The Sun.
London, England, 1838-12-29 00:00:00

the former to 9 discharge Of their limg-ibrgotten obligatiohs, and tc.i,
arouse the latter to an assertion of their long-forgotten and abandoticu
hit thright ;—with what success let my enemies bear witness.
Front the beginning of this career of moral agitation to the present
hour, I have done my utmost to inspire all with a holy reverence for
law and for religion—the landmarks set up in the olden time by the
good, the Wise, and the great amongst our forefathers, by whom the
fear of God was held to be the beginning of wisdom, the groundwork
of all sound law, and the safest guarantee of general liberty. Vene-
rating, as I have always done, the ancient institutions of my country,
I have taught others to venerate them also. Step by step I have trod.
den in the Ibotmarks chalked out by the oldest authorities in constitu.
tional law; and those who have walked with me, or who have followed
me, know well the ground they stand upon. They know themselves
to be right, and therefore they do not fear.
With the people, in their respective hamlets, townships, borough
towns, and counties, I have stood in lawful meeting—the folkmote of
our forefathers. There we have talked these things over a thousand
times, and a thousand times again. Resolutions have been passsed ;
petitions have been adopted, the prayers of a loyal people have been
constitutionally laid before both Rouses of Parliament, setting forth
their grievances, and earbestly suing for the redress of those grievan.
ces. These petitions, again and again presented, have been again and
again rejected, I am :sorry to say, with scorn and contempt. Insult
has been added to oppression ; mockery has been heaped upon their
misery.
Still following the course prescribed by the Constitution, I re.com.
mended the people to meet again and to remonstrate. They have done
so, and have Leen told by a Minister of the Crown that their petitions
were powerless, because not written in letters of fire—their remoo.
strances without weight, because not traced in blood. Thus spurned
and defied by those who are called the representatives of the people, I
then advised the people to make a final application to Parliament—
praying to appear at the bar of both Houses—in the person of such men
as they should appoint and delegate for that purpose—there to be heard
in solemn appeal against the wrongs to which they were subjected, in
authoritative vindication of the rights which the Constitution and the
God of Nature had conferred upon them. No Member of the Commons
House of Parliament could be found to present this last constitutional
application of the people of England to their sworn representatives.
What now remained for me to advise—for the people to pursue ? I
read in the books of our law, and in the Word of God, that it was the
duty of every man to be upon his own guard, and to take good heed to
his own household. I found that the badge of a bondsman was the
print of the lash upon his naked back—the mark of a freemin,
the trusty sword, hung over the doorpost of his castle.
cottage. What I found written in the Law and the Gospel, I
spoke out boldly, to an awakened, a thinking, and a determined peop'e.
I told them from the law books to arm for their own and their coun-
try's safety,—and from God's book—if there should be need—l said to
them, " remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for
your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives and your
houses."

Against this Constitutional and Christian counsel a great outcry has
been raised. I have been denounced as a madman—a firebrand—and a
devil. I have been wilfully misrepresented, and have been most
wickedly made to appear as a promoter of strife—an instigator
of incendiarism and assassination; although it is notorious and
undeniable that from first to last there has never been a
single breach of the peace committed or contemplated by any one
individual, at any one of the thousand meetings I have attended; many
of these meetings held at night, most of them attended by thousands
and tens of thousands of persons. The district in which I live—the
heart of the manufacturing population—the scene of all my " violent"
and "inflammatory" proceedings—was never known to be in so peace-
able a state as during the six or seven years of my residence in it. For
person and property there is all the respect shown that law or reason
could require; much more than either law or reason could expect.
I know full well that this great Constitutional question must be
taken up—.nust be fairly and fully discussed. I was one of the first
to open it, nor have I ever shrunk from the public avowal of it. I
have been often assailed, but never answered. In the meanwhile I
await the decision of the people upon it. I have nothing new, no-
thing more at present to lay before them. They know my mind—they
have read my heart. I have never flattered them—never feared their
foes—nor will I ever fail them in the hour of their utmost need.
It is clear that there are traitors in the camp. I have been branded
as the arch traitor. I leave it to the people to confirm or to reverse
the sentence passed upon me by radicaLliberty-men in my absence, and
without any opportunity of defence. As I said before, so I now repeat
—I will not wage war with those, whom the people have chosen to
lead and represent them. I never claimed to be a leader—l do not as-
pire to be one. If allowed to speak what I think to my fellow-
men-1 am satisfied—and shall then, having disharged my duty to the
people, leave the people to follow the counsels they deem to
be the wisest and the best. It would be folly in me for the
present to appear at any more public meetings. To be denouncd by
Daniel O'Connell—by Councilmen at Birmingham—Delegates at
Edinburgh, or Associations in London, is a matter of perfect indiffer-
ence to me personally. No party can claim me—no party can injure
em.e. My opinions are before the people, and to the people I appeal.
Time will give to those opinions the power their inherent truth has
never yet failed to create. Till then I bid you all farewell—praying
Sod to direct you aright in all your consultations, and to bless you in
all your undertakings proceeding from his divine direction.
With my warmest love, and most devoted duty to all my friends in
canny Newcastle—and to the good men of Northumberland and Dur-
ham, in demonstration assembled,
I have the honour to remain, yours truly and devotedly,
JOSEPH RAYNER S TEPHENS.