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    THE ELEVATION OF THE LABOURER.

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    GLACIERS IN WINTER.

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    and o-ireatei' rogues . Fcxusa in his Church History tells us how theseYrauds had multiplied . When people came to pray to relics relics were made ; several dozens of ribs of St . Laubence , bushels of the teeth ot ' St . ' Bridget , ten or twenty legs of the Baptist , and other relics were found . On the Continent at the present day there are more than six eyes of John the Baptist , each . . which is supposed to be genuine , and there is certainly enough wood of the true cross , although in small shavings , to build a brig of war with . Pious -Itomanfsts hate and detest this species of humbug just as much as we do , and deplore it more bitterly . O'Connell once said that the man who did most injury to religion was a pious fool . He was very nearly right ; there is yet one who does more , and he is a rogue who pretends to be pious , —a humbug , who deceives others merely for his own good ; and , as we have beea told in Ltjtheb ' s own words and in those of contemporary historians , it was the " humbugs , " the religious " humbugs " of the day which produced d the exhibition of

    the Reformation . The sale of indulgences an relics filled the priests' purses at first , but when discovered the people rose against them and threw off their yoke . And we ought to remember that what was true of yesterday is true of to-day , and will be true to-morrow . The truth never varies , —the humbug always does , and is always found out , and exposed and laughed at ; but it has a mushroom growth ; you may walk over it one day , and the next morning' you find another in its place , flourishing away just as large as the other ; we never forget , however , that it is a mushroom , or rather a poisonous fungus , and that truth is aa oak winch will stand a thousand years and will never be shaken ? and also that when we once descend to humbug or deceit we lower ourselves , and find it nlways very hard to get up again . It may be very clever and very humorous , and very sharp to " humbug" a person , but the term is only another and more vulgar word for lying and deceit , and no good man or really clever man would descend to that , knowing full well who has promised to judge those who do sc .

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    I P we rightly understand the late movements initiated by intelligent thinkers in behalf of the mechEnic classes ^ they wex-e from the first , and are still intended , to raise the character of the labourer as an intellectual and moral man . The institutions -founded were xfesigned as the placesarid means of educatioivat once occupying' the leisure and finding objects for it _ Jrr-all this it was assained that tlie operative had leisure . A little experience served to show that he had however not too much of it , and that what he had was deprived of its value by the state of weariness produced by

    the many hours of previous work . In progress of time experience was gained , and enlarged ideas were suggested concerning the physical health and comfort of the individual , as needful accessories to any plan of education . Without , them little way could be made by lectures or class-teaching . It was expedient that material reforms should precede spiritual culture , to afford the latter the scope and power of which it was capable . For this purpose the appeal was repeatedly made to the master for the abridgment of the period of labour , not however with much success . The last form of this appeal is represented by " the Nine Hours' Movement . " to the favourable consideration

    may think himself well off if he escapes the hemlock . So long as the master thinks he has an interest in the degradation of the labourer , and would reduce him to a mere machine for carrying out his purposes , as a mere source of profit to himself ; so long , we say , the master is in- an unfit state of mind for the proper consideration of the question at . issue . On the other hand , the mere fact of the claim being set forth ; by the inen on moral grounds , gives them a preliminary advantage in the argument , of which their adversaries must needs feel the want throughout the discussion . Public opinion , moreover , must needs ultimately side with the men ; for Reason , in modern England as well as in ancient Athens , must render in its verdict in favour of the great interests of humanity , and against those class interests which , when , pushed to extremes , conduct states to ruin .

    Pursuing the argument just stated to its legitimate issues , it mur-ht , therefore , be sylogistically demonstrated , that the elevation of the labourer and that of his employer is one and the same question , and that the state of one is the index to the state of the other . The slave-owner is himself necessarily a slave . The tyrant is himself a serf in another form . The law of polarity cannot be evaded . It rules all nature , society , philosophy , and art . The master who refuses to believe in the sincere desire of his men for their moral elevation , after their full expression of it , and the manifested fact that they

    have conceived aright the idea , stands self-condemned of his ignorance of the latter , aud of his unwillingness to advance with the progress of his age . It is proper , therefore , that he should seek for proper instruction : obtain enlightenment in regard to his own real interests ; and learn to regard himself as a mau rather than as a master . It is as requisite for him to cultivate the humanity in his nature , disposition , and conduct , as it is for the carpenters , bricklayers , plasterers , and painters in his employ ; and if he do not , he is inferior to them in all that makes a man meritorious in himself or

    serviceable to society . It is a legitimate argument in favour of the hour ' s leisure that is now advocated , that , in consequence of the introduction of machinery , the same amount of labour is not required as formerly , and that the labourer has as much right to tlie advantage of modern invention as the capitalist . The world is wealthier than it was , and can afford more wages . Nine hours' labour is more profitable than ten hours' used to be . It is more than sufficient to provide food , clothing , necessities , and luxuries for the whole of the com . miinity . Wages must adapt themselves to the newstateof ; things , and cannot do it in a manner more favourable to the masters than in the concession of an extra ¦ hour ' s-. labour . In- all probability , the

    men will do quite as much daily work , inasmuch as gratitude will induce them to labour more diligently . The nature of the instruction received during the extra , leisureTTour will-predispose them to the amiable class of virtues , to which that of thankfulness belongs The men will acquire an individual elevation which will be pleasing ' to every master who is not conscious of wanting it himself . It is as much to his advantage as that of his employes that wages , whether in the shape of an hour ' s leisure or a money payment , should be high . The men are thereby better able to become his customers ; - — to ^ feed better , clothe better , and lodge in better houses . By depressing wages , the employer is really lessening his own profits . " Where wages are high , " says Adam Smith , " workmen are more activediligentand expeditious than where they are low . " All ¦

