political enemies . "
Now we take leave to Bay , that Mr . O'Connor ' s " fair and tenable distinction , " is no distinction at all . That Chartist preaching in Scotland , and Chartist preaching in England , is ( at least bo far as we can understand it ) precisely similar , and productive of precisely similar effects . The bitterest enemies of right which society now contains , are those who bawl most lustily for that very " voluntary principle" which , pervading all the Dissenting preaching houses , draws on the pence of the oppressed labourers for the sustentation of the costly buildings and the pampered priesthood , in which , and by whom , their liberties are sacrificed , their characters vilified , and their persons insulted .
They do not ohoose longer to contribute their pence for this purpose ; they come out , therefore , from the camp of leprosy , aud pitch their own tents in the open plain of truth , honesty , and sincerity . By this meana they do juat the same thing here as in Scotland— " they strengthen themselves by weakening the enemy in the vital point —in the scat money . " la England , as in Scotland , "the preachers assume no distinct religious bearing ; the funds go to advance the political principles , while no peculiar religious failh is preached or attempted to be enforced" beyond that of a distinct recognition of the Deity of the Lord , and of the truth of the Sacred Scriptures ; without which no man can claim the name of Christian at all .
Ab to the creed of Christian Chartists being sufficiently comprehensive to admit Catholics , Protestants , and Dissenters , all to meet together—we maintain that that is just what it ought to be and just what it is . These are all matters of opinion ; and upon all these matters of opinion , persons may hold different and tjen contrary opinions , and yet all agree in the assertion of the great practical truths which constitute the very life and essence of Christianity , and out of which the principles of the Charter grow . We dissent in Mo from the sentiment contained in the following portion of Mr . O'Connob ' s
letter : — " Christian Chartism , though appparently all-embracing in its aieaning , carries with it exclusion of all other sects from whom we expect political aid . The Catholics would become our bitterest enemies if you were permitted to establish your heresy ; they have suffered , from all new aspirants , and they would dread you ; so with the conscientious portion of the Disi senters ; while those of the State Church , who would gladly go with us for civil liberty , see religious tyranny , ¦ which is the worst of all tyranny , in the fore-ground of your Christian ChartiBm . "
" Christian Caartism is as all embracing in its meaning as any general term ought to be . It shuts out none , of whatever religious creed or opinion , but those who are not Chartists ; and from whom else can we " expect political aid" ! We think the call of Mr . O'Connor for a creed of the Christian Chartists is but fair , and we now aHbwer that call by the production of
A CREED , which we recommend to the adoption of all Chartists congregated and associated together as religious bodies . Mr . O'Connob will see that it is sufficiently comprehensive to admit conscientious Christians , of whatever speculative opinion , into the Church , and that it is yet sufficiently restricted to shut out every one , however pious he may be in matters of faith , who is not prepared to go the whole hog of social , civil , and political , aa well as personal , right and virtue . Here it is : — " I believe in one God ; the Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ .
M I believe that good actions ought to be dome ; because they are accordant with the will of God and because they are of God and from God . " I believe that evil actions ought not to be done ; because they aoeord not with the will of God . " I believe that the Sacred Scriptures contain the revealed will of God , and that they set forth what actions are good and what actions are evil .
