itation began, the principal
leader of which was Feargus O'Connor, whose irresponsible and erratic
oratory produced a vast effect. Monster meetings were held, at which
seditious language was occasionally used, and slight collisions with the
military took place. Petitions of enormous size, signed in great part
with fictitious names, were presented to parliament; and a great many
newspapers were started, of which the _Northern Star_, conducted by
Feargus O'Connor, had a circulation of 50,000. In November 1839 a
Chartist mob consisting of miners and others made an attack on Newport,
Mon. The rising was a total failure; the leaders, John Frost and two
others, were seized, were found guilty of high treason, and were
condemned to death. The sentence, however, was changed to one of
transportation, and Frost spent over fourteen years in Van Diemen's
Land. In 1854 he was pardoned, and from 1856 until his death on the 29th
of July 1877 he lived in England. In 1840 the Chartist movement was
still further organized by the inauguration at Manchester of the
National Charter Association, which rapidly became powerful, being the
head of about 400 sister societies, which are said to have numbered
40,000 members. Some time after, efforts were made towards a coalition
with the more moderate radicals, but these failed; and a land scheme was
started by O'Connor, which prospered for a few years. In 1844 the
uncompromising spirit of some of the leaders was well illustrated by
their hostile attitude towards the Anti-Corn-Law League. O'Connor,
especially, entered into a public controversy with Cobden and Bright, in
which he was worsted. But it was not till 1848, during a season of great
suffering among the working classes, and under the influence of the
revolution at Paris, that the real strength of the Chartist movement was
discovered and the prevalent discontent became known. Early in March
disturbances occurred in Glasgow which required the intervention of the
military, while in the manufacturing districts all over the west of
Scotland the operatives were ready to rise in the event of the main
movement succeeding. Some agitation, too, took place in Edinburgh and in
Manchester, but of a milder nature; in fact, while there was a real and
widespread discontent, men were indisposed to resort to decided
measures.

The principal scene of intended Chartist demonstration was London. An
enormous gathering of half a million was announced for the 10th