LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 Class ' \n% 
 
\]Ai 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 
 
 in^-2007 witii funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/artisansmachinerOOgaskrich 
 
ARTISANS 
 
 AND 
 
 MACHINERY: 
 
 THE MORAL AND PHYSICAL 
 CONDITION OF THE 
 
 MANUFACTURING POPULATION 
 
 CONSIDERED WITH REFERENCE TO 
 
 MECHANICAL SUBSTITUTES 
 
 HUMAN LABOUR. 
 
 BY P. GASKELL, ESQ. 
 
 SURGEON. 
 
 LONDON : 
 JOHN W. PARKER, WEST STRAND. 
 
 M DCCC XXXVI. 
 
# 
 
 !r•^'VT^^ jr- 
 
 
 R. CLAY, FRINTEH, BRE AD-STRE ET-HIL L. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The great importance of the subjects discussed 
 in the following pages will be understood, by 
 saying that they involve questions of the highest 
 interest to our commercial relations, and the 
 welfare of the entire kingdom. The declension 
 of the most numerous class of artisans in Great 
 Britain, from comfort, morality, independence, and 
 loyalty, to misery, demoralization, dependence, 
 and discontent, is the painful picture now pre- 
 sented by the domestic manufacturers. The hand- 
 loom weavers, whether of cotton, linen, worsted, 
 or silk, and the multitudes engaged in bobbin- 
 net, lace, and other manufacturing processes, still 
 carried on as household labour, together with all 
 other industrious classes, on whose path steam- 
 machinery is advancing, present a most interesting 
 and anxious subject for examination. 
 A 2 
 
 1. 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 The domestic labourers were at one period a 
 most loyal and devoted body of men. '^ Lanca- 
 shire/' says an intelligent witness before the Select 
 Committee of Hand-Loom Weavers in 1834, 
 *^ was a particularly loyal county. There was a 
 call made upon their patriotism at one time to 
 repel the gigantic power of Buonaparte, and it was 
 not made in vain : there were 30,000 volunteers 
 stepped forward in the county, and upwards of 
 1^0,000 were hand-loom weavers. Durst any 
 j Government call upon the services of such a people, 
 living upon three shillings a week ?" 
 
 Unparalleled distress, and long-continued priva- 
 tions, have, it is to be feared, operated prejudicially 
 upon the minds of this large class of artisans. 
 *^ I have not merited these things !" says another 
 witness : " I am a loyal man, strongly attached to 
 the institutions of my country. I am a friend to 
 social order, and I never shall act upon any other 
 principle myself; but I cannot think I ought 
 tamely to submit to perish without a struggle; 
 and I am confident, that, unless something be done 
 to prevent it, any aqcidental cause, such as an 
 advance of the price of provisions, or a deficiency 
 of crops, must bring thousands of us to a premature 
 grave. This is the exact condition of things." 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 Nor can any wonder be felt that men should 
 grow discontented and dissatisfied who labour 
 fourteen or sixteen hours daily, and earn from 
 four to six shillings per week, and who see not the 
 most remote probability that their condition will be 
 improved. Upwards of a million of human beings 
 are literally starving, and the number is constantly 
 on the increase, hand- weaving being the only refuge 
 for the adult labourer, since the spread of the 
 factory system. 
 
 Irreligion and general immorality must ever 
 attend hopeless poverty. Men thus circumstanced 
 become reckless and dispirited, and it is painful to 
 witness the growth of unfavourable dispositions in 
 classes who have been driven to destitution by 
 causes far beyond their control. The evidence 
 given before the Committee above mentioned, 
 both by the masters and men, is not less startling 
 than true. 
 
 It would have been well if steam and mechanism, 
 in breaking up a healthy, contented, and moral 
 body of labourers, had provided another body, pos- 
 sessing the same excellent qualities, as men and citi- 
 zens : but it has not been so. " Manufactures," says 
 a late writer, " naturally condense a vast population 
 within a narrow circuit ; they aiford every facility 
 
 U' 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 for secret cabal and co-operative union among the 
 work people ; they communicate intelligence and 
 /Energy to the vulgar mind ; they supply, in their 
 *^ liberal wages, the pecuniary sinews of contention, 
 should a spirit of revolt become general ; and the 
 ample means of inflaming their passions and de- 
 praving their appetites, by sensual indulgences of 
 the lowest kind. ; Persons not trained up in a 
 moral and religious nurture necessarily become, 
 from the evil heart of human nature, the slaves of 
 prejudice and vice; they can see objects only on 
 one side, — that which a sinister selfishness presents 
 to their view ; they are readily moved to out- 
 rage by crafty demagogues ; and they are apt to 
 regard their best benefactor, the enterprizing and 
 frugal capitalist, who employs them, with a jealous 
 and hostile eye." ; The details contained in the fol- 
 lowing pages wiirshowtowhat an extent the above 
 conditions have operated upon the factory artisan. 
 
 The opinions of the Author have been formed 
 from a long acquaintance with the classes of which 
 he speaks ; and here he may be permitted to make a 
 remark respecting the Reports of the Factory Com- 
 missioners. These .Reports are highly honourable 
 to the gentlemen who have been severally engaged 
 in drawing them up ; still they do not exhibit the 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 factory population either as it is or as it has 
 been ; and the deductions which the Commis- 
 sioners have drawn overlook many of the most im- 
 portant circumstances connected with the industry 
 of the labouring classes. The evidence upon which 
 the Reports are founded is, as will be seen in the 
 analysis of it contained in the Appendix to the 
 present work, of the most opposite character, and 
 admits of being construed either one way or the 
 other, just as the particular views, or the personal 
 associations, of the observer might determine. 
 
 It is to be wished that the gentlemen who have 
 acted as Factory Commisioners would visit the 
 manufacturing towns as simple observers, and that 
 they would examine into the condition of the 
 operatives without show and official form. They 
 have obviously taken great interest in the subject, 
 and would find it well worth their while to pursue 
 the inquiry. The masters have expressed, very 
 naturally, their surprise at the Reports : a 
 moment's consideration, however, will serve to 
 show that the Reports are exactly such as might 
 have been expected, from the mode in which the 
 inquiry was conducted. 
 
 It is an approximation to absurdity to believe 
 that any man will accuse himself or family of 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 flagrant or even of minor crime ; neither is it much 
 further from absurdity to beheve that any class, 
 
 y accustomed to a particular social and domestic 
 condition, can be brought to acknowledge that it 
 is essentially evil. A commission of inquiry, 
 therefore, despatched to examine into these points, 
 has little or no chance of coming at the truth, 
 unless the parties so commissioned have a certain 
 amount of previous information. The only way 
 open to them is to call before them witnesses, and 
 from these to extract whatever evidence they can 
 give. 
 
 To show the impossibility of arriving at the 
 truth by such means, it may be sufficient to say, 
 that, in the majority of instances, the witnesses 
 give the most conflicting evidence, even upon 
 points connected with their own daily expe- 
 riences. Thus to the question, " Whether the 
 .'factory population were degenerated in appearance 
 I ' and stunted in growth ?" six operatives replied. 
 Of these, three positively say. Yes ; and three as 
 positively say. No ! The same result followed other 
 questions of an equally significant character; six 
 speaking one way, and seven another : and, what 
 is very remarkable, the proportions of aye and no 
 are in many cases nearly balanced. 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 The fact is, that the operatives themselves cannot 
 be supposed to judge fairly of their condition. 
 The plan of seeking information directly was tried, 
 very extensively, by the author, but without any 
 satisfactory result. It is true that he accumulated 
 a series of answers, from which he might have 
 drawn similar deductions to those of the Factory 
 Conmiisioners ; but it must be obvious that such 
 deductions would take their tone from circum- 
 stances extraneous to the actual value of the 
 questions. The Factory Commisioners visited the 
 factory districts at a time when the public mind 
 had been filled with the most fearful details of 
 the cruelty and profligacy existing in theni ; and 
 on finding that many of these details were gross 
 exaggerations, and that in some mills an admirable 
 system of physical and moral discipline had been 
 estabHshed, they have gone to the opposite side 
 of the question, and consequently are as much 
 in error, on points of opinion, as many of the 
 theoretical witnesses examined before Mr. Sadler's 
 Committee in 1833. 
 
 The truth of the Author's statements, regarding 
 the social and domestic habits of the artisans 
 brought under the influence of factory labour, is 
 amply corroborated by the evidence of every resident 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 observer, who has been placed under circumstances 
 to make his evidence valuable. Dr. Kay, who 
 officiated as medical attendant to a public charity, 
 in a situation which.led him into the homes of the 
 operatives ; Mr. Roberton, an acute and intelligent 
 man, connected with the Manchester Lying-in 
 Hospital ; Mr. Ashworth, employed by some be- 
 nevolent individuals to visit the residences of the 
 lower classes ; the gentlemen acting as visitors 
 to the Provident Society; and several eminent 
 manufacturers, who have themselves, at various 
 times, written on these topics; — one and all speak 
 the same language. 
 
 In speaking of the Reports of the Factory 
 Commissioners, it must not be supposed that they 
 are undervalued; on the contrary, they have 
 brought to light a vast mass of highly important 
 information, which could not have been obtained by 
 any other means. The only error of the Com- 
 missioners, consists in their having formed con- 
 clusions, without taking into consideration the 
 influence of several powerful agents acting upon 
 the great body of artisans. 
 
 With the commercial economy of manufactures, 
 the present work does not pretend to deal. The 
 important questions connected with that economy. 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 are handled in so far only as they bear upon the 
 condition of the labourer. 
 
 The trains of facts and reasonings on the substi- 
 tution of steam-machinery for human labour bring 
 the Author into direct collision with many eminent 
 writers on political economy. In entering into the 
 contest, he is aware that he shall have to encounter 
 much opposition ; but his facts are undeniable, and 
 his deductions are illustrated by every-day expe- 
 rience. 
 
