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Northern Star (1837-1852), 5th January 1850, Edition 2 of 3, Page 7, The Protechoxist Agitation.—Several coun...

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      Madame Sontao In A Snowdrift.—On The Mor...

      the gronnd under the causeway * aid immediately in front of Kos . 21 arid 25 , Bath-street , has for some ' time bW formed intoi vaults , which are at " present occup ied by Mr . Lauder , George-streeti as an icehouse . The main pipe of the . Old Gas Company , as we understand , runs along the causeway at the edge of the gutter ; near Bath-street , and is thus close to the vault adverted to . It is conjectured , from aslig htsubsideice of the ground at this point , ¦ which ! has been observed for some time " , tbat tbe earth had been partially scooped from underneath the pipe , and that ^ thus left without support , it had tentV and got partiall y cracked . ¦ _ The vapour , making its escape in dense quantities , at first got ¦ fiw en-ess to the oncn air , but the intense frost of

      yesterday appears to have forced it through the ground in a lateral direction , and the ice-house in fhjs way also got impregnated . 2 fo danger of explosion was apprehended ia the vault itself , as the , placehad been visited on Saturday night , when no imell was felt . Monday morning , however , three men -in the employm ent of Mr . Lauder , who were senttothe vaults with carts , forasupply of ice , had no sooner entered the place with lighted candles than a tremendous exp losion took place . The unfortunate individuals who had not got many yards past . the door , were thrown with great violence against the wall dreadfully scorched and bruised , and how any of them escaped with their lives is a matter of astonishment . As before observed , the whole of the

      atmosp here around being completely charged with the combustible vapour , the explosion was simultaneous in every quarter where it had collected in any . quantity , and this accounts for the great destruction of window-glass which took place at so many different points . The houses that have suffered most are those of Mr . Corbett , . 21 , and Mr . Brown , 25 , Bath-street , which appeared to have teen situated in the very focus of the explosion , where hardly one pane has escaped destruction , while the cheeses suffered considerably . Ia Dr . H'Leod ' s house , "West-Xile-street , which is , about sixty vards distant , no fewer than twenty panes of

      • crlass have been smashed , ana at tne opposite corner % f the same street a few have also been broken . Wc regret to say that the most lamentable effect of the catastrophe is its probable result , so far as the injured men are concerned . They were immediately conveyed to the infirmary . Two of them who acted as shopmen to Mr . Lauder , respectively named O'Jlara and Wallace , are very much injured , particularly Wallace , whose life , we understand , is despaired of . The third man , whose name we have not ascertained , is less severely scorched , though none of them are beyond danger . Ho other casualy las occurred , notwithstanding the violence of the c oncussion was so great that many of the houses a ctually shook .

      Janpato 5, 1850. The Northern Star. 7

      Janpato 5 , 1850 . THE NORTHERN STAR . 7

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      The Protechoxist Agitation.—Several Coun...

      The Protechoxist Agitation . —Several county meetings are fixed for the ensuing week / . _ The landlords , yielding to an tsprit de corpt , are joining with apparent zeal in this movement , although they must be convinced in their hearts that the experiment is utterly hopeless , and that the agitation cannot be carried on without certain danger of still further exciting the demand for tenant-right and greatly reduced rents . The county of Monaghan has been convened by the high-sheriff for Tuesday next the Sth inst . The requisition is signed by Lords Clonmel and Elayney ; Mr . C- P . Leslie , one ofthe county members ; the Messis . Shirley ; Mr . 32 . Lucas , formerly Under-Secretary for Ireland ; and more than twenty of the local gentry .. Other counties ( including . theSorth Biding of Tipperary ) are convened ; but the most presentable requisition is that for the county of Dublin , summoned by the high sheriff , Mr . John Ennis , for Friday the 4 th

      inst ,, which is signed hy Lords Brabazon , Milltown , Gormanstown . Longford , and St . Lawrence , and by the gentry , "Whig and Conservative , to a considerable extent . A challenge has recently been offered to the Marquis of Downshire , to test public opinion upon free trade , by an open meeting in the county of Down , where himselfand other landed proprietors ordinarily possess such p aramount territorial influence ; but where the tenant-farmers , as well as the manufacturers living in the towns , or scattered through the rural districts , would have an opportunity of pronouncing their real opinions upon the questions now engaging the anxious attention of all classes .. According to the Sortliem Whig , a zealous and judicious supporter of free trade in " Ulster , the noble Marquis is not unwilling to accept the challenge ;— " Lord Downshire , " says that journal , " is , we understand , anxious to have a meeting ofthe comity of Down ; and we certainl y cannot predict verv much discretion when he takes it into his head

      to act . We trust , however , tbat there are in the county a sufficient number of prudent men to counteract his lordship on this occasion . The more we hear from various * districts , the more thoroughly satisfied are we that there are no men in the community so much interested in preventing agricultural agitation as the landlords . The tenants know well that there will not be a return to protection ; and the more the landlords agitate in its favour , just so much the more will the / demand reduction of rents , or perhaps become reluctant to pay any . We know a large estate where the least reduction that is insisted upon amounts to one-fourth ofthe present rent . " The possibility or probability of ejectment for non-payment of rent is looked to ; and

      we have been assured tbat if that were to take place , no new comer would be permitted to enter into possession . Of the existence of this spirit amongst many ofthe tenant farmers in Ulster there is ample evidence . "The Cheat Agghegue Meeting . —The following is the requisition upon which the . preat aggregate meeting , to be holden on the 17 th of January , is convened : — "We , the . undersigned , deeply impressed with the importance ofgiving the fullest efiect . to the great national demonstration of Irish opinion upon the present condition of this country , and the absolute necessity of a change in the policy

      of recent legislation , as contained in an address to Her Most Gracious Majesty , of the Peers , Members of Parliament , gentry , magistrates , bankers , merchants , and tenant farmers of Ireland , hereby request' a meeting of those who have signed that address , to be held at the Rotunda , in Dublin , on Thursday , the 17 th day of January , 1850 , at the hour of eleven , to deliberate npon tbe bast mode of presenting the address to her Majesty , and to adopt petitions to Parliament , praying-for the immediate redress of the grievances uuder which Ireland , labours from the withdrawal of protection to her agriculture and the oppressive burden of the present svstein of Poor Laws . "

      ! The Texaxt Movemext . —A vast out-door meeting was held at Teinplemore , in the county ot Kerry , on Wednesday last , in pursuance of a requisition couched in the following rather formidable terms : — bests ! bexisIJ bests 111—low peices ! iow kexts !! ' . . A public meeting will be held on St . Stephen ' s day , qt the Cross of Been , to petition Parliament to take into consideration the state ofthe farming class , as well as to lay before the landlords of this impoverished nnion the utter impossibility of their continuing to exact the present exorbitant and oppressive rents , without mining themselves and their unfortunate tenants . The chair will be taken at two o ' clock ' precisely . Down with the rents ' and hurrah for cheap land , cheap food , and plenty .

