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THE K0E.THEEN STAR. SATURDAY, MARCH 2», 1843.
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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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10 THB CHABTIST 8 OP LEEDS AND ITSj Y 1 C 1 N 1 TY .
Wi Fktbkps , —Tne triale hare terminated and I am acquitted . This is sot the lot of all , and in consequence a solemn duty devolves opon us . Tbe families © f botdb , who have been on eome paltry pretence found « naty , will suffer much unless proper funds be at once Jirovided . Thank God , I need not to ' beg to ¦ ***< & . lo I can do so tie more boldly . I * && aee ™ " ™ y Sir « SIflSk it tie duty of all wno nave teen acquitted , to Md the defence fund as much «• P ° n * to . On Saturday-week 3 shall be in Leeds , and shall be most happy to deliver one or two lectures at any place -within five miles . The whole proceeds of such lectures to fo to the defence fund , providing that the application to me be made through the sub-Secretaries during the first two -weeks of April . _
__ ____ let bb up and 1 ) 3 doing ! The cause must not suffer , sad . Ihe enemies of right must not boast that the people hare left their friendB to suffer and their families to stsrre . I am , yours , In the good cause , T . B . SMITH . London , March 21 , 1 SJ 3 ,
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i /»^ ^ tfWA * - »» EXTRAORDINARY CASE . BsightOS , ldx& . 17— An inquest -was held this morning , before Mr . Gall , coroner for Ess * Snssex , at Ihe Sussex County Hospital , on the body of- Hannah Dile , a servant at the synagogue in Devonshire-place , ¦ whose death took place bj poison yesterday morniEg . The first -witness called "was Sarah Rentel , wife of ileyer Rental , vho liTes in London , She deposed that she lives with hex son , MoBes Rente ! , reader of the synagogue , and the deceased was their servant On "Wednesday evening tiia . deceased talked about a -weed ih&t grew in the hedges and was known locally by the name o ! " lords and ladies , " ¦ which "was poison . She ¦ went to bed at half-past nine o'clock , taking the cat as usual , with her . She slept down stairs in the kitchen . In the morning , ier son came to her room and told her file fire was not lighted , and that the "deceased was not op . He then Trent into the synagogue and she got np and called deceased ; and , obtaining no answ » , she
made the fire herself and prepared eofftja . ^ On h «* oB returning from the synagogue asd fading that the servant was still In hed , he want to the door and called , and Teceiving no answer forced the door open , and then ran for a doctor . Witness , her son , xnd the girl were the only persons living at the synagogue . There was BO poison in the hsose , nor any medicine w ' hich could have poisoned her . She went out to see lier parents on Tuesday evening , and « JU not return tin half-past nine o ' clock . She had never stayed out so late before . Moses Rentel , the reader , deposed" to calling the girl * witheut getting an answer both before and after he ¦ went inte the synsgogne , asd to forcing the kitchen door open . Ha then saw the ^ irl in bed " , with her face Tery red , * nd her mouth discoloured . "He ran to E 4 ward-Efcreet and fetched Mr . Candle , a surgeon , who returned with him , * nA said the girl appeared to Lave taken poison . He then &aw the cat lying dead on the fiswr . A short time afterwards Mr . Whitehonse came
in , and by his advice the girl was at-once taken to the hospital . He had no particular animosity against the cat , and had no poison about the house . SIr . JB a W . Whitehonse , surgeon , deposed to finding the girl at the synagogue with ibe pupils 62 the eye ray much dilated , the countenance and the eyes suffused , and respiration and circulation hurried . Around the mouth was a white mark , ¦ which arose from some chalk and water administered as as antidote by Mr . Candle After her removal to the hospital he examined the room thoroughly . He first saw a dead cat , which had vomited . There -were slao Tn » T-V » of vomiting on the girl ' s pillow . He examined her clothes , and found nothing except a Email piece of xseist cake in hex pocket . He could Bee so paper , or bottle , or anything tlBQ indicating the presence of poison . The boiler -was
open , and he ordered some of the water to be taken out for examination . He made a post jfwrlm' examination of the eat , " but discovered-no . morbid appearance in the stomach , cor any inflammation which could lead to a supposition that poison had been taken—at least any mineral poison . He had since had a portion of the contents of the stomach , brought np by the stomachpump , sent to him from the hospital ; asd he produced Ihe contents of the stomach from a post mortem examination which he had just made . He had analysed five different substateea—the contents of the stomach of the cat , the vomiting on the girl ' s pillow , the contents of her stomach brought np by the pump , the contents of the stomach post mortem , and the water is the- boiler , and could find no trace of any corrosive or mineral poison . All the Tesults were negative .
Coroner—Now , let us go to the post mortem examination of the body . Witness—We &nt yr ""** " ^ the brain , the Tassels « f which -were congested , the blood being more fluid than ritual , and a sroall quantity of serum infused he * aeaih the m unbraces . The onuses were also gorged ¦ with blood . The oesophagus and siemach presented no imusual feature . The contents of the stomach are here . There is a considerable quantity of dirty whitish sediment in them , which would require further . analysis before he could give an opinion upon it . Thw condition of the brain indicated ttt&t there bid been a nareulic poison , If there had been poison at alL Coroner— -Hare you farmed an opinion as to the cause « f death ?
Witness—No ; 1 have sot erea satisfied myself that poison has been taken , although the circumstances lead that way . I have ops-lied tests for all the mineral poison * . T 2 >» -vegetable poimonm are difficult to ? detect . The Jury agreed to adjourn , in order to allow time for a further analysis to take place , and Mr . Whitehouse said he should like to call in the assistance of DtSchweitEsr .-of the German Spa , who hod devoted ynn >» h ftHy ^ fi p ^ to vegetable analyses . Ml . George Lovdell , honse-snrgeoa to the hospital , deposed to the deceased having died in an hour and a half after her admission to the hospital , and to his concurrence in the evidence of Mr . Whitehouse as to the result of the post storUn examination .