 It is a new era in the history of commerce that 
 an active and increasing trade should be the 
 index, not to the improvement of the condition oi y 
 the working classes, but to their poverty and degra- 
 dation : it is an era at which Great Britain has 
 arrived; and it behoves every man, anxious for 
 the well-being of his country, to turn Ins attention 
 to this extraordinary fact. 
 
 Champion Hill, 
 
 February, 1836. 
 
 hi 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction 1 
 
 Chapter I. ♦ 
 Domestic Manufacture 11 
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 Factory System — Separation of Families — Influence upon 
 the Moral and Social Condition of the Manufacturing 
 Population 59 
 
 Chapter III. 
 Social Condition — Habitations — Domestic Morals, &c. . . 75 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 
 Influence of Temperature and Manners upon Physical 
 Development, &c. and upon Morals 103 
 
 Chapter V. 
 Social Condition — Domestic Habits, &c. &c 115 
 
 Chapter VI. 
 Infant Labour — Female Labour 135 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Physical Condition 176 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 Health—Rate of Mortality 196 
 
 Chapter IX, 
 Factory Labour in General — Peculiar Diseases, &c. . . . 216 
 
 Chapter X. 
 Education — Religion — Crime — Pauperism 239 
 
 Chapter XI. 
 Combinations 261 
 
 Chapter XII. 
 Subjugation of Labourers — Truck and Cottage Systems . . 293 
 
 Chapter XIH. 
 
 The Influence of Machinery on the Value of Human Labour 
 — Substitution of Automata for Human Agents — Its Ex- 
 tent and Ultimate Consequences 310 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Analysis of the Evidence taken before the Factory Commis- 
 sioners ' 363 
 
 Note A. — Changes in the Industrial Condition of the Do- 
 mestic Manufacturers , 373 
 
 Note B. — Table showing the Average Wages paid for 
 
 Weaving, &c. &c 375 
 
 Note C. — Present State of Hand- loom Weavers . . . . 377 
 Note D. — Report and Resolutions of a Meeting of Deputies 
 from the Hand-loom Worsted Weavers 383 
 
 Answer of the Hand-loom Weavers to Mr. Scrope, as to 
 
 Emigration 391 
 
 Extent of Foreign Competition in the Cotton Trade . . . 393 
 
 Table showing the Age, Sex, and Number of Factory Artisans 395 \^ 
 Table showing the Amount of Irish Population as indicated 
 
 by the Poor Rate 395 
 
 Table showing the Progress of Crime in England and Wales 397 
 Table showing the Quantity of Gin and Whiskey consumed 
 in England, Scotland, and Ireland, in two Periods of 
 Three Years each 398 
 
 Table showing the relation existing between Crime, Pauper- 
 ism, Drunkenness, and the State of the Industrious 
 Classes, &c 399 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 A WORK devoted exclusively to an examination of 
 the moral, social, and physical conditions of the indus- 
 trious classes connected with manufactures, has been 
 for some time much wanted. The vast importance of 
 the subject, and the numerous interests connected with 
 it, renders it highly desirable that it should be carefully 
 examined and dispassionately considered, and that a 
 book should be the result to which all parties may look 
 with confidence, and in which the general reader may 
 find accurate information.* 
 
 . Committees of the House of Commons have, at 
 different periods, examined into some of the points of 
 this inquiry. It happens, however, unfortunately, that 
 the evidence given before these Committees, and the 
 
 * The number of adult individuals alone engaged in arts, ma- 
 nufactures, and trade, amounts to 1,564,184, being 50 per cent, 
 more than those employed in agriculture. This disproportion is 
 doubled by taking into account the young persons engaged in 
 manufactures. The number stated also is a mere approximation. 
 B 
 
Z INTRODUCTION. 
 
 reports founded upon that evidence, are looked at sus- 
 piciously, and have in effect little weight or considera- 
 tion.* This has arisen, partly from the peculiar nature 
 of the evidence, which too often is tinged so strongly 
 with party spirit, thai it subjects itself at once to doubt 
 or total unbelief; and partly from the want of knowledge 
 amongst the members of the committees, which prevented 
 them applying such questions and trains of reasoning 
 and deductions as the actual condition of the subject 
 demanded. Hence, though many valuable facts have 
 been elicited by these inquiries, they are in such a crude 
 form as to be nearly valueless. 
 
 Connected in no way with manufactures, not having 
 any private interest in the existence or nonexistence 
 of any particular order of things, the Author trusts he 
 shall supply a desideratum in the history of his coun- 
 try — and at a juncture when men's minds are excited 
 upon a subject, which has but lately begun, to have 
 that attention paid it which its magnitude and over- 
 whelming value demand. In the prosecution of his work, 
 he has studiously confined himself to data, generally the 
 results of extensive personal research and inquiry, or 
 obtained from documents worthy of implicit belief. 
 
 The questions of infant labour, the effects of factory 
 labour in general, the physical condition and peculiar 
 diseases of the labourers, have been treated plainly and 
 
 ♦ Witness the Committee of the House of Commons in 1832, of 
 which Mr. Sadler was chairman. The mildest term which the 
 evidence before that Committee deserves is, that it is full of 
 extravagances. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 succinctly, upon considerations drawn from the known 
 constitution of the human body, and the consequences 
 produced by various external agencies upon its healthy 
 functions. 
 
 The moral, social, and domestic relations of the 
 immense portion of the productive population of the 
 kingdom, now engaged in manufactures, present a pic- 
 ture as strange and as deeply interesting as any in the 
 whole circle of the history of mankinds To the philan- 
 thropist — to the man anxious for the well-being and 
 social happiness of his species — it is one calculated to fill 
 the mind with anxiety. It has been little attended to, 
 and still less understood. Remedies are wanted, but 
 before they can be efficiently applied, the disease must 
 be studied; mere empiricism, even when founded on 
 the purest motives, is dangerous ; and when the interest 
 and happiness of millions are at stake, a clear and dis- 
 tinct understanding of their wants and failings should pre- 
 cede any attempt to satisfy the one or rectify the other. 
 
 In developing the existing state of things, with re- 
 spect to combinations, the truck system, the cottage 
 system, and the influence of machinery on the value 
 of human labour, many important truths are brought 
 into full daylight, unperverted in their bearings by 
 the mistaken ideas, sometimes of one party, some- 
 1" times of another, which have invariably distorted, or 
 partially concealed them, as best suited their peculiar 
 purposes. A strenuous effort, too, has been made to 
 demonstrate satisfactorily how much mischief is arising, 
 B 2 
 
;^I^. .4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ; and has arisen, from a division of interest, and want of 
 mutual cooperation between the masters and the men. 
 
 In the statistical divisions of this work, the Author 
 has done all that can be done with the subject, and he 
 can add his mite of vexation to that of others who have 
 been engaged in similar inquiries. The utter want of 
 any thing approaching to correct registration is one of 
 the severest drawbacks to those who wish to verify their 
 positions by references to figures. All that the utmost 
 industry can expect to attain is but an approximation 
 to accuracy, and it may be questioned whether it is not 
 safer to rely upon deductions drawn from other and 
 better authenticated sources of knowledge. The diffi- 
 culty in these respects, is increased a hundred-fold in 
 manufacturing districts, the population of which is 
 undergoing incessant changes, quite independent of 
 the operation of natural causes, and in which too the 
 separatists from the Established Church constitute the 
 numerical majority. Many of these separatists keep no 
 registries whatever ; and in all so much laxity and 
 uncertainty prevails, that they are worse than useless as 
 documentary evidence. 
 
 The little amount of written information on all these 
 subjects is very extraordinary, especially when it is 
 borne in mind how large a proportion of the national 
 wealth, and of the entire population, are involved in 
 them. This may perhaps have arisen from the circum- 
 stance of the existing preeminence of manufactures 
 being but the growth of a day — being as yet but a 
 
INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 Hercules in the cradle. It is indeed only since the 
 introduction of steam as a power that they have ac- 
 quired their paramount importance ; one generation 
 even now is but passing away since this epoch, and 
 what mighty alterations has it already wrought in the 
 condition of society ! — changing in many respects the 
 very frame-work of the social confederacy, and opening 
 into view a long vista of rapid transitions, terminating 
 in the subjection of human power, as an agent of labour, 
 to the gigantic and untiring energies of automatic 
 machinery. 
 
 It is high time that the erroneous opinions currently 
 entertained on many points connected with factory dis- 
 cipline and factory labour should be removed, and that 
 the feelings of sympathy and needless commiseration, 
 expressed by certain portions of the community, should 
 be directed into a more legitimate and less harmful 
 channel. One great cause of the unhappy differences 
 which have so completely sundered the confidence of the 
 employers and the employed, had its origin in the want 
 of diffusion of correct knowledge. The masters have 
 not at all times shown that their opinions were trust- 
 worthy. But it has been the men who have chiefly 
 erred, and with the most deplorable results to themselves. 
 They have suffered their better judgments to be warped, 
 and their passions led astray, by heartless and design- 
 ing demagogues, who have taken advantage of their 
 ignorance, led them to the commission of crimes, ruined 
 their comfort, and destroyed their social character, for 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the purpose of battening and luxuriating upon their 
 miseries and degradation. The labours of the Factory 
 Commissioners have been of service ; and the Author 
 finds that his views and opinions have in many impor- 
 tant points been amply corroborated by their reports, 
 since the first appearance of many of the following 
 observations. 
 
