THE NATIONAL CONVENTION.—" OLD CUFFEY," THE CHARTIST. [From the Chelienham Examiner.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume V, Issue 331, 30 September 1848, Page 3

THE NATIONAL CON VENTION.— " OLD CUFFEY," THE CHARTIST. [From the Chelienham Examiner.]

Among the 49 Chartist delegates who «re just now playing such " fantastic tricks before high Heaven," none is more deserving of a passing notice than " Old Cuffey." This individual, who is the " Hon. Member" for one of the metropolitan purlieus, is a blacksmith by trade and half a blackma« by complexion. 1 ' Old Cuffey" is in fact a mulatto, and though one of the most violent, he is at the same time one of the most amusing of the Chartist demagogues. A few evenings ago another " Hon. Member" having declaimed against the hostility of the middle classes, " Old Cuffey" got up and spoke in their defence. He declared that he thought that the middle classes were fast coming round to Chartism. At the Cat and Bagpipes, where he himself spent his evenings, themomenthe entered the room the middle class visitors sung out— " Hurrah! here comes Old Cuffey," and he then entered into discussion with them on the six points of the Charter. At a subsequent meeting of the Convention, Mr. Cuffey seems to have altered his opinion towards the middle classes, for on some members recommending the Chartists not to deal with special constables, Mr. Cuffey supported the recommendation :—: — " For his part he did not see why they should be so squeamish in the matter. Having been out of work lately, he had allowed Mrs. Cuffey to go out washing (much laughtei), aiid at one of the houses where she had been in the habit of charing, she was asked whether she was the wife of Cuffey of the Convention ! She said she was, and she was then informed that her services would not be required again. (Some of the delegates at the head of the table manifested a palpable sensitiveness at Mr. Cuffey's avowal of his wife's being a laundress, which spoke little for the sincerity of their piinciples as regarded equality and iraternity. The crowd in the gallery, too, instead of evincing an expression of sympathy for the poor woman's situation laughed as they would laugh in the gallery of a theatre, when witnessing the representation of a popular interlude.)" At another meeting of the Convention a vote of censure against the newspapers brought " Old Cuffey" again upon his legs :—: — Mr. Cuffey thought that the Convention had not taken the proper course with regard to the press. If they had anything to complain of they ought to call the printer and publisher to the bar of the house. — (Loud laughter.) That was the course pursued in another place ; and what did it end in ? Why nothing. — (Cheers and laughter.) For his part he had nothing to complain of, for the press appeared to be very friendly to him, for anything which he said in that assembly which those around him considered very shocking, was invariably suppressed by the gentlemen of the press, he believed, with the best feelings, viz., a regard for his (Mr.* Cuffey's) personal safety. — (Cheers and laughter.) He found that he had become a ve»y great man lately, and as such had received various letters, one or two of which he would read to the Convention. The Hon. Delegate then proceeded, amid roars of laughter, to read the following letter from Col. Sibthorp : — " If Mr. and Mrs. Cuffey have no objection to take their meals with a gentleman rather opposed to them on political questions, Colonel Sibthorp would be delighted to see them at a family dinner on Wednesday, the 19tb, at six o'clock. " Colonel Sibthorp is much pleased with Mr, Cuffey's moderation in the Convention, and will have great pleasure in making his acquaintance. Nobody dines with Colonel Sibthorp on that day but Mr. Disraeli and a gentleman from Philadelphia and his lady. " 27, Chester-street, Grosvenoi-square. 11 To Mr. Cuffey." . Mr. Cuffey also read the following letter, purporting to come from Miss Martineau :—: — " Dear Mr. Cuffey, — I am sorry to see by the papers that you are in such distress. I shall be happy to give your wife a day's washing every week, and the scraps of my house, and I could find some employment at a friend's house in shoe cleaning. Your's, &c, " Harriet Martineau. . "To Mr. Cuffey." Mr. Cuffey proceeded to state that if people thought he was a fool he did not care for it, and he did not pay any particular attention to what people thought of him. (Cheers.) At another meeting, a member having called Cuffey to order for his violent speaking, another member said that he, the first speaker, must be a bigger fool than Cuffey himself to take any notice of what that worthy said. (Roars of laughter.) They all knew that Cuffey, like Joey Hume, was " a chartered libertine," and nobody paid any attention to anything he said. (Laughter.) To which compliment " Old Cuffey" rose and made a

profound bow. Such is a sample of the members and proceedings of the Chartist Convention.