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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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IRISH DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT . gje Irishmen of Saturday last contains refa of meetings in Dublin , ' Cork ; Kilkenny , JLnck- on-Suir , &c ., &c . The correspondence from the last named place contains the f ollowing : — The priesthood and the satellites of the alien go-« niiDent are , as usual , leagued in this town to I 5 re Irish manhood , and perpetuate Irish misery , faction , and disgrace . The police were busily fSK , daring the whole of Saturday and Sm-XT , in t earing down the placards announcing the ? S demonstration of the Tipperary Democrats , f £ te held here on Sunday next . "When these exeworsof "law" were asked why they broke the E which they were paid to preserve , by pulling Anm * P lacard wMch V VerfttUy "legal , " ? wt , vinsnlting and robbing the public , whose orrants they were , the only reply they condecended to make was , that "whether the placard ' rtrt&H DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT . j $ &n v _ _
s ZZ legal or illegal , they would pull it down . " « rheHead Constable , attended by another police-Z ~ L also severely threatened the person from L ftgin the democratic rooms are rented , and ordered liffl , on pain of the high displeasure of the " authorities , " to eject them forthwith . But these nafforthy efforts to crush Democracy in thisloca-« tv have had quite the contrary effect , for numbers nf earnest recruits are steadily swelling our ranks . Tfe hereto be obliged to report , that the wellttsia tampered tools of that foreign power that Ssrves and debauches our gallant people , have in « ur parish priest an auxiliary far more powerful ? jantheir grinning artillery or " whiskered pan-• doors . " This reverend gentleman has considered it his duty to preach " passive obedience" from the altar on Sunday evening last , and to denounce those principles of " liberty , fraternity , and eoualitv , " which the Democrats cherish and love , and which the popular voice of Europe has proclaimed
n thunder . , We give fhe following extracts from the editorial articles in the Irishman : — TESixr-BiGHT . —The greatest possible mistakes and misapprehension prevail with respect to this Northern Tenant-right . They talk of legalising and extending it to the four provinces . It can ' t belegalised , and is worthless if it could . It is simply a custom amounting to this—the landlord settles the figure of rent at his own arbitrary discretion ; and as long as the tenant pays this amount , he is
left m undisturbed occupation , and may sell his occup ancy to any man whom he finds dupe enough to ¦ Irayit . Is not this a pretty bauble to make a noise about—is it not a valuable hold on the soil—is it sot most blessedly calculated to make Ireland the happ iest of lands , and her people the most prospe rous of peasantry ? - The landlord won ' t eject you solODgasyou pay the rent . To be sure he will cot ; tint he fixes the rent . It may be three , or ten , cr fifty times the value , and you have neither appeal or remedy .
Tfe must give customs , and traditions , and prescriptions , and usages , to the winds of heaven . Ireland has no customs but customs of brute bar * ferity , plunder , and legal assassination . We will lot build on such . "We must take common sense and common justice as the guide-line of our progress , for if we do other we only end before we have feffun . It is perfect nonsense to talk of the existing rights of landlords . The necessity for action is based on the lasting wrongs of the people , and these must
be righted at whatever cost . The task requires no snbtle diplomacy—it needs no enermons staff of patriotic committees , fulminating musty statistics , and State blue books . Every Ulster yeoman , and every Connaught farmer , knows perfectly both the eril and the remedy . Both are too deep for an Act of Parliament . Legislators are landlords , and will never consent to cut up their own interests by the roots . We must depend on our own strength , and On that alone , and the simple question at present is to brace and consolidate it . - -
Every man who contributes to that end does a rational service , and whoever leads off popular opinion on a wild-goose hunt after adjustments and compromises , is a traitor to his country whether he designs it or no . The land of Ireland for the people of Ireland , is the broad basis oh which every thriving structure must rise . There are , no doubt , ideas which require a gradual development , but there are others ¦ which should be decided quick as a mortal combat , and the land is of the latter class . At the present moment there are in powerful existence all the elements for a struggle such as Ireland never saw , and for a victory such as the world has seldom experienced . The Pabluuesi asd Moxabcht . — That the "Parliament , " executive , and all the other specific
expedients for deception and oppression of the people have long since become bated , distrusted , and despised , is a truism palpable to , and confessed by , all who have not an interest , vested or other , in the propagation of delusion . 3 Jq honest Irishman now believes that an English minister has either the power or the will to render the sli ghtest " amelioration . " We can all see with sufficient clearness that her most gracious Majesty , and her most -valuable public servants are but a convenient tradift cnary mask under which some four hundred and fifty " representatives" of English property , in its various forms , tyrannize over , not Ireland alone , not the home countries only , but the fairest , the fertilest , the most varied , and the most extensive territory that ever history saw , or fable painted , under the sway of one dynasty .
Every Irishman sees this . He knows perfectly that the Hanoverian dynasty has sunk Mb the grave of its predecessors . Its bones have been gathered to the monarchic fathers of the empire— -to tee Stuarts and Tuders , and Plantagenets . With the comic ' solemnity of the melo-drama , we may huzza for the birth of princes royal , or gild with gilded ostentatiGB the advent of majesty " on tramp , " but in all we conform rather to an antiquated custom , then defer to an active power , and we know it . We see that the regime of the Guelphs has been lost in the dynasty of " Parliament , " that is in the majority thereof , made up of the two aristocracies of England—the mercantile and landed iaierests .
Mobal axd PflTsicAfc-FoECE . —A nation of gaberlanzies never yet made a noise in the world ' s pages , and we must throw aside the wallet and slang of the mendicant to handle other tools . Every sane man sees , knows , and confesses this . Look at O'Connell himself . Even amid the sanctimonious "loyalty" of the peace resolutions , he never dropped from his hand the phial that held the nostrum for Ireland ' s independence . " England ' s weakness is Ireland ' s opportunity , " was a maxim worked into almost every speech that he uttered . And what was this but a direct appeal to physical force —what was it . but saying , " let France , or some other foreign power , engage England ' s right hand .
and we shall wrest our own from the left ? " If words have meaning , or man has truth , what was this but saying , " " give U 3 a fan * field , make the enemy a match for us , and we'll fight him ? " On this point we take it ; there can be no doubt , but to our thinking , there are two ways of equalling an unfair match , either by weakening the stronger , as O'Cocnell proposed , through theaccidental agency cf foreign attack—or by the more legitimate mode , of strengthening the weaker , by bracing up the sinews , teaching muscle to grow , and joints to play , and gathering into one focus the strength of the pan > by giving him head , heart , activity , and banting ; by telling him honestly what he has to expect , and what is expected of him .