 The causes which have led to the present declension 
 in the social and physical condition of the artisans, the 
 Author believes either to have been wholly misunder- 
 stood, or very inadequately appreciated. It is not 
 poverty alone — for the family of the mill labourer 
 earn what is sufficient to supply all their wants ; it is 
 not factory labour, considered 'per se ; it is not the lack 
 of education, in the common acceptation of the word : — 
 no ; it has arisen from the separation of families, the 
 breaking up of households, the disruption of all those 
 ties which link man's heart to the better portion of his 
 nature, — viz. his instincts and social affections. It is 
 these which render him a respectable and praiseworthy 
 member of society, both in his domestic relations, and in 
 his capacity of a citizen. The class of hand- workers have 
 indeed sunk beneath poverty, with its many attendant 
 evils ! 
 
 The part of the masters in the work of reform, natu- 
 rally is, and ought to be, the leading one. They are, 
 above all men, interested ; and great responsibility rests 
 with them. They have within their power the capabi- 
 lity of doing much either for good or for evil. It is their 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 bounden duty to examine into every thing bearing upon 
 the subject, with the most minute care, with a spirit of 
 strict justice, and with a disposition to ameliorate, as far 
 as is consistent with their own private and indisputable 
 rights. In doing this, they should endeavour so to act, 
 that the confidence of the men may go hand in hand 
 with them, or it will be of no avail. 
 
 The universal application of steam-power as an agent 
 for producing motion in machinery, has closely assimi- 
 lated the condition of all branches of manufacturing 
 industry, both in their moral and physical relations. In 
 all, it destroys domestic labour ; in all, it congregates 
 labourers into towns, or densely peopled neighbour- 
 hoods ; in all, it separates families ; and in all, it lessens 
 the demand for human strength, reducing man to a mere 
 watcher or feeder of his mighty assistant, which toils 
 and labours with a pertinacity and unvarying con- 
 tinuance requiring constant and sedulous attention. 
 
 It is much to be wished, that *' men in high places " 
 would examine, somewhat more in detail, the existing 
 condition of the manufacturers.* The conversion of 
 a great people, in little more than half a century, from 
 agriculturists to manufacturers, is a phenomenon worthy 
 the attention of any statesman. It is an attention, 
 too, which will be forced upon them, when, from their 
 
 * " In the recent discussions concerning our factories, no cir- 
 cumstance is so deserving of remark as the gross ignorance evinced 
 by our leading legislators and economists." — Br, lire's Philosophy 
 of Manufactures i p. 6. 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 want of knowledge, they will be liable to take steps 
 which may prove destructive to one or both of the great 
 divisions of national property. 
 
 The change which has recently been made in the 
 constitution of the House of Commons is another 
 important reason why information should be extended 
 widely and generally. The change is one charac- 
 teristic of the times ; and the introduction to the House 
 of persons of strictly commercial habits and views, 
 will necessarily operate very powerfully upon the 
 course of legislation. The change will not,"^ however, 
 rest here : the preponderance already acquired by 
 manufactures is progressing rapidly ; and its represen- 
 tatives will, ere long, take the position afforded them 
 by their vantage ground. The riches of a great and 
 wealthy nation are pouring into the tide of manufac- 
 tures, and swelling its ascendency ; and it must soon 
 become in appearance, what it is in reality, the directing 
 current of commercial prosperity. From the want of 
 enlarged views, it is to be feared that crude and badly 
 digested enactments may interfere between the em- 
 ployer and the employed,* to the serious injury of 
 both parties, and to the ultimate endangering of the 
 present lofty pre-eminence enjoyed by Great Britain, as 
 the grand focus of manufacturing intelligence ; and 
 may so hamper and obstruct the operations of capital, 
 as to lead, to some extent, to its abstraction. 
 
 * The fears thus expressed were amply fulfilled by the Factory 
 Regulation Act, passed by Parliament on the 29th of August, 
 1833. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 It is above all things of importance, that the condition 
 of the labourers should be carefully and maturely con- 
 sidered. Though danger may arise from legislative 
 enactments, this is the slumbering volcano which may 
 at any time shatter the whole fabric to atoms, and 
 involve in one common ruin, themselves, the master, 
 and the manufacture. The struggle carrying on between 
 hui#an power on the one hand, and steam, aided by 
 machinery, which is constantly improving in construc- 
 tion, and increasing in applicability, is gradually ap- 
 proaching a crisis. The contest has hitherto been between 
 the vast body of hand-workers, who have been forced to 
 cling to their ancient habits, till no market is open to 
 their labour ; but it is now commencing between another 
 great body and machinery. The adaptation of mecha- . 
 nical contrivances to nearly all the processes which have 
 as yet wanted the delicate tact of the human hand, will 
 soon either do away with the necessity for employing it ; y 
 altogether, or it must be employed at a price that will ■ 
 enable it to compete with mechanism. Adult human 
 labour must ever be expensive : it cannot be carried 
 beyond a certain point ; neither will it permit a depres- 
 sion in wage below what is essential for its existence. 
 
 It may indeed be doubted how far the interference 
 of Government in questions of this nature is likely to 
 prove beneficial, and whether the parties, the masters 
 on the one hand, and the workmen on the other, 
 would not act most wisely by saying as the merchants 
 of France said to Colbert, when it was proposed to take 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 measures to protect their interests, — ^^ Laissez nous 
 faire^^ — let us alone, we shall take care of ourselves. 
 There are many contingencies, and many interests, 
 which must be always overlooked ; and in the endeavour 
 to remedy one evil a path is often opened for the 
 approach of others. The best preserving power is to be 
 found in the balance of interest between the commercial 
 economy of manufactures, and the social well-being of 
 the employers and the employed. 
 
 The most important point, however, in which the sub- 
 ject presents itself is the rapid substitution of automatic 
 for human labour. All the great branches of manufac- 
 ture which not long ago occupied the cottage popula- 
 tion of Great Britain are, one by one, becoming absorbed 
 in factories, and it is to this withdrawal of domestic 
 labour that we must attribute the wide, nay, universal 
 distress, which has spread over the land. The old poor 
 law has been blamed as the cause of the evil, but most 
 erroneously ; the evil has, indeed, shewn itself through 
 the agency of that law, but we repeat that the cause 
 of the distress was unconnected with it, and cannot be 
 remedied by its alteration. 
 
. >^ 
 
 MORAL, SOCIAL, AND PHYSICAL CONDITIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURERS 
 
 BFFORE AND AFTER THE 
 
 APPLICATION OF STEAM-POWER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Domestic Manufacturers — General union of Manufacture and 
 Farming, Residences and Characters of the Home Labourers — 
 Home Labour, its influence upon the domestic and social vir- 
 tues — Physical Conditions — Families — Distinction of Rank — 
 Squire, Yeoman, and Labourer — Comparison of the wants 
 and habits of past and present Manufacturers — Leasing of 
 Land — Peculiar Habits — Manners, &c. — State of Manufac- 
 tures—Limited supply of Yarn — Inadequacy of existing 
 Machines — Hand-loom Weaver and Farmer— Rate of Wages 
 — Causes which led to the abandonment of Farming as an 
 accessory to Weaving — Influence upon the social rank of the 
 Weaver — Simple hand-loom Weaver, his Condition — Spin- 
 ners, their Condition, Changes, Improvement in their Machines 
 — Conversion of the small Freeholders into Spinners, their 
 Character — Effects of this upon Farming — Establishment of 
 Mills — Influence upon the domestic Spinner — Ruin of the class 
 of Yeomen — New order of Weavers — Human Power, difficulty 
 of managing — Present state of Hand-loom Weavers — Remedial 
 agents — Cultivation of wastes — Allotment system. 
 
 Before the year 1760, manufactures were in a great 
 measure confined to the demands of the home market^^ 
 
 • The annual consumption of cotton in British manufactures 
 barely reached four millions of pounds,! now it amounts to two 
 hundred and seventy millions of pounds. The export of manu- 
 factured cotton was only valued at 335,000/. in 1780. In 1833 
 it amounted to 18,459,000/. real value. 
 
12 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 At this period, and down to 1800, during which interval 
 a general impetus had been given to this branch of 
 trade by foreign and increased home consumption — and 
 in which, also, great improvements had taken place in 
 the construction of the machines, all tending to facilitate 
 and hasten production — the majority of artisans had 
 laboured in their own houses, and in the bosoms of their 
 families. It may be termed the period of Domestic 
 Manufacture; and the various mechanical contrivances 
 were expressly framed for that purpose. The distaff, 
 the spinning wheel, producing a single thread, and sub- 
 sequently the jenny and mule, were to be found forming 
 a part of the complement of household furniture in 
 the majority of the cottage-homes of Great Britain, 
 w^hilst every hamlet and village resounded with the clack 
 of the hand-loom. 
 
 These were, undoubtedly, the golden times of manu- 
 factures, considered in reference to the character of the 
 labourers. By all the processes being carried on under 
 a man's own roof, he retained his individual respectabi- 
 lity, he was kept apart from associations that might injure 
 his moral worth, and he generally earned wages which 
 were not only sufficient to live comfortably upon, but 
 which enabled him to rent a few acres of land ; thus 
 jjoining in his own person two classes which are now daily 
 becoming more and more distinct. It cannot, indeed, 
 be denied, that his farming was too often slovenly, and 
 conducted at times as a subordinate occupation ; and 
 that the land yielded but a small proportion of what, 
 under a better system of culture, it was capable of pro- 
 ducing. It nevertheless answered an excellent purpose. 
 Its necessary tendence filled up the vacant hours, when 
 he found it unnecessary to apply himself to his loom 
 or spinning machine. It gave him employment of a healthy 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 13 
 
 character, and raised him a step in the scale of society- 
 above the mere labourer. A garden was likewise an in- 
 variable adjunct to the cottage of the hand-loom weaver ; 
 and the floral tribes, fruits, and edible roots, were zea- 
 lously and successfully cultivated. 
 