Charlotte Fielder , a girl eleven years of age , deposed . that on Monday las ) she saw the deceased , who cried to her , and said " they bad just had & dreadful TOW , and that the sob ( the reader ) had knocked her ' about " She said he had knocked her down on the stairs , when she caught hold of the rails to save herself , and he Baid she deserved to be poisoned . She had heard deceased complain several times before of being ill-treated by her master and mistress . Witness did not mention anything about the -Quest to poison deceased toll she heard aha was daad . Th « mother of deceased , two of her sisters * a companion , sod some neighbours , all deposed to having heard the deceased frequently complain that her master and mistress iad either ill-n » d her in various ways or threatened to do so . One of them swore that deceased had told hf * r ? - >»»*¦ her T"n « f '" bad threatened . to " do " for her , for aMeiding Ihe cat in -qnestion from his illusage .
The jury deliberated with closed doors for about half an hour , when an adjournment took place to Sunday ; and the coroner issued his warrant for ifee apprehension of Moses Rentel , the -reader , and hia mother , to wait the result of the inquest They are now in custody .
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ADDRESS TO THE WORKING MEN OF ENGLAND , AND MORE PARTICULARLY THE MANUFACTURING OPERATIVES . M ? Distressed Bkethseh , —To relieve the degression on trade effectually , yon must become furr ^ e " and producers of f ood ior yourselves . Ton mnftl unite In co-aperatrre communities and be located on hitherto uncultivated , unreclaimed , and onappropiated , or on the uselessly occupied and unproduetively appropriated soils of the land . They who now monopolize the soil must be compelled by law , not to disgorge thfiimnhallo-sred illgotten prey , but to let to yon a part of their immense domains at reasonable rest charges , to be under the guidance , management , and direction of efficient committees , treasurers and secretaries , selected from amongst yourselves and your more wealthy friends , aoeerding to a plan to he proposed and approved .
Heed not the professions or arguments of the hnraanitj-mongering over-gorged capitalists and the other tafikiers and traders , and unholy appropriators of the fruits of your toQ and genius , the Free Trade tribe . If their favourite nostrum , the further extension of commerce , means the farther extension of the accursed , the horrible , depraving and emaciating factory slave system , I entreat yon to spurn it The working of machinery for the -EQU . vi BBNEOTT Or ALL -WOtltD BO "WELL ? but the system as it is in reality , working only for tie benefit of a mere crafty monopolizing ; section of the community , producing them princely fortunes ; enabling them to erect superb mansions and Tnafatain costly establiBhmeats ; and all at the price « f jour liberty , your morals , your health nay . Jom -very existence—it is bad . "
Trust no more to this system for your daily bread , but ena mour fe , work for yourselves in convenient eoaies . You may , kideed , B » machinery ( if necessary ) ^ S ^ S ^ fSKKS S 55 E 553 SSS WM * haJf-cfcfl , honseH * , 1—SS % SS ' emactttoa bangs j the mere apolegies of ' £ 2 hS Again , the indiTMual competitive system , mnst of seeessifcy be destroyed . The reason * are dWm ^ S bj acting on the principles of this address , you will saost effectually repeal-tits Com Xawa , as you TTfll need no corn jof foreign growth . ^^
The further extension of our present foreign commerce means thefertber ihereasaof profit to the profit-mongen i not Uje further increase ~ of the comforts of the "workifct , or even relief from their present der . UuHon and wretchedness , Itoing the last -thirty years , or more , our foreign commerce , or export * have been Zaeresuong , - whilst the wages of t&e operativei have l * ea gjadBally decreasing ; and , at present , improve-Beats in machinery are progressing at railway speed ,
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on the self-acting principle , so that , shortly , rb regards maunf teturing operations and processes , and even those of the mechanici , manual labour will be in a great measure annihilated and snperceeded ; therefore , you see , yenr case is without a remedy , except from the land , the land . Your trne friend , A REFORMER GROWING GREY IN THE CAUSE . K « ndal , Feb . 6 tb , 1843 .
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? TO THE CHARTISTS OF BOLTON AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD . Bbotheb . Chartists . —Owing to the depressed state of trade in this town , together with the low i » te of wageB receiTed by ttie operatives , the funds of the Association have been materially injured . The Council have therefore determined to commence Belling the NorihernSiar , and other ChartiBt publications , the profits upon which will be solely appropriated to the spreading of Chartism . They therefore respectfully call upon their brother Chartists to assist them in an undertaking which , while it -will incur no additional expenditure , will be the means of considerably augmenting the income .
There are , we believe , about five hundred copies of the NorlJiern Star circulated in the neighbourhood , the profits upon which , if devoted exclusively to the purpurposes of the Association , would enable us to push the agitation into the surrounding villages , as well as defraying the incidental expences conntcted with the room we now occupy as a place of meeting ; but if two hundred copies were taken from the Association , the proceeds arising from them would enable us to push the movement in this town without being necessitated to appeal to the starving hand-looa weavers and factory operatives to contribute out of the scanty pittance which they receive , in the shape of wages , to carry on & movement which can alone elevate their moral . Bocial , and political condition ,
We hope , therefore , that those Chsrtista who do take in the Star will favour Mr . J . Snllivan , boot and shoe-maker , Moor-street , Great Bolton , with their orders , that gentleman having kindly undertaken the trouble connected with t&eii delivery free of expence , and will most religiously appropriate the profits to ( lie purposes before mentioned . Bt Order op the Council .