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Impbisosmesi of a Lbkatic . —A few days since it was accidentally discovered that a young woman , tamed Charlton , a lunatic , has been confined in a | nau attic , about eight feet square , in the house of ner brother , who keeps a shop in the market-place of Kingston . The person who first discovered her is a bricklayer , who was engaged in repairing an aaioining house , and she stated to him that she had oeen locked up for four years in the same apartment , without fire or a sufficiency of food . The attention of the authorities having been called to the ease , several meetings of the borough magistrates « ere held for the purpose in inquiring into the truth w the statements of the imprisoned woman , and they were found to be correct to a considerable
ext ** i - magistrates having personally inspected fhe place in which the young woman was confined , "and seen her , they were evidently struck with the appearance of the room , or " cupboard , " as one of the magistrates called it , and did not fail to express then- disapprobation , especially as there were so Joany and better rooms . The young woman was lying in . bed , and moaning ; she was very pale and emaciated—her wrist did not appear thicker thau a Chld ' s , and in reply to questions put to her she said , in a low , weak voice , she should like to be allowed to get up and walk in the garden , as she did at her Miner ' s house , and she hadnot enough to eat . Mr Cfaarlton said the young woman was very violent , she had torn nearly all one of her sister's hair off ,
* & « had not her mother had her brought there ™ e would have killed her . The eldest sister was now ^ Bethlem , and the eldest brother was not right hi jus mind . —The magistrates having returned to the « ra-h all , instructed their clerk ( Mr . Jemmett ) to «* that the young woman was forthwith removed ™ a more comfortable and healthy apartment , that * £ tad not only medical but other attendance , that «« uiet should be such as was proper and nutriti-Y ^ and that she should have outdoor exercise when ^^ L ^ yj . snd these regulations , they insisted on , « J : "' sy did not separate without expressing their ** sBowled gment of the services rendered by the Pttochial authorities and the police . *» . £ aot » little pafc ? " inquired a lady , who ¦ m rather short and corpulent , of a crusty old jfcjKy "TwlwkmoreJ&e a Kg tvV waathe
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THE TEN HOTJKS QTJEST 1 ON . * h ^® a ™ ia 8 letteThas been publishedin tl SSSL Herdd > Ut ™ «*«* * ° ™ AshkvT tSS " i adly misrepresent" ( Lord found ! ; T ^ fw . " 511 for tru * - l 8 ifc *<> & > KeV ? s 53 rtK ?? ? ' Start not-Lord -2 &E ^ ' ? , !""» . ««* M » Samson to " ti J 23 * * " »* ¦» firm , they yield not « sS ° ™ 7 ¥ * ^ P -, By Ms g «« e-: securely jased en justice , they still stand-sustaining the i £ f * * H ? IS . their "un 1 « estfonable right " Sail % T )> Jhose P ^ rs are indelibly in-= > cnbe £ « The Tks Hours Act" - be thus his epitaph— .. ¦ _ . Helivedbeloved-he died unwept , Others may tell the reason-why . THE TF / K HQT rRS f \^^^ == V ^^ QTJEST 1 ON .
It would have been more civil had Lord Ashley sent a copy of his last will and testamentto the de-J 2 K te 8 m , ? nd ° n be / ore he sent that document ( addressed to them ) to you ; then the antidote could have appeared with the poison . Twenty-four hours are ttus « n /« V 7 ygainedV ¦ Ifever mind , you fairly appeal to the manufac for'Srepty ?" * " ""*• ' ' With y ° « wait That-oftlw &otoiy delegates now in London has been promptly . given-they gave it on the rumour $ 2 & £ ? II is 8 h ° rt and pithy-viz
Z . » S ^ : ., a f * v / 1 ^* 6 " now assembled are of opinion . JSLr fi ? to | y *« I"Mwai never consent to any variation from the limitation of ten hours per day , and fifty-eight hours per week , utOtu itbe ^ further shortm tie duration of labour" - So think I . We shall see . I am of opinion , that i % will be mmdful oT their vows . Would that Lord Ash ey had remembered his ! " I will never yield ! Iw " . ^ - ^ , hsb d"ch !" - { Lord Ashley ) . In that "ditch let him be buried ; adding to his epitaph : —
"The factory operatives believed and loved Mm to the last . " It is a fact ; Hie very day before he fell , the factory delegates in London passed a vote of " continued confidence hi Lord Ashley 1 " Shall I prophesy ? If this government stands , the ghost of Lord Ashley will have a place . , I remain , Sir , your most obliged servant , _ - i - _ RlCHiBD OASltEB . Broadstairs , Kent , May 9 tb , 1850 .
From a letter addressed to Mr . James Mills , Factory Delegate , also published in the Herald , we give the following extracts : — Lord Ashley having already , by ignorant bungling or something worse , caused ruinous delay ; after having , in his last will and testament , of the 7 th inst ., thus addressed the committees of Yorkshire and Lancashire : — " Now I greatly fear delay ; I refrain from stating my reasons , but I repeat I greatly feardday , aslikdyto be productive of infinite mischief , —when we find that , on the 9 th instant , on theorder of theday for going info committee on Lord Ashley ' s Ten Hours Bill , Lord AtUey was absent , haying , before he left the house , secured a needless
" delay to the 13 th instant . So that when Lord John Manners and Mr . Aglionby ( whose names are on the bill ) wished to proceed Sir George Grey said , " The bill was not under bi 3 charge . ; and , as the noble hrd ( tird . AshU y ) had gone away after expressing a wish that it should be left over until Monday , he *««<« think they would be justified in taidng it up . " ^ What" will you say when I assure you that Lord Ashley had in his possession , on the 22 nd April , a perfect clause drawn by one of the most , eminent counsel of the day , and when I tell you his lordship rejected it ? He would make belief that our language does not contain words strong enough to prevent cotton lords from committing felony and murder ! " ' ¦ =... *¦
The writer in the Times one day proposes that "the factory operatives" shall decide the question ; they do so , and he declares that he is satisfied . Within a week his doubts bewilder him—he forgets his own arrangement and his own declared conviction of the justice of the verdict given by the jury of his own selecting . ' From'"the factory operatives " he now appeals ( May 9 th ) to the manufacturing counties , " when , strange to say ( because that answer is not returned in Ies 3 than twenty-four hours to the Home Office . ) on the 10 th of May , another jury is . appointed , in the hope that they will pull down in a sudden fit of despair what Gould , Sadler , Walter , and Fielden had been thirty years in building ! Regardless of all the former reasonings and of
principles the Times , this new importation actually asks , " Who are the proper umpires and arbiters of the question ? Who but the women and young persons themselves ? " Ignorantly adding , ' ever since the first opening of the question we have made a point of asking theopinion of those who were immediately and personally interested in it . The opinion- of the men is to be viewed with suspicion . " . . . : Three changes in about a week—and in this last short extract the unreading of scores of most ably written and soundly reasoned columns in the Times —are , to my mind , simply incomprehensible ! This weakness should not show itself in those-who teach the people and lead the public mind . Ko douot that pen 13 accustomed to flounder in the Home Office—there it has been trained to chancre with
every breeze . No wonder that SHch a scribe should laugh at those "fools" who " stand out" for " high principle . " - The writer in the Times continues— " Which do they prefer ? Working ten hours a "day in relays , beginning one day at half-past five , and working the next day till half-past eight , going in and out the whole day , being left with odds and ends of time that they could turn to no account , and always hanging abont the factory ; or working ten hours and a hah a day , between six and six , knowing always when they will have to get up , when to be at the mill , when to breakfast , when to dine , when to finish for the day , and how mucb they will have to themselves every day of their lives ? " If the wives and the children are to decide this matter , let their case be fairly stated in our hearing . You , as a husband'and a father , may surely be allowed to watch the case as it proceeds to see fair
play . Never , never , wa 3 a case put more jesuitically . You know well enough that the blessings here fully promised , have already been grantedthat John Fielden ' s Ten Hours Act was . given for the purpose of&eumujrthem—nay , that it is only by an evasion of the spirit of that act , that a very few remorseless , unprincipled tyrants rob the women and young persons of all those enjoyments And , to reward those fe lons ( such , in the eyes of justice , they are ) this writer in the Times , by unequalled Jesuitry , would persuade those paor women and young persons ( depriving them of the connsel of their husbands and fathers ) to give their consent to a law which shall rob them of two hours a week , giving the same to their felonious oppressors ! Worst of all , Lord Ashley—the almost adored of these poor defenceless creatures—aids in this wicked and cruel delusion ! ' ¦ .