 The domestic manufacturers were scattered over the 
 entire surface of the country. Themselves cultiva- 
 tors, and of simple habits and few wants, they rarely 
 left their own homesteads. The yarn which they 
 spun, and which was wanted by the weaver, was 
 received or delivered, as the case might be, by agents, 
 who travelled for the wholesale houses ; or dep6ts 
 were established in particular neighbourhoods, to which 
 they could apply at weekly periods,* 
 
 Thus, removed from many of those causes which uni- 
 versally operate to the deterioration of the moral 
 character of the labouring man, when brought into large 
 towns — into immediate contact and communion with his 
 fellows, and under the influence of many depressing 
 physical agencies — the small farmer, spinner, or hand- 
 loom weaver, presented an orderly and respectable 
 appearance. It is true that the amount of labour gone 
 through was but small, — that the quantity of cloth or 
 yarn produced was but limited. — for he worked by the 
 rule of his strength and convenience. They were, how- 
 ever, sufficient to clothe and feed himself and family 
 decently, and according to their station ; to lay by a 
 penny for an evil day, and to enjoy those amusements 
 and bodily recreations then in being. He was a re- 
 
 ♦ The sedentary occupation of these primitive manufacturers 
 gave rise to studious and reflective habits. Some of the best 
 practical botanists of the day, and several very eminent mathema- 
 ticians, were found amongst the Lancashire cotton weavers. 
 
14 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 spectable member of society ; a good father, a good 
 husband, and a good son. 
 
 It is not intended to paint an Arcadia — to state that 
 the domestic manufacturer was free from the vices or 
 failings of other men. By no means ; but he had the 
 opportunities brought to him for being comfortable and 
 virtuous- — with a physical constitution uninjured by 
 protracted toil in a heated and impure atmosphere, the 
 fumes of the gin-shop, the low debauchery of the beer- 
 house, and the miseries incident to ruined health. On 
 the contrary, he commonly lived to a good round age, 
 worked when necessity demanded, ceased his labour 
 when his wants were supplied, according to his character, 
 and if disposed to spend time or money in drinking, 
 could do so in a house as well conducted and as orderly 
 as his own ; for the modern weaver or spinner differs 
 not 'more widely from the domestic manufacturer, than 
 the publican of the present day differs from the Boni- 
 face of that period, whose reputation depended upon 
 good ale and good hours, and who, in nine cases out 
 of ten, was a freeholder of some consequence in the 
 neighbourhood. 
 "^ The circumstance of a man's labour being conducted 
 in the midst of his household, exercised a powerful in- 
 fluence upon his social affections, and those of his 
 offspring. It but rarely happened that labour was pre- 
 maturely imposed upon children ; — a man's own earnings, 
 aided by the domestic economy of his wife, generally 
 sufficing to permit growth and bodily development to 
 be to some extent completed, before any demand was 
 made upon their physical energies. This permitted and 
 fostered the establishment of parental authority and 
 domestic discipline. It directed the child's thoughts and 
 attachments to their legitimate objects, and rendered it 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 15 
 
 submissive to that control which is essential to its future 
 welfare. When it was enabled to join its exertions 
 to those of its parent for their mutual support, it did so 
 with no idea of separate interests, but with a free 
 acknowledgment that the amount of its earnings was/ 
 entirely at the disposal of the head of the familj^" Jhus 
 remaining and labouring in conjunction with, and under 
 the eye of, its parents, till manhood and womanhood 
 were respectively attained, it acquired habits of domesti- 
 cation exceedingly favourable to its subsequent progress 
 through life ; home being, to the poor man, the very 
 temple of fortune, in which he may contrive, if his 
 earnings are not scanty indeed, to live with comfort and 
 independence. 
 
 In this respect, the child of the domestic manufacturer 
 was advantageously placed. It remained under its 
 paternal roof during the period in which puberty was 
 developed ; its passions and social instincts were properly 
 cultivated, its bodily powers were not too early called 
 into requisition ; it had the benefit of green fields, a pure 
 atmosphere, the cheering influences of nature, and its 
 diet was plain and substantial. Under these auspicious 
 circumstances it grew vigorously, acquired a healthy 
 tone of system, the various parts of its physical organ- 
 ization were well compacted and arranged, and it 
 presented an aspect fresh and blooming, denoting animal 
 energy and vital activity. 
 
 The distinctions of rank, which are the safest , 
 guarantees for the performance of the relative duties of ■ 
 all classes, were at this time in full force. The * Squire,' 
 as the chief landed proprietor was generally termed, 
 obtained and deserved his importance from his large 
 possessions, low rents, and a simplicity and homeliness 
 
16 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 of bearing which, when joined to acknowledged family- 
 respectability, made him loved and reverenced by his 
 tenants and neighbours. He mingled freely in their 
 sports — was the general and undisputed arbiter in all 
 questions of law and equity — was a considerate and gene- 
 rous landlord — a kind and indulgent master — and look- 
 ing at him in all his bearings, a worthy and amiable 
 man ; tinged, it is true, with some vices, but all so coated 
 over with wide-spreading charity, that the historian 
 willingly draws the veil of forgetfulness over them. 
 ,yThis race of men is now nearly extinct in the manufac- 
 turing districts. Their possessions are passed into new 
 hands — their descendants ** pushed from their stools " 
 by an order of men having few or no traits in common 
 with them. They indeed belonged to a race indigenous 
 to a peculiar grade of social advancement, no longer in 
 being, and with them, for they were equally a part of 
 the same system, the ** Yeomanry of England," the 
 small farmers have fallen victims to the breaking up of 
 a condition of society, and a state of property, which 
 secured a flourishing rural population. 
 
 Modern Utilitarians measure man's actions, and 
 every thing referring to his condition, by mind. That 
 state of things is, however, the best, which brings 
 to each man's fireside the greatest amount of domestic 
 comforts, though it may not be that which will enable 
 him to boil his pot scientifically, or calculate an abstruse 
 problem in mathematics. It is not denied, neither is it 
 wished to conceal the fact from observation, that squire, 
 yeoman, and manufacturer, differed very materially in 
 some of these respects from the individuals occupying 
 a correspondent rank at the present period, and that the 
 latter, when looked upon in this point of view, are 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 17 
 
 infinitely superior to the former. Neither in comparing 
 the two is there any intention of wishing that society 
 should be again taken back to that particular level in the 
 onward progress of civilization. The forward impulse 
 must and will be obeyed, whatever the consequences 
 may be to the welfare and happiness of the labouring 
 community. 
 
 At the present time may be seen a daily spread of 
 know^ledge, joined to a gradual depression in the scale 
 of social enjoyments ; vast and incessant improvements 
 in mechanical contrivances, all tending to overmatch 
 and supersede human labour, and v^hich threaten to 
 extirpate the very demand for it ; a system of toil 
 continued unbroken by rest or relaxation for twelve or 
 fourteen hours, in a heated mill, and an utter destruction 
 of all social and domestic relations. At the time to 
 which we are alluding, there was a calm and equable 
 flow of occupation, alternating between the loom and 
 the greensward — an intelligence seldom looking beyond 
 the present — an ignorance of nearly every thing but the 
 most common arts of life — a knowledge chiefly tra- 
 ditional — a proper station in the social arrangement — a 
 demand for labour full as great, if not greater than the 
 existing supply — a rate of wages quite equivalent to the 
 simplicity and limited range of their wants — and all the 
 social and domestic relations in full force, and properly 
 directed. 
 
 The great question here is the measure of social and 
 domestic happiness, for these are but synonymes of 
 social virtue. They coexist and have an intimate 
 dependence one upon another. Degradation in these 
 conditions will ever be simultaneous with moral declen- 
 sion — a declension incompatible with the performance of 
 a great majority of man's best and most sacred duties. 
 
 
 
18 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 If the comfort of the poor man is to be estimated by- 
 variety of wants, by his living in an artificial state of 
 society, surrounded by all the inventions resulting from 
 a high degree of civilization — by having these brought 
 to his door, and every facility afforded him for procuring 
 them — the aboriginal and home manufacturer sinks very 
 low when compared with the present race. If, on the 
 contrary, comfort and domestic happiness are to be 
 judged by the fewness of a man's wants, with the capa- 
 bility of securing the means for their supply, the tables 
 are turned in favour of the domestic manufacturer. 
 
 If the comfort of these states of society is to be calcu- 
 lated upon another ground — namely, the nature of their 
 separate wants and habits — it brings into light very 
 striking contrasts. The present artisan shows a high 
 order of intelligence, seeking his amusement in the news- 
 l paper, the club, the political union, or the lecture-room ; 
 looking for his stimulus in the gin and beer shops ; 
 taking for his support a limited supply of animal food, 
 once a day, joined with copious dilution of weak tea, 
 the almost universal concomitant of the spinner and 
 weaver's breakfast and evening meal, in many cases 
 indeed being nearly its sole constituent ; he is debarred 
 from all athletic sports, not having a moment's time to 
 seek, or a bodily vigour capable of undertaking them ; he 
 J has an active mind in a stunted and bloodless body ; 
 \ there is a separation of the labourer from his family 
 
 \}\ during the whole day, and a consequent disruption of all 
 'social ties; and this too joined to a similar separation 
 amongst the various members of his household. 
 