      The meeting was a very important one , and the most distinct expression of the feelings ofthe Irish tenant-farmer class , on the question of protection , yet given utterance to . The chair was occupied by T .. O'Sullivan , Esq :, of Prospect-lodge , and'the following were among the resolutions adopted : — " That it is the opinion of this meeting , that the free importation of corn into this union is essentially necessary , not only for its well-being and prosperity , but- for its actual existence ; and that aay attempt to re-impose a duty on the importation of food-can only have the effect of-swelling the purses and increasing the rentals ef a few landlords- whilst it' must , " of necessity , tend to ' the

      starving of the people . " " That we do not by any means coneuror participate in the cry that is being raised against the present Poor Law , inasmuch that , with all its defects , it places the burden of the poor on those who are best able , and who ought , to bear it . It , to a certain extent , relieves-the struggling farmer of a heavy burden he had hitherto , solel y and unaided by the landlord to bear , viz ., the support of the poor : and it leaves no choice to the landlord hetween supporting , the poor idly and nnprofitably in the workhouse , and their useful and remuneratiTe employment in the cultivation of the soil ontside . " r

      "That the rents of this nnion have been at all times immoderate , and of late years so oppressive as to rendcrit impossible to hold out any longer under so grievious a burden . AH our means have gone out for the import of food during four successive famines , ourfarmimjproduce has fallen to half its value , taxation has been / doubled , and yet the same rents—with few exceptions—have been dominded and paid with as much severity as they have been in times the mostprosperousand flourishing . { Seeing , therefore , no disposition on the part ofthe landlords to take our case into consideration , and seeing them meet and come together for no other purpose than to make more grievous the yoke that has been for centuries cast upon us , it only remains for us to resign their lands , and betake ourselves to a country where a man may feel that he is labouring for himself , and where the fruits fcf Ms labours are sot likely to go to oilier than Ids own family . " :-.,... '" .

      At a large meeting of the Coleraine Tenant Right Esociaton , held on Saturday last , J . Boyd , Esq ., ¦ Rrfor ^ CfeUTame ; in the chair , - the following relations were agreed to . . " That the unexampled distress which has pre-Oed throughout this country during the last few [ are , calk loudly for every iadmdual and legislative

      The Protechoxist Agitation.—Several Coun...

      effort that can be made , to check its progress and if move its disastrous effects . " t" That - mnch'of this-distress has-arisen fro m the want of remunerative employment for the labouring population , which is mainly caused by the absence of all legal security , " to the tenant farmers for their permanent improvement of the soil . " - ~ "That in order to enable the agricul turists of this country to meet with , vsuccess the competition ; of foreigners , an extensive reform is required in the law of real property " and conveyancing , a general reduction of rents to a level with the present prices of agricultural produce , and a secured interest to the tenant farmer m the benefit of alt substantial im-. rirovements which his own capital shall accomplish ' . ' ' ¦ " That if these just demands were conceded , there is enough of energy , enterprise , and scientific skill in Great Britain and Ireland to enable the tenant farmer to compete with foreigners as successfully as the manufacturer is now able to do . "

      " That petitions befoiwarded from this meeting , and as far as possible from all the surrounding dis : tricts , to both houses of parliament , praying for the legislative reforms pointed out in the foregoing re- solutions . " . . . V . The Repeal Association . —A meeting of this body was held on MorJday at Conciliation Hail , Mr . Kelch in the chair . Mr . John Council , M . P ., handed in £ i 10 s ., the subscription for himself , Mrs . O'Con nell , and their seven children . He said that he had anticipated the time for handing in his subscription by one day , because the period for giving in the necessary funds had come , round when persons '! should prove their devotion to the principles and the great cause of repeal . ( Loud cheers . V Some letters having

      been read , Mr . 0 'Council addressed the meeting in opposition to the Protectionist movement ,. and on other topics , and concluded by reading a long address to the people of Ireland , calling upon them to make " one more struggle for Ireland" to obtain a native parliament . The following is an extract of the . address : — " Were ydu silent when the session opens , who can say whether the Glengall dodge—the rack rent and bread taxing movement that Glengall , and others like him , only kuown by their immitigable hatred of you ; your religion—nay , your very existence—have been getting up uuder the delusive cry of ' Protection '—who cm say but that it will be aS ; sumed that this wretched and shameful delusion has succeeded with you , and that your old oppressors have of a sudden become your chosen representatives ! What ! the people of Ireland wishing tor a

      tax on bread—for a tsx to stint by one half or more the scanty measure of food to the working man and his shivering family—for a tax to swell still more the grinding poor-rate by the heavier cost of food—for a tax to bolster up the tottering system of rack rents and cruel extermination ? Ho , no , Lord Glengall , and you noble lords and honourable gentlemen ; ysu may delude yourselves , but you cannot—yon , shall not delude the right-minded and high-minded people of Ireland . " The rent was announced to be £ 1217 s . 2 d . Death op Me . J . P . Lalor . —This young gentleman , whose writings on the land question in the United Irishman , and subsequent productions as editor of the Felon , excited so mueh sensation , died on the 27 th ultimo . Mr . Lalor was put into prison in 1848 , and , although released iri a few months , never , it is said , recovered the effects of incarceration on a delicate frame .

      The Great Southern and Western Kail way Company have so reduced the tariff of charges for the carriage of meat , poultry , vegetables , Ac , that any one residing in Dublin may obtain these necessary articles of food from the country at the . provincial prices , the rates of carriage being so small in proportion as scarcely to betaken into consideration : This course is adopted to break down the monopol v of the retail dealers in food . ' The Freeman ' s Journal states , on the authority of a letter from Rome , that the Very Rev . - Dr . Cullen , for many years tho agent at the Holy See of the Ir sh Roman - Catholic Church , has been uppointed to the vacant Roman Catholic primacy in Ireland .

      The mills of Messrs . M ' Cann , near Ferrybank , were entirely destroyed by fire on Friday evening . The destructive element raged nearly the whole night , and an immense amount of property , it is stated , was lost in the flames . The premises were insured , but not to any sum that could nearly cover the value of the property consumed . The new mayor of Droghcda has given £ 50 to be distributed among the poor , instead of spending it on a civic dinner , ¦ -. < ¦¦ - ¦ Accounts of two or three deaths from destitution in the west of Ireland are given in the papers this

      morning . The workhouse of the Carrick-on-Shannon union is described as being in a most deplorable state from fever , neglect , and want of funds . Tbe frost still continues uninterrupted , and skating can now be practised on all the ponds in the vicinity of Dublin . , . , Bobbixg of the Mail . —Some few nights ago , as the mail car was on its way from Xenagh to Templemore , the driver was attacked near Moneygall , and the mall bags taken out of the car . The bags were found by the police near the town on the next morning ; being robbed of their contents . of

      Attack os Dovehill House . —A party seven or eig ht armed men , on Friday last about the hour of nine o ' clock , went to the residence of Joseph Crawley , Esq ., at Dovehill , near Thomastown , and demanded admittance . When Mr . Crawley heard the knocking , he went into the hall ,: and having asked what was wanted , they told him to open the door ; he refused to do so , and was then ordered to discharge from his employment his present workmen , and to employ others ; in case he did not complv , they told him they would find him at another time . At that moment Mr . Crawley fortunately stepped across the hall , and two or , three shots were fired through the door ; the contents shattered a table , -a clock-case , and the railings of the stairs . About the hour the attack was made , it was Mr . Crawley ' s habit to accompany his herd to see if the stock was all safe . —Jung ' County Chronicle . _