" I believe that the Sacred Scriptures forbid not only all personal vices and crimes , but all social oppression and political inequality , which are their natural results . " I believe that order and government amongst men , to be accordant with the . ^ iU of God , as revealed in the Sacred Scriptures , must be equitable and righteous ; based on that great precept of the Lord , ' whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you , do ye even so unto t . torn . '
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u believe that no state of society is governed in accordance with this precept , or with the revealed will of God , as contained in the Sacred Scriptures , in which any member being of sound . mind is excluded from a direct influence in the enactment of the laws . *? I believe that no state of society is governed in accordant with this precept , or with the re » vealed will of God , as contained in the Sacred Scriptures , in which every one's right of participation in the legislative power is not protected , to the utmost possible extent , against the
force or fraud of his fellows . " I believe that no state of society is governed in accordance with this precept , or with the revealed will of God , as contained in the Sacred Scriptures , in which oil possible care is not taken to give an equal voice and influence in the legislative power to all its members . " I believe that no state of sooiety is governed in accordance with the precept , or the revealed will of God , as contained in the Sacred Scriptures , in which the legislature is net amenable , at stated and short periods , to the people ,
from whom its power is derived . « I believe that no state of society is governed in accordance with this precept , or with the revealed will of God , aa contained in the Sacred Scriptures , in which the possession of worldly wealth , or property , is ho ] den to be a necessary qualification for a legislator . I believe that no state of society is governed in accordance with this precept , or with the revealed will of God , as contained in the Sacrtd Scriptures , in which adequate remuneration is not provided for all services rendered by individuals to the state or to each other .
" I believe that it is the duty of every Christian man to use all his powers of exertion for the carrying into active operation of all those principles of equity and righteousness which accord with the will of God , as revealed in the Sacred Scriptures ; and that the first and greatest means of doing so , is to avoid all crime and vice in his own personal acts and habits , and to live honestly , soberly , and righteously , according to the precepts of God ' s law . "
Such is the " creed" which we believe the Chrittian Chartists universally to hold in principle , put into such a form as we think would render it unexceptionable to all ; we recommend all congregations , forming themselves upon Chartist . principles , to adopt it ; and we think it affords an answer to all Mr . O'Connor ' s objections about the shutting out of conscientious Christians of any speculative creed whatever .
We have as great an objection to the name " Christian Chartist Church , " as Mr . O'Connor . We believe these to be the genuine principles of Christianity , and we wish to see founded on them a Universal Church , which , in its creed and formulary , shall continue to « xist , the very body aud substantial form of the pure Christian faith , long after the Charter shall have been so long and so perfectly established , that the name Chartist as a distinctive denomination has been laid aside as useless . Mr . O'Connor was never more mistaken in his
life than in supposing that the Christian Chartists of England abate one jot of their political usefulness or determination because of their religious character or that they have any desire to fritter away our strength by divisions , or allow others to do so . We believe that , on the oontrary , he will always find them , as a body and aa a whole , to be the most determined and the moat consistent advocates of the Charter , and of the National Charter Association ,
to which they serve as most powerful right hands ; and of which the proof is , that nearly all the most able and talented of the Chartist lecturers and misaionariea have found it necessary to become preachers . Most heartily do we pray that Christian Chartism may run through the whole length and breadth of the land , and that speedily ; for we see in it the best and surest preludo that we have ever yet seen to the permanent establishment of right .
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YO ¥ HAVE THE " TICKET FOR SOUP
HERE'S THE " TICKET" FOR BREAD . Let General Hahrison talk of the Republios of old as he pleases ; let the Yankee Doodles revile our Monarchical institutions as they please ; and let Master Froggy call us " a nation of shopkeeping Caesars ' as he pleases ; yet do we defy one and all to furnish any instance of philanthropy , patriotism , benevolenoe , and national greatness , comparable with what we can boast of in free and happy England .
Here we have national cooks for the poor , and living ia a palace ; here we have institutions for their sole benefit ; and here we have a fostering , humane middle-class , not like your griping money-makers of the same ordor in other nations , but men actually spending time and money with no other earthly view than that of serving their poorer brethren ; men so thoughtful that they lose all consideration of self , and so fearful lest the poor should want , that they will cram large loaves down their throats whether they Will or no !
The Somerset House cooks give the poor the "ticket for soup , " and our manufacturers , not to be outdone , propose to givo them a " ticket" for bread . The Morning Chronicle ., finding that the people have found out " what ' s what , " and that they cannot loager be gulled by the very men who have t-tarved them almost to death , proposes , that henceforth , admission to " public meetings" shall be attainuble only by " ticket . " This , from the leading Whig journal , in the niuotcenth century , and tenth year of Reform , by which all our institutions wero to have been " submitted to popular , vigilant controul , " is a step in advance backwards , that even we were not prepared for .