    , , poTitieal economists agree iirthis : —ijet-ther-masteTS 7- * fr » ereforej adopt without fear a liberal policy , and by assisting in the elevation of the labourer , at once assert and secure their own .

    We have recommended the subject of ^ ie ^ fosterx-wlKJse-interast-w ^ that of the Man , arid whom we have accredited with a sincere desire to aid in the moral elevation of the latter . The labourer asserts his desire for it , and his right to it . The master must have faith in this expressed desire , and recognise this right , else no progress in the question is possible . Has he , then , the requisite faith ? We more than fear not . The appeal so eloquently made by Mr . Geouge Potti : ji in behalf of the moral aspirations of the workman is met with incredulity . A contemporary sneers at the assumption that , his clients are " thirsting after intellectual recreation , and would prefer to suend their ceded hour in the Meehnnics' Institute to passing it in the convivial pleasures of the ' Three Bells , ' or Compasses . '" It is thus that , in order to hang the poor dog , the master still con- - tinues to give him a bad name . Now , what is the source of this

    incredulity r It is not the fact , though it may have been , that the workman really prefers the public-house to the instituto , and will really abuse the leisuro when granted . Sufficient evidence has been given in < jorroboriition of his desire to better hid status in society . Tho master , on the other hand , shows a manifest disinclination to recognise tho desire . Can it be that he dreads the probable result , and regards the intelligent and ambitious labourer as his possible rival and future competitor P He , perhaps , thinks it safer to keep him in an inferior position , than to acknowledge his equality , and recognise his rights as a brother ; ho looks on him , in fact , us his natural enemy , and for his own protection would maintain their relative positions in society . While such is the feeling in the minds of masters , and it is only too evident that it is so , the labourer ' s appeal in favour of tho " nine hours , " or any other " movement , " has but a dreary chance of undergoing due and just consideration on the part of his employer . ' ¦ " . 1

    ^ It is quite impossible , however , to beget this faith in the minds of the masters , until they themselves are enlightened on some prior points which load to the formation of the belief . So long as the ma » ti ? rs limit their aims to the production of tho craftsman rather than the man , they will caro little for his moral elevation . They may fill the country , aa Mr . Pother remarked , with " first-rate carpenters , bricklayers , plasterorn , and painters , but at tho same time most pitiable and wretched specimens of humanity . " It is curious to aeo the old Socratic controversy revived in this form ; and Mr . Potxejb

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    ¦\ tESTERDAY week Professor Tyndall delighted a large - X ence , at the Royal Institution , by describing a journey he undertook to C . hamonni during the intense cold , of last winter . At a time when the severity of the cold impelled many to warmer climates and larger fires , our philosopher projected an expedition to Switzerland , in order to see the " Monarch of Mountains in the height of power , and be enabled to ascertain what the glaciers were doing when their ice was cooled to 21 degrees below the zero of the centigrade scale . . „ fJliainouni was renched with difficulty , for a heavy fall of snow

    had rendered the roads almost impassable , and locomotion was only possible by wading through drifts almost deep enough to swallow up the horses and bipeds who undertook the task . The snow exhibited in perfection tho exquisite crystalline forma which Vr . Scohksby and others discovered in the Polar regions , and which may bo partially seen in our own climate when tho weather is unusually intense . So line were these particles , that tho wind drove them through every chink and cranny , and they covered tho floors of the rooms , und put an extra but nob altogether welcome lVost

    blanket upon the beds . Tho windows exhibited tho -IIowera m perfection , and with a beauty of form and combination unknown }» our winters . In one caso tho Professor found a delicate curtain , arranged in artistic folds , hanging outside a window and composed entirely of gauz « -like iilina . of moisture ,, beautifully , crystalhzed , and sparkling in the light . It was with great difficulty ho managed to ascend to the srlaoier , and while toiling through the huow waa startled by a hollow , booming sound , like tho fire of a largo niid distant gun . " Upon examination it was found that tho cohesion ot a great field of snow was disturbed by the movement ot hi . s party , ana u lurgo fissure showed whore the continuity of tho mass was brolcon . Fortunately no further disturbance took place , or tho travellers might havo had an avalanche about their onnj . Tho noiso was so peculiar that it led to much consideration , and tho IVolwaor coa-

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    Jtjne 9 , 18 ^ 0 J The Leader and Saturday Analyst . 543

    The Elevation Of The Labourer.

    THE ELEVATION OF THE LABOURER .

    Glaciers In Winter.

    GLACIERS IN WINTER .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 9, 1860, page 543, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2351/page/11/