The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-22 00:00:00

VENING DITI ON

CHARTISTS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

TO THE CHARTISTS OF GREAT BRITAIN
AND MORE PARTICULARLY TO MR. HILL,
THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN STAR,
AND MR. WILLIAM LOVETT.
FRIENDS,—We, the undersigned, residing at Trow-
bridge, Councillors of the National Charter Association,
desire to address you ; believing that the circumstances
urging us will, with all fair and candid minds, be a suffi-
cient jnstification for our doing so.
The last month has developed an apparent schism
amongst our best friends, accompanied with language so
coarse, violent, and, to our minds, utterly uncalled for, as
to give some ground for the triumphant assertion of our
opponents, that Chartism, instead of being a bond of
union and brotherly love, is really an apple of discord, a
watchword of strife and scurrility. Men whom all of us
have delighted to honour, whom we received with accla-
mations on their release from prison, have been designated
in our only newspaper organ, as thieves, traitors, and liars ;
and that, not only without editorial censure, but even with
implied approbation. Can this be right? Does it not
imply either a premature recklessness of praise nearly allied
to folly, or a wantonness of reproach that savours little of
consistency or charity. Again—we read that a fierce war of
opinion, disfigured by bitter sarcasm, challenges to discus-
sion, &c., is waging in Birmingham and other places as
to the connexion of Chartism and Christianity or some-
thing of that sort; engendering feelings of hatred that
are far from being akin to the sacredness of our cause or
the purity of our objects. Is not all this melancholy
work? Holding up a man in triumph on a Tuesday and
knocking him down on a Wednesday ; calling him "god"
one day and " devil " the next. Christianity and Chart-
ism vet fighting against each other ; the strength, the
men, the principles, that ought to be banded together in
holy union against the common foe, wasting their vigour,
lent to them for the benefit of mankind, in childish quar-
rels and disgusting abuse ?
Let us examine into the circumstances on which all this
bitterness and inconsistency is based, and see whether
they are necessary and proper.
First, wo begin with the circular Address of Mr. Lovett
and others, " To the Political and Social Reformers of
the United Kingdom." With the spirit and purport of
that Address—except in one particular—we fully agree.
We concur with that Address in the belief that we must
become our own social and political regenerators, or that
we shall never enjoy freedom. More especially do we
agree with Mr. Lovett in " making the Charter the Polar
Star of our agitation ;" and we cordially unite in the senti-
ments, that " having truth for its basis, and the happi-
ness of all for its end, it needs not the violence of passion,
the bitterness of party spirit, nor the arms of aggressive
warfare for its support; its principles need only to be un-
folded to be appreciated, and, being appreciated by the
majority, will be established in peace."
Nor de we altogether deny that " we have wasted
glorious means of usefulness in foolish displays and gaudy
trappings. Our concurrence with this sentiment must be
a qualified one. We incline to the belief that these dis-
plays and trappings, and even the " passionate invective
party spirit and personal idolatry," however unsuited to
ear present advanced position, have often, under -Pro-
vidence, been the means of encouraging a social and
inquiring spirit, and waking up honest ignorance
from its hereditary torpor. Many, we believe, that
are designed to play a high and glorious part
is our emancipation from slavery, first heard the
truths of Universal BaOTLIERHOOD —were first aroused
to a sense of their degradation their rights and
their strength—in conjunction with bands, banners, music,
and processions, and tt. e other gewga.v puerilities so cun-
ningly designed for our abasement. The toys have be-
come objects of our contempt, but the lesson they helped
to teach—let us speak of them gently then—is destined
to conquer the system of ages and the prejudices of the
world !
Nor do we find fault with the plan proposed by the ad-
dress. District halls, circulating libraries, missionaries,
tracts, and so forth, all stern to us well calculated to en-
courage and ensure an enlightened public opinion; to for-
tify and consolidate tire strength of eur friends ; and to
mitigate the fears of those who oppose us from not under-
standing our objects,
But then—and hero we come to the point to which we
alluded at the outset, and on which we a:t )gether differ
from Mr. Lovett and the four other gentlemen acting
will !atm in the address. They propose to e:tablish an
Association to carry out their plan. In this A e think them
altogether wrong. We do not call them—our injustice
woula be greater than their deficiency of judgment if we
were to call them—" Thieves, liars, and traitors," but we
think thst they have committed a great error, and the
sooner they acknowledge it the better we shall think of
their sincerity and consistency.
We have an Association—the National Charter A ago-
cietion—chosen in the most fair and public manner, and
all but universally, recognised as the Representatives of
the Chartists of Great Britain. Already has this body
met and meted in its representative capacity; and we may
refer to the zeal with which one of their laws has been
carried cut—that of enforeirg on every public meeting
the Charter and its principles, as a proof, and a strong
ore, ( f our faith in its wisdom. To these our Repre-
sentatives—the National Charter Association—Messrs.
Lovett, &c., ought in our opinion first to have s.uhnented
their plan ; it would have ben received and discussed with
all the respect and c 3nsideratior, it so well merited ; and,
if there adopted, would thus have been girded with a nio-
ral strength that would have ;one far to ensure its success.
Of the National Charter Association, we, the writers
of this letter, are councillors ; and we cannot retrain
from an opinion that all good Chartists will soon be
numbered in our lists. We sincerely regret to learn that
:Jr. Lovett is net a member; more particularly as his well
curved reputation gives force to his example. The cry of