Let us now examine the question of right . Is it not as much within the rules of propriety to move an amendment to any resolution at a public meeting , as it is to move an amendment to any public question in the House of Commons 1 Is it not as much the right of the whole people to move amendments upon Whig resolutions , as it is the right of a Whig faction to move amendments upon Tory resolutions J and when have they abstained when Victory was calculated upuu 1 What are speeches at public meetings made fur , but to gain converts to certain opinions 1
Again , let it be borne in mind , that much abstruse law has lately b * en brought to bear upon the question of legality of public meetings , when called for popular purposes , and that Lord John Russkll ordered the Loudon police to Birmingham , io obey the order ot the Magistrates in dispersing constitutional meetings of the people , to which he had himself invited them , even at the hazard of blood-shed and civil-war . Hence , then , the people made wary by subtle conetructions of law , besc evince their love of peace and obedienoe to " the powera that be , " by taking all and every opportunity of attending public meetings called legally , because called by the
lawmakers . Here , then , we at once establish the right to attend those public meetings , and , in fact , those who erasure the couise pursued by the Chartists , of moving amendments , do not deny their right to attend , but merely their freedom of action , thereby establishing the most slavish of all principles , namely , that public meetings are not for discussion , but merely for a declaration of assent to the proposed object . If this doctrine is to be upheld , it may , with truth , be eaid , thai all " public meetings" are but so many representations of the same farce , and Committees may just jib well publish the resolutions of ibeir respective bodies , as go to the trouble aud expense of bringing large
assemblies together . Let us sow have one word upon the question of policy . While the Chartists met in tens of thousands , and hundreds of thousands , they were a ** mere mob , " the '** outcasts of society" ' an u infuriate rabble ? and they were treated with scorn knvt ccn-
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tempt j they formed no portion of society . We have heard more than ono stinking rascal declare that they stank . Very well ; we upon our own part , and the people upon their part , said , " We must Bhow tke enemy , for they have declared themselves such , that we are somebody ; and the only way is which we can accomplish this , is , by showing onr opponents that they are nobody without us . By this means we will force the world , through the enemies' organs , to acknowledge suoh a body as the whole people . " This object they have well and
nobly accomplished ; and , in order to meet Us effect ; , the liberal Chronicle proposes that free men , going to attend free discussion , for the purpose of arriving at just conclusions , are all to be labelled , " ticketed , " like lota of swine for sale . "O , but , " flayBthe Chronicle , ** they don't gojo discuss , they go to interrupt . " We reply—look back at Liverpool , where the CbartiBts were actually buffetted and insulted ; look at Mr . Sydney Smith ' s insolence at Bermondsey ; look at the intolerance of the League , and their hired ruffians , wherever they have been able t * try the bully with success and impunity .
But how very marvellous it is , and what an ignorant set of beasts the people must be , not at once to comprehend the object , and be grateful to their benefactors . The sole object is to "benefit the working classes . " Now , how very mysterious that thousands should be spent , confusion created , public meetings still persevered in , and agitation kept up in aid of an ungrateful " mob , " who thus frustrate the very benign intent of the disinterested masters .
The people reason thus : — " Those masters say they have no hope of a repeal of the Corn Laws from a House of Commons constituted as onrs is at present ; let us therefore unite , and get such a representative system as will cure the evil . " Well , they meet , and propose Household Suffrage ; the people listen attentively , and say— Go ye and get Hwsehold Suffrage ; you can do it ; but we will Stand on the firm ground of the universal rights of man . " " No , " Bay the patriotic masters , " perhaps yod would oppose us . " Now , here we find that the very anticipation of opposition is sufficient to affright the gentlemen from what they could of themselves effoct ; while the reality of substantial drubbing after drubbing won't deter them from the pursuit of what , for their own selfish interests , they require .