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THE GOVERNMENT FACTORY BILL . Evbbt general principle of nri 8 nile produces in operation , particular effects , which press heavily on those against -whose interests the rule operates . Thi 3 pressure induces frequently an effort , by the superficial , to deal with the effects , and cure them , as if they were the malady of which they are but the symptoms . The experienced and skilful physician does not thus waste his energies . He directs bis efforts to the extirpation of the cause which gives birth to them ; while at the same time he omits no necessary attention to such measures of amelioration as may alleviate the present sufferings of his patient while the cure is going on . So , the
experienced , skilful , and deep thinking politician who finds the whole system of Society so out of all natural course and order that its several parts groan with agony , stops not to battle seriously with each particular grievance , but applies hb active powers , in all ways which can render them effective , to the removal of the grand-producing cause . Bat though his ate be laid to the root only of the foul tree of corruption , he yet seises every opportunity which may present itself , daring the process , of removing excrescences from the surface , or of alleviating the injurious operations of the system in any given and particular direction—provided that such alleviation of symptoms do not tend to the actual increase of the malady .
Upon this principle we have through our entire career pointed the people to the fact that to grapple , as a substantive grievance and ground of agitation , with the respective evils of the system as exhibited in Factory Labour , in Poor Law Bastiles , in Prison Digcipline , in Currency Frauds , or in any other of its many forms , was idle , while the grand principlethe cause of all these mischiefs—class legislation , was still in operation . Hence , that united spirit of resistance to all crotchet agitations which the people now exhibit , and in which is our hope of their political redemption . Bat while we would carefully
foster this looking to first principles for the Radical cure of our evils we would by all means lay hold of every help thereto in the shape of the smallest alleviation of present suffering which doea not in operation strengthen the bonds of evil . Hence our advocacy of temperance ; by which the little that is left to the labourer may be bo husbanded aa to afford him as much of comfort as can be extracted from it . Hence our advocacy of extended education and intellectual culture ; by which the working man comes to know something of the framework of society , and to understand what are his
rights , as a first step towards the assertion of them , and from which he also gathers , even in bis poverty , many hours of precious enjoyment which the oppressor cannot take from him . These are alleviations of present Buffering which , while they in some degree obviate suffering , give no increased power to tyranny . And for the same reason that we rejoice in these , we rejoice also in the enactments which pnblic opinion has wrung from the Legislature on the subject of infant labour in factories . Every step taken for the abatement of this horrid nuisance is a step in the right direction—a step towards regaining
the natural position of society , in which men , not women and children , should be ita labourers . We care not , if even ihe result threatened by our neighbour Mercury should follow ; that protection to the infant slaves induce the masters to discard them altogether and substitute them by machinery . That in the end will be a good : for it will gire an additional and mighty impetus to that power , bj the exercise of which machinery will be yet made what it ought to be , a general blessing , because working for the general benefit , not as now fox individual aggrandizement . Eagerly , therefore , aad
thankfully do we receive from whatever quarter any extension of the protection ef the law to factory workers ; aad that not less upon political than moral and humane considerations . The present Factory Act—though conceived in fraud and brought forth by viUany—though intended to be a failure , and to sicken the people of factory legislationthough riddled through and through with loopholes for the escape of delinquents—and though purposely made as vexatious as possible in its operation—has yet been a great good . It has relieved much suffering and prevented much cruelty
to the helpless ones over whom ita authors were compelled , unwillingly , to stretoh it as a shield . The Government Bill now before the Houbs of Common 3 is , in many respects , an improvement on it . We say nothing of the motives which may have induced the bringing out of this BUI just now . We think we have a shrewd guess at them ; but let them pass ; there are good points in the Bill and we hope the enemies of labour may not be able either to defeat or cripple it . The have taken the alarm ; their trusty watchman " Neddy" has sounded the war-cry . HiB " pal" of the Noncon '
formist , whi oh we nave just received , echoes it in a most piously mendacious strain of fustian , appeals frantbly to all the worst feelings of raring fanaticism , and declares that" the operation of this Bill , " will , " within one generation , " " extinguish civil and religions liberty j Great Britain will be ridden over from end to end , by Nobles , 'Squires and Priests ; and darkness , worse than Egyptian , will supervene " . ' The creatures of dissenting and miUocrat ^ ower and piety in the H House" will of course follow in the train . Some signs of opposition have been already manifested ; and it m 3 y be expected that the Bill will be contested .
