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better could be found to which to the 1 ...
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Boeing
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THE BLIND BOY'S SONG . BX EBSEST * JOHtS...
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CALEDONIA. BT CZOSe: HOiSIEOK, Author of...
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THE WESTMINSTER AND FOREIGN QUARTERLY RE...
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LA CANADIENNE. Romance in two vols. By M...
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PniLisinROPY.—The benevolent John Howard...
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THE TEN HOURS, CLAUSE IN DANGER TO THE J...
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. Four Mkn Bcbikd Alive —On Saturday aft...
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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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Better Could Be Found To Which To The 1 ...
rtouART 15 , IgJS . THE NORTHERN STAR ,
Boeing
Boeing
The Blind Boy's Song . Bx Ebsest * Johts...
THE BLIND BOY'S SONG . BX EBSEST * JOHtS , Oh ! wearily , wearily whirls the world , Wearily round and round ; "While the atoms of life are unceasingly hurl'd—Death ' s seed for the chilly ground . And my spirit sits in its darkened den , And lists to the mighty din ; For gloomy without is the world of men , So I ' ve hung up a lamp within .
Hirk ! my spirit sits £ n its solemn cave , And lists to the ocean of life ; Up—over—and pait—there rushes its wave ; With its froth , foam , bubble and strife . And ever , as sicks the ebb away , I think , as the pauses fly ; That men may pity my darkened day , But they are more blind than I ! Tfcey cannot see—who has robbed their right In the shadow of Altsr and Throne ; Oh ! Liberty—Liberty—couch their sight ! And let them distinguish thsir own .
They cannot see—the thief at their door , Who steals in the epen day : Oh ! Let them be men like their fathers before , And how he will slink away ! They cannot see—a friend from a foe , But march like a blindling herd , Against their own brothers to strike the blow When their enemies give the word . They cannot see—that the gams of death On the chequered fields of war Is murder , though timed to a trumpet ' s breath And loved by a lying law . They cannot see—that they make the jjreat , That they fcnild Church , Pulace , and Throne ; That the power which raises another ' s state Is able to raise their own .
They cannot see—that the chanties vain Of the rich for no gratitude call ; They robbed—and they make you tbanfc thtm again , That they did not rob of all ! They cannot see—that a tyrant ' s right , And his church and his laws are a lie : Oh ! Liberty—Liberty!—coucls their sight ! Tor they are more blind than I , And when is it coming , the glorious time , When the fetters of slaves shall burst , And earth shall be fair as its Eden-prime , And mas shall befr £ e as the first ?
Oh ! When is it coming , the magical hour , ffhen Liberty raises mankind ? When the arm of the Giant shall feel its power , And nations shall cease to be blind !
Caledonia. Bt Czose: Hoisieok, Author Of...
CALEDONIA . BT CZOSe : HOiSIEOK , Author of 'My back ' s at the w * , ' and « Think , ye , man , will ilka new kirk hae a kirkyard ?'
Caledonia. Bt Czose: Hoisieok, Author Of...
' I care not , ' tis a glimpse of auld langeyne . ' —Bntow .
Caledonia. Bt Czose: Hoisieok, Author Of...
There ' s leal bearta in the 'Land © 'Cakes ;' I ance conld ca * that land my hame ; And pity in my bosom wakes To hear that cakes are scarce wi * them . Though ruin had me in the wind When last auld Scotland's hills I saw , - A health to those I left behind—A health to Caledonia ! There ' s kind folk in the 'Land o * Cakes ;' Be wi' them plenty , bat and ben : ¦ Hope on my dreaming sometimes breaks , And lights me te that land again . I there ha ' e merry been when young , Ere liffc ' s fell frosts began to fa * ; There felt the weight o' fortune ' s rung-Yet here ' s to Caledonia ! Xae dou ' tthe faa ' t was / ceHy mice , If I lo ' ed less her cakes than ale , And thocht she'd been to me unkind , Tfhea I was sair to blarae mysel ' . I ' ve met with dub * attther doors That ne ' er were wet wi' winter s snaw , And ken owre weel less kindly shores Than those of Caledonia . Here fate , amid a sable race , la some blind freak has cast my lot * And gladly , cow , I g reet the face 0 ' ane that bears the name o' Scot . Is fortune ' s strife our friends (! ) « e tine ; My youthfu' frien's where are th « y a' ? They only live ia * Auld Langsjne 'The lay of Caledonia I Sing not to me of sunny climes , My brow is bronz'd wi' summer suns ; Leave Indian serfs their palmc and limes ; I'd fclyther be where Gsdie runs , Among my native heather bells ; Prae wealth ' s proud precints far awa ' , Where unsffeeted friendship dwell *—Contest in Caledonia ! The West her verdant lap may spread—Wi' balmy health perfume the breeze ; But sickness lurks within the shade Of fragrant shrubs and fruitful trees . 0 ! bear me back to flowery Don , Or sweetly flowing Dee ' s green « haw ; Then rooze wha likes the Torrid Zsae—I'd sing of Caledonia !
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The Westminster And Foreign Quarterly Re...