 / The domestic artisan possessed a very limited degree 
 of information ; his amusements were exclusively sought 
 in bodily exercise, quoits, cricket, the dance, the chace, 
 and numerous seasonal celebrations; he lived in utter 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 19 
 
 ignorance of printed books, beyond the thumbed Bible 
 and a few theological tracts ; he sought his stimulus in 
 home-brewed ale ; he had for his support animal food 
 occasionally, but subsisted generally upon farm produce, 
 meal or rye bread, eggs, cheese, milk, butter, &c. the 
 use of tea being quite unknown, or only just beginning to 
 make its appearance ; he had a sluggish mind in an active 
 body ; his labour was carried on under his own roof, or, 
 if exchanged at intervals for farming occupation, this 
 was going on under the eye, and with the assistance 
 of his family ; his children grew up under his immediate 
 inspection and control ; no lengthened separation taking 
 place till they got married, and became themselves heads 
 of families engaged in pursuits similar to his own, and 
 in a subordinate capacity. Lastly, the same generation 
 lived age after age on the same spot, and under the 
 same thatched roof, which thus became a sort of heir- 
 loom, endeared to its occupier by a long series of happy 
 memories and home delights — being in fact looked on as 
 an old and familiar friend ; and, in the end, they crowded 
 the same narrow tenement in the quiet and sequestered 
 church-yard, suffered to moulder in peace beneath its 
 fresh and verdant turf, and swept over by the free, the I 
 balmy, and the uncontaminated breath of heaven. - — ' 
 
 One circumstance exceedingly favourable to the deve- 
 lopment and continuance of industry and temperance, 
 was the plan, now nearly, if not quite exploded, of 
 leasing small farms for one or more lives. A man's 
 character always aided him very materially in these 
 arrangements with his landlord, as upon this depended 
 the amount both of rent and fine, a respectable man, 
 it was well known, not being likely to exhaust and 
 impoverish the land during his interest in it. Number- 
 less examples might be quoted in illustration of this 
 c 2 
 
20 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 position, and many circumstances detailed showing 
 what a beneficial influence resulted from it, upon the 
 tone and bearing of the manners of the small farmers. 
 They were indeed a highly creditable body of men — 
 priding themselves alike on the good opinion of their 
 landlord, the excellent condition of their farms, and the 
 quality of their yarn or cloth. 
 [ The social virtues, it has been said, will be found 
 
 pari passu with social comforts. The vices that were 
 incident to this state of things were the result of man's 
 natural propensities, and depended more upon the want 
 of any sufficient check upon his passions, which were 
 kept in a state of excitement by health and bodily 
 vigour, than upon moral depravity springing from 
 intentional and reiterated wrong doing. The very fact 
 of these small communities (for they were generally 
 found congregated in petty irregular villages, containing 
 from ten to forty cottages) being, as it were, one great 
 family, prevented, except in a few extraordinary in- 
 stances, any systematic course of sinning. This moral 
 check was indeed all-powerful in hindering the com- 
 mission of crime, aided by a sense of religion very 
 commonly existing amongst them. In one respect 
 this failed, however, and it was in preventing the 
 indulgence of sexual appetite, in a way and at a time 
 which are still blots upon the rural population of many 
 \ districts. 
 
 Some surprise may be excited probably by the asser- 
 tion, in those whose attention has never been directed 
 . to the subject, but it is not the less true, that sexual 
 \j I intercourse was almost universal prior to marriage in 
 I the agricultural districts. This intercourse must not 
 be confounded with that promiscuous and indecent 
 concourse of the sexes which is so prevalent in towns. 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE, 2X 
 
 and which is ruinous alike to health and to morals : it 
 existed only between parties where a tacit understanding 
 had all the weight of an obligation, — and this was that 
 marriage should be the result. In nineteen cases out 
 of twenty this took place sooner or later ; but still the 
 prevalence of such a course of indulgence w^as, in some 
 respect, decidedly injurious to the character and habits 
 of both individuals, weakening, as it inevitably did, that 
 confidence which ought to exist between unmarried 
 parties, and divesting woman of that chaste and pure 
 influence which is capable of keeping in check man's 
 coarser and more vehement passions. Many of the 
 sports of the period, amongst the young of both sexes, 
 were obviously intended to facilitate and give oppor- 
 tunities for familiarities of the closest kind» and were 
 carried on under the guidance of some old crone, whose 
 directions governed the apparent conduct of the females 
 upon these singular occasions. Some curious laws are 
 still in being orally, which throw strong light on the 
 social habits of these children of nature down to a very 
 recent period.C^:' S^ ,,^^ 
 
 * Poor Laws commission. — "I appeal to the experience of all 
 overseers in rural districts, whether instances of marriage 
 taking place among the labouring classes are not so very rare as 
 to constitute no exception to the general assertion, that * preg- 
 nancy precedes marriage.' " — Extract from Mr, CowelVs Report, 
 
 It is much to be deplored that the depression in the condition 
 of the agricultural portion of the population should have led to 
 the demoralization which this report exhibits in such decided cha- 
 racters. Unhappily badly administered poor laws and bastard laws 
 heretofore held out a premium for moral depravity : as the report 
 very correctly says, — "It would be impossible for the heart of 
 man or demon to devise a more effective instrument for extin- 
 guishing every noble feeling in the female heart, for blighting the 
 sweetest domestic affections, and for degrading the males and 
 
22 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 h The moralist, though he may condemn and declaim 
 against this state of things, will, if just, attach no farther 
 blame than by saying, it was the error of a system 
 belonging to onejstage of civilization. But the philan- 
 thropist, the man who, free from morbid sensibilities, 
 views and judges the manners and customs of states in 
 relation only to the happiness of the existing race, will 
 lament, that intellectual excellence should be still at- 
 tended by similar evils, in an aggravated and more 
 vicious form, hid though they may be to some extent, 
 by outward refinement; whilst he will detect and deplore 
 the absence of all that warm-heartedness, that devotion 
 to home and domestic duties, which in no small degree 
 served as their atonements. 
 
 There can be no question, and the more widely inqui- 
 ries are extended, the moi'e obvious becomes the fact, 
 that the domestic artisan, as a moral and social being, 
 was infinitely superior to the manufacturer of a 
 later date. <-He was much more advantageously placed 
 in all points, and his condition gave ample evidence of 
 this. That he was inferior in some respects is not 
 denied : he could seldom read freely, or write at all, 
 but he went to church or chapel with exemplary punc- 
 tuality ; he produced, comparatively speaking, but little 
 work, but he was well clothed and well fed ; he knew 
 nothing of clubs for raving politicians, or combinations 
 which could place him in opposition to his employer, 
 
 females of that portion of the community connected with the 
 receipt of parish relief, than this truly diabolical institution." 
 Again, "the English law has abolished female chastity, self-respect, 
 proper pride, and all the charities of domestic life, connected with 
 its existence. It has destroyed likewise the beneficial influence 
 which this virtue in woman reflects on the character of man."— 
 Vide Report — passim. 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 23 
 
 but he was respectful and attentive to his superiors, and 
 fulfilled his contracts to the letter. He had never heard 
 of mechanic institutes, Sunday schools, or tract societies, 
 but he listened devoutly to the reading of his Bible ; he 
 had no gin or beer-shop orgies, but he spent his Jiours 
 in rude sports, in the highest degree conducive to health : 
 he followed, in short, that art mentioned by Cicero — 
 ** Hanc amplissimam omnium artium bene vivendi dis- 
 ciplinam, vita raagis quam litteris persequunti sunt/^^ 
 
 Various circumstances had been for a considerable 
 period producing important modifications in the condi- 
 tion of the domestic manufacturer, prior to' the intro- 
 duction of steam as an antagonist to human power ; and 
 a brief review of these will form an interesting and 
 curious feature in the history of the manufacturing popu- 
 lation, and illustrate the great changes which the last 
 forty years have sufiiced to operate in their circumstances 
 and characters. 
 
 The distaff and spinning-wheel, producing a single 
 thread, were for a long time the only methods of spin- 
 ning. About the middle of the last century the demand 
 for cloth was so much increased, that the inventive 
 faculties of those interested in it were called into activity, 
 and improved machines for spinning were very soon the 
 result. Some of the contrivers of the most important 
 improvements failed to demonstrate for a while the value 
 of their discoveries ; others were driven, by a cruel and 
 ill-judged persecution, to carry their knowledge to other 
 countries. A narrow and prejudiced view was taken by 
 the public at large, and little encouragement given, for a 
 time, to those who have in the end proved themselves the 
 greatest benefactors to the commerce of their country. In 
 the teeth of all these impediments the pressing demand 
 foj cloth gradually forced the domestic manufacturer 
 
 /y 
 
24 "^^ DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 to the adoption of improved modes of spinning ; for the 
 difficulty had always lain in producing an adequate 
 supply of materials in a state fit for the loom. One half 
 the weaver's time had generally to be spent in waiting 
 for work. This state of things was however remedied 
 by the mule and the jenny, both of which enabled the 
 spinner to produce a greatly increased quantity of yarn, 
 when compared to that formerly supplied by the wheel. 
 
 The hand-loom weaver was of course greatly benefited 
 by all these improvements, without any extra outlay of 
 capital, — the loom which suflSced to weave a small 
 amount being of equal efilciency to turn out a greater. 
 The call for more cloth, and the facilities given in the 
 first processes, removed him from the vacillating and 
 uncertain condition in which he was before placed.* — - 
 
 A family of four adult persons, with two children as 
 winders, earned, at the end of the last and at the 
 commencement of the present century, 41. per week, 
 when w^orking ten hours per day ; when work was 
 pressed they could of course earn more — a single weaver 
 having been known to earn upwards of two pounds per 
 week. This however required great industry, and was 
 by no means common ; weaving, too, when thus exer- 
 cised, is not easy labour; the position in which the 
 weaver sits is not the best for muscular exertion, as he has 
 no firm support for his feet, which are alternately raised 
 and depressed in working the treddles. He has thus to 
 depend for a fulcrum chiefly on the muscles of his back, 
 which are kept in constant and vigorous action, while 
 one order of muscles is employed with little power of 
 variation, in moving the shuttle and beam. These pro- 
 cesses, when carried on for many successive hours, are 
 very wearying, and the exertion required becomes, after 
 
 ♦ Fide Appendix, (Note A,) on the changes above-mentionecL 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 25 
 
 a while, laborious. The weaver who worked hard, there- 
 fore, actually toiled — a condition widely different from 
 that of the steam -loom weaver. , ,^. 
 