We gave a detail of the leading provisions of this Bill in our paper of the 4 th instant . The best part of the Bill is the strictness , . amounting almost to stringency , with which it provio ^ s for the practical enforcement of its several clauses . The hours of labour for children under thirteen are reduced to sis hours and a-half daily , with three hours foi schooling ; to be taken between eight in the morning and one at noon , or between that and seven m ta . e evening . All work for children and
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young persons to cease on Saturday , at half-past four f . ii , One hour and a-half to be had for meal times , of which an hourtnust be before three , p . m . Eight half day holiday ? , to be had in every year , besides Christmas-day and Good Friday . No machinery to be cleansed whi ' ie in motion . All machinery to be properly fenced off . The Burgeon ' s certificate of age , &c « , to be given upon personal inspection only at ihe factory . The penalties provided for the violation of these several matters , are as follow : —against the master—for employing children under the legal age ; or for employing
children more than six and a half hours in any one day ; or for employing children after one o ' clock p . m ., who may have been employed in that or any factory before twelve of the same day ; or for employing children or young persona after half-past four on Saturday afternoon ; or for employing young persona more than twelve hours ; or for employing children , or young persons , without the proper certificates from surgeon and schoolmaster , or with a false doctor ' s certificate , knowing it to be so ; or for not allowing proper times for meals , or proper holidays : for each and every one
of these offences the penalty i 3 to be not less than twenty shillings , nor more than three pounds for each child , or young person , so treated . For employing any child or young person during mealtime , or for allowing any child or young person to remain in any room , daring meal -time , ia whioh any machinery is in motion , or any kind of work carried on , not less than Ten Shillings , and not more than Ten Pounds , for each child and young person so employed or allowed to remain in any room . And for each of these offenoea the parent of the child is also liable to a penalty of not less than ten
shillings , nor more than twenty shillings , if privy or a consenting party to the eff-nce . Parents who neglect to make their children attend school without eome valid excuse , admitted by the act , become liable to pay not less than one shilling nor more than ten shillings for every day so neglected . The master is also liable to penalties of not less than twenty shillings , nor more than fire pounds for neglecting to pay the Bohool master ' s or surgeon ' s fees . For not cleansing or lime washing his factory within the proper period prescribed by the act , not less than three poounds nor more than
ten ; with an additional penalty of not less than two pounds for every month that it has been so neglected . For allowing machinery to be cleaned while going ; or for allowing any child or young person to work between the fixed and traversing parts of a self-acting machine , not less than ten shillings , nor more than five pounds . For not pro . perly fencing off maohinery or for not giving notice to the certifying surgeon of an accident ; in the factory , not less than fire pounds , nor more than twenty pounds . If an accident occur in consequence of unguarded maohinery , of which the owner may have received notice from the
inspector , he becomes liable to a fine of not less than ten , or more than one hundred pounds ; a part or the whole of which may , under the direction of the Secretary of State , be appropriated for the benefit of the injured person . For divers other offences various penalties are apportioned , ranging from two to twenty pounds ; the magistrates to have power to compel the attendance of witnesses before them , on pain of one month ' s imprisonment ; also to compel the production of registers , accounts , or other papers , necessary for evidence ; and no appeal from the decision of the justices to any higher authority . The one hundred and seventh clause is important ; we giro it in full : —
** And be it enacted , That every person who Bhall be convicted Twice within Twelve Months for an offence of the same kind against this Act , Bhall pay for his second offence any sum not less than Onehalf of the highest penalty for that ofiVnce ; and if convicted Three times within Twelve Months For an offence of the same kind , be shall pay not less than Two-thirds of the highest penalty ; and if convicted more than Three times for an offence of the same kind , he shall pay the highest penalty ; but a repetition of the same kind of offence shall not be considered as the second or subsequent Ofience 8
referred to in this enactment , unless Buoh second or subsequent offences have been committed after notice has been given of the inteution to prefer a complaint for the previous offences ; and in any case in which a person shall be convicted at any time for offences against this Act , so that the penalties amount in tha whole to more than One Hundred Ponnds , the sum of une Hundred Pounds , together with all the reasonable costs and charges ot * such proceedings and convictions , may bo paid instead of the penalties for all the offences " committed by him before the day on which the last summons was taken oat against him . "
These are the really valuable parts of the Bill . They are felt to be so by the mill-owners . The efficiency of the protection which they afford , is unbearable ; and every effort will be made to thwart and frustrate the Bill . The knaves , however , go cunningly to work . They do not openly and honestly rebel against the mantle of proteotion thrown over labouring infancy . They have already handled this weapon till it has wounded them . Galled human feeling , chafed into indignation , wrested it from their hands , and boxed their Iueb
with ' . t . They will not try it again . They go opon another tack now . They &eiz <) upon the education clauses , which provide that under certain circumstances religious eduoation , according to the dogmas of the Church of England , shall be given in the factory schools to those children whose parents do not object to it . Tuey seize upon this handle , and calling in the aid of their ready tools , the Eleek-haired Dissenting Parsons , they raise a mighty cry about Priestcraft , Ohuroh domination , Jesuitry , and other balderdash of that sort .
According to the Nonconformist" Noiselessly , deliberately , certainly , and with the approval of the three political parties , aristocracy ia about to throw the noose over the neck of a betrayed and deserted people . The mandate of our modern Pharoah U on the eve of going forth—and , after the data of its issue , every masculine mini born in this kingdom is to be destroyed . " •• Tbe superscription of this measure might juBtly be Tyranny unto tyranny . ' it is a real scorpion—compietely formed , although , aa yet , only in the egg . There are claws to it—venom—a Btinjr , aye ? a tlina . "
" There is the barbed and poisoned weapon with which British liberty is to be thrust through * The poor children , doomed to pay out of the scanty wages which legalised monopoly leaves to them tbe possibility of earning , no lesa a sum than threepence a week to the schoolmaster appointed to cram them with maxims of slavish morality , extracted from priestly superstition—forced to observe the saint-days of tbe church , and to submit to the educational management of a clergy , saturated with frivolous traditions of popery—released from the toil of earning wages only to undergo the toil prescribed by men who setm to have got up this measure as a plausible pretence for sharing those earnings with them . "
" Within one generation , unlees , indeed , government is made to rest upon the broadest principles of democracy—civil and religions liberty will , under the operations of this act , be extinct . Great Britain will be ridden over , from end to end , by nobles , Slulres , and priests ; and darkness , worse than Egyptian , will supervene . ' !! J There , reader ! look at that ! Must not this bill for educatiag the poor factory workers be a monstrosity !! Was ever anything half so horrible since the day of racks , thumbscrews , fires , and
each other devilment ? ! Is it wonderful that piety turns up its eyes aghast , and that th « children of Dissent gather in their eonventioles to oppose the progress of this awful pageant !! This they are doing , and in right earnest , too . Even while writing this , we have beea interrupted by the first ^ tep in the pious dance . The conventiclera of Leeds issued this Thursday morning , small circulars , addressed persson&lly to the " brethren / ' of whioh one happening to fall into our hands we give it here : ' Leeds , Mar «! i 22 sd , 1843 .