THE WESTMINSTER AND FOREIGN QUARTERLY REVIEW . January . London : G . Lnxford , Whitefriars-street . The opening article of this number of the Wisthtsstes Review is exceedingly interesting , and deserves no small amount of public attention . With the writer ' s speculations on the possibility of concentrating in vegetables * a sufficient amount of the Chemical tugreoienis constituting flesh and fat , so as to pass them at once into the human stomach , without going through the animal form . ' we will not meddle , bat we deem the following extract oi too great interest to be withheld from our readers : —
AIE-TIGBT GEANAEIES . Three conditions are essential to the process ot putrefaction ef grain , viz : —heat , moisture , and still air . With wind moisture is carried of : with cold , the decomposing process is checked , as may be seen by the carcases of animals that lie through the winter in snowy mountains , and dry np to glue . Without air , tverything is lacked up and remains in statu quo ; as r . ptileshave been buried for a ^ es in blocks of stone or ancient traes , sad then ressmed their vital functions unchanged by time . In direct opposition to these principles are tbe granaries < £ Gr * at Britain and other couatrksconitrucUd . Their
site is generally the bank of a river , or the sea side . They are built of many floors at a vast expense . Tht-y are provided with many windows , each floor being the heighth of a man , jet not permitting more than twelve to fifteen inches depth of grain on etch floor for fear of heating- , nukes in the case of very old samples . Men sre continually employed to tun ; the grain over to ventilate it , and clear out the vermin ; and the weevil is naturalised ia every crevice , as surely as bugs in neglected Lindon " beds , or cockroaches in West Indian sugar ships . It is the zdm ' mion of air that permits thisevil , that premctes germination , that permits the existence of rats and mice . In the exclusion of air is to be found taeremedy . The practic = ili * ation ofthis'is neither difficult hot cestiv ; on the contrary , close granaries might fee
Constructed at far le = « proportional cost than the existing kind . They might be mde uader ground as Well as above groand ; in masy cases , better . They might be constructed of cast iron , like gasometer tanks ; or of brick and cement or of brick and asphalte , like underground wattr-tanks . It is only required that they should be air-tight , and consequently water-tight . A staple man hole at the top , similar to a steam boiler , is all the opening required , with an air-tight caver . The air-pump has long ceased to be a philosophic toy , and has taken its place in the arts as a manufacturer ' s tool ; end no difficulty would exist as to that portion of the mechanism . Sow , if we suppose a large cast iron or brick cylinder sank in the earth , the bottom belEg conical , and the top domed over ;
. an air-pump adjusted for exhausting the air , and an ArebimedesB screw pump to discharge tne grain , we hare the whole apparatus complete , If we provide for * ret grain , a water-pump may be added as to a leaky thip . Suppose bow , a cargo of grain , partly germinating , and containing rats , mice , and weevil , to be shot into this reservoir , the cover put on and luted , aud the air-pump at work , the germination would instantly cease , and the animal furetions would be suspended . If it be objjctrd that they would revive with the admission of the air , we answer that the air need not be = s limited , save to empty the reservoir . If it be contended that the reservoir may bz leaky , we answer so may a ship ; ami if so , the air . pnmp must be stt ' to work jast as is the case with a w . -. ter-pump ia a leaky ship , ihe cost of an underground reservoir would possibly be inore than one aboregr . und , but it has the advantsse o : occupying space of otherwise little value . One obtious cheapness of this improved granary over those
liow existing is , that the whole cubic " contents may be filled , whereas , in the etistin ; mode , not above onefourth of the cubic-contents enn be rendered available . ¦ But many existing structures might he rendered eligible . For example ; the raU . vay arches of the Eastern Counties , the Black-wall , and tbeGr ; enwich . In such cases the grain would be discharged into tht-m from wagjjons on the line , ia the mode used with coaI ? . Reservoirs might be erected in firm yards , and the grain threshed out and carried mm the harvest field direct , with the absolute certa nty of preserving it any length of time that might te desire ! . Or , inasmuch as itis a certain thing that all farms must ultimately communicate with railways , by m ^ ans of cheap horse-train' ; , or steam sidtngSj in ordsr to work to profit , it would-be desirable that the granary should be erected at some central railway station , where a steam mill would do the work of exhausting the air , discharging ; the grain by Archimedean screw when requires , and grinding it into meal , No
The Westminster And Foreign Quarterly Re...
better purpose could be found to which to apply the at- 1 mospheric engines and stations of the Croydon Railway ,-with their existing air-pumps . Communicating with all the southern wheat-growing counties of England , and also with the Thames , no spot could be more eligible as a central depot . In connexion with these arrangements , it wosld be desirable te minimise the cost of transit iu every possible rsay . Tb . 8 articles on Aerostation , ' and Animal In . stinct ? , ' will be foand agreeable reading . We have not room for comment , wishing to extract as largely as possible from a review of TourguenefFa 'Russia and the Russians . '
RUSSIAN SLAVERY . The peasants of Russia whs are the absolute property of the nobles , we find estimated by McCulloch ( in 188 C ) at twenty-two millions ; those belonging to the Crown , at twenty-one millions ; while the whole privileged classes do not amount to a million and a half . The law of primogeniture does net exist in Russia ; the estates arj equally divided among all the sons of a noble , and they all bear , even during his lifetime , the same title as himself , so that it is common enough to find nobles living upon the labour of only two or three families of serfs ; and in these cases , the naked deformity of the system is , ptrhaps , more striking than on the great estates . Some of these poor nobles , however , have the wisdom to employ their means in some branch of
manufacturing industry , and others grow rich in the service of the state , though seldom by the most legitimate means ; in general , an apparent indifference to fortune prevails among them , not , we need hardly say , from a lofty contempt for riches or the enjoyment * they can procure , but because ' social distinction depends main !} upon rank , and that they may always hope that some day the dew of imperial favour may descend upon them , or , perhaps , a rich marriage , afford them the means of indulgence in the habits of luxury and prodigality for which , the Russian nobles are notorious . ' This class of nobility , which the law separates from the rest of the
nation by barriers which it Is continually endeavouring to strengthen , differs from it also widely in costume , in mode of life , and even in language ( for , even in the ^ interior of private life , the French language is universally adopted ) , so that it has the air of a race of conquerors , imposed by soma external force upon the nation , and its Instmcts , tendencies , and interests are wholly opposed to those of the great majority . When we consider this , and compare the relative numbers of these privileged classes , and of the myriads whom they hold in subjection —visions of mighty changes , of fearful retribution , seem to pass before our sight , and < coming events to cast their shadows before . *
But the day of reckoning is not yet at hand ; those myriads ef human souls yet slumber iu happy unconsciousness of their rights—or that their position is other than a necessity and a law of nature , and it is this circumstance , perhaps , that has preserved them from some of the worst evils of slavery . ' Servitude has not degraded them , ' says-M , Tourgneneff , ' it seems , on the contrary , when we compare this class to others , that the hardships of their position have served to ennoble them . Often the soul is purified by misfortune , Thtir vices are the tftVcts . of their condition ; their virtues sre their own , and so much the more sacred that they can only have been acquired by an incessant aed courageous struggle unknown to the rest of the nation , ' The slavery of the great bulk of the Russian people is of no ancient origin , the law to which chiefly this tremendous evil is to be attributed dating no further back than 1593 .
' In tracing backward to its source the history of many nations , we find that the greater part of them enjoyed much znoreliberty than they possess at present ...... A woman of penius ( Uadame de Stael ) , exclaims indignant at the parsimony with which , iu our time , liberty has sometimes been dealt out to the people , ' It is despotism which is new , and liberty which fs ancient 2 * And if we may sometimes have occasion to doubt the strict historical accuracy of this assertion , it is at least true that slavery , political and civil , is a new thing to Rus . sia . The first laws of this nation were the laws of the north-men , which bare the germ of those mof t precious and most fruitful is liberty of modtrn times .
. ' The institution of grand and petty juries , or of the jury of accusation and the jury of judgment , continued to exist in Russia , even after it had shaken off the yoke of the Tartars ; and elective assemblies participated in the exercise of the sovereign power . If , in the end , absolutism prevailed , still social slavery was long unknown A Czar , a usurper , whom artful historians compare to Cromwell , tut who in hypocrisy and cunning , and in the murders by which he was stained , much mere resembled Richard III ., Boris GadennofF , was the first author of the degradation of the Russian people . In the desire to attach more closely to himself the diss of small landed proprietors , from which the army drew its strength , he forbade the peasants who lived upon these lands to quit them . * * *
' It is pretended that he may have had other motives . The vast regions added to the Muscovite empire by the coaquest of Casan and Astrachan , being , it is said , very thinly peopled , tempted the peasants who lived on the estate of the small proprietors to frequent emigration ; and they were also often induced to settle on them by the great lords and the clergy , who had seized on vast tracts in those countries , insomnia that the villages in the environs of the capital were deserted;—the historians appeal , ia confirmation of this assertion , to the words of the English ambassador , Fletcher , who visited Hoscow in 1569 . In the sixteenth century , it might have been eteueable to think thus , Ualthus was not jet born ; but those who , in these latter times , have re . peated such assertions , might have known that countries are not depopulated by emigration . Some historians asshra to Boris a more plausible motive , in saying that his determination was suggested by the example of
the neighbouriag countries of Lithuania , Livonia , and Esthonia , where slavery already txisted , aud with which Russia had many relations . . . . The law of Boris , nevertheless , fatal as it was , did not establish slavery in all its vigour , as it exists at present . The peasants were attached to the soil . like the o & faB adiflrfpfi of feudal times in Europe ; bat they could not be detached from it by the will of the owner . lie could not make domestic slaves of them by taking thtem into his personal service , or s » H them without the land on which they subsisted . All that distinguishes the man attached to the soil from the slave , such as the Russian peasant of the present day , has been of more recent establishment . How has tnis happened ? "Who has rivetted more and more firmly the chains of the unfortunate peasant , end from a serfage similar to that of feudal times has dragged him down to a slavery almost as severe as that of the African negro ? These are questions which Russian historians and publicists take very good care net t * meddle with .