Let the question be fairly put—the case , as it really now stands before the House of Commons , be fully stated—then say , is there ; save one , is there a father or mother—a son or a daughter—a " brother or sister , who would not indignantly reject the proposal to compromise ? This is the true state of the case—let them speak : — " IPfe , the women and young persons working in factories , have received from you , the legisture , a law which limits our labour to ten hours a
day ; and fifty-eight hours a week . We received it as a great boon . We have found it to be very good for us . We are poor and weak , but we have been very grateful , and very mindful , to use the time we gamed by that law for the best of purposes . Because some wicked men have found a flaw in the wording of your law , Lord Ashley advises us to consent to give up two hours a week to gratify them , at the same time telling us , ' ' Those two hours' are our unquestionable right . ' We think this is not fair . We did dot make the law . You made
it . Not a man among you doubts that you intended the law to be fast and sure . We pray you , therefore , if not for our sakes , for your own , now to make it so . We ask no more . You told us you made that law expressly to prevent " relays and shifts . ' Do not cheat and rob us , because we are weak and poor . On your own showing the blunder is your own making . We bad no hand in it . We took you to be men ; we believed and thanked you . Though our noble leader has forsaken us , we pray you do not oppress and wrong us . You have wives and children . Think if our case were theirs ! Be just . Even we are of the same flesh and blood . Oar God is wur God , and He will recompence !" Can English legislators resist that appeal ? If they can , they are not « i «» . ' Talk of another outside jury in this case ! Whv
if this Times writer were of the old staff , he would know that on this very question of " compromise " public meeting after public meeting has been held Every factory town , and almost every factory village , has had its public assembling—some have had several , tor the express purpose of giving their opinion on this Point . In all they have leen unanimously resolved to listen to no compromise ! At those meetings , clergymen , magistrates , millowners , and operatives were authorised by Lord Ashley to assure the factory operatives , so long as they were determined , he would never flinch—nevtr yield one moment of their gained time . These vouchers for his lordship ' s honour , pledged their own , on his behalf . What can they answer now ? Let Lord Ashley tell . Hever was a man so deeply pledged—never so much trusted . Talk of the treachery of others—Lord Ashley has betrayed the poor .
Take my wor'j for it , —and tell all your friends what I say—) i ever you agree to give up one single moment that yon have gained , "infiveortenyeara " factory legislation will be entirely withdrawn , protectio n , for tbe factory hands will Yauish , and the
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old excruciatmft unbearable , killing tyranny of the mills will be restored ; Aye , my "lad , " "the Old King knows much better what will Mow if you loosen one peg than this fresh scribbler chooses to tell . -HOU ) FAST WHAT TOU HAVE GOT . If one moment should be wrung from ' your grasp this session , let Lord Ashley bear the blame ; butbi not cast down ; rather let that wrong arouse tho sonsrand daughters of Old England-aye , and of Old . Scotlandtoo ! Meet again , Is you wVe wont , nlh ^ L , ??* ! . tho » 8 and 8 ; invite your right , true-hearted leader , Lord John Manners , to come and look at you , and tolisteh while you tell your own tale . Thus cheer " the old kind ' s " heart , by holding ^ up the hands , of him who ° now is making the beBt of your case in the House of Commons , wi ? SchSjf morfcal can win ' after such un-I conclude with earnest prayers for success to the cause of truth ^ arid justice ! May the people unite m that appeal to Heaven , , then I know , we are invincible . ^ ^^ « " - ^ - ^ ,.,,. mr - ,, „„„ , , , ..- ,
What a glorious struggle we shall have ! Suecessful , I am sure—peaceful , I . hone . Anyhow , James ; we cannot fly . . ¦* ' . I have still much to say-let this suffice at pre'^ utSSSS ^ 7 ^ h trutbexpe " I am , my dear "lads , " " Old King , " t > , . ' : ¦¦ : Richard Oastler . Broadstairs ,, Kent , May 11 , 1850 . ,
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THE CONDITION ' of ENGLAND . QUESTION . ( Condensed from the J / mit % Chronicle . ) ^ 0 * % T C > f UAL ^ D MORAL % ONDITIOJr SD ^ l Iffi » g ™ K « Spurn jS s ? t ^ - ^ As thev wii - l i , ? ™ d have the ' r bei » S-« ome how ? inihe fle'd 8 ' the external world , hfs SSJ . ? to *? ^ " ! l th e medium cf their JK ^™ wV 1 the hl ! 5 her ' exmisea of intellect of them S Cfc Stl ? - gers ' You cannofc address one wi&rj n ° ^ S ^ tonco . painfully struck TheU £ . nte » ect « al darkness which enshrouds him . nTiLll ^ BOne ^ ^ lii [ er ^ emhtion in bia eyes e ™ efi ? noe m J c countenance . The whole He if Inr ° re th - ° l anlraal than ° »»«" ue is wanting , too , m the erect and inrt fi nmwW
2 » f ' « an . When you accost him , if he ahriH t " l , h (? ' 8 el ^ m is-he i 8 timid and himMf » ^ . whol ° manner snowing tiwt he feels Sat . ^ stance from you greater than should SSS 3 S ' v * 5 l ^ of raen - IIe is often anmtinn v n u addl i ess . ™ d suspicious when you m ^ ru ?« J llm v . V h i e . , eeming 1 y oppressed with the when ? l Whll 5 fc l u lil 9 t 9 ' fcusly relieved Tffirm ?» , ° t * These are the { raits which I can KtaSlft . P ^ , ! class , . after having come TW W W 1 lh many hundreds of farm labourers , ciiifaii % g a g ? neration for whose intellectual have nn ?^ notn i K , was done . As a class , they Sse Tw U 8 ements beyoud the indulgenee of Sed . - n ^ " Ca 8 f ^ . - recreation is asso-¦ SSSr i f lrmi 5 W 1 tb nothing higher than senothe rJ ' if . ; hOTe , < l Uentl yasked clergymen and f « hM ? Z ° T ¥ d the adn 1 ' Peasant reading Inswor " fartJ Ot it 6 a T seraent ?' The invariable ZZI Tn + f f l i Slght is 8 eldom or "ever witnessed . In the first place , thegreat bulk . of them
SSL ^ ; l ? tnenext » a We Proportion of those who can , do so ^ with too muc £ difficulty to admit of the exercise being an amusement to them . Again , few of those who can read with comparative ease have the taste for doing so ; It ia but justice to them to say , that many of those who cannot read have bitterly regretted , in my hearing , their inability to do so . . : . Take the ordinary day labourer on the farm , and viewing him from what point you will , what manner of man do you find him ? You are first struck with the anomaly presented by the outward man . In his very dress he seems not to belong to thecentury in which he . lives . The smock-frock was never the garb of active labour , and it : certainly but ill beseems the labourer of these bustling and competing times . It would be , no more in tho . way in the mine or tho factory than it is in the . field . Fieldwork requires , a great deal of stooping , and perfect freedom of the limbs . The frock is neither adapted for the allows