The fact is clear to the people , that if the Corn Laws were repealed , the masters would require , aye and would Boon acquire , a despotic House of masters , with a National Gendarmerie , to confine the whole benefit to capitalists . Does any mm , in his senses , » for a moment doubt , that the very first effect of a repeal of the Corn Laws , Without a natienaj representation , would be a return to one pound notes
to an unlimited issue of fictitious money to meet reckless speculation , to a depopulation of the rural districts , and a flooding of the already over-stocked manufacturing hell-towns ; to the erection of mills , as if by magic ; to a scene of gambling , unparalleled ; to a short gleam of sunshine followed by a long and dreary season of dark depression and servile despondency ! In Ehort , in the words of the old hare hunting
song" Merry for a moment , and dull for an hoar . " This is not what the matured mind of England now lookBfor ; it is quite the reverse , they are content to
be-r-" Dull for a moment , and merry for an hour . " The Chronicle tried the " ticket" system recently at Leicester , and Messrs . Markhak and Seal repaid the proprietor and his tail , in a rebuke which insured them the thanks of millions ; and , even now , the Chronicle , in its attempt to mislead , does not seem to be aware when , in its own columns , it draws the veil from its own delusion . The Chronicle , while speaking of '' ticketing" English freemen , thus lets the cat out of the bag , on Saturday last , in certainly the beet and most spicy article we have seen for along time , in that cold and seasonless dish . In referring to the public auction for popular support , the Chronicle says : — " The poor-law stalking
horse has failed the Tories . The revision of the Bill has unmasked their hollow pretensions . In whatever mitigation could be effected the lead has been taken by their opponents . " This is quite true , it only requires the proper moral to be attached , to turn the trick to valuable account . The Whigs did without any , even the slightest , hope of success , outbid the Tories , but merely outbid them in humbug , not in popular favour ; and Mr . Easthope ' s proposition is viewed by the country in the very light in which , in the few lines we have quoted , his vanity has suggested it , to enhanco his value , even by a trick , to a tottering faction .
We again counsel the people , by all and every means , to take advantage of every meeting , and when refused admittance to a ticket show , to meet in thousands outside , and pass resolutions for the Charter , and to exolude from their meetings all obnoxious persons , if the system is persevered in . In fact , if it is made general , we undertake to turn it to beneficial account , and to stop all meetings but Chartist meetings . They have their House ; the least the people oan have is their talk . Some eighteen months ago , we had to pay the " Sun" from £ 30 to £ 40 a week for condescending to notice us ; now , we are the stock-in-trade of the whole " Establishment . " " That " s the ticket" for bread and soup , and something more .
If we only stick together , in defiance of open villany and sham profession , Chartism may defy the Devil and all his imps . In fact , the question now is , When . arc we to have the change , as change is certain ? But many , very many " tricks of the trades" will be yet tried to persuade us that we are not yet quitb ready ; that we require some profitable preparation . Iu fact , all will try the old scheme of making the humbug "last his time . "
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CONFESSION OF THE BOY , MITCHELL , NOW UNDER SENTENCE OF DEATH IN YORK CASTLE . The confession of this unfortHnate boy , which we give in our 8 th page , will , no doubt , be read with painful interest . We are not of the " whole hog " abolition of capital punishment party ; and it is because wo wish to see a controlling power , reserved for the purpose of making examples in the most flagrant cases , that we can , with the greater propriety , and self-satisfaction , turn to the little of a redeeming quality which appears in the case before us .
Mitchell is but just seventeen years of age ; has never before been charged with any crime what-« vcr ; his father and mother are most respectable and industrious people . They have , though poor , brought up a family of , we believe , eleven or twelve children , in virtue and industry ; there being either eight or ten daughters , many very respectably married , and all highly respected for their good conduct .