The Emperor Alexander endeavoured to discourage the iniquity of telling the peasants without their lands ; but the futility of this and many other praiseworthy endeavours on his part , afford abundant proof that despotism , however powerful for evil , is almost impotent for good . During the sittings of the congress at Aix-la-Chapelle or Laybach—while M . Tourgueneff was in the Imperial Council—a petition was presented from some slaves , who complained of having been to n from their homes , and sold to a Scotchman , who was the owner of a great iron-fonnlryinthe neighbourhood of St Petersfcureh ,. where thev were eoployed in the hardest labour . The
Emperor expressed his opinion in his own hand writing that such a sale was illegal . The petition wag sent to the council , and though it was found that both Peter the Great and Paul had distinctly declared themselves averse to this practice—and though no law could be found authorising it—it was declared by the Imperial Council to be lawful , simply on the authority of a fiscal regulation of the Empress Anne , which in fixing the sums to be paid to the Crown on all sales , had mentioned also that for peasants sold without lsnd ; and this was considered sufficient to authorise all such sales . The members of the Imperial Council who gave this decision were , of course , aU slaveowners
M . Tourgueneff passes in review the various grades of servitude in which the cultivators of the soil are held ; hut we have net Space to follow him through the enumeration . In general the condition of the peasants of the Crown appears to be the least intolerable ; but they may at any time be thrown into the more aggravated slavery , by being given away , alon ? with the soil which they cultivate , to any court favourite ; since the time of the Emperor Alexander , however , this practise has been in a great measure discontinued . In gvneral they arc divided into villages or parishes , to each of which a certain quantity of land is assigned , which fs divided into
small portions to be cultivated fcy each family according to Its numbers , and for which they pay a tax er rent , besides the capitation or poll-tax . By means of some formalities it is even possible for peasants of this class , if they can arrange the matter vrith their village , to quit it , and establish themselves in the towns , continuing of course , to pay their taxes . Some nobles , when their estates become too populous , give their peasants leave to settle in the towns , and follow various occupationspaying , of course , their obrofe ; but the amount of this is quite arbitrary , end they have at no time the slightest security for their position . All depends on the will of the master .
There are also peasants attached to the mines and works of various kinds , sometimes belonging to the Crown , sometimes to nobles , or even to merchants , who conld in no other way become owners of slaves ; and when the aumbsr of labourers in the mines are found insufficient , the Russian government has made no scruple of despatching thither bodies of peasants from the country , or evtn of recruits intended for tie army . These unfortunate people , totally unaccustomed to the kind of work at which they are employed , regard ^ it often with great aversion , are treated with excessive severitv , end not uufrequtntly perish in g reat numbers .
'I will never fail , ' sayn II . Tonrgueneff , * on every occasion to protest against this measure , as useless as it is barbarous : so great has been the impression made on me by the distressing scenes occasioned by it which I have witnessed on the departure of a contingent which was destined to various establishments of the crown . The wives of the recruits were ordered to follow their husbands , but their children , as the propsrty of the masters , were of course to remain bthip . d ; and the poor mothers would often moke their esc ape and return to their habitations to suckle once more the infants they were compelled to ahan Ion . « Shall I tell all ? Yes—though the tears [ fill my eyes , my cheeks turn with shame .
'The dignity of a mother was not allowed to protect them ; they were seized and sent back to the escort that was carrying away their husbands , and there subjected
The Westminster And Foreign Quarterly Re...
to corporal punishment , In the ; Russian sense of that term ! To this had the ministers of finance been led by their zeal for the interests of the Imperiil treasury ; and the . director of the mines , a man of education and talent , had suffered himielf to become the accomplice in this barbarity . A hew proof ,, to add to a thousand others , that civilisation , when it stops at the head and does not penetrate the heart , easily reconciles itself to all the horrors of slavery . # « # ' When I have seen figuring in theRjvauue Tables the quantities of pure gold extracted from the government mines , I have sometimes said to these
gentlemen—* Would you but make a just calculation of ivhat the cost has been to theSt & teof themasses of gold you boast of having drawn from the Russian soil , you would be able to judge whether it would not be more advantageous to buy the gold in the markets of Europe than to obtain it in this manner . If we consider the number of men employed in these works , the officers required to overlook them , the price of the machinery , and the numerous expeasesattendiugthem , it is certain that we shall have an immense reduction to make from the supposed proficof the mines of the precious metals . ' Such a calculation has unquestionabl y never been made . '
THE RUSSIAN ARM ! . The military strength ef Russia has been made the subject of such various statements , that it is well never to lose an opportunity of collecting good evidence concerning it . The existence of an enormeue army cannot , of course , be other than an enormous evil—and yet it is an unavoidable one to a Russian government . Some years ago it was found that its maintenance absorbed nearly the entire revenue ; and since it was thought out of the question to reduce its numbers , the only plan was to practise a wretched economy in its equipment and maintenance—such as the reducing the number ef horses required for the baggage of the infantry regiments , and stinting the unfortunate soldiers in food and clothing . The pay and maintenance of these men is accordingly almost incredibly aiserable—fifteen franca a year , black bread aad buckwheat gruel , with one pound of meat a week , and , perhaps , some trifling addition on particular
occasions , such as that of a review by the E-nperor . The soldiers stationed ia large towns have to make out & subsistence as well as they can by working us daylabourers ; but in village :, where thoy have not even this resource , they are often literally dependent on the charity of th « persons with whom they are lodged . As the clothing is also extremely insufficient for the severity of the climate , it will not appear surprising that the rats of mortality in the Russian army is very high . The hardships of the discipline to which they are subjectedthe atrocious severity ef the punishments inflicted for the most trivial offences , solely at the caprice of the officer—the impossibility of the soldier obtaining any redress for the most flagrant injustice , aud the hearteickness which often seizes on the young recruits when they are first torn from thtir homes , . which they can seldom hope to see again—these things alto are among the causes of disease and death . The army of the Caucasus has suffered terribly , M . Tourgueneff says , from the insalubrity of the atmosphere in places where it has
been in cantonments . ' France was deeply moved at the account of the sufferings of the solditrs in Africa ; there are things a thousand times more mournful , more terrible , to be related concerning those of Russia—but If there could be found a Blanqui to narrate them , there would be no * Courrier Frangaia' to give them publicity . ' The enormous expense of the exorbitant army , which it was nevertheless deemed impossible to diminish , led to the establishment of the military colonies—and if