      ...--The Ltxes Teaue . —The Banner of Ulster thus reports : — " We regret to report a still further reduction in the prices of linen fabrics during the past week , amounting in some districts to a farthing a yard , and others a halfpenny . The consequence has been a very general reduction often , and in many cases fifteen per cent ., on the wages of the weavers . The trade is fully as brisk as ever , the decline in prices having been caused by the immense increase of hands at the looms , not by any want of demand on the part of customers . The export from Belfast , during the past week , amounted to 1 , 374 packagesrcorisiderably above an average . " j _ ¦

      Refeesextatios of Limerick . —Mr . J . 0 'Council has rather unexpectedly resigned the representation ofthe city of Limerick , and already several candidates are mentioned for the seat thus vacated ; amongst others , Colonel Vereker , son of the late LordUort , and Captain Gough , son of Lord Gougb , both on Protectionist principles . On the Liberal side , Mr . F . W . Russell , of the eminent firm of Russell and Sons , has formally addressed the electors ; and Mr . G . J . O'Connell , it is said , means to trv Ms luck on the Eepeal " dodge . " In his valedictory address Mr . J . O'Connell thus states the motives which have induced him to bid adieu to

      Parliamentary life : — " Circumstances not of my own creating have so limited my means as to necessitate tbe resumption and pursuit of my profession , abandoned twelve years ago at riiy father ' s desire ; and tlie attention requisite for this purpose must incapacitate me from giving even occasional attendances in Parliament . I feel that it would be flagrant ingratitude , aswell as gross injustice , were 1 to retain my high position as one of your representatives when unable any longer to discharge even occasionally its duties in Parliament . I therefore shall divest myself of the hig h honour you so generously conferred upon me in 1847 , at the first intimation of your being ready and willing to proceed to a new election . " - .

      Siaffoedshibe Mixebs. — The Miners Of Th...

      Siaffoedshibe MixEBS . — The miners of the northern part of this county being convinced that union alone can save them , are again organising themselves . Large and successful meetings have lately been held at Tunstall , Burslam , lianley , Longton , Ac , which have been addressed by Messrs . Daniells and Lawton , and many added to the ranks of the association . Mr . Daniells has also attended meetings at the Working Man ' s Hall , Longton ; the Odd fellows'Hall , Bradley Green ; and at Xorton . Altogether the cause of union is in a prosperous condition here , and co-operative societies are forming . AH letters for the North Staffordshire miners to be addressed to Edward Lawton , 1 , Williamson-street , Tunstall ,

      Staffordshire . ,,. Tnx Negro Emperor . —My first view of him was as he was riding through the city , as his custom is on every Sabbath morning , after having reviewed tbe army . His colour is the most thorough coal black , but his nose , lips , Ac , are more European than one would expect from his colour . From his forehead to the top of his head he is entirely bald . He rode a gray horse—very good for this countrywas accompanied by a hundred or more of his life guards on horseback , preceded by cavalry music , and passed through the principal streets ofthe city , uncovering his head and disposing freely his bows and his smiles to the crowds as he rode rapidly

      past them . He was dressed in full military uniform of a very rich character ; the entire front of his coat , as well as other parts of his dress , being overlaid with heavy golden trimmings . Hie age is a little above fifty , his form large and erect , near six feet in height , weighing about two cwt ., and well proportioned , -with the exception ^ of some corpulency . His horsemanship is pf the most perfect character . This attracts the attention of all foreigners , and their universal remark is that in this respect he is rarely equalled . He usually rides to the Bureau ofthe Port , the Custom House , and through some ofthe streets ofthe city , attended by a few of his guards , twice during the weeK . —JScw York Enmrer ,

      The Condition (Tf^Bng Rtand Fl ,,,,:,., ...

      THE CONDITION ( TF ^ BNG rtAND fl ,,,,:,., v ,- - _ --:: Q ^ STip »; ' ;_ -,:.,: ;¦ -: ¦ ' :::- ; .. ' " : ¦ ( Condensed from the ' Horning Chronicle . ) STATE OF v THE AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS'IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE , BERK-, . ; SHIRE , WILTSHIRE , AND OXFORDSHIRE ; ^ . Amongst-thoso not-practically conversant with rural affairs , the impression prevails that the bulk of . the labourers live in detached residences on the differentfarms , with a certain tio existing between them and the soil , and , by consequence , between them . and its occupiers . In Scotland , and in some portions of the north of England , this is the case to

      a great extent although not now . to the same extent iri Scotland * . as formerly . " ¦ " The , times are past when , in the Lowlands , the farmer and his workmen were mutually on such a footing that , after toiling , together in the ' same 'fields , they-sat down together , at tho same tablcj and in many cases slept under the same roof .: But still the bulk of the labourers there live yet upon the farms , accommodation being generally , in such cases , afforded them in the ' " square , " the term frequently applied to the farm buildings . The consequence is , that farm labourers are in Scotland a less distinct and detached class than they are in England , and they are far less frequently to be' found , bearing in mind the ; relative , proportions of the two countries as to

      numbers clustered together in towns and villages , of which they chiefly constitute the population . In ¦ England , the case is different . ¦ Many labourers are hired , ' with their board included , when accommodation is of course provided them on the , farm . But the great bulk of therii forrii a distinct class of society , inhabiting the outskirts of the rural towns and the villages , which they monopolise to themselves , having no capital or resource but their labour , no certainty that that will be called into exercise , and no guarantee for its employment , even when it is called into use , beyond a week at a time . It were better for them , as a class , to be kept more apart from each other thaii they are—for it is not under all circumstanies that meri imnrove from

      the constant intercourse which is the result of their congregating in masses together . ' In some cases , the sites of their villages belong to orie proprietor—in others , to several ; but it by rio means follows that they are employed either on the farm of which a village site may form , a part , or even on the property of which the farm may be but a portion . Indeed , it frequently happens that the , only connexion between them and the proprietor or occupier of thesoil on which their habitations are erected , is that of landlord and tenant . Theirlabqur , is at the command of any one who bids for it ; arid as their employment is precarious , and their wages fluctuating , their lives are spent , m the riiajority of cases , in constant oscillation between their homes

      arid the workhouse , with no alternative : beyond but starvation or the gaol . ..--. !? ¦ > ,, 7 Muchhas , of late years , been said in this country in reference tothe dwellirigg ofthe poor , and public sympathy has been largely excited on the subject . , Both in tho towns and in the country districts the matter has been vastly investigated , and facts brought to light which were a disgrace to the nation , because revolting to humanity . The consequence has been that much , has been done for the ainelioration , of the domiciliary condition ; of the lower orders , but , though much , it has fallen far short of what is required . The very fact that , notwithstanding the extent tb which the ' subject * has been agitated ; such frightful revelations in

      reference to the dwellings of the poor have latel y been made in the metropolis , where one would have supposed their horrible . condition-was least likely to have escaped observation , will of itself suffice to indicate the . trifling , extent to which , improvement in this respect has been pushed in the country districts , where its absence is less likel y to obtrude itself upon the public attention . ' What has been done has not been effected on any large preconcerted plan , calculated to embrace the whole of a neglected class in the beuefits of its operation . ' The effect has been local and partial , not national . Here and there a proprietor , ; from-motives either of shame , benevolence , or interest , has , by improving their dwellings , enhanced the comforts of some of .