one , nor of the other . ' His gait , too , is awkward , The contrast between him and men engaged in other laborious occupations is sufficiently great to force itself upon the most passive observer He seems'to belong to an inferior grade of beings when compared with the factory , operative , the worker m the mines ,: the fisherman j the artisan , or the stable boy , They are dressed ; moio or less , in keeping with their sqrk . and . with , the times ; and are quick and intelligent in their mo vements , whereas he is attired .. in the . robe of centuries gone by , andis awkward , cumbroug , and mechanical in his actions . The state of his mind has : been already adverted , to .. Education has , advanced him but little beyond the position which he . occupied in the days of William the Kormanl The farm labourer has scarcely participated at all in the improvement of his brethren . As he was ' generations gone by , bo he is now—a physical scandal , a moral enigma , an intellectual cataleptic . : ' -
In inquiring into' the nature arid extent of the educational machinery' at work in the counties in questiop . Ifound that , as regards reliable , and autnenticiriformation , I had to encounter the same difficulties as formerly . Ko one . seemed to know anything of what was going ' on in this respect , beyond his own district , and few could' furnish me with any very specific detail connected even with their own districts . This . par ish had . one kind of school , that another—this one again had both—and that neither the one nor the other . \ On this , as on other subjects , people ' ave often apt to" be deceived by sounds , and are prevented only by careful in ? quiry from frequently running off with the most erroneous impressions . Thus , I was informed at
Blandford that not . only was there an excellent National School there , at which the children in the union were taught , but that all the surrounding parishes were provided with schools . " Have they all National schools ? " I inquired .. "No , not exactly that , " said my informant . " They ' have all day shools , I presume ? " I added . 'V Well , ' ? said he , " I am afraid I must say that some of them have onl y Sunday schools . " And so it , is with many parishes in other parts of the county , which , we are told , are provided with schools . Even in a secular point of view , the Sunday school is better than no school at all ., A " few of the , children who attem them are taught to read—but only a few , for the attendance is irregulnr , * and thejinterval of a week which elapses between every-two brief lessons
attord 8 the child sufficient time for forgetting the little that may have been learnt . Unfortuately , even when there are day schools in . the parish ,, it is only the Sunday school that the labourer ' s child can attend ; Labour in the fields , for Is ., ' Is . 6 d ., or 2 s . a week , absorbs all his time during the six days of work ; and it is only on tho , seventh'day that his mind has any chance of receiving the . slightest culture . When the child lives wholly with the farmer who employs him , it is only during a fraction of the year that even the Sunday school is attended . He is kept steadily at work every day in the week , particularly during the . season when the cattle are housed . It is thus that multitudes of the rising generation' are rapidly crowing up , and passing
without improvement the improveable as [ e . So far as they are concerned , their , inheritance will embrace the ignorance as well as the servitude of their fathers . / Reading is , of course , the only element of secular education taught at the , Sunday schools . You can almost always tell when the education of a child has been confined to these schools . He can sometimes read well , but knows nothing of either writing or arithmetic . In some parishes , where there are no day schools , there is but one Sunday school ; in others there are several Sunday schools ; their ' circumstances in this respect depending upon the extent and zeal of the different sects which may inhabitthem . The following may serve as a specimen of some of
the teachers even in these schools , in which one generally looks for effi c iency in the work of education . The circumstance happened in Cornwall , in a parish in which there , was no , school' but the British and Foreign School , which was attended by many children belonging to the , Church . I was accompanied to the school by one . who took a great interest in promoting the educational system to which it pertained . ;; On entering the boy ' s department , 1 found about 120 of them assembled , most of whom were being noisily instructed in geography . . At some distance before them was a Targe map of England , by means of which the teacher was testing their knowledge of localities . Finding the system pursued to be that of permitting
all . the boys to answer at once , I listened attentively , in order to test their proficiency , to some of the boys in ' the back rows , and found that all they did was to make an unmeaning noise every time a question was asked ; leaving , those , who , could to answer correctly , and distinctl y ^' In the noise of nearly a'hundred voices this delinqwncy was : undetected by the master . , He shortly afterwards showed me several maps drawn by some of the boys . One of these was a large map of Scotland , which was the conjoint work of two of them . He evidently took great pleasure in showing it as something reflected credit alike on master and pupils . On its being unrolled , the first thing my eye lighted upon was an immense arm of the sea , which , commencing at the head ;
of the Dornooh Fi'ith , stretched in a north westerly direotion nearly up to Cape Wrath , almost cutting the couaty of Sutherland into two . nearly equal parts . It was painted so excessively blue that it was impossible to overlook it . I directed the master ' s attention to the county , aad asked him if he perceived nothing wrong about it . He said he did aot ; whereupon I pointed out the blunder to him ,, telling him that * independeatly of geographical teaching , my topographical knowledge of the locality enabled me to detect the error , as I had more than once ridden , high and dry , in Her Majesty s mail , over the ground which the map had submerged with an arm of the sea several miles wide . He looked confused and annoyed , but said ,, atlast , with groat naivctix " I ' m aura it was so ia thecopy . " To do justice to the farmers , a larce nvoporiJori
of them are insensible to the benefits of . education , in many cases you cannot distinguish the children of the farmer , by their dress , demeanour , or intellectual culture , from those of the labourer ; and this , too , not only in the case of " amook farmers , " as the lowest class of them ore termed , but also in that of some tolerably well off in the world . There aro others who give their , own children the benefit of the best education that they can afford , but who would deny the same boon to theohildof the labourer . It is but A few days since I met one of this class . He . did not like the present order of things at all . There was too great a tendency in society now-a-days to heave up that which was below to the top . Labourers were anxious to become masters , and so on . To eduoate the labourer was only to enhanoe this evil The child should succeed his father at his' toil His SttSSS ! tlw ^ " ' . *» ^ **