the operation had been confined to locating as colonists those who were already soldiers , there would have been little to say against them ; but as it was thought that by this means the army might be even increased ( and in this respect the government is insatiable , ) large bodies of the peasants of the Crown , not yet enlisted , were ordered to these colonies . The emperor seldom made a progress through the interior of the country without ordering the establishment of another—and the consu queues was that these progresses terrified and almost drove to despair the inhabitants of the countries on his
route . 1 1 heard it said one day in the Imperial Council , ' sajs 21 Tourgueneff , 'that the peasants of one of the govern meats in the neighbourhood of Moscow had left off werk . ing after the Emperor had passed that way , under the idea that they would now soon be subjected to the colonial administration . — ' Vf hat is the use , ' they said , of sowing and reaping , nhea they are going to take it all away from us . '' Some Bulgarians who had eeme from Turkish Bessarabia , to settle in the Russian pro . vinces , to ^ kfright at the mention of the military colonies , and fled back , ' to seek for protection beneath the sable and the Sultan . '
Ia these military colonies all labour is performed in common under the direction of the officers ; all harvests are placed in a common . magazine . So individual exer . tion—no voluntary toil—is allowed . Military authority regulates even the smallestdetailsoftbelittle households of the colonists . Their cottages are continually in . spected ; every piece of furniture , every uteneil , arbitrarily appointed a place , and woe to those who neglect orders . * I repeat , ' said a general , in a proclamation addressed to some military colonists , ' I will be a father
to the good ; but the disobedient need expect no mercy from me . I will exterminate them from the face of their native land like children of perdition . ' All the mcle children ef these colonists belong , by their birth , to the array ; all tnegirls , as they grow up , are compelled to marry soldiers , sometimes cho « en for them by names drawn at random out of a hat . The aspect of these villages is said to be mournful aud oppressive in the txtrems ; everywhere there is , indeed , cleanliness and order , and everywhere the most odious marks of despotic authority— ' everywhere a silence as of the tomb . '
After all , the object ol their inttitntion has been , according to M . Tourgueneff , very imperfectly att ained if , indeed , it has been attained at all . The expenses of the army have not diminished , Yfithout speaking gf the injustice which formed the very condition of existence of these military colonies , it is known that forced labour is never productive . The results of the experiment , as exhibited to the emperor , are entirely fictitious , and wculd hardly deceive any one who was not willing to be deceived . Whtn Alexandir was eomin ? to inspect one of the colonies , the officials usually made haste to collect together all that the whole country round could furnish of cattle and poultry , and sometimes even bought it with ready money in some distant place , and brought it to the spot . This was distributed in the village that the Emperor was to visit , that he might believe at least in
the material well-being of these unfortunate people . N « one ever dreamed of inquiring what was their moral condition . The Emperor was sometimes induced to eatrr one of the cottages ( it was arranged beforehand which , ) and there he w « s sure to see the colonists about to sit down to an excellent dinner , the scene having been previously got up for his amusement . One day it hap . pened th . it an officer , who was escorting fresh horses for a cavalry regiment , was overtaken by an order to stop , and his horses were taken from him and distributed among the inhabitants of a military colony which the Emperor was about to iaspect . His majesty came accordingly the next day , and was charmed to fiad that the colenists were so well provided with fine horses , and in the same place he was shown large stacks of com , of which , in reality , only the outside was corn , the interior being filled with straw and rubbish !
Mortality , says the reviewer , prevails in the Russian army to an extent surpassing anything that the imagination can conceive . In the last war with Turkey , more than 50 , 000 soldiers nerished in the hospitals only in the space of a single year . M . Tourgueneff argues that the wars against the Turks , the Poles , and the Circassians , have proved the Russian army to be anyfhinc but the formidable force it is generally supposed to be . ' The war against the Poles did not last ten months ; and if we consider the immense disproportion of the belligerent armies and the absolute nullity of Polish resources , deprived as the Poles were of all help , and even with all communications with foreigners , what a poor idea does it give of an army which they were able to keep ao long in check . ' The remaining contents of this number shall have our attention next week .
La Canadienne. Romance In Two Vols. By M...
LA CANADIENNE . Romance in two vols . By Michelot . Paris : 1347 . This is a work by a Fre-ch member of theFra ternal Democrats , and Damocracy breathes in its pages . We are precluded from giving copious extracts from want of space and the fear of weakening the original by translation . We recommend , however , all our friends who understand , or arc learning French , to buy this beok , written in an easy attractive , and conversational styie . As a romance it ia replete with vivid description , and situations of thrilling interest , pourtraying to the life Canadian society as it was fifty years ago . The consultatian scene of the physicians , the dinner party at the captain ' s , the battle scenes , and the moonlight stag-bunt on the water with its fearful termination are truly masterpieces .
Pnilisinropy.—The Benevolent John Howard...
PniLisinROPY . —The benevolent John Howard , having settled his accounts at the close of a particular year , found a balance in his favour , proposed to his wife to make use of it in a journey to London , or in any other amusementshe chose . ' What a pretty eottige for a ptor family it would build ! ' was her answer . This charitable hint met with his cordial approbation , and the money was laid out accordingly . _ Rank-worship rather elevates than depresses ; hero-worship , of all sorts , ennobles ; but
mammonworship invariably degrades . Economy . — 'Debby , the doorbell rincs , and you must run , light the match , and touch the shavings , and let the burnt sticks and brands get on fire in the fireplace , or they will thihlc we don't keep a Sre in . the sitting-room , and that would not be genteel . ' ' Yes ' m—there—it is all roaring , and the bell rings again—shall I go now ? ' ' Yes . ' ' O Lordv , maim , it , was only a pedlar . ' 'A pedlar ! Confound him —fake . the fire apart , and get ready for another ala-m . ' 'Yes'm . '
• It yon say another crooked word I'll fcneck you ' brains out , ' said a blacksmith to his termagant wife-* Ram ' s horns , you dog , ' exclaimed his hopeful helj . * mate . ' Ram'a horns , if I die for it . '
The Ten Hours, Clause In Danger To The J...
THE TEN HOURS , CLAUSE IN DANGER TO THE JPACTOnY " wfJRKERS OP GREAT
BRITAIN AND IRELAND . " ' Theory is etill , they cornel ' Mr FEiENDS , This letter concerns you all . I wish that every one of you would read it . Ponder over its contents . Tour foes are in the field . Prepara to meet them . Once you have , by Divine aid , conquered them . God will still defend the ri ght ! ' Aftir an unprecedented struggle of more than thirty years , you have succeeded in obtaining the sanction of the Legislature to the Ten Hours Factory Bill . Itg operation is to commence on the 1 st day of May , 1818 Your unrelenting opponents nowhopa to repeal that law without giving it a trial !
