ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 63, 7 March 1843, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

STATE OF THE NORTH. DECLINE AND FALL OF FEARGUS O’CONNOR. Things continue to' mend' in the manufacturing districts,---but very , slowly. Each day, indeed, throughout the week, has brought accounts of some two or three mills having resumed work, but the mass of the operatives still continues unemplbyhii in those towns where the strike was most general; and though acts ; of positive violence have iiot been frequent, at [ * Stockport and other pladfcs, a system of nightly plunder has been organised, which must inevitably lead to the most'disastrous consequences. , ; In robbery, as in other-things, “ ce riest que : le 'premier pas qui coftieiV^— the first step is ■'* everythingfor when bhde the thoral barrier is broken down, a man Soon learns to take' by * force what he cannot get secretly, and settles the matter with his own conscience upon the plea of necessity. So it is r with the the strike unions. The right of every man to work, or not to work, is indisputable : but no sooner do a certain number of operatives agree to assert this right, and find that • they cannot produce by it the effect which they anticipated, than they determine to coerce others into a similar course, and so to violate in them the very principle which they are themselves asserting. We are drawn into these remarks by the resolutions recently passed at Manchester, where the power-loom weavers not merely pledge themselves to continue out, but add that nobody shall be allowed to work upon other terms than those, which they think proper to insist upon. This is downright tyranny, and tyranny ' of the worst kind, for it can only be carried out

by personal violence and intimidation, The affair at Glossop was one of the first fruits of the system, and is a fait specimen of its practical working. By the bye, we perceive that Philling, the Staleybridge Chartist, whose arrest we announced in a previous article, had nothing to do with the attack on Mr. Shipley’s Mill, and has been discharged accordingly; we expressed our surprise, at the time, at his unusual hardihood, for, look where we will, these “ big talkers” • have all been unanimous upon one point, namely, that “ discretion is the better part of valour.” In this respect, the last month has had a most salutary effect. It has filled the sterling, honest, whole-hog Chartists, with contempt for their leaders. They ; ali feel, and say, that they have been sacrificedthat not a man of the redoubtable chartist executive ventured to put his name to his own proclamation, except Leach, who was made O’Connors cats’-paw; —and that at the very moment when Feargus and M‘Doual were, pledging themselves, at Manchester, that hi eight days 'the strike would be universal; they WCtfe so thoroughly convinced that the thing was hopeless; that they 'were On their road to London an hour afterwards. ■ Those who wish to see how these things, are working, and what the feelings of the Scotch chartists, and the Merthyr Tydvil chartists, and the Sheffield chartists, —who just opened their eyes in time to aveid the trap that was laid for them, —are now with regard to their leaders, had better read Bronterre O’Brien's new paper,—the British Statesman, —-in which they will find that the Northern Star has been burnt in sundry places, and that the great Feargus himself is treated somewhat like ancient Pistol by his quondam votaries, who speak of him in terms too irreverent for us to copy. “ He’s no swaggerer, hostess, —a tame cheater. He will not swagger with a Barbary hen, if her feathers turn back in any show of resistance.”

What a working-class movement may be, with rational objects, and “a man” at the head of it, we have yet to see. We have only seen, hitherto, what it may be without either. THE MARCH OF MOB-LAW. We never met with a more instructive instance of the March of. mob-law, than is to be found in a report just received from the little, quiet, retired village of Glossop, which, now that rioting is at a discount in the large towns, seems to have been chosen as the head-quarters of the disaffected. The rise .and progress of a disturbance, in which others will probably undergo the penalties of the their case most justly incurred—have seldom been so clearly traced; and if the chartist turnouts, or semi- chartist turn-outs—or O’Connorite chartists—they may take what name they please—wish to see the real causes of the feelings with which men of all parties at present regard them, and rejoice in their discomfiture, they may find them in this narrative. Glossop, like the rest of Derbyshire, possesses some large factories, two of which, belonging to Mr. Cooper, and Mr. Shipley, ventured to recommence work a little sooner than was agreeable to the turn-out leaders. It is clear that in doing this they consulted both the interests and the wishes of the operatives in their own neighbourhood, for they had not the slightest difficulty in procuring a sufficiency of hands to work their mills, nor do we hear that there has been any dispute as to wages. But the mills were opened without the sanction of the committee, and, as a specimen of that liberty, which we are to enjoy when the o‘Connorites have matters their own way, an attack' was made upon them by a formidable mob, some of the leaders of which were known, arrested, and committed to. Derby gaol for trial, upon the evidence of the Messrs. Cooper; who, in return for thus protecting the rights of labour were waylaid, and brutally beaten, on their return home, —so brutally, that the younger of the two was left upon the moors in an apparently, lifeless state, and is still dangerously ill. -;-• '• ; .. ' This example, however* wash 4pst upon Mr. Shipley, who still, refused, to. close his works, and finding his men prepared to support him, caused a considerable nurhber of them to be sworn in as special constables, and provided himself with fire armsyforlthe defence of his mills, at Brookfield, upon ydiich he had reason to know that an attack, was meditated. On Tuesday last, it took place'. Detachments of Bludgeon-ihen were brought together by driblets from Ashton, Staleybridge, and other placesin the neighbourhood, until . their numbers amounted to between five and six hundred, when they formed a procession, as it is called in the chartist vernacular, and approached Brookfield —of course, with the most pacific intentions.

