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—if happily the generosity of the canaille will be so long-sufiei-ing with them as to permit it , —rone thing only , — speedy vanishing ! disappearance behind the sunny Tuscan horizon hills , into that black Austrian north from -which they came ;—disappearance , so that their place shall know them no more , and a rapidly rising growth of civilisation and progress may shortly obliterate all trace of them , even as kindly nature ' s green mantle of herbage springs quickly to hide the scars with -which man ' violences mark the earth ! " .
Our readers have now a sufficient notion of the book before us ; what it means ; in what interest it is written ; and what objects it is likely to assist . It may be taken itself as an earnest of the liberation of the Italian Peninsula . " ICurope will never attempt to i-e-impose the late Austrian dynasty by force on Tuscany . " Such is the author ' s concluding thought ; that thought events are swiftly converting into a certain fact . A little while , and Italy is free .
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THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SAMUEL CJROMPTON , Inventor of the Spinning Machine called the Mule . By Gilbert J . French . —Simpkin , Marshall , and Co . These memoirs formed the substance of two papers read to the members of the Bolton Mechanics ' Institution , of which Mr . French is the President . II e seems to have chosen this theme because of its practical lesson . It presented a subject of serious reflection to working men : — " Holding up much for their encouragement , there is also in it much of warning , as it demonstrates that natural ability of the highest order , even when
supported , by education , industry , sobriety , and frugality , does not exonerate any man from the duty of acquiring a knowledge of his fellow-men , and of learning how to deal with them in thebusiness of life . His practical disregard of this knowledge was the stumbling-block that impeded every action of Samuel Crompton ' s life . Had he studied human nature with one tithe of the persevering skill and energy : with which he devoted himself to his mechanical pursuits , his name would have ranked now among the highest in the nation , and his posterity among the wealthiest of its commercial aristocracy . " ¦
It was in 1774 that Orompton commenced the experiments which . " eventuated " in the invention of the " Mule . " He constructed the machine of wood , with the aid of a scanty supply of tools . But . he was known to frequent a small wayside smithy , and was there " used to- file his bits of things . " Riots against machinery occurred about this time , both before and after . The approaching changes in trade and manufacture alarmed the middle and even upper classes as well as the lower . Orompton took his yet unacknowledged machine to pieces , and concealed the various parts in a garret ; and after a few weeks put them togethei * again . " But in the course of the same year the Hall-i ' - th ' -Wood wheel was completed , and the yarn spun upon it used for the manufacture of muslins of an extremely fine and delicate texture .
•• It must have been about this time that Samuel became possessed of that object of honourable ambition to all young working men , a silver watch , the fruit of his own labour . Jt is said that the earliest earnings obtained from the new wheel were devoted to this purpose . * The watch was made expressly for him by George Hodson of Bolton at an expense of five guineas . Crompton paid many visits to the maker ' s shop while it was in progress , and watched the work with great interest and some impatience ; it was lu " s constant companion during the fifty years of his after life . ? ' Though ho encountered and -overcome many
serious difficulties during the five eventful years we have spoken of , yet in the latter half of them ho onjoyed a full measure of human happiness , for during that period ho met vritli , courted , and married his amiable and excellent wife Mary Pnnlott . She was the daughter of a Mr . Pimlott who resided at Now Hoys JIall , f near Warrington . This gentleman had been a West India merchant in partnership with his cousin , one of the Mathers of Katcliff Bridge . They possessed two ships , in which Mr . Pimlott exported oatmeal , sending it to his partner who resided abroad . Of the nature of the returns ho rocoivod , nothing is known except one item only (" and that probably an unprofitable one ) , a monkey , which was
long retained and became a favourite in the family . During the time that Mr . 'Pimlott rented New Heys Hall that property was litigated , and , unfortunately for him , he supported the unsuccessful claimant by advancing money and pledging his credit to assist him in the lawsuit . As a natural consequence of this imprudence Mr . Pimlott was ruined and died broken-hearted . This probably caused his daughter to reside with friends at Turton , w h ere ample and profitable employment could be obtained by spinning on Hargreaves'j enny . In this art . she was particularly expert— a circumstance which is said to have first attracted young Crompton ' s attention towards her . She was a'very handsome dark-haired woman , of middle size and erect carriage , though of
somewhat delicate constitution , and was possessed of great power in the perception of individual character—rso much so indeed as to be almost gifted with an additional sense , " something like Scotch second sight , by which she could tell a rogue in an instant , and warn her family to have nothing to do with him ' . ' * They were married at the parish church of Bolton on the 16 th of February , 1780 , by the . Sev . James Folds , the witnesses being John Orrell , a name still common in the neighbourhood , and James IAvsey . f The officiating clergyman , best known as Parson Folds , was a popular and somewhat eccentric character in Bolton during a great part of Mr . Crompton ' s career ; and their families became ultimately connected by the wnarriage of Mr . Crompton ' s son James to a relative of Mr . Folds .