" GOVERNMEKT PLAN OF EDUCATION . " thb " wbw factory bill . " Sm , —You are earnestly requested to attend meeting , to be held in the large room of tbe Commercial Buildings , ToMORsow , ( Thursday , ) at Twelve o'Ciock precisely , to consider tbe Government Plan of Education , contained in the New Factory Bill , Aa it affects tbe liberties and interests of the country at large , and of Dissenters of all denominations , and especially in it » bearing on existing Sunday Schools and Bay Schools ; and to adopt such measures as may appear necessary at this important crisis .
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" As the Second R-adicg of the BUI is fixed for Friday next , there it no time to hi lost " Punctual attendance is requested . " We ate , Sir , ' Yours Respectfa'Iy , Thomas Scales . " James Musgrave . " James Richardson , " Edward Baines , Jan . " Of these four parties , the first is an independent Minister ; the second is a Methodist Alderman ; the third is a Baptist Attorney ; and , the fourth is , every body knows , " Young fteddy" , of the Mercury . We
happen to know that eome time ago , when the Rev . Thomas Scales was requested to affix his signature to a petition on this same subject—Factory Legislation , ( the object of the petition being favourable to the ohildren , ) ho objected to do so , his objections being purely pious ones . lk It was not for him , a Minister of the Gospel , to interfere with politics ! " We were carious to hear what new light had broken in upon Mr . Scales that he should now be the first of the conveners of a meeting on this siuful snbjcoc . For this and other reasons we laid down our pen and went to the ** exhibition " , and truly a
pretty exhibition it was . Brother Noncon . had sounded the key note ; and the choir of holy orators kept admirable time and chord . Indopedency , Baptism , Methodism , Unitarian ism , Quakerism , and almost every other form of Mammonism ohaunted their staves respectively ; and through each octave of the long-drawn fa ) on , " churchism , " " priestcraft , " " tyranny" and " robbery , " was still the burden of the song ! The people were all damned now and everlastingly ! There was no hope for factory workers , if this Bill should pass . England would soon , " poor country , " be
" Afraid to know itself . " All the enlightenment of modern times—all the blaze of science , and the glare of gospel—all , the benefits of intellectual culture and the march of mind—all that makes England proudly to be looked to as the land of learning and of freedom ;—all ; all was to be engulphed ; all trampled under foot , by thia " huge horrid , ill-favoured monster , " the Eduoation of the factory-workers under the provisions of this Bill ! They pray , therefore , most piously , that it may not pass ! and they implore , by their resolutions , that congregational petitions may be forthwith got up by every shepherd of a Dissenting fold , against tin enaction of these provisions for the education of factory workers . True , they profess themselveaio be , in the abstract , favourable to the
education of the poor ; but think the absence of such eduoation to be it finitely better , than its accompaniment 4 . 0 those children , whose parents do not objett to it , by religious instruction from a clergyman ! How very consistent and how very reasonable are these pious gentlemen ! At this very meeting it was a favourite topic of enlargement with the Reverend speakers , that the general ignorance and brutal ised habits of the lower classes of society was lamentable , and was disgraceful to the ministers of the Established Churoh , whose duty it was to instrsct and teach them ; and yet , with the same breath they declare determined hostility to this measure , simply , and for no other reason , than because it provides that those ministers shall instruct and teach as many of them as do not object to it !
We have no doubt that these zealots will appeal to the people in furious harrangues , in the hope of damaging , through a mistaken religious feeling , this really useful measure ;— useful to the poor , and necessary for them , though not , perhaps , the most palatable to the ' pillars of the churches , " who occupy green pews in the chapels . We think it therefore right to lay fairly and simply before them the provisions of this bill in regard to education , that they may be able to estimate the honesty of the appeals made to their prejudices .
We presume that none will controvert the opinion that factory workers ought to bo educated ; that means for acquiring at least' the ordinary branches of elementary eduoation ought tO be afforded them ; and that whatever system or circumstances may leave them destitute of these is bad , and ought to be amended . Such is our opinion . Such , we doubt not , is the opinion of all , save those who may be directly interested in the slavery of factory workers , ( to which ignorance and brutality always conduces ) ; and thoeo who , like the Leeds
oonvonticlcrs , may be indirectly interested therein by being dependant upon their oppressors . Even these will not demur openly ; and wo presume that none but these will demur covertly to the doctrine that educatioa in itself is a good thing , and that every opportunity of extending it to those who are destitute of it , thould be embraced and improved . Tbe experience and observation of the Inspectors appointed under the present Factory Act , has demonstrated that the operative population of factory districts is most lamentably destitute of the means of getting even the commonest rudiments of education . Mr .
Leonard Hornkr , in his last reports , draws the following picture of tbe condition , as to tbe means of education , of the extensive factory districts of Ashton-under-Lyue and Oldham : — " The population of the three adjoining towns of Ashton , Dukinfield , and Stalybridge , included within an area of a mile and a half radius from the most central part of the district , is considered to be not less than 55 , 000 ; and the proportion of the working population that is , those below the rank of shopkeepers , has been estimated at 80 per cent , in Ashton , 90 in Stalybridge , and 94 ia Dukinfield . From this estimate it is evideat , that there must be
several thousand ohildren whoso parents cannot afford to pay more than a very small sum for their education ; and there are probably very many who would find it difficult to pay any fees , however small . How little the moral and religious improvement of this large number of the humbler classes has been hitherto an objeot of solicitude , the following facts will show . " In the borough of Ashton , with a population of 25 , 000 , there is no National School , no School of the British and Foreign School Society , nor any other public day-school for the ohildren of tho working classes . The same is the case in Stalybridge and in Dukianeld , with the slight exceptions I shall now state .