      or perhaps of all , the peasantry on his estates . But there has beeri no general action in this direction , and ordinary comfort is " a " thing yet estranged from the great bulk of the habitations of the poor . For onegood cottage , with adequate accomriiodation for a family , numbers are still met with utterly unfit for human occupancy . There is no l arge district in the group of counties now under consideration in which the improvements have been universal , and there are few estates on which the had are not vet largely intermingled with the cottages of a better description . The writer , describing theslcepihgaccommodation of one of the families visited , says - . —They all sleep in the same room—if the scanty space between the lower celling and the thatch can he called a room . There is no . bedstead . The beds are lawro sacks

      stuffed with chaff . The boys and girls sleep together . They undress below , and crawl over each other to their sleeping-places . There are two blankets on the bed occupied b y the parents , the others being covered with a very heterogeneous assemblage of materials . It not unfrequentlv happens that the clothes worn by the parents in the day time form the chief part or the covering of the children by night . Such is the dormitory in which , lying side by side , the nine whom we have just left below at their wretched meal will pass the night . The sole ventilation is through the small aperture occupied by what is termed ,: by courtesy , a widow . In other words , there is , scarcel any ventilation at all .- What a den in the hour of sickness or death ! What a deii , indeed , at any time !

      Let it not be said thatthis picture is overdrawn , or that it is a concentration for effect into one point of defects ,. spread in reality over a large surface : As a type ofthe extreme of domiciliary wretchedness iri the rural districU . it is underdra wn . Some cottages have only one room both for day and night accommodation . Some of them , again , have three or four rooms , with a family occupying each room ; the families so circumstanced amounting each , in some cases , to nine or ten individuals . In some cottages , too , a lodger is accommoda ted , who occupies the same apartment as the famil y . Such / fortunately , is not the condition of all the labourers in the agricultural districts ; but it is the condition of a very great number of Englishmen . — not in the back woods of a remote settlement , but in the heart of Anglo-Saxon civilisation , in the year of grace 1849 . It behoves the

      -r— gentlemen of England ,. , Who live at home at ease , " to ponder seriously upon the coriditiori of such of their fellow-subjects as are " so wretchedly circumstanced . - Such anomalies but ill accord with the civilisation to which we lay claim . In its main outline uur national fabric may bo brilliant and imposing ; but is it sound in all . its component parts ? Whilst improvement . has brushed over the prominent points , burnishing them brightly , it has passed over many of the deep crevices which intervene , and ' in which the gangrene is being-engendered which is silently eating into the very vitals of society . But it may be urged that the misery hero depicted is exceptional , ' and that it cannot be

      accepted as the type of the condition of any numerous body of the peasantry / I speak ' now of onlv four of the forty counties of England , - and assert tbat it is the type of tho condition of the great bulk of the peasantry iri these , counties . They may not be all equally wretched as regards some of the comforts of life , because they are not all equally burdened with large fariiilies ' . "But the house accommodation of the great majority of them is ofthe lowest and most miserable description . The universal testimony ^ . indeed , of those iu better circumstances on the spot is , that the accommodation of the peasantry in . this respect is far from what it should bo . There is ground for this opinion in the condition of the labourer' on the great' bulk of what was once

      the Duke of Buckingham ' s property , as also in that of some of the peasantry on tlie Marlborough estates . The state of their domiciles in the vicinity of-Aylesbury , Wycombe , and Creridon , will also attest its truth . Leaving Bucks and passing into Oxfordshire , we have not to go far for evidences of its soundness . Taking the town of Thame as a centre , and describing around it a circle with a radius of abont seven miles , we have abundant proof in the portions of the circle which fall within that county—again excepting the property of Mr .. Henley—tbat the house accommodation afforded to the ' labourer is'riot . what it should be : Close to the town of Thame' is the hamlet of Moreton , where any change made must almost necessarily be one in

      the direction of improvement . The same may be said of the village of Tetswofth , about three miles ' from Thame , and of Lord ; Churchill ' s property in the vicinity , of Crcndon . But , perhaps , the climax of misery irithis respect , in the district , is ; to ibe found in the village of Towersey , a ^ iout a mile distant from Thame . One house was pointed out to me there with four rooms , each room occupied by a separate family , some of the families being very numerous . It was : a two-story house , covered with tiles . There was no communication between the upper and lower , stories , the former being approached from the outside by a flight of stone steps , which rose over the door leading into the

      latter ^ One ofthe families counted eight or ten , of both sexes , some of whom had attained ' maturity : The immorality to which their domestic condition gives rise . I shall have occasion hereafter to refer to . There was a common necessary for all , situated at a little distance from the house . It had no door , and its occupant , of either , sex , was exposed to tbe gaze ofthe passer-by . This relation , may shock delicate nerves ; but . it is as well that the truth should be told without mincing it . , A 1 I iaround was filthy it the extreme . . As the soil about was heavy and wet ,-the drainage was most imperfect . Something has recently been done in the "way of hr . provment under the Sanitary Act , but the state ofthe village is still such ( hat the work seems yet to be

      The Condition (Tf^Bng Rtand Fl ,,,,:,., ...

      begun . ¦\ . 'Su $ h \ J 8 iihe specimen of tht condition of Britishsubjects . witltintwelve . miles ,. ofthe ^ g reateitseat of learning in the world , and one of the foci of British Christianity . } " tou - - ¦^¦ ¦ ' y fy ' ¦ ' ¦ ¦ - ; ' - ' ^ •' v ' ¦ ¦ ' " ; - ' ' ¦ ''' Passing into Berkshire ;; we find'inusfiiciency and even wretchedness of accoirimodatiori to be the rule in - ' almost everydireclion . 'KThNfKe ^ neighbourhood 6 / Lanibourn arid-Hurigerford ; riot far from Reading , and almost hinder the skddews'iiifolfr'W thisjis . found to he . the case . Ip'Wiltshire , it is notoriously and extensively 8 oV ' - " Not'far from Calne are cottages of ft : ; very ^ inferior'description ^ - Near . Chippenham ; ' in-excellent situations ^; likeithat Of Colerrie ,

      riot far from Bo wood ; in the vicinity of Marlborough , in the northeast ; arid of Mere in the ' south-west of the country 5 in the Wiriterbouras , arid along the whole line leadirig from Salisbury towards Hungerfordj-they are , in the' majority of cases ; worse than bad . 'Almost midway between Old arid New Sarum ; too , specimens of a ! very questionable description may be seen . ' - The" Old ' andthe New ore ; hereb ought within "the ' coriipas 8 of ^ a single vision ; showing the advance which" society has made iri'the lapseio ' f centuries . But the peasantry seem hot ' to have participated in that advance : ' The old seems to have gradually merged into the new without including them inthechsnge ; ' - ' ¦ ' ¦ : ' : l "¦ ' '! ;

