The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1847-10-16

gone on, and, unaided, have built up for himself
platform wherein he could stand, and so speak
as to command the ear, and control the hearts,
of mighty multitude in Old England and over
the world He had the piH, and he did all this.
| And there 10 not one that hears us, who, if in
stead of sucking his thumb. and saying, Al can
do nothing" would try, would use scant power
ty, and make out of It stuff to rise upon, that
could not likewise act so as to bless himself and
others in proportion he had gifts of good
thought and brave utterance7
A most hopeful lesson has Ebenezsr taught
society.
There is all around, amid every form of
mammon worship and artificial display and the
csldest selfishness, disposition in bodies Of men
to be just. and to see that justice is done. The
noble lord Of England would not consort with
the poet laborer Of iron and brass, of Sheffield.
The master or "boss" who employed him, and
paid him weekly bis hire for work faithfully
done, never thought Of making him his COM
panion or friend. But he made both, by his
iron will, and clear spoken truth, hear and obey
him, made them, and through them, the very
Legislature Of the land, do something to acknow-
ledge the rights of the laboring men. and to
improve their condition. What should he, what
should any man, care who smiled on him, or at
men, he was successfully lifting up the down.
trodden, and making society better, wiser, hap
pierl Have courage, then. Learn to open
your mouth, and TO speak; TO nerve your arm;
and to DO. Freedom thus won will give the
msanest the power Of the best, and the poorest
the force of the strongest.
Look at Elliott's history, as it may be briefly
told, nay, as good men on the ether side of the
water have narrated it, over and over again.
Great Britain, in Legislature, custom, social
habit, law, had, until very lately. but one Gen.
trail idea-the preservation Of the power and
position Of the tsic. The many vino toll had to
shift, as they best coud-had to fight against mo-
nopoly, aristocratic desPotism, hard, unfeeling,
iron tyranny. They made wealth abound in
England; in turn, Government forced them in
to pauperism. Thsy constituted M~Hehc.,oT
and London, the worlds great market houses,
the for all this, turned them out to starye
Elliot saw, teh this monstrous wrong, and he
proclaimed it, procl aimed IL in words which
up such heat in old England that Lords and
Commons were quickened by it, and forced will
ling or unwilling, to do away with bread mo-
nopolies. and other expressions which made the
rich, richer. and the poor poorer. He was the
foremost man among then, all who gave life to
the Ant-Corn Lam League. which brought
about revolution us wonderful as any in mod
ern Europe.
Elliot was born 18th March, l7Sl. He was
dull boy; remarkable in his earlier days for
good nature and generous disposition. And
nothing SCALED him out" made him what he
is, but hard adversely. An old account of him
says:
awhile war scourged the earth in the defence
of the doting despotism of kingship, and mono-
poly shut out the food Of this nation in defence
Of the domestic despotism or aristociacy, mil
lions and millions Of men were born to insuffer-
able misery, to hunger, nakedness, and crime,
the result Of maddened ignorance; and that in
land teeming with corn aud cattle, and the
wealth that could purchase them; and in land
too that sent out clothing for a world. The
work Of selfishness had proceeded, but had not
prosPered; wealth had been accumulated, but
poverty had been accumulated too, u thousand
fold; rents had been maintained, but ruin looked
over the wall; there was universal activity, but
its wages were famine; there was thunder of
machinery, and din of never-ceasing ham
msrs; but amidst the chaos Of sounds there were
heard-not songs, but groans. 1t was then that
Elliott was born, and there that he grew, in the
very thick of this swarming, busy, laborious
yet miserable generation. He saw with aston
ishmsnt that all that prodgious industry pro-
duced no happiness; there were pomp and pau
psrism; toll and starvation; Christianity preach
ed to unbelieving ears, because there were no
evidences Of its operation on hearts that had the
power to bless: and thus famine, ignorance, and
irritation, were converting the crowd into mass
Of ravenous and dehumanized monsters. There
headed new orator Of the patriot spirit. There
needed a Burns Of the manufacturing district,
and he was there in the shape Of Elliott. Had
Burns been born again there, and under those
circumstances, he would have manifested him
self exactly as Elliott has done. He would have
attacked manfully this monstrous bread-tax,
which had thus disorganized society, disputing
the passage Of Gods blessings to the many, and
stamping horrible character ON the few He
would have vindicated the rights of man and his
labors, and have sung down with fiery numbers
oil the crowding bugbears that armed monopo-
ly had gathered round the people to scare them
into quiet Elliott has done that exactly; done
that and no less. In the unpresuming character
Of "a Corn-Law Rhymer,' Of "The Poet of
the Rabble," he sent out right and left, songs,
sarcasms, curses, and battle cries, amongst the
people. His words, never ceasing, fell like SER
penis amongst The multitude deadened by long |
al eff mr. ham, Into