Some of the cotton millowners of Lancashire have banded themselves together , under the name of « The Association of Millotvners . ' for the purpose of persuading Parliament to repeal the Ten Hours Factories Regulation Act . On 7 th of D cember , 1817 , these men assembled in Manchester to commence their inhuman task ; and truly , their first movement i 8 worthy their unholy object ! Tfcey shrink from tho odium of their own act and dishonestly strive to TOake you the inBtrun , eutB of their selfishness , and of your own degradation ! Thev att * mpt to impose upon the public and the Legislature by leading them to believe that you , not they , have ( before it has been tried ) discovered that the ten hours clause will werk injuriously , and that eleven hours daily labour in factories will be satisfactory .
These associated millowners' have insultingly presented you with a copy of a petition to Parliament , praying for a repeal of tho ten hours clause ; they have bad the effrontery to ask you to sign their petition ! I need not warn you against that snore ; but , wider such circumstances , silence on my part would be criminal . The ' associated millowners ' assert their belief that all parties will be satisfied with their arrangement . Nay , they have had the temerity to insert the following clause in the petition they expect you to sign ; * That jour petitioners believe that both the empleyers and the operatives would take a limitation of eleven hcurs as a final settlement of the question . ' Btibre I conclude , I ehall say a few words about * a final settlement of the question . ' At present , I will deal with other points of their petition .
Not having patience to wait for even a short trial ef the ten hours clause , and knowing that some excuse is required tor their unaccountable proceeding , they have furnished you with the following piece of sophistry against nguhtlon of factory labour , or , as they will have It , against the ten hours clause . Supposing that yon will be seduced by their subtilty , they have , very prominently , set forth the following for your adoption : — ' That your petitioners have for some months past suffered from the want of empiojnunt arising from the severe depression of trade ; and the eperatives employed in cotton factories have b ; tn compelled to work , in some cases only half the number of hours allowed bylaw , and in some cases to cease working altogether . '
Strange logic mill be required to press those facts into an argument for an extension of the hours ef factory labour . Common sense would draw therefrom cogent reasons for such a limitation of the hours of labour as would heresfttr insure to every millowncr , and to every factory operative a fair share of what little employment there may happen to be . More on that point hereafter . See with what dexterity these cunning millowners can pluck ' the flower safety from the nettle danger , ' Thpy have prepared the following for your sanction : — 'That the limitation of the hours of labour [ to ten ] will come into operation at a time when your petitioners would otherwise be able , as they reasonably expect , by working eleven hours , to make np ( though but partially ) for the severe loss they are now undergoing . '
If there be any truth in the sbove , an abandonment of all regulation and limitation would fully ' make up for the severe lo > s . ' Why , then , should you be content with a ' partial' remedy ? Once admit this millowmrs ' logic , and the folly , nay , the wickedness , of every legislative enactment relative te factory labour is proved . This , believe me , notwithstanding their homily about « a 6 nal settlement of the question , ' ia the point at which ' the associated miUowners' aim . It fs but reasonable , however , that these men , who require you to indorse their principles , should give some proof of their own faith . If they are not striving to make you their dupes—if they have confidence in their own nostrum—they ought , without hesitation , to guarantee that , when you have succeeded in obtaining for them the repeal of the ten hours clause , they will find eviry one of yon constant and regular employment , at eleven hours a day ; else you will still , ' in some cases , have work for only half the number of hoars allowed 'by law , and in some cases ceaso working altogether . '
Try the sincerity of these ' associated millowners' by that test . Tell them you are neither convinced by their arguments , nor satisfied by their 'reasonable expectation . ' Assure them , also , that you aim at more than a ' pnrtial' relief . Mark , it i « net even pretended that your losses and sufferings ' for some months past , ' have had their origin in the ten hours clause 1 How , then , can you expect any , the smallest relief from its repeal ? Thev wouH have yeu believe that , by working more than ten hours a day ( when trade improves ) your condition would bi > mended . Bsfore I conclude I will show you that such hopes i : re fallacious . You all know that ' the severe depression of trade , ' which is the admitted and avowed cause of your want of employment , is the natural result ef three errors , vie — First , the long hours you formerly worked ; second , the recklessness with which mills have been increased and
your numbers consequently multiplied ; third , the frauds in the manufacture which have been engendered by excessive competition . If your present ndriscrs demur to this statement , ask them to show you better reasons for your present sufferings . Failing therein , require them to explain bow th » repeal of the ten hours clause can remove any such causes of distrese , I am greatly mistaken if you sr-- not much better political economists than those who now a ? sume to become your teachers . I think you understand the question of labour and wages—the effect of demand on supply—quite as well as tbsee ' associated millowners . ' You are not , I trust , so foolish as to hope , by longer hours of labour , to remove the suffering caused thereby .
Tench those would be schoolmasters , that the only way to secure good wages and good profits will be to regulate the hours of labour > o as to keep you nil in constant eosployuu-nt—to desist from building mills—and to pre . vcntfrnu <' s jn mar . uf icturs . You can also remind the ' associated millorrncrs' of that most important fact , announced at Stockport by Mr Cob 2 cn so recently as the 10 th of December , 1817 . He is an authority whoso testimony they cannot reject . Withthc knowledge that the ten hours clause will come into operation on the first dny of May , 1848 , Mr Cobdcn , ad ire * sing cotton millowners , said , ' You have not cottcn in existence to keep your machinery in employment . ' If Mr Cobden has stated tho truth , you are required to commit suicide , as well as to pave the way for the ruin of your employers , when you are urgtd to petition Parliament for longtr hours of labour .
D . o the ' associated millownern , ' knowing that there is 1 not cotton in cxistenca to Uttp all the machinery in employment'ten hours a day , wish for longir hours of labour , in order that they may have the power to work up all the cotton iu their mills , leaving all other mills without the means of employment ? Tou must endeavour to teach them a lesson founded on justice , and promotive of universal prosperity—a lesson from the pure fountain of'love that worketh no ill to his neighb-iur . ' They must be taught that , when thire is not employment for all the mills and operatives at lone hours , employment should be so regulated as to give to each an equitable share . This will no doubt seem Strange doctrin : to the ' associated millowners . ' Its necessity is , however , enforced by the facts avowed in the petition they have prepared for you , and by the duduration-made by Mr Cobdenat Stockport . F / om those preraises itis cltar that the demand of the world for cotton goods , and that the world ' s growth of cotton , cannot give ten hours a day employment to the machinery .
This , then , is the case of our opponents ! Under such circumstances it will be madness to extend the hours of labour . Camtnon sense—nay , the necessity of the case —demands a further limitatien , in order to cause equi . table distribution , It is time that I referred to that part of the' associated millowners" argument , expressed in the following words : — ' That ) our petitioners believe that both the empleyers and the operatives would take a limitation of eleven hours as a final settlement , ' On this point lam exceedingly wishful that yon should understand my position . 1 supposed that the ten hours clause was a settlement ot the question—unless upon trial it should be proved to work injuriously . As such I accepted it . When that trial has been made , and hss been found wanting , it is open to any p-ircy to teek for its repeal . Till then , for mjhelf , it is a settlement of the question .
