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806 THE LEADER. [SATirttijAY ,
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WORKERS WORK BEST WHEN FED. It is astoni...
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LESSONS IN CHRISTIAN HUMILITY. There is ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Of The Storm-Battered Tent, And The Athl...
rupted intellectual activity , and , above all , by securing a fair field for all these things—securing the fruits of intellect , science , and industry , she has distinguished herself by her energetic love of freedom , and by the resolution with which , afc time of trial , she could sustain that freedom with a right hand , that has never failed to conquer , in the end . Under every . form of government , under every dynasty , under the Plantagenets , the Tu « dors , the Stuarts , and , not least , in that glorious interval of Oliver Cromwell , — fields abroad and fields at home , on shore and sea , she has , with sheer hard work , strong hope , and a courageous hand , won for herself the greatness that she now possesses . The nations thought that her
spirit had wearied , that she had contracted her ambition to one particular domain of enterprise , and that the lowest of them all—greatness in commerce . But , just as she has developed her largest prosperity in commerce , the sounds of insult and threat upon the continent , re-awaken the consciousness of her own strength ; and after a slumber of apathy , in which , with too little sympathy , she has seen nations struggling for freedom and independence , she feels the stirring of the old spirit in her , and once more stands forth , ready , if the call come , to defend the weak against the strong , to vindicate national independence , and to sustain in the world that liberty , which is the greater for each when all share it .
806 The Leader. [Satirttijay ,
806 THE LEADER . [ SATirttijAY ,
Workers Work Best When Fed. It Is Astoni...
WORKERS WORK BEST WHEN FED . It is astonishing to find how invigorating food is , Avhen it is abundant and wholesome : any man who chooses to try , can ascertain this experiment for himself . If he will make a trial , either of pulling in a boat race , or of pursuing some intellectual inquiry , or of fighting an opponent , when he has been for some time in a state of starvation , and after he has had a sufficiency of good meals for some weeks , he will find the most striking difference : not only will his fist or his eyesight be more effective , but his n ^ oral view will be strikingly influenced . In the one case , he will doubt his own faculties , or will be inclined to regard life as a succession of failures . He will see a thousand and one reasons why such enterprises are fruitless , culpable perhaps , if not base ; and he will argue with you on the merits of self-denial in the matter of boat-racing , pugilistic victory , or intellectual investigation . Let him be daily invigorated by a proper allowance of breakfasts and dinners , and he will be confident
in himself ; difficulties Will disappear , and he will sec a thousand and one reasons why every intellectual achievement adds so much to the resources of mankind ; why independent manliness is rightl y paid with victory , and why boat-racing is one of the best of the manly sports left to the age . Ask the policeman whether he would be as strong without his breakfasts and dinners , or with only short commons as with thcmP nay , whether ho would be so self-possessed , so cheerful amidst difficulties and mobs , so even and cool in temper , so forbearing ? Ho will tell you ,
that a hungry man is an angry man , and that really without a propor allowance of meat and beer , or , at least , meat , bread and tea , it is not so easy even to collar a craven pickpocket . Tho same principle applies to all tough work . One thing necessary for the labourer who has to turn out a good amount of produce is , a , fair amount of physical vigour in himself . Wear and tear , whether of mind or muscle , eats away tho frame , unless it be sustained with a due sufficiency ; and , therefore , when a man is put upon harder work , ho must also bo put under training ; bettor fed ,
properly supplied with air , and , lot us add , dulystimulatod with a propor allowance of hopo per diem . This truth appears to bo bettor understood at tho present hopeful day than at any other time . We obworvo a general tendency amongst economical writers rather to rejoice in the rino of wages as one of those things that gives solidity and durability to our present prosperous condition . It has boon said by writers of a half wise ttjoononiical " philosophy , that when the
working oIuhhoh got higher wages , they squander it all in drink and debauchery ,. Now , these ooconomieal misanthropists wero seldom 'thoroughly believed , but yot they had « o great a knack of knowing fa , < : l , H and figures generally olmcnro to tho roadov ; they could toll you with , ho much accuracy tho population of an obacuro town in Hungary , or ( ununorato the imports into the ancient city oi ' OHtia , that ordinary It nowletlgo wiih ufriud to confront their prodigious information ,
and they were allowed for a , time to utter oracles . Butlo ! facts arise at the present moment confounding their philosophy . We have a general rise of wages all over the country—arise ranging in some instances to ten per cent , like that of the Stockport people ; in others going as high as twenty-five , forty , or' even something not less than a hundred per cent ., as in cases which we have observed of very rude labour . In the agricultural districts , we hear commonly now of
wages from . 9 * . to 12 s ., where they used to be 6 s ., 7 * ., and 8 * . ; and where do all these wages go to ? If you want the answer , you must look into the import returns , and see there the immense amount of homely consumable articles , with the general extension of the increase . No doubt there is a greater consumption of spirits ; but bread , tea , coffee , and sugar , the homelier articles of consumption , absorb an immense proportion of the increase .