" Samuel Crompton took his wife home to the Hall-r ' -th ' -Wood , but not to reside with his mother . The young couple set up their humble establishment in a cottage attached to the old Hall , though he continued to occupy one or more of the large rooms in the mansion ; and in one of these he now operated upon the mule with the utmost secrecy , and with a success which startled the manufacturing world by the production of yarn which , both in fineness and firmness , had hitherto been unattainable by any means or at any price . The new wheels were thus triumphantly successful , and promised their inventor an ample fortune . Possessed of them and their secret ; blessed with a wife whoin he ardently loved ; with youth , health , and a spirit full of high and well-based hope ; his prospects in life were at this time singularly brilliant and promising . "
He spun his yarn for some time in secret , and got fabulous prices per pound for it , and lived daily expecting a fortune : — " To a man of his industrious habits , with a modest and retiring disposition , quite unaccustomed to any expensive enjoyments , and having no higher ambition than to spin the very best yarn in the trade through a quiet life of comfort and content , there appeared at first sight no possible cause to prevent the full realisation of his moderate wishes ; but , paradoxical as it may appear , it is simply the truth that the wonderful perfection of his principle of spimiing was mainly instrumental in depriving him of that harvest which he had so laboriously tilled
and sown and watered . The demand for the new yam was so extensive and so urgent that the supply from the Hall-i ' -tn ' -Wood could not satisfy one hundreth part of it , and daily and hourly that demand increased . The consequence was that the old Hall was besieged by manufacturers and others from the surrounding districts—many of whom came to purchase yarn , but many more prepared to penetrate the mystery of the wonderful now wheel and to discover the principle of its operations by any means in their power . All kinds of stratngoms wero practised to obtain admission to tho . house ;
and when this was denied many climbed up to the windows outside by tho aid of harrows and ladders to look in at the machine . Crompton erected a screen to protect himself from this kind of observation , but even that did not at' all times serve the intended purpose . Qno inquisitive advonturor is said to have ensconced himself for some days in the cockloft , whore ho watched Samuel at work through a gimlot holo pierced through the coiling . Ho was in this way subjected to all kinds of importlnont intrusion and annoyance , so that ho was unable to prosecute Ills labour with comfort , and advantage . "
Ar-kwright contrived to pay a surreptitious visit to Crompton ' s , place , and get sight of the machine . The latter soon saw the impossibility of retaining his secret . He had no patent , nor the moans of one . He therefore gave it to the public ; but not unconditionally . His agreement with tho contractors , however , was so loose that he only gained fifty pounds by it . In his own words , ho "
received as much by way of . subscription . as built him a new machine with only four , spindles more than . he had given up—the old one having fortyeight , the new one fifty-two spindles . " Many of the subscribers refused to pay their guinea . They treated him shamefully . Such treatment operated ill on his personal character , and produced in him distrust of' even his best friends . For souie time however , notwithstanding the competition he had now to encounter , his yarn continued to command high prices , and was of greater excellence than his neighbours ' . The first Sir Robert Peel came to inspect his process , and there is reason to believe would have proposed a partnership , but for Crompton ' s indomitable spirit of independence . The following is painful : — . ^
" It may well be supposed that about this time , when every person who possessed a mule worked upon it most profitably , that Crompton its inventor , the oldest and most experienced spinner ' upon the machine , would have succeeded at least as well if not much better than any of his neighbours . But once again his celebrity thwarted his reasonable hopes . He spun indeed the best and finest yarn in the rnarketjand continued to obtain the highest price for it , but his production was restricted to the work of his own unassisted hands ( an increasing family having deprived him of the aid of his wife ) ; for , whenever he commenced to teacli any ne \ v hands to assist . him in his work , no matter how strictly they
were bound to serve him by honoiir , by gratitude , or by law , so soon as they acquired a little : knowledge and experience under liis tuition , they Arcre invariably seduced from his service by his wealthy competitors , —the very same men , in man } - instances , who had previously so unfairly possessed themselves of the secret of his invention . He has thus recorded the facts of this additional injustice : "I pushed on , intending to have a good share in the spinning line , yet I found there was an evil which I had not foreseen , and of much greater magnitude than giving up the machine—viz ., that I must always be teaching green hands , employ none , or ' quit the country ; it being believed that if I taught them they knew their