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byt ^ gtSfe ^ wio , w ' ith the eLation of the S " * " * ^ rustcd speak out openly , and exMesftw i ^ f ; of them having them educated . ^ S ^ SSfiSV ™ ply with the letter of the kw but ? $ & * com " a msster or mistress beinSaffJ ^ ° ™ ' ** . ¦ tm instruction . These are ftr ^ 'Sfo s " fcRK arebotneout by facia , and ier / o " ? " * ' ™ . ^ withihe tiews and conduct- of thj Jflff ? 8 many of the purely rural Knions ^ , ffiRffiif only that I now speak-can attest , their ^ accuracy 'he character of the teachers will generally bespeak that of tho guardians . If they can distinguish between a good and a bad . teacher , and do not remove a bad one—or iftbey cannot distiagufeh between them—they are not fit to be guardians . - The cases are startlingly numerous in which fihey either cannot , or will not , make the distinction . 1 was
inormed by a gentleman , on whom every i'elianee can be placed , that when , some time ago , he entered the school-room of the St . Avratel workhouse , , lie found tli 9 master oetting a copy to a boy— "A blind man ' s wife need no painting . " It was not even needs . In another school , the master , after showing me their copies , and making the boys read a little m my hearing , offered , as a test of their arithmetical pro&ciency , to " pat them throujrha sum in subtraction , " in another case , it was discovered that none < yf the children csuld write at all .-An inquiry was instituted into this by the party whose duty it waste do so , and he discovered that me reason was that the achoolmistresa herself could not write . He remonstrated with thn " iriinrHinn . o '
hat 2 l SUCha . teach 8 \ buttteyfrMrtedupon it oth iL , I g , enous - h- Of whai ^ e was it to ndiiZl ?" ? J ° ^ " only made them Tl , e roS- ? they . did not want them -to write , l he { schoolmistress was afterwards rem&ved hv a Sfto ia # ST * g « "dS 7 e -eleS tier to her post . Whilst the' party who moved in the matter had several lettera-frj the gSians = 3 SK * tSr « itirfe ^ 5 "S ^ T ^^ S ^^ ^ w ^ ss ^ s-ss . Je asked the schoolmistress if she d&l not teach them ' the meaning of such words . She replied thatahe S ? 'J -a » TT ? u aJ 1 k , l lb < hui * liat " they were so stupid" He then desired her to- point out one who could tell him the meaning of tho word . She went round the whole ; schoolbut hot one was found
, who could do so . _ It then occurred to . him toask her if she knew it herself . She coloured , stammered , and at last admitted that she "did not exactly know . " Ho next askedher if she know knl . P :. ? - - ' ^ t ' she certainty did not oiow ; but on being told that she herself was one , SSi * . ^» « ometh'W ^ ful , and afterwards complained to the guardrans that . her interrogator had called her names . . I was informed of another case , in which a master was appointed who coiild neither read nor write . On being asked how he could undertake to teach , he saidthat he made the boys that could read teach those who could not . and that he listened to those who could read , and could ^ oasilv tell when they went wrong . ' It' would be unfair to infer that all the schools'in question are thus miserably provided with teachers , but the system must be throughout a radically ' defective one which can admit of such eases even as exceptional . ; - • ¦ .:.. i . .. r
^ Notwithstanding all that has recently been done tor the cause of education , the proportion of children growing up utterly uneducated is very great' In almost every family such is the case with some . I make a practice of accosting almost every boy I meet , and inquiring into his education . I thus accosted one some time ago near Chewton Mandip . fonnT rsef' ^ ° wa sinhis felfth year , and had according to his own account , been for some time at school , which , ' however , he had attended very irregularly . . I asked him what he was learning , andlie said it was the a b-ab and ike i I 4 bs . ' "I then asked him if he knew the Queen ' s name , to which he replied in the negative . I frequently ask this question of boys , and find that in fully half the cases
! nfT b 0 P Jrom ten t 0 fourteen » they cannot tell the Queen ' s name , nor have they ever heard of her Majesty . I put some questions ia geography to a boy , who told me he had been learning it for two years . " What is the shape of the earth r . fiwi , ;• Round > like an orange , " he answered . ' What is a promontory V I next inquired . " Master always skips about the promontories , " he re-P . m \ ^ il i 3 land > then ? " I demanded . "Master skips that , too , sir , " said he . " Well what is a river ? " This he answered correctly but on further questioning him in connexion with the very elements ofthe study , the reply in three cases put of four was that his master " skipped" the subject . Nor was this the child of an agricultural labourer
. He was the son of a tradesman , living in a tonush town , and intending school regularly . Let it be borne in mind that not only are numbers of the rising generation growing up defectively educated , but that a larger proportion of them are doing so without any education at all . , Our social system is full of anomalies , but there is none greater , perhaps , than that presented by the parochial union school , such as it is . The child of the independent labourer is sent to toil at the age when he should be sent to school . It is only at irregular intervals that he enters a day school , and it is not always that he can attend a Sunday school . He neverenters any school provided for hini by law . But the child of the pauper finds a legal provision for the sustenance of his body and the culture of his mind . His day is not spent in toil , but is divided betweon his education and his amusement . When
he leaves tho sohool-voom—which he attends , in summer for six , and in winter for five hours a dayit is to go to the playground , which he frequently finds provided for him with many of the appliances of cluldish sports . How different is their fatesthe child of the independent man , and the child of the pauper ! But where is the remedy for thisanomaly ? Tho evil is , not that the pauper is too well otf , but that the child of independence should not be abrest , at least as regards his opportunities , with the offspring of poverty . . . Having thus glanced generall y at the educational system at work in the four counties in question , I now proceed to state the results of my observations as regards the morals of the labouring classes in all the counties which I have hitherto visited . In doing so , I regret to say , that the sketch whioh lam about to draw will be by no means of a favourable or encouraging description . .