 One of the first effects of the constant demand upon^ 
 the labour of the weaver, resulting from a more exten- 
 sive and permanent supply of yarn, was the gradual 
 abandonment of farming as an accessory, which had been 
 very common with the more respectable portion of the 
 weavers. His labour, when employed on his loom, was ^ 
 more profitable, and more immediate in its return, than \ 
 when devoted to agricultural pursuits. This necessarily . 
 led to the introduction of a new order of farm tenants, 
 men who devoted themselves exclusively to the cultiva- 
 tion of the soil, who looked to its produce as their only 
 mode of acquiring the means of support, and who, in 
 nine cases out of ten, were mere holders at will — a 
 lowering in respectability, which it is probable will be 
 scarcely understood, by those who are not familiar, with 
 the feeling and grades of rank in this class of labourers. 
 ^ This change in the weaver's occupation produced very 
 considerable influence upon him in a social point of 
 view. It tended decidedly to lower his rank and cha- 
 racter, by making him a simple labourer, and by removing 
 him from that, which did then, and which still does, 
 confer rural distinction — the holding or possessing land. 
 This had formerly brought himself and children partially 
 upon the same level with the small freeholder or yeoman, 
 properly so called. It had also brought him into con- 
 tact with this order of men on many occasions ; — and 
 remotely, it is true, but still near enough to benefit him, 
 it had assimilated his condition with that of the gentry of 
 the neighbourhood : it gave him an honest pride in his 
 capacity, heightened the tone of his general character, 
 and was thus morally beneficial to him. / 
 
26 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 The great body of hand-loom weavers had indeed at 
 all periods been divided, by a well-defined line of demar- 
 cation, into two very distinct classes. This division arose 
 from the circumstance of their being landholders, or 
 entirely dependant upon weaving for their support. It 
 has been seen that the weaver, who was also a small 
 farmer, lost something by the increase in the demand 
 for cloth, while, from the same cause, the simple weaver, 
 who had all along depended upon that demand, gained 
 a, step in advance, and now found himself on an equality 
 with those who had hitherto been his superiors. 
 
 The secondary, or inferior class of artisans, had at 
 all times been sufferers from the impossibility of sup- 
 plying themselves with materials for their labour. 
 Considerable vacations were frequently occurring in this 
 respect, and at these periods they underwent some 
 privations. This irregularity had produced its usual 
 effects upon their industrial character, rendering them 
 improvident, devoid of forethought, and careless in 
 their expenditure. Not being able to calculate, had 
 they been so disposed, upon the certainty that their 
 exertions would be invariably called for, they became 
 indifferent, enjoyed the good whilst it lasted, and starved 
 through the interval as they best might.* 
 
 * It is an indisputable fact, that irregularity in the demand for 
 labour, from whatever cause it may arise, by occasionally throwing 
 the workmen out of employ, and generating idle habits, is one of 
 the most disorganizing and degrading influences which can be 
 brought to bear upon their character. Independently of the 
 diminished rate of wages, and the acrimonious and suspicious feel- 
 ings which, of late years, have sprung up between the masters and 
 men, the stoppages which have taken place in nearly all the mills 
 in rotation, for periods more or less protracted, sometimes from the 
 fault of one party, sometimes of another, have been full as injurious 
 to the moral dispositions of the men as the other two put together. 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 27 
 
 The class of poor weavers were thus instantaneously 
 elevated very considerably in worldly consideration. 
 They were freed from one great cause of depression, 
 which had hitherto prevented all chance of improveraent. 
 They now took their stand upon the same ground with 
 the weaver who had hitherto been a small farmer, and 
 who had come down one degree in the social scale, in 
 consequence of giving up his land for the purpose of 
 devoting himself to the more profitable business of 
 the loom. This amalgamation of the two divisions which 
 had heretofore existed amongst domestic manufacturers, 
 raised on the whole their general character as a body, 
 rendered them more united, and by diffusing one species 
 of labour universally over the entire class, gave them a 
 community of interests aid feelings which bound them 
 together. ^ 
 
 A very material improvement, therefore, had been / 
 gradually operating in both classes of weavers during 
 the half century immediately preceding the application 
 of steam power. This improvement had not arisen so 
 much from any increase in the rate of payment for ^^ 
 labour, as from a market generally understocked, and a 
 constantly increasing production for yarn, which enabled 
 them to work full hours, and consequently to throw off a 
 regular and sufficient quantity of cloth. 
 
 The wages earned when the supply of yarn became 
 regular, were amply sufficient to supply all the wants of 
 the weavers, and to furnish them, with many luxuries 
 and comforts proper to their condition. Even after 
 these had been supplied a surplus remained, which, if 
 properly husbanded, would have saved them from the 
 miseries which burst over them at a subsequent period. 
 There seems to be, however, something about the 
 operatives generally unfavourable to the accumulation 
 
28 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 of money, even when placed under circumstances 
 ^vhere it might fairly be supposed that they had 
 an opportunity given them for the purpose. Their 
 savings rarely exceeded a very small sum. It is true, 
 they lived better ; in fact, they lived too well ; they 
 clothed better, and they did not contemplate the change 
 which was impending over them, and consequently did 
 not "set their houses in order," but rather looked for- 
 wards to a continuance of their prosperity, and pleased 
 themselves with the anticipations of still farther addi- 
 tions to their present comforts. It can excite no wonder 
 therefore, that they, with their limited intelligence, 
 strenuously opposed the steam-looms, which they looked 
 upon as usurping what they imagined to be the 
 rights of their industry; nay, pushed the principle still 
 further, and appeared to believe that they had a pre- 
 scriptive and just claim to a monopoly of this labour. 
 
 In the mean time, the condition of the spinners, or as 
 they may well be termed during the prosperous days 
 of hand-manufacture, the aristocracy of artisans, was 
 undergoing changes still greater and more rapid than 
 that of the weavers, and passing through a revolution 
 which modified the whole body, and terminated finally 
 in the ruin of the greater portion. 
 
 In the early times of manufacturing, the spinner and 
 the weaver were to some extent synonymous, — so far 
 indeed, that the processes were carried on under the 
 same roof, and by the same individuals ; the distaff, the 
 wheel, and the loom being all called into requisition by 
 a single family. 
 
 At a later period, when improvements in machinery 
 progressed rapidly, stimulated as they were by the 
 inability constantly felt to supply the demand for yarn ; 
 and as these improved machines at each step became 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 29 
 
 more bulky, more complicated, and consequently more 
 expensive, a division began to shew itself between the 
 weaver and the spinner, the latter throwing aside his 
 wheel and devoting himself to the loom, trusting to 
 external sources for his yarn, from a growing inability to 
 purchase such machinery as would enable him to spin 
 profitably, — and the former deserting the loom, and 
 applying his funds to procure the best and most recent 
 contrivances for spinning, knowing as he did that a 
 market was always open to his produce. / 
 
 At this period, that is, at the time when spinning 
 was become a separate branch, and when the division 
 between the two bodies was well defined, the spinners 
 were joined by another class of persons, who had here- 
 tofore held aloof from manufacture ; these were the 
 yeomen — the small freeholders, now nearly extinct, as a 
 part of the social confederacy. 
 
 The yeoman had lived generation after generation 
 upon his patrimonial acres, rarely increasing their 
 extent, and quite as rarely lessening them. He had, 
 however, failed to keep pace with the onward march of 
 events — had confined himself to cultivating his land 
 precisely in the same way in which it had been cultivated 
 by his forefathers — viewed all innovations as rank heresy, 
 vegetated upon his natal soil, profiting either it or the 
 world but little, yet having, notwithstanding, many points 
 about him of real value. He w^as strictly honest in all 
 his dealings, though almost universally improvident, 
 more, however, from want of mental energy and fore- 
 thought, than from actual extravagance ; contented with 
 his lot, and a kind and hearty neighbour, but utterly 
 unable to cope with the crisis which was opening upon 
 him. He had hitherto been surrounded by petty farmers, 
 who had generally eked out their land cultivation by 
 
30 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 being weavers, and who had served him as bulwarks 
 aV or break-waters against the impending storm. These 
 • i were one by one removed, and their places immediately 
 occupied by a race of men who gave a considerably in- 
 creased rent, and who, by improved modes of husbandry, 
 and by wringing from the soil all it could possibly yield, 
 soon drove the small proprietor from the markets which 
 he had so long supplied. Thus pressed upon by superior 
 industry, and an activity with which he could not compete, 
 ^ the yeoman was driven to embark some portion of his 
 means in the purchase of spinning machines, and, before 
 \ very long, great quantities of yarn were produced by the 
 inmates of old farm-houses, in which previously the most 
 sluggish inertness had prevailed. 
 
 I Nothing can more clearly shew how very imperfectly 
 this class had used its resources than the fact, that five- 
 sevenths of those who purchased these machines were 
 obliged to have recourse to a loan, generally a mortgage, 
 to raise the money. 
 
 The price of the more complicated spinning machines 
 was very considerable, and it has been seen removed 
 them ou^ of the reach of the inferior class of weavers. 
 At the same time monied men began to Rx their atten- 
 ] tion on a branch of trade, the returns from which were 
 - very rapid. This brought a farther accession of capital 
 into it, and led to the erection of mills, containing a greater 
 or less number of spinning machines, propelled by water 
 power ; with the assistance of human labour. These 
 mills were built in places at some distance from the 
 towns, though as near as circumstances would permit for 
 the convenience of markets, and readiness of transport 
 for the raw and manufactured material. Their site, 
 in other respects, was chosen with regard to two necessary 
 things, — one, the existence of a stream of sufficient 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 31 
 
 volume and permanence, — and the other the neighbour- 
 hood of suitable workmen. 
 