business well . So that for years I had no choice left but to give up spinning , or quit my native land . I cut up my spinning machines for ' other purposes . " * On one occasion when much incensed by a repetition of this injustice , he seized his axe and broke his carding machine in pieces , remarking " They shall not have this too , "f This treatment he felt as a cruel aggravation of previous ill-usage , and it tended to increase the feeling of misanthropy which was already rankling in his mind . It thus appears that this meritorious but unfortunate man—in utter despair of advancing his own position in life by the aid of his transcendent invention , which while bringing fortunes to hundreds , bread to thousands , and increased left him and
comfort to millions round about him , his family nevertheiesss in comparative povertywas compelled to renounce tho use of his mules , and to betake himself to his original occupation of weaving , or at least to spin only such yarn as he could employ in his own looms as a small manufacturer . This bitter necessity must have been doubly painful to him , as it occurred about tho same time that David Dale of Lanark iirst employed water power to turn the mule frames , thus greatly increasing their importance and value , j and also by tho fact that Sir . Richard Arkwyight , who died soon alter , left enormous wealth in laud , money , mills , nml machinery to his two children . " $
Mr . French thus contrasts tho characters of Crompton and Arkwright : — " Crompton ' s start in life was mado fVoni a much more favourable position than Arkwriy ht ' a . A carefully-nurtured only son , his oarly education was excellent , and during , his long lift ho persevered in acquiring knowledge . By contfnuucl solt ' -oilui'iiuon , based upon his excellent school tuition under ¦ iitivlow , he had made himself conversant with algebra and trigonometry . Ho was a good mathematician , and so export in arithmetical calculations « s t 0 bo frequently consultod-in disputos on such matters . Ho was an accomplished musician , unil with n . llic " knowledge of tho soionco and groat practical slciirm playing on various instruments . Handel and Coreiu wore his favourite composers ; and his mus cat friends so woll know his power as a tiniiBt tlmt t » ° y choso him leader of thoir concerts and practiee-
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1038 THE LEADER . . ' [^ o- 494 . Sept . 10 , 1859 _____ - , , . . ill m- ^————^— —— . ^——— _________^___ . —————¦™^ M ^ mE « = » cPei «^ M »^»* lgBt "" ' — Baa ^ ' . ' ¦ ' ¦ ¦ *—• " - '* ¦¦ * ^ . u- '—Jt-ja ^ J 3 juc = r * . . ' ~ &zsz 2 sb 3 = _ b- ——
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Thle watch ) e preserved no a prcoioup rolio of lite ancoetpr by Snmuof O ' romptpn , K » q ., of , Cavendlsh-placo , Manchester , grandson and lmmcuon of tho lnvontor of tho Mule . Mr . Oronipton kindly permitted it to ho exhibited to tlio nudlonco on tlio occasion of tho flrst portion of this "logrnpliv uojng mud to tho mechanics of Jlioltou . ¦ kI 3 N « tiv Xlqya Hull is situated about midway botwoon W ® wton-lo-Willows « nd tho villng-o of Winwiok . Tho nnino © f rimlolt is « tlU to b « mot within thftt locality .
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* From tho rooollootion of hor oldest sou , tho Into Mr . Goomo Crompton . t At tho present tlmo tho most opulent and influential inhabitants of Uolton aro aplnnera i but'whon Orompton was marriod , weaving was ooiiHldurod an oooupiitlou of hlRhor social position t consequently , though tho now whool wan then completed , ho wlgued his name In tlio church books us a " weaver . ''
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* Extract from a lottor written by Samuel ( . ronir > on . t Sir . Crompton ' s son . JhmeH wan prenent u < 'I in hi * and h « H froauontly montionod this •'' "'miinHiiuioo to i »» widow , and to hie son , by whom tlio informal loiiiflc ° m muhloatod . Orompton had a favourite munll iixo , ; ""'" i ho uaod in constructing tho Drat mulo , mid proOiiblj nisp for tho destruction of tfio second . This » "Hi ft ' tho eorvod , and treasured jut a rello by a family m J" » J neighbourhood , who know and oHtecunwl '""'• ,-., „«• tho ojchil ) it « d to tho moohiuilcB of JJolton on the ot " " , ? il ? inuol author ' s eocond lcoturo on tho " JUft ) and TlinuH ot Samuei Crompton . " , , r A .. ^ nBt 1 Sir Itiohard Arkwriffht dlod on tlio Ord of Augum , 1708 , in his 00 th year . . .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 10, 1859, page 1038, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2311/page/18/
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