" I mentioned in my April report that a National School had been recently built at Stalybridge ; but I regret to say that it is not yet in operation . Ttie Rev . W * W . Hoaxe , the incumbent of the new Church of St . Paul , with which the nchool is connected , and to whose activity tbe establishment of it i 3 mainly to be ascribed , on the 28 th of September wrote to me as follows : — "' I am very gorry to inform you that we still continue in difficulties , and are not yet opened as a National School . We are still in need of funds to complete tLie school , and require an expenditure of at least £ 150 before we can be fit to commence as we ought . '
h" 1 visited the school last weeek , and saw with regret so excellent a building uutenanted , with the exception of a small number of children taught by a private master , who has been allowed to occupy the unfinished room for the present , when a moderate Bum would make it fit for the reception of 630 scholars . " I also mentioned in my report of the 6 th of April last , that a National School had been begun at Dukinfield ; but , at present , it is no more than this ; that by means of a grant from the National Society , about 100 boys are taught in a hired room : there are no girls in this school .
" A school-room is attached to the Roman Catholio Chapels at Stalybridge and Dukinfield : the former is open as a day-school , whioh is attended by about 100 children ; and as an evening school , at wbich the average attendance is about 200 : at the latter place , there is only an evening Bohool , attended by about 100 children . At Aehton , a room is rented for an evening school for the Catholio population , at which ihe average attendance is about 200 . rt
With these exceptions , how inadequate to the wants of the district I need not say , no other public day school exists ; and thus the eduoation which the ohildren of the working classes receive , must be in a great degree confined to the Sunday-schools , and entirely so in all those cases where the parents cannot afford to pay tbe fcea of private schools , Which ore never , I believe , lower than three-pence a-week for the most elementary branch .
" Unless the case of this neglected district be taken up by the Government , and a large sum be expended in the establishment and support of schools , it must continue to be , what it is at present in this respect , a reproach , to the nation . The working people themselves cannot supply the means ; it cannot be reasonably expected that they will be raised by voluntary subscriptions among those who are above the working classes ; nor could aa adequate sum be assessed ju the district with any
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justice , seeing that the proportion of those ia easy circumstances is so email . " The foreaoing ia from the Factory Inspector ' s Report of October last . In the Report for January of the present ; year he returns to the subject , and says : — { " The adjoining town of Oldham is quite as destitute of day-schools as the Ashton district was represented to be , in my April and October Reports of last year . This town , including , within a circle of a mile and a-half radius from the centre ( whioh comprises all the pooulous portion of the township ) , a population of 45 . 000 , and considered so important
as to have had siuoo 1831 , two representatives m Parliament , 18 at thia moment without , one pubno day-school , for the children of the working classes ; for the Grammar-school aud Bluecoatschool cannot be considered practically as available to the labouring population ; the former has an endowment of £ 30 a-year , is a building of one story , eighteen yardsjby six , without any play-grouud , and teaching seventy scholars , principally the sons of the shopkeepers ' ; the latter is aa endowed echool for boarding , educating , & . c , boys from the parishes of
Oldham , Manchester , Ecoks , Ashton , Middleton , Rochdale and Saddleworth , and there are at present 100 scholars , j There is also an infant school connected with the St . Peter ' s district Church , attended usually by about 100 . But these three are the only public schools within the township : hitherto there has been neither a National School , nor a school of the British and Foreign School Society ; but a National School , to which tho Eduoation Committee of the | Privy Council have made a grant of £ 700 , and the National Society one of £ 300 , ia connexion with th | e parish church , is now building ,
" Taking the population of the Ashton district , within a circle of a mile and a half radius from the centre of Abhton district , at 55 , 000 , together with the above population of Oldham , aud allowing 5000 for the population of the space between the two districts , we have an area cf about eight miles by four , containing a population of 105 , 000 , of which , aceordin « to the most ; correct estimate 1 have been-able to obtain , at least 90 , 000 earn their subsistence by weekly wages , and in which , at the date of my last Quarterly Report , there did not exist one public day-school for ! the children of the humbler ranks ; and in whioh there is not , at this moment , one medical charity , for in this respect Oldham is as
destitute aa Ashton . There may be equally deplorable cases in other parts of Great Britain , —I hope there are not ; but in so far as schools are concerned , as education has jbeen so much an object of attention for a long period in Ireland , it is uat probable such a one could be found in that country : and I question very much whether , in any part of the civilized world , out of Great Britain , a parallel case could be met with to that which I have now described . I cannot help wishing that while vast sums hare been of late years sent out of the country to convert the heathen in distant lands , more consideration had been given to tbe conversion of the heathen in this portion of our own land . '
" It is hopeless to expect that funds can be raised in the district itself , to establish and maintain an adequate number of efficient schools for this population , among iwhom the number of persons in easy circumstances ( is compa . rsaively so small . Uul « 3 s extraneous aid be afforded , it will remain in its present state of barbarism . " To meet this proven and palpable want of the necessary means of Eduoation , the Bill provides that there shall be schools in every factory district ; that to theBO schools shall be efficient masters tfnd
mistresses , property qualified to instruct the children ; that they shall be properly provided with books and other necessary apparatus of learning ; and that to secure this , the schools shall be severally managed by a committee of seven persons , to consist of one clergyman , two churchwardens , and four other parties nominated by the Magistrates—two of them being , if practicable , factory masters . In these schools the I children are to learn reading , writing , sewing , knitting , and such other branches of i elementary instruction as may