The ' associated millowners' cannot contend that the question of ten hours has not bet-n fully sifted . ' For more than thirty years the Ten Hours' Bill has been resisted by successive governments , aided by all the power that wealth and prejudice could give them . During that lone period the public mind and the serieua consideration of PHrliament have been closely directed to this subject . Futnphlots , almost numberless , have been published for and against the Ten Hours Bill . Hundreds of public meetings , held in the manufacturing district ? , as well ns in York , London , and Edinburgh , have unanimously decided in favour of a limitation to ten hours a Jay , Petitions , signed by hundreds of thousands of every rank , sect , and party , have bain presented to the two Houses of Parliament , praying for the
Ton Hours Bill . Scores of operatives have sacrificed their nil in supporting this cause . Numerous and lengthy debates have occupied tho time and attention of the Legislature on this subject . Four sslcct pai liamen , tary committees hsve investiguted and reported thereon . Those committees examined clergymen , physicians , surgeons , schoolmasters , magistrates , millownera , overlookers , factory operatives / factory children , and gentlemen resident In the factory districts , who " had devoted their attention tn the examination , cf the effects of fac tory labour . Nay , mora ; tho . opponents of the Ten Hours Bill demanded aud cu ' tained a royal commission , whose members were instructed ' to proceed into the factory districts , that' they might eco with their own eyes , hc : ir with their own ears , aud then report thereon to tho Crown . ' Those commissioners , after close inspection
The Ten Hours, Clause In Danger To The J...
and investigation , made very long reports , in very thick blue-books . Factory Act upon Factory Act , has been passed ; until , at length , after very long debates in both Houses of Parliament , and by immense majorities In th » Commons and the Lords , the Ten Hours Bill has become the law of the land . And now , after so much eiponse , labour , and investigation , certain unknown mill-, owners presume to form themselves into a secret associate ( months before the ten hours clause can hare ( a day ' s trial ) , for the purpose of obtaining the repeal thereof ! The history of the world had not furnished a similar evidence of shamclessness ! It is in character , that these men should strive to throw the odium of the r guilt upon you ! They ought not to be trusted—it is not for them to talk about ' a final settiement of this question !'
If any s .-heme deserves respect , if any Act of Parliament merits a trial , it is the Ten Hours Bill ! No sub jectwai ever more fully discussed , more thoroughly sifted . No law was more Folemnly enacted than this very Act of Parliament' , that is now clandestinely sought to be repealed by a few secret conspirators ! It is true , avaricels insatiable . These men cannot endure restraint . They must bo of those who have ever resisted any and every restraint on their lust for gold ! My friends , If the Legislature can be induced to repeal the ten hours ^ clause , without having given It a trial , you may assure yourselves , that the repeal of all laws affecting factory regulation must follow .
ThereCttnnotlie a dOUbt that the 'final settlement ' which alone can satisfy your reckless opponents , the ' associated millowners , ' is , the restoration of their absolute power to do what they like with their slaves ! They seek to revho all the abuses , the cruelties , the tortures—the religious , moral , ^ social , domestic , end physical evils of the unregulated factory system ! They pant for the reign of terror under ' billy-rollers , ' factory straps , with nails Inserted , to cut tho backs and breasts of female infant Britons ! They would give more dignity and authority to the heavy clogs of brutal overlookers , than to the solemn enactment of the BritishLegislaturca .
T ' icy would cripple , drive to suicide , or other premature death , those who have no more work in them . ' Thoy would open the fountains of tears which Christian legislation has staunched ! and , worst of all , they ask you to aid them ! For myself , my course is plain . Until it is tried and proved injurious , I have taken the ten hours clause as a settlement . Bat tho information furnished by the ' associated millowners ' and Mr Cobden proves , that neither the demand nor the growth of the world , can eive ten hours a day employment for our machinery . That being the case , I can no longer defend thalclausp . I wait for the trial .
Meantime , I shall leave you and tbe ' nsseciaf ed millowners' in possession of the field . You will each take the course you best approve . I shall look on anxiously . I will strive to earn , by industry ( would that , in doinp so , loeuld use my exertions for the improvement ef mankind ) , and to save , by economy—the sinews of war . Should the tenhours clause be repealed , I will endea . vour to ascertain , how many hours of dilly factory labour , the demand and the growth of the world can cmploy— that number will certainly be under ten , to that limit ( being fewer than ten ) , I will confine myself . I consistently advertise the 'associated millowners , ' that the repeal of the ten hours ' clause shall not be ' a . final settlement of the question . ' Ihave crown grey in this cause ; what if I should become bald in your service ?
Thanks be to God , I am yet hale and strong ; my mind as vigorous , my voice as unfaltering , as when , many years ago , I told you , ' that tbe factory cruelties in Bradford furnished me with a fulcrum , whereon to r ' St the lever of humanity , by which , with the hilp of God , I would overthrow that tyranny , end obtain the Ten Hears Bill ! ' I now tell you , and beg that you will remember it , the facts communicated by the ' associated millowners' and Mr Cobden , give rae a fulcrum , whereon I will rest the lever of necessity , by which ( when they have obtained the repeal ot the ten hours clause ) , I will , by Divine aid , obtain an act to regulate and limit fl & Uy factory labour , to the demand and growth of tbe world , that limit beln ? under ten hours a day ! You know that when I am again harnessed , victory will crown , or death will end my exertions .
Infatuated men are these ' associated millowners , ' when they dream ef rolling back the "tidec nub ) iB opinion ! All classes now yearn for shorter hours of labour ! Not the least blessing" attending tho long pro . ttactei 'JiscuBsiovia on the Ten Hours Bill is , that , th'reby . the mlr . ds of the nation , and of its legislature have bain dlrcettd tu ' . h « religious , moral , social , domestic , and physical welfare of the labouring clasHte . It U now admitted by the legislature , that each sacrifices as lave been , shall no longer be made , for the rnke of accumulating wealth . Yet , these unthinking' and uti reasonable millowners of the association , hope to make the next age unlearn , all that the last age has been taught by the discussions on the factory question ! Truly , the ' associated millowners' are as vain , as they are perfidious .
Well , if I must again be forced into a factory agitation . it will be for less than ten hours , My task may be difficult , hut my starting ground will bo better than when I first marshalled a few poor , emaciated , ' norked-up ' factory cripples ( amidst the scoffs , and jeers , and pelt . Inge of tbe people and thtir leader *) , against tbe powerful and united phalanx of their oppressors . What » nug berths some of those ' leaders' have since then secured ! Happy factory children of the present day ! Yen know not the suff rings and woes of your predecessors , nor the labours and losses they encountered for your emancipation ! The ' associated millowners ' shall not , In you , revive those bygone tortures ; Talk of West Indian slavery , indeed ! I spesk advisedly when I assert , that the condition of infant black slaves was one of happiness and liberty , compared with that of the white factory slaves !