• Tho facts which I have from time to time stated , as illustrating the overcrowded condition of a very large proportion of the cottages , aro so eloquent of themselves , that it is scarcely necessary for me to add anything as to the pernicious inftuence which such a state , of things must have upon the morals of the poor . When families of from six to twelve individuals , of both sexes and of all ages , are huddled together night after night in two , three ,, or four , beds , all in one room , what are we to expect as the result but a very general and a fearfally . precocious immorality ? I have met now and then with families crowded in their Btraiteneddwellings who were , nevertheless , pious , lovers , of truth , honest in their dealings , and exemplary in their
conduct . But such green spots are rarely met with in the wide moral waste i and one marvels at their appearance at all . With the great bulk of the peasantry there is a laxity of . morals , which is as easily accounted for as it is painful to contemplate , ¦ The moral sense of many of , them molt 3 at the circumstances , in which they are placed ; but the most startling feature connected with the : whole matter is , the utter indifference whieh multitudes , who complain loudly enough of thoh > physical privations , evince as regards the immoralities to which their condition gives rise .: In thousands of breasts the distinction between right and wrong is but faintly traced , if itis not altogether obliterated . Perhaps , in all this they are moea to bo pitied than
blamed ^ for the modg of life to which they arecon-. demned would sag , the morality of any class . ofpeople . There are two-olasses amongst them who suffer from the mannei ; in which the peasantry are herded together in their miserablodweHings . There ar « . io the first place , those who , from peculiar circumstances , may have reachei maturity with some delicacy of feeling and purity of miud preserved to them , of whioh they ar ; e gradually robbed thsough the pernicious influenpes to wluqh they ace exposed . Ib is possible , that some of these may successfully stem the lorrent of immorality ' which would bear them dpwn , and come pure and undafiled out of its filthy waters atlast . Butthese are few iadeed . Ifc is possible , too , thatsoi $ e of them
, having fallen away , may y . st reclaim themselves , the-virtues of e . arly life triumphing at last over et ^ ' grafted vice . . But such instances aue also of race occurrence . There is ^ in the next place , that otlier olass , and by far the wore numerous one , the mmbers of which adva&co from iu&ncy to puberty aliens & shame sad strange ^ to the common decenwfes of life . Of these * v&at can reasonably be expected , bwUhat tho * wes whicb , a * e sown brcad-cast in them during their you&will grow Withtheirgrow ihandstrengthenwithtXe ^ streirgth ? In the illicit intercourse to which siwb a position " frequently gives rise , it is not always that the ti « of blood lavespected . Certain it k that when tho
relationship is even hut one degree removed from that of brother and ; sister , that tie is frequently overloeked . And when thecisoumstanoes do not lead to such horrible consequenoos , the mind , partwularly of the female , is wholly divested of that sense oi delioaoy and shame which , bo long as they are preserved , are tho-chief safeguards of her ohas « tity . She therefore falls an early and on easy prey to the temptations which beset her beyond the immediate cirole of her family . People in the . other spheres of life are but little aware of the extent to which this precooious demoralization of the female amongst the lower , orders in the country has pro , ceedei v But' how could . it be . otherwise ? The phili&thi 0 P . uV 8 W ttOTt bimje . lf . in , twa . t ^ hitf , the
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mwahat mat inctllcftte eycfl the '^ ovl dly advantages ofa tetter course of . life , ' and ttie minister of religion may warn tfeem of the eternal penaltiea which they are incurring ; bat there is an instructor constantly at work more potent than them all , an in-8 tructor ; in mischief , of which they must get rid ere they feake any real progress in their laudable effoi'ta—ifitd that is , the tingle led chamber , in the two-roomed ' cottage . ¦ '¦ ' ¦¦ Perhaps , tlSeniost 3 trikin # instance of the demoralization of * whole commflivi'&y ; from overcrowding and other' Mipropitious clwamstancos , is that ^ , ° d by Si «« on Courtney , in Berkshire , fornf'rZ ^ i- uded t 3 < in connexion with the subject nf kiw * ? m tba < t ? ounty - l »« not then awaro oi Hie- notoriety wlieh this viiinm . wi « ua « , )< r
nS \ JrkM ™ ™^ - divided into marked S I Abln ^ « about tie first to be tTat tht , L e - peoplfe <> f Abi "g ° n flefe willing oSsed S 3 TeI 3 sllDuldd ^ w » V l ™ they fflnivW / h h - onljr excludci Sutt ° a Courtney frem the union . . Its chav \ ctpi- wns thpn so bad that fee people of th " neighbourin parishes recoiled from- the idea of befng SoSrBSdJd withm the s&aie division A ^ h it . The cbmrnissioners having , acquainted Ohemselves with the grounds on whiSrii this request was made , complied with it , and SuKSon Courtney was erected into a union of itself , on > the understandings however , that whenever it amended its character , it should mergo into the Abingdon union . It is now part and parcel of that union , from' which it is to be inferred that
its character has somewhat improved . It was , therefore in its amended state tlat I found it . Judging from its present condition , iff must formerly have been inconceivably bad , or the people of Abingdon have been satisfied witb very slight tofcentf of amendment . Despite the" exertions of the se&lous and independent vicar , t&e Bev . Mr . Gregsoa , whoso efforts have not been without some success-, the place is to tHts day a focus of intemperance siud debauchery' of every kind-. Chastity is a thins little known in the village , and not at all respected . The want of it is regarded as- no stain on a woman ' s character , nor does it map her prospects in the slightest degree .- Herself a prostitute and the companion of thieves and prostitutes , sho
is just as likely to mavry and get settled—as people ui her class-, of life aro generally settled— -as is the honest and virtuous woman in localities possessing a higher standard oi morality . I found more thau one family of children going by different names . The mother was unmarried , andth ' o different-names indicated the-paternity of thedifferent children . Again , a whole family has been' known' to ¦ goby different names at different times ; Thus , uf the mother were living with a man of-the-name of Smith , the children took his name , but ; if she changed , her paramour and lived with one named Tomkins , the family would go by the'new name . Children have thus been known to- give to parties inquiring one name to-day , and » different one
tomorrow . It is distressing to witness' the early age at which they commence a life 'of , aotive : immora « lity . Young girl * may be seen at the public-house 3 sodden with , gin or drunk with beer . There is , of course ,, no line drawn , by them for tho regulation of their , conduct after this . Indeed ,- they are ' , proficients in- licentiousness ere they reach this , point .., The violence of thoir tempers , too , leads , them , into perpetual brawls and fights . The practice of . cohabitation before marriage i 3 almost universal .,. ; It is not only a charateristio of low rural . life , it is also so withthe miners and the fishermen-. Even in the fishing village of rMousehole , the . people of which are ,, in general , * so orderly , it is the case . Ana . this , too ,. notwifchst ! andinff
