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^« TM&E LISABHE. [No. 3%&, 8ATVjn>&Y,
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COMMISSIONER GOtTLBUKtt AND HIS MARTYB. ...
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Transcript
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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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How To Kill Young Girls. Mr. John Lii.Av...
fcer apprentices to \ wwk > after nine o ' clock at nirfkt ; They began * indeed , at seven—sometiiae » at sisr—iiL the- Haoming , and were barely allowed time for the meals winch milliners most have not less than the well-fed Graces of Botten-rdw . Eyen thisy to the young girl , seamed a . hardlife , andBheexchanged it for that of a * governess , in a school at Edmonton , and remained there seven weeks , teaching- and disciplining the pupils , until the " establishment , " unhappily , was broken up . Nothing now remained but to seek , another Madame , as an . employer , and , accordingly , in April of the present year , she . engaged herself for 10 Z . to work for the season- —that is , until the end
of August . Hke first week I was there we began to work at eight in the morning , and worked till between eleven and twelve o ' clock at night . There was do fixed time far meals ; we had to take them as fast as we could , and return to the workroom directly we had finished ; . ZMe second week there was a Drawing-room . We worfeed on Tuesday till twelve o ' clock , and on Wednesday we continued at it till between three and four o ' clock on tie following morning . We then went to bed , but iad" to begin work again at eight o ' clock , and continued at ft till twelve . The following day ( Friday ) we worked from eight till between eleven' and twelve o ' clock at night . We always breakfasted before we began workthat is , before eight o ' clock .
The third toeek we worked sometimes till one o ' clock in Hie morning ; sometimes only till twelve o ' clock at night . This continued until the [ Friday of the fourth , week . Then , having commenced work after breakfast , at eight , the " young ladies " worked on , far into the night , far into the following morning . During the day their meals had been hurried . At midnight , a
cup of coffee was brought to each , with " something improper" not mandragora , but str wakeful drug , stirred into it to prevent the poor girls from helplessly closing- their eyes . Consequently , when at five o ? ciock they were allowed ti & go- to fclieiar bedrooms , i * was- im > posftibfof td 5 sleep . " This was invariably the case after" haviag coffee at midnight ; whereas the coffee which was given on those nights when- we could retire to bed at eleven or
twelve o ' clock never produced the same effect /* It would make a fine picture—the Madame who decorates ladies , drugging with deleterious stimulants the coffee of the young girls who enabl © her to live in mimicry of fashioiij near the squares . 0 n tha * particular morning none of the girls could sleep . Some walked about their rooms ; other * wrote letters' —perhaps dreamed wakefully of an ideal' world ; ' some looked over ilh © contents df their boxes j others irritated themselves by attempting to rest . 3 ? ive of them slept in one room—very close , and not very clean . The narrator could touch the ceiling" with her hand .
We were so crowded , moreover , that we could not all move about and' dress- at one time ; aad what made it still worae , it adjoined another room in . which two others slept . These young , persons were so cramped for space thf ^ t they literally could scarcely move . They were Obliged to have the dbor kept opon that led into our room , or tliey must have been stifled , as thoro was no other way ; of their getting air > wo were thus as it were seven penttons sleeping in one apartment . In their little room thoro was no flroplaoe ; in ours there yrae , but tbero was a chest of drawers against it , for which thoro was no space in any other part of the room . What followed ? They began work next morning , at eight ,, and continued until twelve at night .
Daring the' afternoon and evening , I had to leave tho Workroom several times to try and got relief by drinking , and byiMrthmgrrtyratte and forehead with cold water . Wo also b * d uameUbig-bottle on tho table , or we never could heve ke » fc awak * . Aftfir retiring- to my bedroom , I warn in such a feverish state as to bo obliged to apply wot linen to my head . On tlie' Sunday morning , when I awoke , my tongue was so swollen that I couW not « p » ak ( .. My eym r also ; wero oo ^ bad tt « rt 1 could not see ; i '¦ id l \ tn » obliged to b « helped out of ltecL I afterwards " ^ " fip d * with great difficulty ,, to get to my uncle ' s , tho "Wtance not being far , or I could not have walked . Ho desired mo to leave my altbratitfn at once , and would not allbw tme to go back to stay . I returned , however , in tHd
afternoon , and told , Madame - of my determination to leave her . She said it was disgraceful on my part to do so , as I bad engaged for the season . The health of this young : girl has been irreparably injured by the slavery of the dressinakxag business ; and her case is only one among numbers which have been well authenticated . A young girl from Calais , she tells us , entered the same establishment with a robust constitution , remained six months , toiling all
day , and kept awake at night by that impure coffee , became seriously ill , entered the nospital , and died in three weeks . The names of several others who have worn out their lives in the workrooms of the fashionable dressmaker may be seen in the graveyard at Calais . Mr . Li : lwa : l : l' s comment which follows , deserves attention on account of his minute knowledge of the classes which prosper and the classes which , perish , under the influence of this social slavery : —
It is but right to add , that my experience has taught me that a very large proportion of this class comprizes persons of nearly equal refinement and respectability , very many of them being the daughters of clergymen , noncommissioned officers , decayed merchants , and suchlike , and who therefore feel so much the more keenly the brutal treatment to which they are subjected . Lest the circumstance that the case here cited occurred in an establishment conducted by French persons should convey a wrong impression , justice requires I should state my belief that , upon the whole , greater kindness , or , more correctly speaking , less inhumanity , is practised in the French houses in London than in those kept by English -women .