      For the accommodatioh which they possess , insufiV cierit and scanty as it is , trie cottagers almostirivarP ably pay rent ,: arid in some caces a / high rent . " ; The rent varies frorii 6 d : '" to 2 e . ' per , week ,. . the ) ampunt 6 f rent not being so much determined > by ' the . character of the house as by that ofthe liu & pvd .. Mr . Carairi ' a tcnarits pay mucli-hi gher reri ^^ tti 8 : nLoi : d Pembroke ' s for which they are in general " far'less comfortably lodged . In most eases a ' small piece of ground is attached to thecottage by way of a garden . In Bucks , Oxford , ' and part of Berks ; this , which seldom exceeds the eighth ' of ah acre . 'is ' included in the rerit ; but in other parts of Berks ; -arid throughoutWilts , generally , it'is not . ' Hefeagairi the Pembroke estates '

      are in exception .-: When extra rent is charged , the lowest is three-halfpence a pole ; In some cases it is three-pence , " and in others as high as a shilling . Now . the a verag ' e . rental of land in fWilts is about £ 1 per acre , or about three-halfpence a pule . The poor wretch , therefore , who ; rents , say twenty poles , and pays 2 s . Gd . ' a year for . it ; pays the' farmer ' s rent pro tanto . In / cases in \ which he pays beyond that , the farmer makes a profit out of him . In addition to this , allotments are sometimes made to them in the fields . This is ; particularly tlie . case in Bucks and Oxf ' ord . where they take each ; onthe average , from a quarter to half an acre , for which they pay at the rate of about SOs . ' per ' acre . ¦"' ; ' - ¦'•' . '

      Even were the . diet' of the peasantry good and ample , personal and domestic cleanliness would be indispensable to their-health . ; But ;' existing as they do on insufficient food , to which they are-condemned by the scantiness of their wages ; their only chance of preserving health is by 'keeping clean their persons arid dwellings . Soap and soda , 'the chief ingredients in the process of-washing ; are ribw cheap ; and many keep their cottages , persons ; and wearing apparel as clean as possible "' -under ! . these circuriistances . But whilst their miserable ' condition gives many an excuse for the filthiness to' which . they are prone , it drives others , originally better ; disposed , into careless arid untidy ^ habits . ' ^ There is a point at which man ceases tostruggle-with his fate , and resigns'himself to tbe seeming necessities of his . cohdition . Many an

      English peasant is ,, in his circumstances ; sunk so far below the line of coinfort ; decency , and self respect , that the effort to-reach { it seems beyond his power . He convinces himself thathe cannot better himself , and ! ceases the endeavour . At length'lie does not even cherish the wish ,. , and becomes , iridiffeie'rit . "How can we be clean' with eight iri a room ' ? . " , re * plied one of them ; on'iri ' y ' alluding to ihe state of his lodging . Hence the complicated f 6 . ms of' disease with which tlie ' small communities in the rural districtsare so often afflicted .. ] pisenses of a catarrhal character , dysentery , and fevers , particularly of the typhoid type , are constantly lurking about their wretched inhabitations .. llence . too , the vice which so alarmingly prevails , for impurity of iriind becomes the invariable coricomitarit of habitual impurity of body . '" " 7 ' ¦ " , " / ' ' ' . ' . ! ' ' ' .. . ' . "

      The Condition (Tf^Bng Rtand Fl ,,,,:,., ...

      which reaped no advantage , cither from pipes conducted into their interiors , or from taps in the streets , ' was riearryas great - . as the amount of dwellings pro ^ vided for ^^ in either ' 6 f theseways , b eing . 22 , 956 . ! . The number of dwelling cellars in the borough was 5 , 070 , Of these only , 1 ; 108 . were provided with pipe water ., Upwards ' . ' pfVi ' , 968 had ! the adyaritagepfacommon tap , ; and I $ v 4 we ' re entirely ^ . ' deperiderit upon other means of supply . The water sold : b y the Waterworks Company isJ'deriyed from : ¦ a tunnel ! called Gortori ' s Brook ; which is principally land ! drainage ., So interisjely impure is the atmospliere ip yer Manchester , that the rairi water is unfit even for washing until it

      has stood for some time to , purify and . settle . Many of the poor whohave no cisterns to allow the water to rest'iri ; and ^ probably , no room forthem . eyen if they had , Carry the ! fluid to be used for washing and scouring frorii the canals , aridare frequently so ecoriomic in th ' eir use " of it that they keep a . bucket-full until it stinks . Mr . Holland has" frequently detected the practice by . the ! abominable Pinell produced in a patient ' s sick " rboni . " Gbrierallytbe landlord of a set of houses sinks one or more wells , coveriugthem of course withpumps ; for theiise ofhis tenants . The right to draw water from these sources is purchased by the neig hbours at the rate of from 6 d . to Is . per quarter . - ; . r .-w ' - , . ¦ ¦

      ! lt would appear- as if , in the manufacturing districts ; everything moved quicker : than in , any , other parts of the ; world . The child toils . sooner , ' attains physical developeraent sooner , marries sooner , hen children In his turn sooner , and in . the present sdni ' tarj ^ - . state ' 0 / 7 matters , . dies sooner ;' But over and above-this natural precocity—the crowding together , as it were , of the ordinary epochs of life—it may be observed thut an existence of constant labour ^ and riot ' urifrequent privation , has an universal tendency to diminish the time during which the family tie subsists iri all cohesive powers . Themembcrs of a family living ' Jn , comfortable ease , continue bound together far - Jonyer than those of a family struggling to live . This rule ; is aa natural ai it is universal . In the latter case each child , as . it grows up ,, must neces

      sanly labour for itself . The family incomeI is not earned bya common-head , nor does it flow from a common source . The circle becomes a-iort of joint- ' stockconipany , andas that ; great and universallypreyailingiaw of selfrpreservation comes . gradually into play , the force of habitand of affection weakens , while that of individual interest strengthens , and as surely as the ^ different persbriages of the coriipany begin . 'to perceive that they are contributing , eitherin money or In comfortof situation , more . to the family than t ^ he'fiimily ' cori ' tribrites to . them , so surely do they withdraw from the associatiori to labour in isolation , or to form new and more profitable social ' combiriekions for themselves .: I am assured . oathe very highest autlioriiy , that nothing in ! Manchester is more uncommon than a child after tbe age of

      sixteen systematically contributing to the support of his or her ^ paretics , or parents ' 'doing anything , for the support of a child above that a « e . ! ' The fariiily tie inay , therefore , be considered—avowing"three ' children to' each ' family-as broken up about twenty years ' after the ' marriage ; from which ! the , children spring : ' '" Nothing ! " say s my informant , agentleinanof high offiblal standing )" . riothing can be more keen than the affections of parents iliroughoutthe cotton { districts'for children , so I 6 ii g ds : they continue children f and nothing more remarkable than the lukewarm carelessness of feeling ' which subsists . between their parents and tlieir children after the latter are grownup anddoingfor themselves . " In this respect the instinct observable in the lower animals is strongly developed to the classes of which I weak . ' ' Affection

      lasts 111 its strong degree only so long as helplessness subsists . It is as in the case of the birds- the young brie , when lull featbered , 'flies away , arid parents and best are forgotten together . If , in the manufacturing districts ,.-pie flight , idkes place unduly early , it is because the plumageappears-unduly early also . . , Alvast proportion ot the mortality , in Manchester is that of children j ' . but of children , bo it observed , under tlie age to labour in the mills .. Out of every 100 deaths iri Manchester , more than forty-eight take place under five years of age ,. and more than fifty-one under-ten years of age . In some ofthe neig hbouring towns—particularly Ashton-under-Lyne—the proportion is still more appalling . There , by a calculation made embracing the nve years

      ending with Jurie 30 , 1843 , it appeared that , out of the whole number of deaths , 57 per cent , were those of children under five years of age . , . It , is , of course , generally known that the first five year ' s . : of life aro the most fatal in all districts ; but upon comparirig a series of cotton spinning districts in the North with a series of purely , rural districtsiri the West and South , I find that , while the infant mortality , in the former , is about , fifty per cent . , speaking in round nwnbm , that of the latter is only about thirty-three per cent . In this differenceof proportion is to be found the great evil of the factory system . cts . it at present ecnsts ~" an evil not committed by the work of the mills , but by the tvork- of the mills drawing individiials in , certain conditions from their homes . . -