it Illegality " does not appear to us to be of any force.
_Every Association to carry the Charter is illegal. For
the Slav• to seek fur freedom is contrary to law. Recent
experience has proved that with an Aiietocrat Judge and
and a middle class Jury laws cell ensiiy be found sited
to their purposes. Still we believe, for we have noticed
a change ie the political atrnosehere, that if we pursue our
( bjects without violence, or the threat of it, we shall be
able to overcome and neutralize all opposition.
Most cordially do we oppose the forming another As-
ecciation as proposed by Mr. Lovett ; and we earnestly
trust that he will pause before going farther in his pro-
ject : it is calculated to engender a spirit of " party"
in our ranks, and to encourage the idea that we are
divined in opinion as to the means to be ernpliyed
to obtain our common object—that there arc moral
force Chartists and physical force Chartists. The fact
is, arid no one knows this better than Mr. Lovett, that
upon the moral force and ph> steal force question, whatever
differences there may formerly have boon, we are now all
agreed. The trials, the fact that Joltf, Frost is an exile,
and many of our best friends in prison, has taught us wis-
dom. All of us agree with Mr. Lovett in looking to too-
! ral force alone for the accomplishment of our objects ; and
Mr. Lovett agrees nigh us in tee abstract right, not only
of a nation but even of an individual, to use physical force
or any other force to obtain emancipation from slavery. It
is wrong, therefcre, to encourage or sanction the idea that
we are two bodies.—Lovett Chartism, and O'Connor
Chartism—that there is a difference of opinion where none
in r. ality exists. The praise of Daniel O'Connell is in-
deed a heavy stigma—a disgrace, however, which we admit
Mr. Lovett is not entitled to ; but it will be well for him
to learn caution from it. Virtue of a high order can alone
survive the infliction 1 Of Mr. Lovett'3 plan itself we
have before expressed our favourable opinion—iudeed the
very means th.rt it contemplates were contemplated by our
Rcieesentatives; but we desire most emphatically to
record our opposition to the adoption of any plan what-
eyed however good, that is not first recognised by the
National Charter Association.
We now turn to a subject which has occasions 1 us much
pain. We allude to the intemperate language with which
the Address of Mr. Lovett has been treated by Mr. Hill,
the editor of the Northern Star. That paper is the only
generally recognised organ of the Chartist body, and, to
some extent, all are involved in its erro7s who do not pre-
test against them. We desire, therefore, to state the re-
. gret will which wo have lsteiy observed in that paper
whit we cannot but consider a spirit of intolerance towards
every opinion but that of its editor. The day of dictation
is gone by, the great " we " no longer blinds us to the fact
that it is but a fallible mortal that guides the editorial pen,
and though we freely acknowledge ti c services rendered
to the i'eople'a Cause by the Northern Star, and we do
this the more freely inasmuch as those services have been
liberally and generously responded to, we think it right
to recommend to Mr. Hill the adoption of a lest bitter
style towards those with whom he may conscientiously
differ.
In the Northern Star of the lith inst., there is an edi-
torial article abounding from first to last, and in every
variety of low phraseology, with charges and imputations
of fraud, falsehood, and trickery against Messrs. Lovett
and Collins. We believe these charges and imputations
to be utterly unfounded. We desire to record our con-
viction, that not a shadow of proof has been produced that
Messrs. Lovett and Collins ever sanctioned any movement
for any suffrage short of that comprised in the Charter.
All their declarations are opposed to any suffrage less
than the Charter Suffrage; and wo believe, and we as-
sert, that the veracity of these gentlemen is as unimpeach-
able as that of Mr. Hill.
Besides the injustice in the particular instance to which
we are now referring, we believe that the spirit of invective
and dogrnatiem which has lately sullied the pages of the
.Northern Star, and damaged its purity, is in a general
sense unwise. For tho purpose of obtaining permanent
unity it is desirable rather to encourage and court from
those who have proved that they value our principles by
• their sufferings in our cause, those differences of thought
which, by forcing inquiry and investigation, are the
surest and soundest preludes to unanimity and success.
We have ever been among the foremost to oppose any union
with the middle classes, compromising,
or appearing
to compromise, the principle of the Charter. The Anti-
Corn-law lecturer has indeed appeared in our county, but
and
di, him 1 tm
inyo tt
the
jsuosrttiicnega
nt
do
idle clamour, but arguing fairly
we have met him and conquered
propriety of the working classes restraining their effsrta,
in the first instance, to their own political eominagneiopvaetrionto.
But, however strongly we deprecate any g
the middle classes, we are equally strong in our opinion
of the folly of preventing their coming over to us. Many
of them have long been favourable to our principles,
though restrained by various circumstances from being for-
ward in the struggle : many of them are suffering, keenly
though secretly, under the thousand ills comprised in the
phrase " commercial distress ;" and thousands that never
thought before, have been compelled to the wholesome
but painful process by the increased burthen of taxation.
The conviction—n(3lolou HONOUR TO THOSE THAT
witoroun IT I—that Chartism will never raise its hand for
• any change short of the Charter, has done its work :
in all there is uneasiness and a desire for change;
a _growing fancy that there is something wrong ; a
N-Elli.'d.' liekriqoiti, shadowy and indistinct though it be, that 1
isosee-",thrown on their own resources," they, like
p4upp,. Rl= ie their latter days be separated
~,7----1 the Rives and children, be coffined by contract, and
e?.- '' eateelevS)autitiled. together in the union grave. Their mntal
P v).•.: 1 7-.• , t
. 4 ,1-,:-L :;;Tovahaeicles are falling off. Tallow-chandler and cheese-
(
e- 1-W - -
monger—a subject for a ict
l'dVeerr7l-1 - • • t la
(
rnaclp4es!.
..... , We hail these rP u e--are discussing"firet
- ligAs With satisfaction., ,

11 S