" If a man who earns 5 , ? . more a week in 1852 than he did in 1842 , ( says the writer of an excellent paper in the British Quarterly Review , on this subject , ) is seen to spend the greater part of that additional sum on tea , coffee , sugar , butter , cheese , and other articles of food , we naturally conclude that he must have been pinched in his circumstances before , and that he and his family are now somewhat comfortable . It is precisely the same with the nation at large . In 1852 , Great Britain manufactured some 800 , 000 or 900 , 000 bales of cotton more than it had done in 1842 ; and , sit
the samp time , produced more coal , more iron and cutlery of all kinds , more glass , china , and eartlienware , more broadcloth , blankets , carpets , and every other kind of woollen fabric ; imported more timber , built more houses , made more furniture , and , in short , produced every sort of useful or ornamental commodity , in greater abundance than it had ever done , in a single year , at any former period . Take two items , as a sample of the progress we have made in production
within these ten years . In 1842 , we imported 1 , 384 , 894 bales of cotton ; " in 1 : 852 , 2 , 351 , 522 bales . In 1842 , we imported 527 , 327 loads of foreign and colonial timber ; in 1852 , 2 , 090 , 914 loads : an increase of about 300 per cent . With such an increase of work , the nation earned much higher wages , and , as a natural consequence , the national housekeeping account , so far as we can form a rough estimate , from a comparison of the Custom-House returns , at the two periods , exhibits a corresponding increase . " The following comparison of the respective quantities taken for consumption , at the two periods , of some of the larger items of our national grocery and foreign provision account , will show that , although the gross population of tho United Kingdom is not much larger than it was ten years ago , the consuming power of the people must have made astonishing progress within that period : — 1842 . 1852 . Sugar , cwts . . 3 , 808 , 466 7 , 172 , 847 Molasses , „ . . 599 , 640 809 , 286 Tea , lbs . . . . 37 , 355 , 911 54 , 713 , 034 CoiFee , „ . . . 28 , 519 , 646 34 , 977 , 953 Butter , cwts . . 180 , 282 280 , 385 Cheese , „ . 178 , 959 279 , 575 Eggs , number . 89 , 548 , 747 108 , 278 , 539 Itice , cwts . . . 282 , 430 552 , 024 Currants , „ . . 100 , 379 362 , 337 KaisiiiH , „ . . 186 , 240 228 , 386 Apples , bushels . 111 , 578 372 , 118 " Tho most remarkable- item in tins bill is tho increased consumption of sugar , from 3 , 868 , 466 to 7 , 1 . 72 , 847 cwts . The large reduction in tho rate of duty lma , no doubt , had somo cilect in producing the result ; but tho principal cnuso lias boon the improved condition of the Inborn-ing classes , as is proved by tho incrouHod consumption of tea , which had risen from 37 , 355 , 911 to 54 , 713 , 034 lbs ., within tho snuio period , although them had boon no reduction of duty . "
So much for tho consumption of tho people . But , considering the faet that tho population of tho United . Kingdom has absolutely decreased , that , from tho emigration of adult labour , the working hand-power of the country has decreased in a still larger ratio , it would require some explanation to know how thin immense amount of produce exchanged againHt these imports , and
filling our houses with new commodities , had been brought about P I | , has been done in three , ways , as tho name writer hIiowh . Tho timber could not have been worked up without the aid of machinery ; it would have been nooeHHary to \ vanlo part of the timber , tolet it lie idle ; ' and tlniH we nee that machinery positively inereaneH tho employment of the working hands . Jl ; < Iooh more than inereaNo employment , it saves to human hands tho rudest " labour , and enables
human hands to employ themselves about labour that gives a larger return . Increased machinery in every branch of industry , from the skilled labour trades to agricultural business , is one reason why we have increased production , with diminished number of hands . Another reason is that the labour has been better distributed . We have not had a surplus standing idle merely for the purpose of keeping down wages—the reserved force of combined masters . We have not had able-bodied paupers suffering involuntary idleness in workhouses ; we have not had nearly so many hands employed upon badly-pai d work , and therefore the work which is worth doing has received better attention . But the