Here they were met bv Mr. Shipley and his special constables, who tried argument, but that would not do—and then resistance, but that would not do either—for the assailants had the advantage both of strength and numbers. So Mr. Shipley was driven back to his mill, the doors of which were closed with difficulty and then the mill itself was assailed, the windows broken'with large stones, and the

most fearful threats uttered as to what the Ashton pacificators would do, when they got an entrance.

At last the fire-arms were resorted to* as a matter of necessity, but small, shot, which was first used, did not intimidate them,-and at last a pistol, loaded with ball, was discharged} by which one of the assailants was wounded. This, after cowing them for a moment, led to a fresh burst of fury, the mob declaring that the persons hurt were perfectly innocent, harmless, creatures (it always happens so upon these occasions), who had no wish to break the peace, or destroy property, and who had been inhumanely massacred by Mr. Shipley, against whom they vowed the direst vengeance, swearing they would not leave one stone upon another. of his mill,'nor one human being alive in his family. - We know that these things are oftener said than done in England ; but we believe that at Glossop they would have been done as well as said but for the timely arrival of that universal panacea, a detachment of dragoons, and a company of the 58th infantry, before whom these blustering did not~stand one instant. But mark the progress of the whole transaction—the march of mob-law, as we began by calling it. In no case that we have yet seen, could the interest of the working man and the master be more. closely or clearly identified. In no case was interference more uncalled for, or more unjustifiable. Mr. Shipley had to choose between submission to this insolent dictatorship, senseless as well as insolent, hnd cruel to all those, who looked to him for their bread, and such resistance as the law warranted. > He resisted. And what was the consequence ? An attack upon his property and his person, that has ended in the injury of several individuals, and might have ended in a brutal massacre. Nor does the evil stop here. The law has now its authority to vindicate, and we are happy to see that, in this instance, at all events, the principal criminals will be the first sufferers. James Philling, a noted chartist orator in that district, was fool enough to follow the precepts, rather than the practice, of his leader, and is now in custody for having taken a prominent part in the attack upon Mr. Shipley’s mill. We wish not to prejudge his case, but if found guilty of an attempt so daringly executed, and so systematically planned, the severest penalty that the law will allow of, would be the just meed of such an offender.

The Late Accident in Edinburgh during the Queen’s Visit.—A subscription in behoof of the sufferers from the melancholy accident at the foot of the Mound, Edinburgh, during her Majesty’s progress through that city, has commenced,. and we learn that her Majesty, with the generosity and kindness which distinguish her charactei, has subscribed the sum of 100/., to be applied to the benevolent purpose. Sir Robert Peel has also contributed 20/. for the same laudable object.

Rather too Forward. —An extraordinary event occurred in Paris a few days ago, which affords a striking exemplification of the fact—- “ that truth is stranger than fiction,” A beautiful young girl, aged about 16, lived under the care of an old lady, by whom she was tenderly but closely guarded. The young demoiselle having had the opportunity ot perusing one of the romances of Paul ,de Kock, conceived the extraordinary plan of imitating the doings of one of their heroines. She accordingly fancied herself in love with a fine young English gentleman, and took considerable pains to show him he had won her heart. Either from stupidity, or perhaps indifference, the Englishman took no notice of her advances. At length she resolved to disguise herself, and to call upon him and plead her passion. She accordingly called one of those useful servants of the public, a commissionaire (one of those men who do anything and everything for a trifling consideration), and persuaded him to procure for her a suit of clothes similar to those which he himself wore.. In disguise she .called upon the Englishman, who, as may be well expected, was greatly surprised at the explanations into which she entered. He, however, acted very honourably in • the affair, and communicated with her guardian, to whom she was forthwith restored, and under whose protection she has left Paris.

Accidents by the : Thunder-storm of Wednesday. The dreadful thunder-storm with which the metropolis was visited on the night of Wednesday, did considerable damage in the north-eastern and east portions of the metropolis 1 . In the vicinity of Hackney, Bow, and Stratford, the market-gardeners* grounds were completely inundated. At Poplar, Limehouse, and along the side of the river, the wharfs and buildings were inundated, and a number of men were busily engaged during Thursday in pumping out : the water from the underground floors. Thus far the injury done by the storm was confined to property. About half-past eight o’clock, at the time the lightning was at its height, a flash struck the stack of chimneys of the house No. 8, Beaumont-row,

Ben Johnson’s-fields, occupied by a lady of the name of Coburn. The family were sitting in the front parlour, while the servant was engaged in laying the cloth for supper. On a sudden it seemed as if the house was frilling. As soon as the excitement had subsided, it was found that the electric fluid had carried away the stack of chimneys and the back portion of the house. Fortunately, the whole of the inmates escaped without sustaining any injury. The lightning also struck a postman, of the name of Ward} in the act of delivering his letters. He was taken tip completely exhausted. At Blackwall the electric fluid knocked a female into the Thames, under the following extraordinary circumstances:—The wife of one of the quartermasters of her Majesty’s ship Camper&own, lying at Sheerness, came up by. a steam-boat from Gravesend, for medical advice, when, by some mistake, she landed at Poplar, thinking it to be Hungerford-markeL Finding her mistake, she returned to the steamer ; just as she got upon the pier she was struck by a flash of lightning, which threw her into the water. One of the men belonging to the "steamer jumped in and succeeded in bringing her -OpL when she was conveyed to the and has since been attended by. Mr. Baine, surgeon, of Blackwall, and remains in a very dangerous state. On the Barking-road a policeman was knocked down, The lightning tore the oil-skin covering from the hat Without doing any injury to his person.