 These mills were exclusively devoted to the first pro- 
 cesses of manufacture, namely, carding and spinning. 
 Their gradual increase very soon influenced the pro- 
 sperity of the domestic manufacturer — his profits quickly 
 fell, workmen being readily found to superintend the 
 mill labour, at a rate of wages high it is true, but yet 
 comparatively much lower than the estimated value of 
 home labour. 
 
 Another cause which tended to injure the private 
 spinner was the incessant and expensive improvements 
 in the construction of machines.*" Thus the man who one 
 year laid out a considerable sum in the purchase of a 
 jenny of the best and most approved make, found him- 
 self, in the course of the year following, so much behind- 
 hand, that with his utmost industry he could barely turn 
 out a sufficient quantity of yarn to repay him for his 
 present labour, in consequence of alterations which threw 
 the productive power of his machine into the back- 
 ground. The price of yarn became of necessity depreciated 
 in proportion to the quantity produced, which was now 
 more than sufficient to supply the home demand. Find- 
 ing his efforts futile to keep pace with improved ma- 
 chinery, he was compelled either to dispose of his 
 jenny, and this at an immense sacrifice, often indeed at 
 a merely nominal price, or make an arrangement with 
 the maker for an exchange at a rate almost equally 
 ruinous. The number of machines which at this period 
 were thrown back into the market, gave a strong impulse 
 to the growth of the mills ; a machine which was not suf- 
 
 * Precisely the same cause of distress is now operating upon the 
 woollen and bobbin-net manufactures at the present moment. 
 
32 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 ficiently perfect for the purpose of domestic manufacture 
 doing well enough in a mill in conjunction with others, 
 worked at a less rate of wages, and assisted by water 
 power, when its use was valueless to its original owner ; 
 he was consequently left in many cases in a worse 
 condition, in a pecuniary point of view, than when he 
 commenced his new vocation, no time having been given 
 him to cover its first cost. 
 
 This necessarily led to great difficulties and to em- 
 barrassments of no ordinary kind, and was the first 
 step towards the abolition of the small freeholders, or 
 yeomen, in many districts. Their long course of in- 
 activity, and the little diffusion of intelligence amongst 
 them, rendered them incapable of maintaining the strug- 
 gle with men who had been accustomed to the variations 
 of trade, and whose forethought enabled them to apply 
 remedies, and take such precautionary and anticipative 
 measures as screened them from loss. Their little 
 estates became in the course of a few years so encum- 
 bered, as to be utterly worthless to them, and a very 
 rapid and very extensive change took place in landed 
 proprietorship from 1790 to 1810, the period when this 
 transition was in progress. 
 
 This declension, though nearly, was not quite uni- 
 versal. The apathy which had so long oppressed and 
 hidden the energies of their character, had failed in quite 
 extinguishing them ; and a few of these men, shaking 
 off their slothful habits, both of body and mind, devoted 
 themselves to remedying their condition with a per- 
 severance certain to be successful. Joining to this 
 determination a practical acquaintance with the details 
 of manufactures, personal superintendence and industry, 
 several of the most eminently successful steam-manu- 
 facturers have sprung from this class of people, and have 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 33 
 
 long since become the most opulent of a wealthy com- 
 munity.* 
 
 There is a singularity attending the rise of some of 
 these individuals, showing very strongly how infinitely 
 superior is personal endeavour, to accumulated wealth, 
 when devoted to the same purposes. Few of the men 
 who entered the trade rich were successful. They trusted 
 too much to others — too little to themselves ; whilst, on 
 the contrary, the men who prospered were raised by 
 their own efforts — commencing in a very humble way, 
 generally from exercising some handicraft, as clock- 
 making, hatting, &c. and pushing their advance by a series 
 of unceasing exertions, having a very limited capital to 
 begin with, or even none at all save their own labour. 
 
 The time was now arrived when another great change 
 took place in the relative situations of the two divisions 
 of manufacturers.^ The improved machines, their in- 
 creased number, the establishment of mills, the acces- 
 sion of capital — one and all produced a much greater 
 quantity of yarn than could by any possibility be convert- 
 ed into cloth by the then hand-loom weavers. A surplus 
 of course remained, which was either sent to the foreign 
 market, or remained as a dead weight upon the maker. 
 The demand for cloth was however still unsupplied, and 
 it became necessary to introduce great numbers of new 
 hands as weavers. So long as the supply of yarn had 
 been limited, or beneath, or just equal to the demand, 
 the weavers had felt but little competition ; their wages 
 had consequently remained steady. Now, however, 
 
 • Witness the Peels, the Strutts, and others. Mr. Peel, the 
 grandfather of Sir Robert Peel, Bart, was originally a yeoman, 
 farming his own small estate at Cross, near Bolton. 
 
 t The whole of these series of changes were operated from the 
 invention of the fly shuttle by John Kay, in 1738, to somewhere 
 about 1800. 
 
 D 
 
84 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 when the outcry for cloth continued, and yam was 
 abundant, a large body of weavers immigrated into the 
 manufacturing districts : great numbers of agricultural 
 labourers deserted their occupations, and a new race of 
 hand-loom weavers, which had undergone none of the 
 transitions of the primitive manufacturers, were the 
 product of the existing state of things. 
 
 This body of men was of a still lower grade in the 
 social scale than the original weavers, had been earning 
 a much less amount of wages, and had been accustomed 
 to be mere labourers. The master spinners, therefore, 
 found them ready to work at an inferior price, and thus 
 discovered an outlet for their extra quantity of yarn. 
 This at once led to a great depreciation in the price of 
 hand-loom labour, and was the beginning of that train of 
 disasters which has finally terminated in reducing those 
 who have kept to it to a state of starvation. 
 
 Human power is urged beyond a certain point with 
 great difficulty ; and, what is still worse, when great 
 numbers of individuals are in exclusive possession of one 
 particular occupation, it is a power difficult to manage, 
 and still more difficult to be depended upon. Nor are 
 these the only unpleasantnesses connected with it ; men 
 are apt to acquire notions of exclusive possession, and to 
 hold an opinion that improvements in. machinery, which 
 lessen the value of their labour, are wrongs inflicted 
 upon them — are infringements upon their peculiar do- 
 main. These things were keenly felt by the early manu- 
 facturers, who had to trust entirely to hand labour. 
 They were subjected periodically to severe immediate 
 losses, and to the chance of still greater ulterior ones, 
 by the refractory spirit of their hands, who timed their 
 opportunity, when the markets were particularly press- 
 ing, to urge their claims. They had indeed but little 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 35 
 
 alternative, and it is quite certain that a crisis was 
 rapidly approaching which would have checked the 
 progress of manufactures, when steam, and its applica- 
 tion to machinery,* at once turned the current against 
 the men, and has heen since steadily, but securely sweep- 
 ing their opposition to the dust, all their efforts to free 
 themselves from its subjection having been totally un- / 
 availing, and worse than useless. / 
 
 From the time of the introduction of steam power, 
 a most extraordinary and painful change has been 
 wrought in the condition of the hand-loom weavers, 
 and their labour may fairly be said to have been 
 crushed beneath the steam engine. They constitute the 
 bulk of our present domestic manufacturers. We have 
 traced them from comparative wealth, through various 
 changes, and it now remains to examine their present 
 condition. 
 
 It may perhaps excite surprise that any large body of 
 men should be found adhering to domestic manufacture ; 
 and the question has often been asked — why did not the 
 operatives already engaged in manufacturing processes, 
 become the first workers on steam looms, and in other 
 factory labours ? This, on a prima facie view of the 
 question, would appear to have been the most natural 
 order of things. We have already said that the intro- 
 duction of steam looms, and the use of machinery in 
 general, was viewed suspiciously, and treated with hos- 
 tility by those who supposed that this was an infringe- 
 
 ♦ The first steam engine applied to cotton spinning was erected 
 in 1783. Sir R. Arkwright's first use of this power was in 1790. 
 In 1800 there were about 32 steam engines in Manchester, accord- 
 ing to Mr. Farey. The steam looms were introduced from 1800 to 
 1806, and followed by serious riots, and breaking and destroying ^ -v> 
 of machinery. n.^/ 
 
 D 2 
 
36 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 ment upon their proper domain of industry. This 
 feeling naturally kept the hand-loom weavers aloof from 
 the first spinning and weaving mills ; so that these were 
 furnished with their complement of hands from other 
 sources. 
 
 The majority of workers, however, in the early spin- 
 ning establishments, were children ; partly on account of 
 the machines being small, and partly from a difficulty of 
 procuring adult labour. But farther than this : machinery 
 improved with great rapidity, and to quote Dr. Ure, — 
 *' The effect of improvements in machinery supersedes 
 the necessity for the employment of the same quantity 
 of adult labour as before, in order to produce a given 
 . result ; and in substituting one description of human 
 >^ labour for another, it is the less skilled for the. more 
 skilled, juvenile for adult, female for male." In this 
 inevitable and unvarying result of the adaptation of 
 scientific discoveries to manufactures, is to be found 
 one great cause of the number of hand-loom weavers 
 having undergone little or no diminution, although their 
 particular branch of industry has been reduced to the 
 most wretched and worst paid condition of labour of any 
 at present in existence. 
 
 Those who have made it a reproach to the hand-loom 
 weavers, that they have obstinately clung to their em- 
 ployment in place of taking advantage of the factories, 
 completely overlook the facts of their case. It is well 
 known that steam looms do not require an adult labourer, 
 but that they are supplied entirely by young women 
 and girls ; and that, notwithstanding the vast exten- 
 sion of the factory manufacture, it is more than kept 
 pace with by mechanical inventions, and in place of 
 demanding more, and adult labourers, it could at this 
 moment very readily discharge a multitude of opera- 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 37 
 
 lives.* There is no room for the male hand-loom 
 weaver — the factories are closed against him by the 
 sternest necessity. 
 