tho extent to which temperance has prevailed amongst them . Total abstinence has not effected much in this respect for society . The miners and pitmen , too , are much more under the influence of constant religious teachings than the rural labourer . And yet they are no better than he is , so far as the practice alluded to is concerned . When a young fisherman passes eighteen he generally gets a-man ' s wages . Immediately thereupon he gets a new suit of clothes and a wateh , after which he fancies himself sufficiently , set up . in the world to commence a courtship , which generally leads to an early-maiv riage by tho course mentioned . In . some parts of Cornwall the immorality of the females atwork about the mines is notorious and-proverbial . It is on the Sunday evening that most misohiefis done in this respect . No one can enter or leave a rural town at that time without being convinced of this . It is the time when servants , " both male- and
female , aremosfgenerally permitted to go out * and it is therefore that for which they arrange moat of their assignations .- They have a slang of their own , in which their arrangements are pretty unreservedly made in the presence of those who , they think " , have not the key to it . This , after some time , I became acquainted with , and I . have frequently overheard them planning their assignations , which ,, inline cases out of ten , were arranged for the first Sunday evening . The extent to which very young persons of both sexes participate in these arrangements ia really ' shocking . . Nothing can be more fatal to the you ' ng girl , after the training which she has received at home , than the work to which she is so early consigned , in . the fields .- She there often meets with associates , even of her own sex , who speedily qualify her for any criminalities in which she may be afterwards tempted to participate . . { To be Continued . )
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BRITISH COLLEGE OF HEALTH ; .. 1 New Road , London . Eeport of Lieutenant John Mackinnoh , General liygelati Agent to tho British College of Health , New-wad , Lotutou . Cape Breton , March 10 th , 1850 . TO MESSB 8 . MOR 1 SON . Dear Sirs , —I have the pleasure to communicate to you that all that my heart could desire has been fully accomplish with respect to ray practice as jour ager . fcsince I l , ast reported ; and it would be tedious , indeed , to . give a statement in full of the numerous cases of cute and benefits derived from the heaven-blessed medicines of the British College of-Health . ; The decided superiority ofthellygeinn system of medicine to all ordinary medical practice has been recently tested in our neighbourhood , the particulars of which I feel bound to communicate to yon . We have lately been visited with a fatal disease termed by our . dectors typliua fever—and the name , of the disease appears to be all they
know about it ; for all the patients they took in hand were soon hurried to the long home . Among others who fell victims to this dreiidfuldisease was a H »\ Peter Kelly , aged twenty-two j a Miss ' Mary Musgrave , a blooming .. young lady of nineteen ; : and , I have proof th » t the first doctor employed in tbia case after administering medicine , and blisterinir and bleeding toexcess , declared he had mistaken her disorder ! however , they soon sentler to her account among them . Another who submitted herself . to the doctor ' s treatment , was a Mrs , M'Kay ,. a young married woman , aged twenty-one , having one-child . She too , poor young tiling , was soon hurried to tho grave ; People now bejran to get out of conceit of the doctors , and the following individuals placed themselves in my , hands to be treated with the Hygeian medicines of Mr Mjorison ; and under tha blessing of God . the success of youiimedicines , gentlemen , has , in the whole of these cases , been satisfactory in a high degree , for allmy patientshave been thoroughly restored tg health .
Miss Mary Ann Moffatt , same age ^ and related to-the de . parted MissMusgrave . John Maiflorc , twenty-four year . s . of age . Mrs .. Stalery , twenty-three ye , ar 3 . of age . The Misses Grant , two sisters ,, and many others , who bad the fevar lightly hj takinj . the . jiills in time ; th& ' . namo of these I have pot . mentioned but those whose names I send you t consider were on tho .. brink of eternity , but they are now perfectly recovered , and I have efoiy jiooe tho disease has now vanished . It ; carried off five members In one fiimHjr near Sidney ,, and jlie doctors there neither knew thenamo of the disease or how . to cure it . I . shall only add tlmil rejoice . to know that , the system and . medicine of the late venerable James 3 torison are firmly , established , awl that the . honest people , yvho signedthepetiiiott to parliament against the use and ? ale " of doc- , tors' poisons are to iiaye their . names recorded j . andl feel pndean the reflectipn that I have done ray duty in the causa on this side the Atlantic , and have ten ' children all ' , thoroughly impressed . with : ti ] p soundness ' oJ the Jforisoniaa theory . Should !; live a few , vdays longer I ' shall be sixtyfive years of age , and I hava taken in my time 18 . M 5 of your pills ; but during thd past four years I have not takea r-3 many in twolve montlt&as I formerly tookia one , norin one month as many as I foamerly took in on * day . . lam , Gentlemen , very sinc « r » ly yours ,. '; ' John JUcg ^ oa .
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Gunpo ^ er . —Intjnemanufacture . of gunpowder it is necessary that the ingrediests should be . of the greatest , possible parity . The- , charcoal employed by government is . prejiared from , the waad of the alder , willow , Q 5 dogwood—that for the , , best spovtisg powder is made from black diy . woods ; but .-my sort of wood is used ;\ for . common ; kinds of powder . Braidock , in his , "Memoir on Gungpwder / ' says tbft . gnimbush pbint ( cytiw . wjaih ) , and th > milkhedgQ . ( euj 3 ftor 6 ia . itvacuHi ) are . suitable for that purpo 3 e , as is also ti& . rarkinsc . nia , "When the /* ood selsojed for the purpose ia deprived of its fbavk , andicut into pieces . of a con'senient . si ^ it is placed b \ cylindevs or retorts of iron , and submitted to distillation , it beiAg found that , it ans . wera the purpoise .. ietter by baiflg burnt out . of ; oouiact with the air . It is also qaid to be © ore free from potash andat the time
when , prepared in , this wayx . - same , thfeoiraducts of tjie distillation ( pyrobgnious acid , pxiioaoetic spirit and tar ) which are ksfe by the old afathod , are pr ^ erved . ¦ ? he charcoal thus burnt is induced to pawder , and < $ ftv , efully examined , to see Itbnt there are no br . « ndfl or imperfect , pieces re * maining soonest it . It ia then sifted through lawa sieves , to / . pu » fy it from any othev light or foreisa substa ^ flfts , and ground in . a naill , until it is supcientVj ' . pulverisoti to pass through what is called a bolUfta sieve , of brass vsire ^ the object being to brwg it , as nearas possible ^ to the same ej ^ ed paroles as the sulphur and saltpetre are ' reduced to , wbieh is necessary to pjoouea an intir ^ te mixture of the thsee ingredients . Ponder , prepared with oharcoal made in iron cylinders is . called cylinder powder ^ and that from pit chajoo&l is called pit powder ..
-. Tbs Bodt ' of a Cu 5 tom « Ho » se officer , named gtapleford , whose d ' , appearanoe from the Dutch brig . Pallas , at PcrtsMouth , about two months since , cauaea ooD ' jiderable excitemept , was pioke 4 up floating n ^ r th « ib gio off SwllBg If ^ i 9 wxaassi > . ¦ ¦ - . .