be suitable to their age and circumstances They are all to learn to read tho' Holy Scriptures ; and the school is to be opened and closed by prayer ; the Lord ' a Prayer being used for that purpose ; that and eome select text of Holy Scripture being the [ only words used . The children are to attend these schools three hours every day ; and out of these three hours the clergyman may , if he choose , devote j any period not exceeding one hour to the religious instruction in the Cateohism and Liturgy of the Churoh , of all those children , whose parents do not object to it . But it is expressly provided— ¦
' That if the parent of any scholar shall notify to the Master or Trustees that ho desires that such scholar on the ground of religious objection , may not be present at the periods when auch Catechism or portions of the Liturgy are taught as aforesaid , it 6 hall not be lawful for any person to compel such child to be present ; and it shall nob be lawful for the Trustess or Master of the said school , or any other persen , to give or permit to be given in the said school any religious instruction to each scholar , except the reading of tbe Holy Scriptures as hereinbefore appointed ; and such child shall at such periods be ins'ructed in seme other branch of knowledge taught inkhe school . "
It is also provided— 44 That the Master shall cause the scholars of every such school to attend under his care the Divine Service of the Church of England as by law established , at least onoe on every Sunday , in the Church Or Chapel of the Parish , or Ecclesiastical District wherein such school is situated , except any scholar in respect of whom the Master is satisfied that he will attend such worship in that or some other Church or Chapel , or that he is prevented from attending by any reasonable impediment , or in respect of whom his parent shall notify to the Master that , on the ground of religious objection , he desires such scholar not to attend the worship of the Church of England . "
The 72 ad , 73 rd , and 74 th clauses provide that wherever there : may be within two miles of any factory a National School , or a school of the British and Foreign School Society , efficiently conducted ; or wherever a factory-master may choose to have a school of his own , efficiently conducted , the children may not attend ; the appointed factory school at all ; a certificate of attendance at one of these schools being deemed quite sufficient ; and every Roman Catholio child may attend the Roman Catholic school , —the certificate of the Catholic schoolmaster being quite enough . So that the sum of the whole is just this : the Bill provides that there shall be
schools which the children shall attend , and in which they shall be properly instructed . That if a factory-master choose to have a school of his own , it shall be a school , and not a mockery ; that he shall not assemble the children ia the firehole , with the firer-up for the schoolmaster and old scraps of newspapers for books ; and call that educating tkem ; that as many parents as shall choose to have their children instructed in the cateohism and liturgy of the Churoh of England , may have them so instraoted ; that those who ( object to this iuve nothing to do but say so , and it will not then be forced on them : their ohildren will then receive no religious
instruction save the mere reading of tbe Bible , and * the repeating of the Lord ' s prayer ; and the time which others spend in learning the oateohism and liturgy , will be spent by them in reading or writing , or some ether useful occupation of the school . Those parents ) who choose for their ohildren to attend Churoh may have them taken there ; those who do not may take them to chapel , or where else they please . Now , this is really the whole sum and substance of the education clauses of this bill , about whioh tbe milllords , and their co-mates , the Dissenting Parson 9 , are making such a hubbub ! We leave the people to exercise their own common sense as to whether
this be the real or ostensible ground of objection to the Bill ; we believe the latter . We believe the real grievance with these parties to be , that the bill provides for the farther shortening of the children ' s hours ] of labour ; that it makes it imperative upon their masters to see to their being educated ; and that ic provides more effectually than the present lawjfbr the punishment of those who violate or tamper with its provisions ; and we trust to the good sense of the people to keep them from rendering any help to the opposition whioh we believe to be thoroughly hypocritical . We are the more strengthened in this belief , from the fact , that while the brawlers affect to desire universal eduoation , they ! raise a clamorous outcry , not for the modification , but the absolute withdrawal , of this | legal p rovisioto for a ease whioh
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— —¦—^ = s they dare not contend not t 6 have been satisfactoril y made out as one of paramount necessity . They do not ask that the influence of the clergy should ba withdrawn from these schools , and that they should be placed upon the footing of the Irish National Schools ;—they do not ask that tho constitntioa of the trusteeship may be altered so as to give tha ratepayers a control over the schools;— -thia might have borne something like sincerity opon the f ace of it . But they ask that the whole thing may be
withdrawn , and the matter of eduoation remain in the disgraceful state in which it now exists , aa shown in Ashton-under-Lyne and Oldhao and ia the newspaper school- books of the Pudsey raiHowners ! Let it be remembered that the question with these pious gentlemen is not between the Government scheme of education and a better * but between that and none : and that they prefer none at all ! So much for pious dissentin g liberalism ! -
The Short Time Committees , at the instance of Lord Ashley , are getting up petitions prajing fox a clause to be introduced into the Bill limiting the labour of all factory workers between thirteea and twenty-one years of age , to ten hours per day for five days in the week , and eight hours on Saturdays . This is a rational proposal ; a step in the right direction ; and the following paragraphs from the petition furnish , for it irrefragable argu . ments : —
" That your petitioners beg most respectfully to remind your honourable House that the most eminent medical practitioners in the kingdom have declared , that twelve hours of actual labonr per day is more than can be endured , withont serious injury to the most healthy aad robust adult , and that ten hours of actual labour per day , is aa much as can be performed , with impunity , by young persons under twenty-one yean of age .
" That your Honourable House must be aware that young females above the age of thirteen years are now subjected to twelve hours of actual labour per day , to which including proper time for meals , and going to and from their work , will engross fifteen hours out of the twenty-four , which must deprive them of all opportunity of acquiring that domestic knowledge which is bo absolutely necessary for young females to possess , before they bocome wives , and mothers of families .
