Star.
London, England, 1830-12-21 00:00:00

SPIRIT OP THE JOURNIILS.

Truss.—lt adds in no small degree to the concern with which every
body must regard the situation of the southern agricultural districts, to
find that some bodies of journeymen manufacturers in the north have
recommenced the practice of turning out, on account, or pretence, of
insufficient sages. There is, doubtless, of necessity, no connection
between a refusal to work and any criminal or illegal proceeding. Any
journeyman, or number of journeymen, may, with as perfect propriety,
tell a master that if he wishes to employ them he must raise the price of
their labour, as he, the master, may give them to understand, that unless
they consent to a reduction of wages, he will dispense with their flume
services. To this point all is clear and fair, because it is an equal ex-
ercise, on both sides, of an acknowledged right. But, unfortunately,
en the part of the journeymen, the turn-out for wages very seldom con-
fines Itself within such lawful limits. There is but rarely an instance
of any number of the " operatives" determining to suspend their
lions, without at the same time enforcing their measures and fortiogirritig-
their demands by acts of violence, or at least by fearful menaces against
all journeymen in the same line of manufacture with them-
selves, who will not leave their employers also, and incur the
consequent risks and privations of idleness, however well satisfied'
they may have been with the treatment they have experienced, ,1
and with the remuneration obtained by them for their proper I
work. Thus are thousands of steady, industrious, and Inoffensive men,
forced, together with their wives and families, at the peril frequently of
their very existence, to forego 'the enjoyment of daily bread, and the
timberless comforts of a regular and assured subsistence, because am.
sin other thousands, of whom the law, as well as reason and justice,
hare made them altogether independent, will not suffer them to act en
their own views of their own most essential interests, but insist on make
in them the tool' of a project with which they have no sympathy nor
rum. We see by the local newspapers, that at Ashton-under-Line,•
rest of journeymen spinners, amounting to 18,000 or 20,000, marched
in a tumultuous manner through that town, and proceeded with a
design to intimidate the spinners of Hyde and Oldham to follow their
sample; that they uttered savage threats against their several masters,
And, above all, that they had procured for themselves a considera-
ble number and variety of arms. Are these the measures of well-
disposed citizens, anxious only to procure themselves justice, or to
promote their own interests, by legal means and with a corres-
ponding respect for the rights of others ? Is it to be endured,
that on pretence of obtaining increased wages, they shall venture
to wrest such increase from die master-numufactaners by out.
rage, or to frighten great bodies of journeymen working peaceably
at 4 distance of some miles from Ashton, into the starvation of their
families, that those of Ashton may have more shillings In the week for
drink ? That there is trick and knavery, as well as illegality, in these
movements, may be gathered from the fact, that the leaders of them
sic am appear to be of the same else or calling as their followers. One
fellow is said to be a dyer, and others are strangers, not unknown to
chat sort of fame which is won by an intercourse with police-ollows.
......----.
Cnacontaz—Earl Stanhope has the reputation of being a sincere
and worthy man, and one is, therefore, sorry to find that the rub be re-
ceived some time ago from the [acted Chancellor, when be attempted
" invite Minerva," to be witty at the =pram oldie Noble and Liaised
Jrad, barn nailed him more than those who pommel wueldly wisdom
allow the world, in such cases, to Oa pammileg, krat night,
goals petitions against Colonial be Aeons, dist, " ditrach
tbe ?it* of the Hewes wee laded 'peeltime, rant Lillglia. newtons of negroes, they had no reptemmwelsea ild 0
initiates inflicted upon their own sounisiume at biome s" and thins
alluding to what had missed on a focuser sonwareatiess in the WOO
respeetiag Wen Indian Slavery, he added, " that be regarded with,