We must consent to no backward legislation on the Factory question . Forward !—Onward !—roust be our watchwords , if the ten houis clause should , on trial , prove injurious . What should be said of the West India planters , were they to propose , Wt by bit , to repeal the Emanci potion Act , and to ask the emancipated free men to aid them ? Such is the infatuation of the ' association of millowners . ' There is still one sentence in the petition , prepared for you by tho ' association of millowners , ' thut demands special attention : They teach yon to address the legislature in these words : — ' It is beyond tho power of Parliament to secure for the operative constantemploymeHt . '
Nonsense ! Yaur instructors do not believe it ! You are of more value , in tho social scale , than their spindles ! If it be the duty of Parliament to find 'constant employment'for thtir spindles , It is no lose its | du ' y , ' to secure for the optratives constant employment . ' Now , what course do the millowners pursue , when th-jir spindles cease to revolve ! Do they not malce known their distress to Parliament , and pray for I ' rlicf ? Do th < y not send deputations to the Prime Minister , tp urgotlieir grievances on'hia most solemn tittention , with a view of inducing him , to persuade the Piirliament to pass such measures ns will eet tho spindles in motion , and give them ' constant employment V
My friends , it is self-evideni , that ifthcmilloTtnersciii ! not believe 'Parliament possessed the power to secure fur their spindles constant employment , ' they would not put themselves to tho expense and trouble of applying to Parliament for that purpose . ' And , if spindles , v / hy not those who attend upon the epindlcs—the operatives ? If the fact were as stated in this petition , all legisln . tion would be useless . It has very lately been proelaimod by our present govcrnnifnt , through their organ , the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland , that , ' The preservation of human life is the saei-cdand paramount duty of government . ' How , then , would the ' associated millowners' have that' sacred and paramount duty' performed by the government f By constantly feeding the people in idleness , or by 'securing for the operatives constant employment !'
The former plnn has been tried and found verv troublesome , dangerous , and costly in Ireland . Would these ' associated' Manchester Solons recommend its adoption in England ? If not , persuade them to Wot the above piece of nonsense out of the petition they have asked you to sign . That done—the remainde . is mere waste paper . Do not suppose that I hold tbe insane notion that government can , or ought , daily , to enter every cottage , and apportion to each able-bodied individual his day ' * work and his day's wages ! Thnt is neither expected , desired , nor Is it possible . But seeing that' lh « preservation of human lift is the sacred and paramount dut > ofgovornmtnt . 'it is bound by the solemn obligations for which itis created , to frame laws upon principles wMch arr ° calcu ! ated to ' senure for the operatives constant eta . plojment , ' and also sufficient wages . Failing in that / it is bound by its' sscrcd and paramount duty , ' to find constant foot ! for the operatives .
Seeing that such responsibility necessarily resides in tbe government , tho members thereof must decide whether it be wiser and safer to give constant food t . e idlers , or to ' secure constant employment ' and suffioiew wages for the industrious ? The former course must involve them in ' constant ' difficulty and terminate in their ruin—the latter plan is ( when the true principles o ? juat government are dis . cernrd nnd ' adoptedK safe , and as easy in operation as
ABC . Take the following case : — Suppose that , at this moment , the demand for totton goQcla and the stock of cotton nro only sufficient to jtivt eight hours a day employment to all our machinery , and that the owners of one half of that machinery were to fcim an ' association of millowners ' , for tbe purpose ofbuyinp up the whole stock of cotton , and by working thuir ' milU sixteen hours a day ( as was oftui the case furmerly ) , supplying all the demand ; leariti }} the owners of the other half of the machinery , and all their ' hands' without any employment ! In that case , would the govtrnment be justified in allowing such injustice , iind consc quent misery , acknowledging at the same time , ' thnt the preservation of the lives of those who would thus hethrown out of employment , is its most sacrcd andparnmount duty , ' : ¦ . ¦
The thought is monstrous ,. The ' sacredjand paramount , duty of government > n that ci . se is manifest , however tliatjiluty tuny he supposed to interfere with special p rivate interests , and must yield to general public necessity— and tbe law mu » i
The Ten Hours, Clause In Danger To The J...
under such circumstances , so direct , as to titv ' . t ' e whole among the whole , by an Eight Hours Act , and also to prevent tho waste of capital , and the ruinous ope * ration of competition on the mills already built , by forbidding the erection of more mills until increased demand f cotton goods and a larger supply of cotton should render their erection advantageous to the commeawealth , I dure say this doctrine will stngger the ' aesoeiatlea of millowners . ' Tho only question to be asked is—Is it true ? Let them probe it ; and when they have found an error therein—state it . This is a most important and most interesting sutject , I will pursue it further .
If its foundation be truth , it is the offspsin ,. ? of love , and ean , consonantl y , ' nork no 111 ' to any one , W © must iievtr forget that ' Love wrketh no ill to his neighbour . * When we find , under the operation of any principle , tho profit of an individual , or a class , is procured at tho sacrifice , o- to the loss of another individual , or another class , n > other fact is required to prove that principle erroneous . This will seem strange to many . Verily , my friends , thro are many strang-j things iu God ' s holy word ; believe me , they are all true , nnd it will be proved , in the long run , that any system , founded on principles that are contrary thereto , however , for a while , they may s « em to prosper , will eventually fall , I rtcur totho case above supposed . If the govern , ment were to leave the trade to find its level . ' by non-Interferoncc , as some would recommend—the owners oi one-half the machinery would be ruin : d—their property would , ( by no act of their own ) , become valueless—the national wealth would be so much diminished—( . no half
the operatives employed in the manufacture of cotton would beeoma worse than useless—instead of h ' ic ; j bees , increasing the wealth of the hive , they would become drones , extracting its honey . Nay , worse ftill , being idle , they would become mischievous , and soldiers , police , nndprisons , would be required to overawe , detect , and punish them . Thus would more wealth be extracted from the common stock , The ether half in employment would realise no more profit , to the nation , than if the work had been done by all . If the millowners , thus engaged , receive more than their proper share of profit they will be heavily taxed , for the sustenance of those who are out of employment , and for the maintenance of soldiers , police , & c They will also be subject to tbe depredations of the idle-made-Tictous . Their
attention to business will bo so protracted , that they must sacrifice domestic joyp , social pleasures , and mintal improvement—reducing themselves to a level with their machines ! Their ¦ hands' being worked sixteen hours a day , can know nothing but * bed and mill '— 'bad and mil ' , ' They will be emaciated and crippHd , until' all work is gone out of them '—when they will bo kicked ( actually kicked ) out of the mills , and often , even in their youth , become paupers—ignorant—brutalised —• wretched for life ! Thousands of you , my friends , ean testify to ( he truth of this statement . Another feature of this 'let alone ' system would ba—other capitalists , ( envjing the profits of the ' successful' millowners ) , would subtract from the capital of the commonwealth , by building mills .