Robinson and Cherry are each some eight years older than the unfortunate Mitchell ; and , surely , if his statement be true , of which we have not a shadow of doubt , their crime is immeasurably more heinous than Mb ; and , benot it if , that we Bee the great necessity of distinction , if any distinction is to be made . "Malice prepense" constitutes the gravamen of the crime of murder ; Mitchell could have had no malice , because he had never seen his victim before / neither had he received more than tea minutes ' notice
from his associates of the intended robbary in whioh he was designed to take part . If even , therefore , distinction in sach eases , becomes warrantable , or indeed justifiable , it is where a glaring difference is manifest in the parts of the several actors in such a tragedy ; and , in our humble opinion , the duty of the Secretary of State , is , by all and every means , to sift the case to the bottom , so that if the more damnable wickedness of those , hitherto screened from the laws' just vengeance , shall at all purge the crime , of the only on *
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about to suffer , of any of its atrocity , that such oonrse may be adopted as will lead to that humane result . Are the actual perpetrators of the foul deed to remain at large , while their less guilty accomplice , discharged of the " malice afore thought , " is to expiate the whole offence upon th « gallows t May not the arrest of the real murderera lead to a greater amount of legal and moral satisfaction , than the death of the least guilty , bscausa he happened to be most technically identified . Surely , if there be not sufficient grounds Tot % commutation of punishment now , there are ampl » reasons for delay , in hope that those grounds may be yet strengthened .
It is evident that Mr . Baron Rolfs saw ths guilt of the prisoners , Robinson and Cherst , hom his . observation , that , he did not envy the feelion of his companions . " Baron Rolfs appears , iahjf short judicial career , to have entirely won the coa » fidence of the professien , by his legal acumen , while his sentences , though sufficiently severe to reclaim the criminal , are eminently dis tinguiihed by a strong desire to act the part of a just Jud g ^ by doing the laws' duty and . no more ; and , we ai * confident , that those comparatively mild sentence have the full effect of preventing the criminal from resuming his wicked course , while they are calculated to prevent the perpetration of crime by others , which should be the two great and undeviating coasidereationBwith allJudges .
: We have been furnished with a very interesting Harrative of the life of this unfortunate lad , which however , we withhold , not being desirous to nub a Newgate Calendar of the people ' s paper . Fot the present , we shall merely observe that , from the aa of fourteen to sixteen , he lived a roving life with the Derbyshire gipsies , . whose society he abandoned about a year since , being averse to their mode of life , and has since lived with o » e master , from whom he never received the slightest reproach for negli . gence , or bad conduct . It is a remarkable faot that the unfortunate Bardslet , who was hung at the last March Assizes , had been . for a longtime a companion of the gipsy tribe .
It will be seen , that the confession of the convict is signed by the three prisoners apppointedaa his-companions in the condemned cell . It is but justice to Fox , to state that he had no knowledg e of , or hand , act , or part , in the transaction from thi beginning to the fatal close . It is also a great blessing that Robinson and Cherry have not escaped the meshes of the law , as they were not tried for tha murder , and therefore are still amenable to justice , and cannot plead in bar autrefois acquit . " —i + ~~~~ —
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FASHIONABLE INTELLIGENCE , AND UN-: PARALLELED WHIG GENEROSITY . The Right Honourable F . Basing , her Majesty ' s Chancellor of her Majesty ' s Exohequer , has come forward , in the meat liberal and handsome manner , and kindly borrowed John and Judt Bcix ' t monies , deposited in the Savings' Banks ; and , further , to mark the Right Honourable Gentleman's especial regard for the said John aud JuDT , he has been graciously pleased to consolidats ( there ' s a fine word , worth half the money ) the
same . We trust the Right Honourable Gentleman will not distress himself , by any over-anxiety to repay the loan ; we are quite sure that John aud Judt , always so pliant , will take shert bills , payable thret days after convenience . Now , then , we ask who are the poople ' s greatest enemies ; those who fight them with their own weapons , or those who furnish the weapons ! Had the wise holders of Savings' Bank stock taken the advice of the "foolish" and " plundering" Convention , this extensive fraud could not have been committed .
