"Chartism" manifestly declines in England ; at least that name
has been tarnished, and is at a discount. Events, and the conduct of the prominent leaders, have equally tended to throw discredit on Chartism : there has been an equal want of discretion and of boliiness. Reckless proclamation of treasonable intentions has been followed up by the most paltry burlesques on conspiracy. The connexion with the Confederates from Ireland has imparted a beggarly and vagrant character to the old Chartist movement. Norlas the conduct of the Chartists under examination or trial betokened a thriving rebellion : some have bullied ; many have repented. some have confessed that they acted on erroneous con- ceptions of the law, and avow that they have gained by expe- rience; the mere professional agitators shelter themselves under such "legal advice" as avails them, and undisguisedly await their
sentences. A few unimprisoned Chartists openly declare their disapprobation of all discreditable violences. On the whole, therefore, although signs of activity are still seen in the organized agitation, especially of the manufacturing districts, and although the counteractive measures of Government give an air of import- ance to the movements, the tumult is evidently subsiding.
Be it not forgotten, however, that the spirit and essence of Chartism remain : the spread of information, the consciousness of unsatisfied wants, the sense of an awakened capacity—that unapplied activity, which will make the working classes restless until they find their true place in the "constitution," does not die away with the discredit that attaches to the name.