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THE TEN HOURS BILL . CEETDfG OF THE " BRADFORD CENTRAL . COMMITTEE . * % ,. ^ g ° f the Central Ten Hours Committee of the West Riding of Yorkshire , held at Bradford on Saturday last , for the purpose of receiving the report of Mr . w . Rand and Mr . W . Walker , and for considering the present position of the Factory Act-the Rev . Dr . Burnet , the vicary in i ^^ - as unan . in » 6 » sly resolved : — : 1 . That this committee cannot consent to the extension of the hours of labour in factories for young persons and women beyond the period at presentlegalised of fifty-ei ght hours per week . ; 2 , . That the thanks of the committee on behalf of the factory , workers of Yorkshire be most respectfully tendered to Lord John Manners , M . P ., for the course he has taken in the House of Commons , and for the amendment of which his lordship has given notice , and that the chairman of this committee do address his lordship to that effect . The followingis a copy of the letter : — TO THE BIGHT HOH . 1 OSD JOTO MANNEESMP
, .. Mt Loan , —Ihe CeBtral Ten Hours Committee of the West Hiding of Yorkshire beg most gratefully to acknowledge jour lordship ' s patriotic and consistent conduct at this crisis raun'dertaldng the cause of the youngpersons and women employed in factories , and in so promptly attempting to secure to them tlieir undisputed and indisputable right toa continued limitation of their labour to flfty-eirht hours per week . . : ¦ They assure your lordship that the proposed estensien wiereof to 8 ix ^ hours would hot only be deemed unjust , put would seriously lessen the opportunities afforded to factory workers generally to improve their domestic and moral condition ; and they also consider the honour of Parliament pledged to retain the limit of fifty-eight honrs . •¦ . ' .
TVe therefore earnestly hope that your lordship ' s amendment for limiting fectory labour to the present lawful period of ten hours per day on five days and eight hours on the Saturday , with one and a half hour interval for meals , may be assented to by Parliament ; and at the same time the framework of the measure of her Majesty's Government which confines the factory day to the actual hours of work and meal times , may be adopted as the best means for satisfactoril y regulating the working of mills and factories , and also for securing contentment and imoroTement amongst the working classes . : Ihayethehonourtobe . my Lord , Your Lordship ' s most obedient and humble servant , ( On behalf of the Central Ten Hours Committee of the West Biding of Yorkshire ) , _ . John Bawso . v , Chairman . Comnuttee-rcom , Bradford , Yorkshire , May 11 th .
A meeting of the new . central committee of the Manchester Short-time Association was held on Sunday morning , for the purpose of considering the course . which should be pursued in reference to the Government amendment upon the Ten Hours Bill . The meeting included the whole body of the Central Short-time Committee of the county , assembled from Ashton , Bury , Burnley , Clitheroe , Colne , Hey wood , Rochdale , Hyde , Littleborough , Stalybndge , Oldham , Todmorden , Hebden Bridge , Mossley , Manchester ,, Stockport , Dukinfield , and Bacup . Mr . Phillip Knight presided . The following were the resolutions : — 1 . That this committee deeply deplores the infatuation which led to the cause of the factory workers being entrusted to Lord Ashlev .
2 . That it is the first duty of this committee to maintain inviolate the provisions of John Fielden ' s Ten Hours Act .. 3 . That any deviation from the limitation of ten hours per day . and fifty-eight hours per week , is a violation of that act . . , 4 . That the government proposition , recommended by Lord Ashley , to extend the duration of the labours of women . and young persons , is an unjust and cruel attempt to deprive them of the protection which Parliament has already declared tneiri entitled to . ' . - . . _ 5 . That to make this , attempt without public notice , and in answer to an appeal from the women and young persons-to the justice of Parliament to enforce its own laws , shows a shameless disregard on the part of the government of the honour and dignity of Parliament .
6 . That should , any measure he now suffered to pass infringing upon the , two limits of ten hours and Sfty-eight hours , such a backward movement on the part of the legislature will be fatal to the progress of the cause of mercy andjiistice not only in fact by legislation , but with reference to all the overworked population of these kingdoms . - ' 7 . That this meeting pledges itself to use every constitutional meaus to assist Lord John Manners in his noble efforts to obtain an effective Ten Hours ' Bill , and steadi ' y to resist every measure , of whatever kind , bv whomsoever wimnsec ' . wWnh
would in any respect contravene the principle and intentions of John Fielden ' s Act . 8 . That the districts be advised to petition Parliament viitb . all possible despatch , in conformity with these resolutions , and that a form of petition be now adopted to be recommended to the districts . 9 . That as there is no time to obtain signatures to petitions , the districts are advised to hold public meetings , in convenient rooms or places , in their various townships or other local divisions . That the chairmen of such meetings should sign the petitions , which should arrive in London by Friday mornins : next . .. ^
10 . That . the heartfelt thanks of this meeting are due to Lord John Manners for Ihe . generous manner in which he has come forward to aid us at the moment when the base , and deliberate treachery of our pretended friends seemed to have assured our defeat . ' . ¦ ' . Resolutions 11 and 12 thank the people ' s friends , Oastler , Stephens , and Samuel Fielden , for forewarning them of this treachery , and pledging the committee to make it a hustings question in the event of another election . ¦;¦' ' . ; 13 . That this meeting is constrained to express ' its deliberate and emphatic censure of the course which the present government has pursued in reference to the now openly avowed proposition to upset the Ten Hours Act , a course which has been characterised throughout by duplicity , evasion , and a treacherous design ultimately to betray the cause of the operativesl > y making their present appeal to the justice and honour of Parliament , a pretext for inflicting stilll further burdens and hardships upon them . :
On the same day a meeting rf the delegates of the' old central short time committee , was held at the Cotton Tree Inn , and there were delegates present from Manchester , Stockport , Bolton , Chorley , Preston , Blackburn , Padiham , Ashton , Oldham , Wigan , Wavrington , Dewsbury , HuddersfielU , Bradford , Prestolee , Tyldesley , Droylsden , Astley Bridge , Leigh , Worsley , Dukenfield , Halshaw Moor , Cuerden , and other places . There was also a letter from Glasgow acceding to such course as the meeting might determine to take . The delegates present were required to state to tho meeting the feeling evinced by their constituents , and
from these statements it appeared that in the aggregate there was a large majority of factory operatives in favour of accepting the government proposition . They thought , however , that ; an effort should be made to improve the government scheme by limiting the hours to fifty-eight instead of sixty . The whole of fhe delegates who had been in London declared themselves in favour of the government plan , and Mr . Philip Grant said he should recommend the government plan unconditionally as preferable to Lord Ashley ' s , taking them upon their relative merits in every respect , though lie was willing to try every means of making it an effective Ten Hours Bill .
Mr . Nuttai proposed tho first resolution , whioh was in favour of Lord John Manners' amendment , and condemned the conduct of Lord Aehley . Mr . Donovan seconded the motien , but it was evident the feeling of the meeting was not with this course . Mr . Grant proposed as an amendment that the limitation of the factory day from six in the morning till Bis in the evening was a most important feature in factory legislation , and most-desirable to be obtained without delay . That an effort should therefore be made to engraft upon the government
plan a clause for fifty-eight hours per week , but that , failing in the attempt , no measure should be adopted to endanger the government proposition , which effects a limitation of the hours of labour from six in the morning till six in the evening . After a discussion of nearly four hours , this amendment was adopted all but unanimously . & . circular from the Fielden party was distributed in the meeting' deprecating the conduct of Lord Ashley , but the delegates repudiated any sympathy with Us sentunentsi Mr . ' Grant Was deputed to proceed to London to forward tho proposition of
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), May 18, 1850, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1574/page/7/
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