      ; The-unduc . proportion of infant mortality , the principal portion of which arises from the neglect of mothers who are compelled -to leave their young children at home while they labour at the mill . This I hold to be the blackest blot on the factory system . "Whether it can be remedied is a question which I will not attempt to answer . "Pregnant women , " says Dr . Johns , "frequently continue tlieirivorkup to the very last moment ,: and return to it as soon as ever they can ^ novet about . " . " In Jshton-under-Lyne , " says Mr . Coulthard , "«< is no mifrcquent occurrence for mothers of the tenderest age to return to thcir ' lwo ' rk in Vie factories on the second and third week after con- - finement , and to leave their , helpless offspring in the charge of , mere girls or superannuated old XV ' mcn , " The same authority mentions the case of a nurse

      " suckling ; three of these children , ^ : and so exhausted as to be " unable to walk across the room , " while the children were "almost unable to move their hands and feet . " The inevitable iesult of this system is the reckless and almost universal employment of narcotics .: First , the child is drugged until it sleeps and too often it is drugged until it dies . There is a notion abroad that laudanum , as a stimulent , is frequently used b y adults in the manufacturing districts instead of spirits . Upon this subject I have made inquiries , which have convinced me that the practice , if it exists at all , docs so only in exceptional cases . ¦ ' : Medical men have generally said that little or nothing of the kind came under their ob- ^ scrvatioh . Druggists are exceedingly shy arid reserved upon the whole subject of narcotic dosing ,

      and indisposed to admit that laudanum is commonly given in any cases except those in which if is medically necessary . The truth ie , however } that-in Endand opium-eating , or drinking what De Quincey calls "laudanum toddy , " is an anti-social vice , practised in secret ; and of which its practisers are ashamed . ' i : Tho man who thinks no harm of admitting that betakes his elass of wine , or his tumbler of grog , or his pint of porter , will be sorry to make any such confession in favour of preparations of the poppy : If he gets drunk on opium pills , ho will keep the failing to himself . In the case of infant drugging , although tho subject is generally mentioned with reserve both by those who stll and those who employ the medicine , the practice is too notorious and universal to be for an instant denied . Still , says Mr . Coulthard , writing of Ashton—and his experience corroborates my own— "both buyer and seller are aware that they aro doing wrong , and try to mistily the facts . " The truth is , there is

      not a more thoroughly household word through the cotton spinning towns than " Godfrey . " Indeed just as the gin-loving race of London deli ght to call tlieir favourite beverage by dozens of slangy affectionate titles ,-just as there is " Cream of the Valley , " and " Regular Flare-up , " and "Old Tom , " so there is . to bo found in the druggists ' shops in the lower districts here , "Baby ' s Mixture , " " Mother ' sQuietness , " "Child ' s Cordial , " "Soothing Syrup , " and ' sO forth , every one of theselulling beverages being a sweetened preparation of laudanum .: -In-Ashton . these abominable doses are actually sold at many of the public-houses , and ! think it highly probable that the ; same pi'actico ' may exist in Manchester . In the former ' . town , the weekl y sale of the narsotic drugs in question , ' by fifteen vendors ,. was on the ; average six gallons two quarts one and a-half pints . In Preston , as it appears from the repbrtof the Eev . J . Clay , 'twenty-6 no druggists sold in one week of— Ibs . ozs . drs . Godfrey's Cordial .. .. .. 23 55 Infant ' s Preservative .. .. 18 . ' ± : 0 \ Syrup of Poppies t . ... ' .. ¦!« 0 0 ¦ ¦ -.. Opium ... .. ..... 1 1 - 01 Laudanum .. ' ... .. .. 782 Paregoric .. .. .. , ; 0 9 0 68 1 5 J Appcndcd . to the return made by the largest of these twenty-one vendors is the following note : — " Such preparatioris ' are onl y g iven , hebelieves , to enable the mother to work at factory . " A small quantity of laudanum is noted as sold for adult consumption , but the proportion is quite trifling . '• "

      The Factory Workers Of Lanca'" :Y Ry : ;...

      THE FACTORY WORKERS OF LANCA'" : y : ; ,. : ''; : '" ;; sniriE ; . ,: ¦'¦; . ;;• .. The house ofthe Manchester operative , wherever it be— in the old district or the new—in Ancoata , or Cheetham , or -Huime-is uniformly a two-stoiy Swelling . Sometimes it is of fair dimensions ;; sometimes a line fourteen feet long would r « ach from : the ' saves to the ground . In the old localities there is , in all probability , a cellar beneath the house , sunk some four or-five feet below the pavement , and occupied perhaps by a single poor 6 'd' woman , » v by a family , the heads of which'are ' given to pretty regular alternation between their subterranean abode and ihe neighbouring wine vaults . In the moderri and '

      improved qiiartiers , the cellar retires modestly out of sight , atid is put to a more legitimate use as a home for coals or luinher . The worst class of houses , not being cellars ;' commonly inhabitated by' the M mill hanBs , ' ! consist each of two rooms , not a "but-and-aben , " but ari above and be ) ow , the' stair to the forriier leading directly up from the latter , and the door of the ground floor parlour being also at the door of the street . In some ' eases the higher story is divided into two small bedrooms , but in the superior class of houses there are generally two small but comfortable rdomsan the ground floory ' and two of corresponding size above . " The street- door iri these tenements opens into a narrow ' passage , from which the stairs to the bedrooms also ascerid . The

      window of the ground floor room , opening to the streetyis always furnished with a pair ef substantial outside shutters , arid the threshold is elevated from the pavement , so as to ' admjt of very emphatic . -stone door steps with flourishing scrapers , both ; of which , by the wayrare generally tribe found in a very commendab ' e state of purity . ' A' local Act of Parliament obtained a few years ago , and providing that every bouse built after its enactment in Manchester should be constructed so , as to possess aback door opening into a small back yard , has been of itrimimse advantage to Ihe riewer portions of the towri . The unhealthy practise of building houses back to back was thus at once put ' iiown ; A free currerit of air was permitted to circulate in the rear as well as , in front of the teneirients ; arid airip . tespacewa ' 3 ; obtained for the necessary cesspools , ashpits , Ac , & e-., while

      convenient appr . 'achesifor the cleansing of such receptacles from tlie back were every where formed . Take , for example ; a part of H ulm ' e , which I inspected the other day in company with Mr ; Taylor , the exceedingly ! intelligent manager of ; Mr . 'Birley ' s ; mills . Betweeri every street were two rows of the best class of operatives ^ houses , eiicli !^ Iwith'four rooms and a cellar a piece ; and betweeri each of . the' rows , running the whole length ; wa ' s . a paved courtway , with a gutter in the centre , formed , by the back ! walls of tli 6 yards of the ' tenements on ' either'side ' , the walls in question being pierced with apertures , ! through which all sorts 1 of domestic ! refuse > ' ^ could , be , easily , got at and conveyed away ; with as little annoyance ' ' to the inhabitarits as may be .. . . Certainly the plan was . a . vast improvement ripori the old style ' of building . Still moremight have , been done . JVIost of the streets were provided with regular drains and gratings .