third cause is that , under the stimulus of prosperity , the working classes have been more full of heart and * hope ; and we believe that , as that process of feeding them , physically and morally , advances , their produce will increase . One single example will speak to certain minds more than these general truths . Let us observe the general truths , for they enable us to see that the one example speaks in the working of all the rest . "What is true of William Dargan is true of thousands or * employers throughout the country . Let us hear , then , what Lord St . Germans , the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , reports for his friend , the worthy man who has founded the Crystal Palace in Dublin , and not long since refused a baronetcy .
"My excellent friend , Mr . Dargan , whom I rejoice to see before me , mentioned to me only a day or two ago that he recently thought fit , unsolicited , to raise the wages of the labourers in his employment . Now , what was the result ? My excellent friend tells me that a considerable gain to himself was the result , the work of the men was measured , and when it was compared with the amount of work done before the wages were raised , it was found that the difference was
considerably in his favour . I am convinced that the adoption of the principle of a fair day ' s wages for a fair day ' s work would prove alike beneficial to the employer and the employed /'
Lessons In Christian Humility. There Is ...
LESSONS IN CHRISTIAN HUMILITY . There is an old saying about what may be procured out of the mouths of the unwise ; and just at present , on some such principle , large schools in Christian , humility appear to be opened for those who need it sorely . As strange as the general nature of these great schools is tho character of the professors . The Chinese—that nation of small ideas , which erst despised all outside barbarians , and arrogantly designated itself as " the central flowery nation , " the " celestial people "—have now turned Christian , and arc setting an example of Christian sincerity with all the zeal of an imperial neophyte . Proud people arc
seldom sincere ; indeed , they have no occasion to be so ; for a proud man stands in no relation o £ communion with his fellows , and it is not necessary that the inferior should know tho mind of tho superior . While proud , the Chinese were naturally exclusive ; now , however , they are frank in their manner ; and , quite contrary to the old experience of China , they " now say what they mean and do what they say . " An instance is given : — " If they say they will give you twenty licks of a bamboo , make your mind easy—they will not stop short at nineteen . " So sincero is their Christian lovo of truth !
They give us even more genuine proof that they aro " followers of Jesus , " for they dispute any rank beneath that conferred in Heaven . They say , that neither is the priest superior to tho layman , nor is Sir George- JBonham qualified to insist upon precedency in the presence of tho Supremo Being . Some of our church dignitaries might learn thoir duty from this moral . It is tho
Christian maxim that " all aro equal in tho sigh * of God ; " yet in tho sight of tho I ) ean who enters tho Caihodral with great pomp—or oven tho Vicar , before whom beadle or humble folks must bow—none aro equal to himself ; which shows that tho pastor maintains for his own flight a higher standard of distinction than ho thinks nc : ceBHary for tho sight of the Supromo . Assuredly the British church in behind tho Chinese in some
essential Christian doctrines ! Nor is it only in China , that wo find this » " " verted contrast . Look at tho Sudder courts " tho Bombay Presidency of India . The imtrnj bar has really boon claiming oquality in p leading with Jtliiropoan barristers ; but tlio Court l » afl decided that a native , who ia only a " V akW ' » must . givo procedorico to tho European . M-Wl "
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 20, 1853, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20081853/page/14/
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