Will any man tell us that , in the age of uureformed abuse , any Government would have ventured upon so audacious and unconstitutional a step , without a single word of notice . No ; the plunder * ing Whiffs would have moved England to its centre , if such * thing was even hinted at . Go it , Frank ! that ' s the ticket for soup ! your race is almost run , when yon are obliged to borrow from the lazy poor to pay the industrious rich .
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THE "LAST KICK" OF THE LEAGUE
THE LEEDS MEETING . Never was " heavy blow and deep discouragement , ' felt more severely than the League men feel their defeat at Leeds , the very central camp of Whiggery , and the burrow of the new brood of foxes ! Poor fellows ! we pity them sincerely ! and the more so , as we fear the wholesome lesson will be lost upon them . We doubt whether they have enough of virtue to repent , even under the lash of punishment . The Mayor of Leeds had a lesson read to him , on Friday , which should be serviceable to him ; it should bring to his
recollection that a short time , ago a most respectable requisition was presented to him , requesting him to convene a meeting of the inhabitants on business of high moment to their interests , and that he refused either to convene the meeting , or to give to the inhabitants of the town the use of their own room—the Court House—built , and sustained continually , with their own money . He will recollect that he treated the deputation who then waited upon him most uncourteously ; and he will / w / now that the people are such as may be " reasonably deemed" to have some share of manly spirit miDgled with their forbearance , when bis second attempt ai insult was repelled with the almost unanimous and
firmly expressed , though subdued and well governe , indignation which greeted him on that occasion . Let other functionaries learn herefrem a lesson of becoming modesty , and know their place and station when mingling with their fellow townsmen at a publio meeting , or they will certainly , as we hope at least , receive similar admonitions to that betowed upon the Mayor of Leeds by the fustians on Tuesday last ; while the Leaguers will , we venture to promise , never more venture upon a public meeting , either here or any where else . The poor wretches are laughed out of every society of honest working men , in which they dare to show themselves . So should it ever be with dishonest tricksters !
Our neighbour Mercury seems determined to lose no opportunity of earning new laurels in hisprofesaion of mendacity . He has in this instance been too impatient of applause to wait for it in due course , but actually lies by anticipation in his neighhour ' s columns before his own can be got ready . In the Sun of Wednesday , we find a most veracious report of the proceedings , quoted f rom the Leeds Mercury , in which the unspoken speeches of Messrs : Foxes Stasspexp and Punt appear at foil length , aa they were no doubt intended to home been delivered ,- or more probably , as the foxes would
have been glad if they could haw been delivered Nobooy knows , however , better than our friend the Mercury , that the pertinaeious love of disorder and confusion manifested by the league ftxea rendered Bpeeehea out of the queition , and that n » speeches were heard at all There w « re no R * portern on the stepa , and not one syllable eonld be heard beyond the stepa-tho ¦ peeeces i » T # , therefore , clearly b « en handed orer-ent and dry—w even the Mercury himself admito that u »
no one could be heard-that no one was **»**~ ^ and that the whole proceeding * passed in dum * show . The resolutions of the Leagnen intended * hmve been put , bat which nemer were put at all , ** coolly paraded as those of the meeting , while tM resolutions moved by Mr . Hhx , and adopted by at least three-fourths of the whole meeting , arespolce « of m * farce (!) God help the poor fellow » 1 for players in a farce we never before saw « u « h long ana sorrowful faces , as the Leaguers pulled that day ana ever since ! We guess tha farce wa «|» tragedy which they will never again bespeak .
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THE NORTH E R ; If ¦ S TAR , ; ;
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), April 3, 1841, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct700/page/4/
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