      The rents paid by operatives in Manchester vary from' 3 s . to , 4 s . Cd ., and , fn some cases , 5 s . per week . This is'for an entire house . . Cellar . dwellings fetch —I give the statemerit ^ upqn / . the authority of Mr . Pi II . Holland , surgeon , whose reportupori . the sanitary eoridition of Cho ' rlten' was ^ published iri 1844 ^—from ; Is . ' to 2 s . " weelily , according tosize . ' / Tliere is , however , I am happy to iiriderstand , upon ! rill sides , a glowingdisinclination to those unwholesoriieabodes ; but as their rent ! is low , a period of stagnation in trade o'fttti forces ' the people to occiipy them . In 1844 Mi \ Holland calculates that in Gborlton . one cellar in eve : y six was empty . The riumber of cellars , as-compared with that of houses , was then one in twehty : eight ' . llr-flojland ^ dds , . *! they" ( the cellars ) are much dislik ' ed . and jusfly . sol : ' -, They are

      always badly lighted arid ventilated ^ . arid ; generally badly ' ( Irained . " In Oliorlto'ri Mr . Holland calculates that about one-third of the working population live in houses ^ con structed back to back , and corisequeritly without any thorough ventilation . ! About one-eif hth live in . " closed courts , , or streets which are little better than courts " . ' ' . ; ! NqwOhorlton . being neither a . very new nor a very , old district , maybe taken as giving not a bad idea of tlio general style ofthe working homes of Manchester . The proportion of people living in unventilated , ' undrained , and unwholesome buildings ,, in the districts traversed by the St . George ' s-road , ' the Oldham-road , and Great Ancoat ' s-street , [ must be much more considerable , . while in such districts as Ilulmethe case is reversed .

      Manchester , like most great : manufacturing and commercial cities , is , scantily supplied with water , and > that which is , to , be : procured is not by any means universally transparent oi '; tasteless . . The streams which traverse the town are incarnations of watery filth . A more forbidding-looking . flood than the Mediock , as it . may . be seen where it flows berieath the Oxford read m it : would'be difficult to conceive ; The black fcetid water often glistens with , the oily iriipurities which float upon its surface , and the . wreathes and patches of green ; : froth which tesselate it prove the effervescence produced by impure gases . For any household purpose whatever , the water of this uncovered sewer is quite : out ofthe question ; and the contents of the larger stream of

      the Irwell . are not much better . Manchester , therefore , obtains its ; water , partially by means of pipes , partially by means of wells and pumps . The last satisfactory , statistics , which have been published upon the subject are those contained in the " Manchester Police Returns , " compiled by Captain Willis , the head of . the constabulary force , for . 1847 . By these returns it appears that the number of "Streets , squares , alleys . & c , within the borough of Manchester , " was , at the date in question , 2 , 955 . The number of dweljing-hpuses was , 40 , 922 . Of these there were : " supplied ; with pipe water in the interior , including shops , " 11 , 100 ; while not lees than 12 , 770 " houses , Ac , " derived their water from a common cock or tap in the street , The number of houses

      . The Spitalfields Weavers. The Ferm Spi...

      . THE SPITALFIELDS WEAVERS . The ferm Spitalfields , at an early period of the history of London , designated the suburbunfieldssituate between the ancient highway of Bishopsgate-street and the Whitechapel . High-street . In the year lr 97 one Walter firrine , a citizen of London , founded in these fields a large hospital for poor brethren of the order of St . Austin ; . hence the surrounding meadows were called Hospital-fields , and ultimately Spitalfields . One of the district . of Spitalfields , the

      weaving . population for a long period was chiefly confined to Christchurcb , but it has emigrated principally to the parish of Bethnal-green . This was formerly one of the hamlets of the ancient manor of Stebon Heath , now called Stepney . In 1740 , according to tbe act of parliament for making it a distinct parish , and erecting a parish church , the hamlet contained 1 , 800 houses , and 15 , 000 people , being upon an average rather , more than eight parsons to each house :- Its extent at that period is not stated . Now ; however , it occupies an area of nearly one square mile and a half , and congtitutos a little more than a tenth part of

      . The Spitalfields Weavers. The Ferm Spi...

      the metropolis . .... The . population in . 1841 was 74 , 038 , and-tlie ! nuriaber of inhabited bouses 11 , 782 ,: being in the proportion ofrather more ; than six . iridiyiduali to each house , and nearly seventeen houses ' to each acrei The average i . umbir of individuals per house throughout London is . 7 . 4 , and thei average number of houses per acre is 5 . 5 ; so that ^^ we . see jthough each particular house ''¦ . ' contains !' , one . iridividuaUU'ss , ' still " each acre of " ground ' . lias twelve > houses more built upori it than is usual throughout London . .. From this wo should naturally infer that the generality . of tenements iri this district would b & M a . small , and lowrented character ; arid accordingly we . find , from the returns of Mr . Bestow arid the other parish officcira , in 1839 , that the . number of houses rated under i-20

      was about 11 , 200 , out of 11 , 700 and odd . Hence we see the truth of the remark , that there is . no parish in or about London where there is such a mass of low-rented houses . "The houses ot the weaver * , " says Dr . . Gavin in his valuable . <; Sanitary Rai ? iblings , " generall y consist of two rooms on the ground floor and a . work room above . ; This work-room always has _ a large window for the admission of light during their long hours ofsedentary labour . Whole streets of such houses abound , in Bethnal-gi-eon , and a great part of the population is made up of weavers . _ There arosome , but not a great numl . er of dwellings consisting of one room only . . . Such ' houses are always of the worst description . With , very few exceptions , the dwellings , of thepoor -. ire

      destitute of most of those-structural conveniences common to the better classes of houses . ; Thero are never any places set asidefor receiving coals ; oust bins to hold the refuse of tho houses are exceedingly rare and cupboards or closets arenearly altogether unknown . There are neverany sinks , and the iireplacesaro constructed without the slightest renrd to the ' ' convenience or comfort of tne inmates . " ¦ The history of weaving in Spitalfields is interesting , arid tends to elucidate several of the ? habits existing to this day . among the class . Upon the revocation ofthe edict of Nantes in 1685 , . numerous French artizans left their native country , and took rei age in the neighbouring states . King James II . ei ; courafired these settlers , and William III . publisiu-d a

      proclamation , dated April 25 , 1639 , for the encouraging the French Protestants to transport themselves into this kingdom , promising them his r .-yal protection , and ! to render their living here comforttably and easy to them . For a considerable time the population of Spitalfields might be consi'i > ired as exclusively French ; that language was uairer-! sally spoken , and even within the memory of persona now living , their religious rites were performiu in French in chapels erected for that purpose . , The weavers were , formerly , almost ; the only botanists in the metropolis , and their love of flowers to shis day is a strongly marked characteristic of tho c-iass . Some years . back , we are told , they passed ilLeic leisure hours , and cenerally the whole family aiaed