" That your Petitioners are further of opinion , that no necessity whatever exists for such long hoars of labour in factories , aud that the continuance thereof ( while they seriously injure those young personey will be unattended by atiy bene&t to their enj . plovers , or to our commercial interests generally ; but , on the contrary , a limitation of labour to tea hours per day would have the salutary and beneficial effect of equally distributing labour to the artisan , and of adding stability to our manufacturing interests . "
We are amazed , however , that the Short Time Committees , should overlook the really most objectionable part of the whole Bill ; the part so objectionable as even to have elicited the praise of" Neddy . " We mean , of course , the proposal to admit children into those moral pest-houses , the faotories , at eight years of age . This alone will do much to obviate the good which might result from other portions of the Bill . We do think that some effort should be made to prevent this retrograde movement from nine years ofage to eight . With this alteration , we should be very wary of counselling opposition to the Bill . Many of its
clauses are very good . The educational provision is not , certainly , all that might have been desired ; but it is at least a step towards it . It is at all events infinitely preferable to none at all—infinitely preferable to the newspaper scraps of the forty gentlemen at Pudsey . We cannot , therefore , join in the opposition set up by the sleek-faced conventiclers , and demand the simple negation of these clauses . We doubt not that if the people let them , the clergy of the Establishment will turn this educational provision to their own purposes . But they may be prevented . Tbe Bill itself provides sufficient means for the prevention ; and , as it is the people ' s business , we think the people may be safely left to see to it . Barring this—the eight years of age
olaHse—without by any meanp according our entire approbation to this Bill , we do feel inclined to regard it , even in its present shape , aa one of those useful palliatives by which a superficial evil of great magnitude , and most painful character may be , to some extent , alleviated . While we still point tbe people to the only true remedy—the extinction of class legislation —out of which this foal evil first grew , and by which it is sustained ! It would be still more efficient for its purpose if the rate-payers had the appointment of the trustees ; and if the conventiclers are sincere ia the line of opposition they have taken t they will tura their attention forthwith to that point , inhtead of continuing to oppose the measure as a whole .
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COOPER'S AND WEST'S TRIALS . ; Elsewhere we give a full report of the trial of John West . Our readers will peruse it with interest . They will see that Baron Aldbbson , like Baron Rolfb , took a very different view of the matter from the petty Dogberry ' s of the Magisterial bench . The Lord save us from the wisdom (!) and clemency of the Great Unpaid ! We had purposed writing something on the matter of West ' s trial but are spared the trouble by the following from him * self :-li TO THE EDITOR OF THB NORTHERN STAR .
" Sib , —Tee Daiby trials bave terminated , and Chartism haa received another triumph . The Factions fondly imagined that the sttong arm of the Law would be laid heavily on our devoted heada , and that through its leaders ' a heavy blow and great discouragement ' would be given to our glorious cause . The reversa , however , has been the case , Baron Aldersoa declaring from the « judgment seat' that the Charter was a perfectly legal document , aud that the people were justified in seeking its enactment by peaceable and constitutional means . Many of tbe magistracy , the ' Village K : aga , ' aye , and Tyrants too , were taught useful lesson * as to how they should exercise their power in
attempting to suppress public meetings and the discussion of the people ' s grievances . Chartism must now rise triumphant , but there must be no more mistakes —no more strikes — no more risings . No , No ! We have bad enough of them , too much praise cannot be given to Biron Alderson ; he was the upright , though stern judge . In my case , in bis summing op to tbe Jury , he acted with the greatest impartiality ; and when the verdict of acquitt . il was prononnced , he said—• Gentlemen , I perfectly agree with yoar verdict , ' and I am informed , on good authority , that In private he has
given it as hia opinion , that a more unjust or paltry charge was never hrought into a court of justice . Throughout the whole triul he treated me with this greatest courtesy . The obligations of the Chartist body to Mr . Roberts is greatly increased for hia laborious and untiring exertions on behalf of the Glossep prisoners ; any advice that be could give , even to those who were not Cbartiata , was cheerfully given ; in fact no labour seemed too great for him . I thus publicly thank him for bis assistance to me . " Yours , respectfully , "John West . "
We have not yst seen the result of the trial of Cooper . The evidence of the first day against him is of a very paltry character . This ( Thursday ' s ) evening ' s post has brought us the second day ' s proceedings ; which are alike unimportant . The trial seems likely to last several days ; and we shall probably be able to give * digest of the whole in our next . Mr . Coor-ss was cross-examining each witness at great length . Up the end of the second day the testimony of only elgjai witnesses had bees taken .
The K0e.Theen Star. Saturday, March 2», 1843.
THE K 0 E . THEEN STAR . SATURDAY , MARCH 2 » , 1843 .
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MR . O'CONNOR AND THE RECENT TRIALS . We are happy to be able to point attention to ihe Advertisement of Mr . O'Connor , announcing the first number of the State Trials for Monday next . Each number will be given as formerly advertised , and we therefore have less reason to regret the omission of the speeches of many of the defendants in the Star * aa they will be presented verbatim , thai every word spoken for the whole eight days willbe faithfully recorded . This valuable work will be completed in about four numbers , whioh , with a beau tiful portrait of the % i Just Judge" will constitute a beautiful volume , and commemorate the triumph Of right over might . Upon consulting the several agents , Mr . O ' Connor has discovered tho necessity of having each number bound in a wrapper , the additional expence of whioh will be one penny , making the price 7 d .
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a THE NORTHERN STAR .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), March 25, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1205/page/4/
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