indifference, and even with contempt, the censures that had been pro-
nounced upon his conduct, from what quarter %aver they might pro-
ceed. even though they might come from the Noble Lord who oat upon
the Woolsack." The Noble and Learned Lord, with praiseworthy
forbearance, allowed Lord Stanhope to give vent to his feelings without
retorting on hint; and if his Lordship be prudent, lie will allow matters
to rest where they are, as he may go further and fare worse. With re-
spect to the cruelties exercised on their own countrymen at home, if we
are not much mistaken, the persons who now petitition against slavery
very generally exerted themselves to introduce humanity into our laws.
Who raised their voices against our sanguinary code ? Who exerted
themselves to reform the discipline of our prisons? Who have always
been the patrons of education P Tory Lord ? High Church Parsons ?
No! the men who now raise their voices in behalf of the New. The
cruelties exercised on Englishmen will in time, too, be succeeded by
kind treatment. The causes of the sufferings of the English labourers
are not apparent to every one ; for they are many and compliatted ; and
the very prejudices, derived from erroneous conceptions of religion, of
the petitioners against slavery, unfit them, in some measure, for grap-
pling with the remedies for the distresses of the poor. What is waisted
is not so much good intentions, as enlightened views, The measure of
Lord Brougham for placing justice within the reach of the poor, cannot
fail in time to be of great benefit to them. The poor in England may be
said to be outlawed ; they are even worse off in many respects than feudal
serfs, for though the chief has power, its exercise is mitigated by the at.
tachment which grows up between the lord and serf. The unpaid territorial
Magistracy of England have the power of the feudal Chief*, without
their natural attachment to the lower orders. But this power will, in
time, yield to the progress of knowledge ; fa men who are sensible of
the evils of their situation, are seldom long in seeking to remedy them.
When the noble lord and his friends have exerted themselves as much
as the petitioners against slavery, in seeking to enlighten the lower
orders, and to improve our Institutions, they may with better grace
complain of indifference to the cruelties to which the lower orders
are subject. We never heard, for instance, of a Quaker extolling
the Game Laws, or recommending the demoralization of the agri-
cultural population through the enforcement of these laws, as neces-1
vary to give the country Inc benefit of a resident gentry, though this
doctrine has been year after year advocated by majorities of the House
of Peers. The Sectaries, who are the chief of the opponents of slavery,
may " be not backward to impute the existing distresses of this country
to a visitation of Providence, occasioned by a continuance of West
Indian slavery ;" and they may entertain erroneous views as to the
possibility of cultivating sugar with profit by mans of free labourers ;
but erroneous views of religion, or imperfect acquaintance with tropical
countries do not detract from the merit of their intentions. To their
incessant applications to the legislature, 800,000 of Degrees in our cob-
I nies are chiefly indebted for the great improvement which, of late
years has been effected in their condition.

HANTS SPECIAL CO3fIIII.SSION.

WINCHESTIII, MONDAY.

This city presented an unusual appearance of bustle at a very early
hour this morning. Persons were flocking in from all quarters. The
gaol was surrounded by the wives and families of the unfortunate men
who are now confined there. Most of them appeared in the greatest
distress. It was a painful sightto see so many apparently respectable
persons in such a situation. An immense number of county Magi-
strata arrived during yesterday and in the night ; and are now nearly
filling the Court, which has been fitted up with great care and
attention to the convenience of those who are here on business. We
(the reporters) have received every assistance from Messrs. Hopkins and
Dunn. the Under Sheriffs for the county, who have had seats put
up for us in one of the best situations in the Court, so that we can
obtain ingress through the door by which the Magistrates enter, without
being subjected to the inconvenience of pressing through the crowd. We
have never met with any accommodation at Salisbury, but we trust I
that, on the present occasion, the great importance of the business will
impress the Under Sheriff with the necessity of affording those through
whom the public are made acquainted with what transpires in Courts of
Justice, that accommodation which will enable them to perform their
duties correctly, and without inconvenience.

The Attorney-General and Mr. Sergeant Wilde arrived here yesterday
afternoon, and had a oonsultadon in the evening with the other gentle-
man who are retained on this occasion.

Precisely at WO o'clock, the three Judges entered the Court, attended
by bis Grace the Duke of Wellington, the Right Hon. William Sturges
Bourne, and Richard Pollen, Req. as Commissioners, and Omer Pure-
foy 'moist, Esq. the High Sheriff. The Judges were in their full
robes.

The following Genthaten were then sworn in u the Grand Jury :
The Rt. Hon. Sir G. W. Rose, Sir H. W. Wilson, Ent.
Ban. M.P. Sir J. T. Lee.
Sir H. J. Tiehborrse, Bart. John Fleming, Esq,
Sir C. Hulse, Bart. Peter Ranter, Esq.
Sir W. Hute, Bart. M.P. J. H. Beaufoy, Esq.
1 Sir G. E. Hamond, Ban. Thomas Thistlethwayte, Esq.
Sir T. Baring, Ban. bI.P. John Honthy, Esq.
Sir L. Curtis, Ban. John Mount, Esq.
Sir J. W. Pollen, Bart. Henry Coombe Compton, Esq.
Sir T. B. Lethbridge, Bart. R. Sheddon, Req.
Sir J. 13. Yorke, Bart. Walter Long, Req.
Sir J. &Howes, Ent. George Collins Poore, Esq.
The oath having been administered,
Mr. Baron VAUOII4I, addressed the Grand Jury in a solemn and
impressive !MUM.