      on Sundays , at the -little gardens in the enviror . s of London , now mostly built upon . . Not very lor q ago there was an Entomological Society , and they were . among the most diligent entomologists in the . kingdom . This taste , though far less general than formerly , still continues-to bo a type of the uiass . There was at one time a Floricultural Society , an . Historical Society , and a Mathematical Society , all maintained by the operative silk-weavers ; aii'i tho celebrated : Dollond , the inventor of the ' achromatic ; telescope , was a weaver ; so too were Simpson and Edwards , the mathematicians , before they were taken from the loom into the employ of government , to : . teach mathematics to the cadets of ' -Voolwich and Chatham . Such were the . Spitain . jlds

      weavers at the beginning of the present cent-.: ry ; possessing tastes and following pursuits the r : finementand intelligence of which would be an hor . our and a grace to the artizan even of the present -lay , but which shone out with a double lustre at a time when the amusements of society were almost r-. il of a gross and bfutalising kind . The weaver oi our own time , however , 'though still far above the ordinary artisan , both in refinement and intellect . , falls far short of the weaver of former years . ¦> Ofthe importance of the silk trade , as a br ? , Ticb of manufacture , to the . country , we may obtain some idea from the estimate ofthe total value of the produce , drawn up by Mr . M'Culloch ; with great care , as he tells us , from the stateinerits of hudl ' i-

      gent , practical men iri all parts of the country , conversant with the trade , and were able to'foua- an opinion upon it . The total amount of wages raid intheyear 1830 ( since when , he says , the circumstances have changed but little ) was upward ; of £ 370 , 000 ; t'ae total number of hands empi . ^ yed 200 , 000 ; the interest on capital ; wear , tear , pre fit , & e „ £ 2 , 000 , 000 ; and the estimated total vahio ' of the silk manufacture of Great Britain , £ 10 , 4 S-J ,-00 . Now , according to tho census of the weavers oi the Spitalfields district , taken at the time of the Government in 1838 , and which appears to be . considered by the weavers themselves of a genc-rslly accurate character , the number of looms at work was 9 , 302 , and those unemployed , 894 . But t very

      two pf the ; looms employed would occupy Ave hands ; so that the total number of hands en ^ -a ; ed in the silk manufacture of Spitalfields , in i ' i 38 ,. must have been more thnri double that numbeii- jay 20 , 000 . This would show about one-tenth of th * . silk goods that were produced in Great Britain- in - . hat year to have been manufactured in Spitalfields , and hence the total value of the produce of that- dis ::-ict must have been upwards of one million of mpne-y . and the amount paid in wages about £ 370 , 000 . Sow , mm inquiries made among the operatives , I find that there has been a- depreciation iri the value of * . i : eir labour of from fifteen to twenty per cent , sine- the year 1839 ; so that , according to the above ejaculation , the total amount of wages now paid to tho ¦

      weavers is £ 00 , 000 less than what it was ten y ' vars back . By the preceding estimate it will hi seen , that the average amount of wages in the hade would have been iri 1839 about 7 s . ' a week per hand , and that uow the wages would be ul out 5 s . 6 d . for each of the parties employed . Thi ? appears to agree with a printed statement put- forward by the men themselves , wherein it is-asSi-med that " theaverago weekly earnings of'the curative silk weaver , in 1824 , under the act ther " repealed , taking the whole body of operatives -jmployed , partially employed , and unemployed , was 14 s . 6 d . Deprived of legislative protection , " they say , "there is now no means of readily ast ^ rtiining the average-wcekly earnings ofthe whole bod y ofthe employed and unemployed operative , -ilfc

      weavers ; but , according to the bestapproxiiriuion to an average which can be made-in Spitalnel /! s , the average of the weekly earnings of the operative silk weaver is now , taking the unemployed asil the partially employed , with the employed of 'these remaining attached to the occupation of weaver , only 4 s . 9 d . But this weekly average , would he mucli less if it-included those who have gone to other tiiijes , or who have / become perpetual paupers . " Hence i 6 would , appear that the estimate . before . gK-yj of 5 s . 6 d . for .. the weekly , avenge wages of the : employed is not very far from the truth . It may therefore be safely asserted that-the operative silk weavers , as a body , obtain £ 50 , 000 worth Io ; s of food , clothing , and comfort per annum now than in the year 1839 . . . - .

      Kow . let us see what was the state of the weaver in that year , as detailed by the Government report , so that we maybe tho better able to comprehend what his . state must be at present : "Mr , T . i-: e ; nas Heath , of No . 8 . Pedley-street . " says the Blus :. Liook of 1839 , " has been represented by . manypersc-iis as one of the most skilful workmen in Spitalfieltb . lie handed in about 40 , samples of figured silk do :: u by him , arid they appear exceedingly , beautiful . This weaver also gave a minute and detailed account of all his earnings for 430 weeks , being upwards of eight years , with the names of the manufacture-and the fabrics at which ho worked . The sum cfthe gross earnings for 430 weeks is £ 322 3 s , ' 4 d ., . Wing about 14 s . Hid . —say 15 s . a week .-- 'Ho ^ estimates his expenses ( for quill-winding , picking ,. Ac ; . ) at 4 s . ) which would leave lis . net wages ; biKiako

      tne expenses at os . bu .,. it . is still only lis . ud . lie states his wife ' s earnings at abbut-Ss . a week . ' , He gives the' following remarkable evidence ' : —Have you any children ? No ; I had two , but they are both dead , thanks be to God ! Do you express satisfaction at the death of your children ? i do 1 I thank God for it . I am relieved from the burden of maintaining them , and they , poor dear creatures , are relieved from -thotroubles of this mortal life . " If this , then , was the condition arid feeling of one of the most skilful workmen ten years ago , earning lis . 0 d . a week , and when it wasproved , in evidence hy Mr . Cole that 8 s . 0 d , per week was the average net earnings of twenty plain weavers—what miist be tho condition and feeling of the weaver now that wages have fallen from 15 to 20 per cent , since that period ? ( To be Continued , ^ ii ¦

      Lord Coke A " Free Trader."—It Should Bo...

      Lord Coke a " Free Trader . "—It should bo mentioned to the credit ofthe chief justice that he steadily supported free trade in commodities . A bill " . to allow the sale ef Welsh cloths' and cottons , in arid ; through'tho kingdom of England " ' beingopposed on " reasons of state , " he said , " reason ' of state is often used as a trick to put . us out of the right way ; for when a man can give no reason for a thing , then ho flyeth to a higher strain , arid ;' sai , th it is a reason of state . Freedom of trade is the life of trade . " On the same principles ho : supported a bill " to enable merchants of the staple to transnort

      woollen cloth to Holland , " and a bill being brought in "to prohibit the importation in corn for the protection of tillage , " he strenuously opposed it , saying , "If we bar the importation of corn when it aboundeth , wo shall not have it imported' wheri we lackit . I never ' yet heard that a bill -was' ever before preferred iri parliament against the ' , imporiatioriof corri , and I love to follow ancient precbderits . I think this billtruly jpeaks Butch , and is forth * benefit of the ! Low . Co « ntrymen , V ^^« rKji 7 J ^ VZjV « of the ] Chief Justices . ' - '' iJ ! ! ! ' '¦! - . !! , ' ! . - 'I ' never receive such comfort" from others , as : from imyself . I should consider inability to ; eomfprt myself under a misfortune a far greater evil than the misfortune itself . —/ BwhfoWfc ' * '

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 5, 1850, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_05011850/page/7/