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Untitled Article
But , father , would the people have submitted to have their children killed ? It is hard to say , boy , how far people may be degraded when kept in ignorance by skilful taskmasters . Not many years have elapsed
since the house of the philosopher Priestley was burnt by an ignorant mob at Birmingham , and the very instruments and papers dedicated to the service of humanity destroyed . But , father , the populace of Birmingham could not well be more ignorant than the Roman slaves , who more than once rebelled and placed Rome in jeopardy .
That was because the cruelty of their masters exceeded the bounds of endurance . But when physically well treated , and carefully debarred from the exercise of mind , human beings may be rendered as tame as cattle on a farm . The Tories understand this , and that is the secret of their apparent familiaritv with those about them . But they
have not understood the whole matter . Had they been wise , they would have discouraged the too great increase in the numbers of the people , and then they might have continued their Corn Laws , and the subservience of their tenantry . But the people have overbred them , physical misery has forced the sufferers to think , and the days of tyranny are passed . The era of education has commenced , and the knowledge hardly and painfully gained by the poor , will be forced on the r ich .
But will the knowledge gained by the poor improve their morality ? It may not in all cases with the present generation , but that will be its general effect . As knowledge increases , physical misery will decrease , for ignorance alone is the cause of the greatest amount of physical misery , and remember that sound morality can scarcely exist where physical misery is constantly tempting to crime . Inmorality may frequently accompany wealth as a matter of choice on the part of the possessor , but the poor man is most commonly forced to adopt
it as a means of living . How is it , father , that the payment of the different workmen is regulated , so that some get more than others ? That kind of labour which is easiest performed , or requires least skill , is most abundant , and consequently is the lowest in price . Skilled labour rises in proportion to the amount of skill required , for the most skilful workmen are always the fewest in number .
But may not the time come , when all men will be skilled alike , at least all men who practise the mechanical arts ? Then they will be all paid alike , or at least the increase in the rate of payment will be in proportion to the disagreeable nature of the employment . Ordinary copying clerks are at present better paid than labouring men , but as the arts of reading and writing become more universal , they will be worse paid , for the labour is much less , unless indeed the comparative unhealthiness of it be considered an equivalent . What do common labourers earn in a week ? They are considered well paid at fifteen shillings . And carpenters and cabinet-makers ? Abdut thirty shillings . Then there was a much greater difference in Southern America .
Untitled Article
766 Juvenile Lessons .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1833, page 766, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2626/page/34/
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