Our opponents will perhaps say , the best fsature is omitted—tbe high wages of the operatives who would work sixtei n hours a day . Were their wages fifty times more than for tea hours , they would not furnish compensation for the penalty paid by these poor men , women , and children , in the loss of every personal , social , and domestic comfort—in the loss of health , limb , and life . But , my friends , I know that he who , in that state of society , should work sixteen hours a day , would not receive so much in wages , as each would receive , wore oil working only eight hours a day . And why ? Be-0 inse , in the former state , those out of employment would be constantly , everywhere , offering themselves at lower wages than those employed , until , from the pressure from without , wages would inevitably be reduced , to a limit just above ' parish pay . ' Thus would ' trade ffndita level , '
It is on the principle just stated , that you would be deprived of any additieual wages , in the long run , for the extra hour of labour , you are requested to petition that Parliament would grant . If the whole number of factory operatives wereemploycd ,, ( in the case above referred to ) , there would be no supernumerary labourers , and consequently nopres * sure ffcffci without , and wages would , be equal to tbe real value of the week performed , which , with machinery multiplying man ' s Iaboo £ . Jfnany ., hundred-fold , ' would surely afford , not only the hecesswi ^ V but also the com ' forts of life , to all . ' * ' / .. ;>/ I entreat you carefully to contrast the state of socleiy under the ttvo systems , andbesure not to tell Parliament , 'It is not their duty to see that you have constante « a . r p ' ovment Iound . '
Our opponents assert'the . otton-trade cannot afford a piy sustaining wag > -a ! ore . i ( ht hours' work ' , ' The reply , to such objectors , is easy and conclusive . 'If so , the folly of foriterinj ? a trade that has collected together a grot . ter ii'imber of operatives , ( trained in its service , untutored iu ;> iiv other employment ) , than it has the power to snstaia , is demonstrate } . Then , the wickedness of founding our staple manufacture , on a foreign raw material , of stinted quantity , ( of whLjh we may at any time be deprived , by the caprice or malice , ol a foreign rival ) , is proved , ' Nature would seem to be our schoolmaster . teacli . ' n f C us wisdom , by cutting off our supply of that foreign material . Thus does nature , when rightly apprehended . Joa'l us into the only safe path , and drive us to agriculture , tho only rational foundation for a nation ' s strength . '
I have , now and again , told you , that the cotton manufacture should , in consequence of its insalubrity , bs csnne ^ 'ted with agriculture— ' a few hours a day in the mill , and tbe remainder in tbe field . ' I Cid not then lcirsrino ' that facts , svowrd and proclaimed by onr opponents , would sa socn drive us into that state . The arrangements for this happy change prerent nogroat difficulty . The first step will naturally be , a sanitary law to prevent mills beinj ; in future erected in towns . Necessity will point out other arrangements ; that necessity being demonstrated by the facts , that there ia not cotton in existence , or demand for cotton goods in tb » world , to give such hours of employment as will sustain all the operatives iu the cotton manufacture .
Should the ' assoeiation of millowners' o ject to the course of reasoning I have pursued in this letter , en the haclmejed presumption , that ' government have no right to interfere in such mattirs , ' tell tlum that Mr Cabilen repudiated tho doitrino of n-in-interfir . once , when at Stockport , In the speech , before referred to , ho said :- ~ 'Of all the mad things that were ever done by any body of men , I believe that the H .-use of Commons , by l > rant ng those railway act" , during the last three years , had done the moat insane act ever perjietriiUd by a public body . The ' madness , ' the ' insEiiity , ' char-ed upon the House of Commons , bj'Mr Cobiien , were consequent on the stinted nature oi their ' interference . ' They had rij'cted many bills , during that ' t ' ar ^ e years ; ' in Mr Cobden ' s opinion , they were ' insane , ' bc-caufe t : iey bad not' interfered' more .
' The raastir-mind of the age . , has thus given the duath-blo \ v , to ihe doctrine of * non-intvifsrereu !' I have been onreful not to nam any of fchosa hon « oured and beloved advocates of the Tin Hours Bill , who , in and out of Parliament , have devoted thiir energies and talents , and made great sacrifices , in the cause , because I did not wish , that even the semblance of their approval to the contents of this letter , should be assumed . None , save myself , is responsible for what I have written , And now , my friends , until the ten hours clause is proved to be injurious ; or , until it is repealed , I bid you farewell .
I commend you to the grace and imrcy of Almighty God . Seek Hisj- 'Uidance and a ; cl , May His spirit be manifest in all your proceedings . ' Let love ts without dissimulation , abhor that which is evil , cleave to th-. t which is good . ' . I remain , mv friends . Your faithful « Old King . ' RlCHABD OaSTLIB . Fulliam , Jan . 1 , 1848 . P . S . Read this letter iu your mills , committees , and clubs . I wish you all to study its contents , that before you petition Parliament , for the repeal of the ten hours elausa , you may ba reminded of the struggles , nsxieticf i and sacrifices which that clause has cast—that you may understand why long hours of labour do not obtain good wages—and , above all that you may bo per . luaded ' not to reliase Parliament from the duty of enact , ini ; ani-1 mpportinp laws , by which , ' cotiPtat-t employmcnt'and suffieiVut wages nil ! he fotin-i ior you all , I would print this in pamphlet form , r . nd cive you each a copy , had I the means . R . 0 .
. Four Mkn Bcbikd Alive —On Saturday Aft...
. Four Mkn Bcbikd Alive —On Saturday after . noon , the inhabitants of Bacup and the r . eit ' . hbourhood were tkro . wn into a sfitte of groat cxefinnenr , by a report that four men were buried alive by the new bridge ( crossing some water-works ) helencwg to the new branch railway from Rawtenstall to . Bacup , at Waterfoot . It , appears that the late floods had caused some of the props of the bridge to be loose , and when four of the men , named Samuel Bentley , James Kafeteac ! , John Dyson , and James Vtyffi 1 ' ; worth were repairing or fanning the loose prdp , she bridge fell . The men were under the ruins fot ^ several hours . Eyson and Butterworth were got out alive , but t ! tpy are ir . nch bruised , aiid in a dangeron * statu . Bentley and Ualstead , who are both na-. tves of Smallbridgc , near Rochdale , were killed .
Bath . —The L . -. tb Ronnanv irr a Mi . v of Pbokbit-Alfred Bucharau , the gentleman sh on utter , who was found guilty at the city sessions on luiday for fkuliur « purse and scent- bottle of the value of 11 CJ ? t fe nroperty of Frederick Janus Uamper , was l , roVhfc " up < n Wednesday for judgment . The Ri-cordcrl Mr Jnrdine ) scutenced him to three nsonths imprisonment with hsrd labour . llLACKnunx . — Reduction of WAGE 3 . ~ Friday kst , notices were posted in till the millu of tho town , apprising the hands that their wages wou'd be reduced ( cenerally ten per cent . ) at the expiration of ' a month after date . Inafow-instanoesithe reduction will be ten per cent , on the spinners'' and weavers' wu ^ es , and 71 per cent , on the wages of the { wrd-ntora hands ; but in the majority of instances it will be uniforms
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 15, 1848, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_15011848/page/3/
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