"We know that the case is not overstated ; and we have only to say further , that while City and Government clerks , and tradesrnens ' assistants , are beginning to enjoy the advantages , inestimable as we think them , of early hours and half-holidays , some attempt should be made for the relief of dressmakers and milliners . " We even think , though this may be incendiarism , that it is not worth while to kill four or five young girls every season , that a Drawing-room may be as bright as a bed of flowers . Our ladies are like tlie lilies , " they
toil not , neither do . they spin ; but somebody spins and toils for them . " While they are going home in the cold light of the morning from the French . Embassy , Madame is drugging her assistants to keep an unnatural activity ; for must not the youthful Countess be dressed like a Peri , " in gleam of satin and glimmer of pearl , " for to-morrow ' s festivity ? Meanwhile , the workgirl wastes away and dies .
^« Tm&E Lisabhe. [No. 3%&, 8atvjn>&Y,
^« TM & E LISABHE . [ No . 3 % & , 8 ATVjn >& Y ,
Commissioner Gottlbuktt And His Martyb. ...
COMMISSIONER GOtTLBUKtt AND HIS MARTYB . Mb . Commissioner G-ottlbttrn has promoted a person , who had probably no claim to the position , to be a martyr . The declaration made on tho subject of religious belief and consequent disabilities in this country by the Commissioner , is conspicuous equally for its outrageously tyrannical and bigoted character , and for its ludicrous impolicy as applied to the administration of the Commissioner ' s Court . The case immediately before the Judge ) was that of a Mr . BuiraETT , a tailor at Camberwell , who had been made a bankrupt by Mr . WaliiEb , a local creditor . This Mr . Waiieb found the bankrupt ' s shop occupied by a person of the name of Cbeed , who affocted to be in possession ; but as Mr . Walibr had seen both Bektnett and Cbeed
sitting at work on the same board , he suspected connivance , and endeavoured to drng the whole subject of thia connivance into court . Accordingly Ciieed was brought there ; but a-difficulty presented itself . Although Cubed by name , he possesses no creed by nature or conviction ' . He declined 'to take tho usual oath " , or sign tho usual examination-paper , " for he is not a Christian ; " and , what is worse for oath-taking purposes , ho had " no religious o pinions whatever "—ho was " an . Atheist . " How can
you make a man responsible for his duties in trade if he is actually destitute of religious opinions P This waa the difficulty into -which ' the Court was thrown , and we admit it . There would indeed be no difficulty whatever , if the Legislature had not made the responsibility of a tradesman rest upon , his sense of religious responsibility ! It has been assumed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords , that a man cannot feel bound to tell the truth unless he believes certain facts . The two Houses make this
assumption in the teeth of experience ; for nobody believes that Gibbon would have told lies or given false evidence in Court , —he would have seen far too distinctly the social forfeiture and the penal consequences at law The Legislature , however , has done all it can to disqualify Judges for dealing with reluctant witnesses , so long as those witnesses ar © exempt from the sense of religious liabilities- ; and here was a man shuffling off his responsibilities towards the laws respecting the tenure of a household property , on the pretext that he was " an Atheist . "
It was of course the business of the Commissioner to show that however Mr . Creed might settle accounts with his Maker , he would be called upon to make a distinct reckoning with the landlord , or the creditors , or the Court of Bankruptcy , as the case might "be . Mr . Commissioner GJ-OTriiBxritir , however , prefers to mix up the two questions —" This impious bravado will not avail you . By impious bravado I mean an attempt to make that prominent which every other man
would vrish to conceal . Unless you sign the customary examination-paper , or if you refuse to make a declaration , I shall commit you to prison . " Now , it is evident that Ckeed did not want to sign , for obvious reasons . It is possible that he may have a conscientious objection , on the grounds that his signing would constitute a falsehood ; but the Commissioner was dull enough to tell the mam that unless he virtually told a falsehood under his sign manual , he should be
subjected to punishment . Ckeed would have committed a punishable offence in refusing to give evidence ; but he had not the opportunity of giving truthful evidence , until he had consented to tell a lie in writing . What is more , the Commissioner treated the refusal to tell a lie as the greater offence which included the lesser of refusing to tell the truth . " There will , " said the Commissioner , " be an adjournment to Monday . In the mean time an order of commitment must
be drawn up with great care , the commitment being under a highly penal statute . I . liavo no idea of favour being shown to a man who ostentatiously proclaims himself an Atheist . " Our idea of an English Judge is that he should show no " favour" to any man , Atheist , Deist , Papist , or Calvinist . If Mr . Cbeed is an Atheist , why should he say that he is anything else ? Commissioner C ^ ouebubn tells him that he " ostontatiously proclaims what every other man would
wish to conceal . " But why should ho wish to conceal it ? The Judge of the Bankruptcy Court treats the statement of a ttlain mutter Hm fact , which is extremely pertinent to tho business in hand , as if it were am indecency for a man to expose Mb opinions ! This is worse thnn ludicrous ; for it implies that a man ' s religious belief not only constitutes a
disability unrecognized by the law , but subjects him to something which is the reverse of favour when ho is before an English Judge . His Honour , . who refuses " favour" to an Atheist , implies that he would not havo refused flavour to a man who is the reVerae ol an Atheist . Perhaps Mr . GoTmBURN ' acolo of favour corresponds with the dogneo oi dogmatic Aithcism in the witness before him .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 5, 1856, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05071856/page/14/
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