While the Grand Jury were examining witnesses upon the first in-
dictment, Mr. Baron Vaughan said it had been intimated to him that
the Jurymen had been refused admission to the Court, and even that, in
'some instances, money had been taken. This was extremeiy improper,
and be desired it might be inquired into. Jurymen had a right to be
in Court, and the doors should be thrown open.
The Grand Jury, after a lapse of some time, brought in a bill upon
which James Thomas Cooper, aged 33; George Clarke, aged 20 t Jo-
seph Amt.'', aged 26; Henry Eldridge, aged 23; John Fulton', aged
60; George Moody, aged 29; Wm. Webb, aged 21 ; Samud Quintie
aged 98; William Newman, aged 22; Charles Read, aged 36; John
Kimber, aged 36 ; Win, Atnee, aged 27 Charles aqui., aged 59 ;
and Joseph Goulding, aged 23, were capitally indicted, on •
charge of having, on the 23d of November last, at the parish of Ford-
ingbridge, with divers other persons, violently and tumultuously assent.
bled together, and then and there unlawfully, with force, demolished
and destroyed certain machinery used in carrying on a manufacture, In
a factory there, and unlawfully end maliciously destroying certain
threshing machines, and committing divers other outrages.
There were five other counts, in which the charge was varied. In
one of these J. T. Cooper was further charged with having demanded
and extorted money.—The prisoners severally pleaded Not Guilty.
The eiTTOIIIIZY.OZNICIAL then rose, every eye le the Conn being
rivetted on him, and addressed their Lordships and the Jury at coo-
-1 siderable length, on the legal construction of the crimes set forth in the
indictments : after which, Mr. Baron VAIMINAN proceeded to sum up
the case to the Jury. The case for the prosecution, and for the phi.
sons, being now closed, it become his duty to call their attention to
the nature of this very serious charge, and then to examine the evidence,
for the purpose of showing bow far the prisoners, or any of them, were
implicated in this very grave charge. Two of the prisoners be bad laid
out of the ease, there not being sulkiest 'Odom to go to a jury. The
question, therefore, was with respect to the 12 :retaining prisoners. Be.
fore he adverted to the particular circumstances of the ease, he would call
their attention to the nature of the charge, and the law. as it ap-
plied to it. This was a prosecution founded upon an Act of Par-
liament which enlarged the provisions of a former Act, for the pro.
tection of buildings and machinery. The particular clause in question
was the St section of 7th and Bth Oar. IV. c. 30, which enacted that
if any persons assembling together should unlawfully demolish, or pull
down, or destroy any house, mill, te. or any machinery, such pa-
wns, upon being convicted, should suffer death. Is the two last counts
of the present indictment the prisoners were charged with a capital
arena, in pulling down machinery. Now it appeared the pressaster
was a man who had a mill, or factory in the parish of Fordingbridge.
The machinery appears to be Axed to theism of the factory; but the
dance spinet the law is the saute, whether is is fixed or moveable.—
The complaint was, that on the 23d of November there was a very &t-
-ern ameintlage of persons. No men could doubt hot it hod the ap
peanut= of a meet riotous assembly, and, beyond all question pane
doing it, would fall within the Act, sod be subject to the strict pesky
of the law, and she properties to the sedateness elf the realty, so is
would they give the Osman the benefit of say doubt they might so.
tertain of their ; sad in applying hob minds es hie subject they
woad consider whether the case was net mode out, as to sew of than
at the keit, iu the change essease. The question would be, whether
any, sad which, of the photons me se circumstanced as M make It
clear to their m*is that they had of hided spinet the law, sod he that
purpose is would he trotesway minutely to tall their ottestfoo M the

evidence. They had heard it said that these riots had arisen from dia.
tress ; but destroying machinery was not the way to make the distress
less. He feared it was true that there was great distress among the
agricultural classes ; but yet this was not to be a reason for committing
breaches of the peace. His Lordship then went through the evidence
with great minuteness.

As the learned judge proceeded in this noun, the jury were directed
to confiner of the case of each prisoner, and to record their verdicts
amongst themselves before the case of the neat prisoner in rotation was
explained to them.

When the evidence, as it affected the whole of the prisoners, had been
gone through, the jury handed in their verdicts—they found,
J. T. Cooper, George Clarke, John Fulford, Samuel Quinths, H. F.
Eldridge, Charles Bead, Charles Hayter, and Joseph Arney, Guilty.
Joseph Goulding, William Webb, William Arney, John Kimber,
George Moody, and William Newman, Not Guilty.
The court then adjourned to nine o'clock tomorrow.
The priaoner Cooper is a man of morose and sullen appearance. He
paid the utmost attention throughout the trial.
The trial was not over till nine o'clock at sight.
The names of upwards of 300 prisoners now appear in the Wender,
who may be placed in the following classes :-101 for riotously meem-1
biirg together and breaking machines; 106 for riotously assembling
and extorting money ; one for stopping Lady Lethbridge's carriage, and
committing a highway robbery ; one for robbing a clergyman; several
for pulling down poor-houses; one for threatening to set fire to a dye!.
ling-house ; one for compelling a clergyman to sign a paper, agreeing
to take a certain sum annually for tithes, being much below the value;
and the remainder for riot and divers acts of assault and violence.