NEWS OF THE WEEK.
The movement of " the masses" did not end with the Birming- ham meeting. The men of the North are ready to take part in it. There has already been a large assemblage of the Manchester working people on the fatal field of Peterloo; and preparations are in progress for an immense gathering early next month. These proceedings are managed systematically. Delegates— apostles of agitation—are travelling through the land, with a view to perfect a formidable system of organization; and the im- provement of the people in the art of combining is already mani- fest. Many persons deride the idea of any thing being accom- plished by the working classes without the coiiperation of leaders in a higher rank of' society ; and they point to the past for proof of the futility of merely popular demonstrations. We would not advise them to rely too much on the past. There is reason to expect more perseverance, and better management than hereto- fore, on the part of the masses. At what period of English his- tory was there such a system in operation, as we now behold, for uniting the millions in a demand for political change? And it is worthy of remark, that nobody ventures to suggest measures for preventing the displays of physical force and threatening numbers, which have been and will be made. There was not the slightest apprehension of a second Manchester massacre when twenty thousand men islet in the dusk and did not separate till deep night on the scene of the slaughter in 1819. The use of the military is out of the question; and the Minister sees, that unless he were prepared to bring the soldiery into perpetual contact with the people, it would be a mere mockery to pass acts of Parliament to prevent demonstrations such as have taken place in the Midland counties, and will soon be witnessed in Lancashire.
Nor is it only among the turbulent population of the manufac- turing districts that movement is to be noted. At Ipswich, in Suffolk, men are demanding Universal Suffrage and the Ballot. In Scotland, too, there is an organized plan of agitation in favour of the Birmingham Petition. Now, although it may be very true that these political enthu- siasts exaggerate their strength, and aim at some impracticable tests, it is undeniable that the immense physical force they possess is now under better discipline than it ever has beet' before, and that the extent of their power to obtain what they demand Is as yet unknown. For which cause, it would be prudent to bear what they have to urge ; and, if a storm is gathering, to dissi- pate and break its force, by yielding timely, to reason, whatsoever it would be unjust as well as dangerous to hold back.