 In this state, and since the deplorable condition to 
 which they have been reduced has dravv^n them to the 
 verge of desperation, and forced them to make their 
 sufferings known, and to endeavour to find some means 
 of relief, it has become common, amongst a certain class 
 of writers, to brand the unfortunate weavers as a set of 
 idle, dissolute, and thieving people, unworthy of the 
 so-called blessings of being engaged in factory labour. 
 The gross injustice of this charge is made apparent by 
 the slightest examination. 
 
 Families, comprising nearly one million of human 
 beings, dependent on hand-loom weaving, have been 
 living in the lowest depths of poverty for years : the 
 father, aided by his grown-up children, toiling for four- 
 teen hours per day, and condemned to find his wages 
 falling from time to time, till they have been reduced to a 
 miserable pittance, not sufiicient to furnish the simplest 
 necessaries of life. The prices paid for weaving a par- 
 ticular kind of cloth, as shewn in the following table, 
 will exhibit the extraordinary depreciation which has 
 taken place in the value of this species of labour : — 
 
 s. d, 
 
 1795 39 9 
 
 1800 25 
 
 1810 15 
 
 1820 ... ^ ... . 80 
 
 1830 5 
 
 From this latter sum has to be deducted Is. 3(^. for 
 
 * Vide ** Philosophy of Manufactures," p. 326. — Minutes of 
 Evidence of the Select Committee on Hand-loom Weavers, 1834. 
 —.P. 194, 200, 428. 
 
38 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 necessary disbursements, and the net wage is thus 
 reduced to 3*. 9d, in this particular case. This is not a 
 solitary instance ; it is an example of the entire labour 
 connected with hand-loom manufacture.* 
 
 According to Mr. Felkin, in the Factory Commission 
 Report, the net weekly earnings of the hands engaged 
 in the cotton stocking trade are from 4^. to 7s, The 
 misery suffered by this large and industrious class of 
 operatives is dreadful, and is followed by many evils, 
 physical as well as moral. Upon the sum above men- 
 tioned, a man, his wife, and their children, have to be 
 supported ; the consequence is, that they are half 
 starved, half clad, and utterly destitute of the most 
 common comforts. 
 
 Another large and interesting class of domestic 
 manufacturers is that connected with the bobbin-net 
 trade. Not far from two hundred thousand young women 
 earn a scanty livelihood by embroidering this material in 
 Great Britain. Mr. Power, in his Report on Nottingham, 
 remarks : " Almost the youngest of them is able to 
 speak with regret of a better state of earnings, and a 
 period of less necessity for constant labour. They begin 
 early and work late, and during this long daily period 
 their bodies are constantly bent over the frame on 
 which the lace is extended, the head being usually kept 
 within five or six inches of the frame, the edge of which 
 presses against the lower part of the chest. One effect 
 universally produced is short-sightedness, and often a 
 general weakness of the eyes, with consumptive ten- 
 dency, distortion of the limbs, and general debility, 
 from the confinement and the posture." 
 
 ♦ Fide Appendix, Note B, for tables of wages, price of provi- 
 sions, &c. &c. at d^^erent periods. 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 39 
 
 In reference to this statement, it is remarked by 
 Dr. Ure, and we regret that many extracts might be made 
 of a similar tendency : " Aversion to the control and 
 continuity of factory labour, and the pride of spurious 
 gentility or affectation of lady-rank, are among the 
 reasons why young women so frequently sacrifice 
 their comfort and health to lace-embroidery at home. 
 One girl, in her examination, states, * I like it better 
 than the factory, though we can't get so much. We 
 have our liberty at home, and get our meals comfortable, 
 such as they are.' " Surely this is language not calling 
 for reprobation, but expresses feelings worthy of encou- 
 ragement, and deserving our warmest sympathy. It is 
 the love of home, the duties of the social hearth, the very 
 field in which woman ought to move, that is pictured 
 in the simple language of the lace-girl. Would to God 
 the same feelings prevailed in the cotton manufacturing 
 districts amongst the sex ! 
 
 Mr. Baines, in his work on the cotton manufactures, 
 goes one step farther than Dr. Ure, and says : '* The 
 second cause of the low rate of wages amongst the hand- 
 loom weavers is, that their employment is in some respects 
 more agreeable, as laying them under less restraint than 
 factory labour ; being carried on in their own cottages, 
 their time is at their own command ; they may begin 
 and leave off work at their pleasure ; they are not 
 bound punctually to obey the summons of the factory 
 bell ; if they are so disposed they can quit their loom 
 for the public house, or to lounge in the street, or to 
 accept some other job ; and when urged by necessity, 
 they make up for lost time by great exertion ; in short, 
 they are more independent than factory operatives ; they 
 are their own masters, and they have the power, in case 
 of urgent necessity or strong temptation, to embezzle a 
 
40 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 few cops of the employer's weft in order to buy bread or 
 ale, which is a very common occurrence. All this 
 makes the v^eaver's occupation more seductive to men 
 of idle, irregular, and dissipated habits, than other 
 occupations. It is a dear-bought miserable liberty ^ but 
 like poaching or smuggling, it is more congenial to 
 some tastes than working under precise restrictions for 
 twice the remuneration.*' These observations are most 
 unjust towards the hand-loom weavers. 
 
 The following, out of many cases, are related by Sir 
 David Barry, and they shew in the strongest light the 
 falsehood of Mr. E. Baines's statement, and the unfair- 
 ness of Dr. Ure's remarks, qualified even as the latter are. 
 
 ** John Harrop works in a back damp earthen-floored 
 shop, and sleeps in a miserable dirty garret in the same 
 building : no bedstead — scarcely any furniture. Earns 
 on an average 6s, per week ; out of which he pays all his 
 loom expenses, more than Is. per week. He is twenty-five 
 years of age, his wife twenty-one ; one child, and likely 
 soon to have another. He is thin, pale, hollow-cheeked, 
 and looks half-starved. He works from Jive in the morning 
 till nine at night now {sixteen hours), and often longer in 
 winter. Solemnly assures me that he never takes thirty 
 minutes to all his meals during working hours. Would 
 like exceedingly to become^ a power-loom dresser, but it 
 requires great interest to get such a birth." 
 
 Does this case require one word of comment ? It is 
 one of multitudes. 
 
 " Thomas Smith. Two elder daughters, now weaving, 
 would go to power-looms if they could get places."* 
 
 We again repeat, that these instances are examples 
 bearing upon the entire class of hand-loom weavers. 
 There is no indisposition to work ; but, on the con- 
 * Factory Commission Report, Part II. p. 42. Glasgow. 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE, 41 
 
 trary, tliey endure a kind of slavery unmatched in any 
 quarter of the globe. And what is the actual condition 
 of these poor men ? — 
 
 " It is, I conceive, unnecessary to specify the-mise- 
 rable domestic circumstances of each hand-loom weaver's 
 family that I have visited (in Glasgow, &c.) They are 
 all reduced to the most squalid poverty. Compelled by 
 competition to sell their labour so cheaply that the very 
 utmost quantity which an individual can furnish is 
 barely sufficient to procure for him in exchange the 
 coarsest raiment, the meanest dwelling, and but a stinted 
 allowance of the cheapest food. There is no combi- 
 nation among these poor men. They work in damp 
 detached cellars as long as they can see. Each brings 
 his individual labour to the proprietor of the material, 
 who will, of course, accept of the cheapest offer."* 
 
 " The hand-loom weavers (of Manchester) labour 
 fourteen hours and upwards daily, and earn only from 
 55. to 7^. per week. They are ill-fed, ill-clothed, half- 
 sheltered, and ignorant, weaving in close damp cellars, 
 or crowded in ill- ventilated workshops ; and it only 
 remains that they should become, as is too frequently 
 the case, demoralized and reckless, to render perfect the 
 portraiture of savage life." Such is the language of 
 Dr. Kay, in a small work, got up from materials fur- 
 nished by the Board of Health, during the Cholera of 
 1831.t 
 
 These are statements applicable to the woollen weavers 
 of Yorkshire, and the cotton-weavers of Lancashire, Not- 
 tinghamshire, and Derbyshire. The darkest part of the 
 
 ♦ Sir David Barry, in eodem. 
 
 f Fide Appendix, Note C, containing a most touching piece of 
 evidence, comprising the life and experiences of a hand-loom 
 weaver. 
 
42 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 picture refers chiefly to the hand-loom weavers congre- 
 gated in large towns. The bulk of this class of labourers, 
 however, is scattered in the neighbourhoods of the 
 manufacturing towns ; and, notwithstanding the extreme 
 depression of their wages, and their consequent abject 
 poverty, a more patient, sober, and industrious set of men 
 does not exist. The privations which they have suffered, 
 and the multitude of adult labourers compelled to cling to 
 this branch of industry, are surely sufficient arguments 
 to prove that some remedial measures are imperatively 
 demanded ; and surely more than sufficient to demon- 
 strate, that machinery impelled by steam, before the 
 gigantic march of which they have sunk, has, notwith- 
 standing the vast additions which it has already made, 
 and is still making to our national resources, been 
 tracked by woe and suffering to a large and deserving 
 class of operatives. 
 
 The condition in which machinery found the domestic 
 manufacturers has been clearly and fully explained ; and 
 the condition to which they are now reduced, by prolific 
 production, with which it is impossible for human labour 
 to compete, presents a most unhappy contrast.* There 
 is no hope, — no ground of retreat for them in manu- 
 factures ; — day after day adaptations of mechanical 
 science are developed, which compel those already 
 engaged in factory labour to exercise the most vigilant 
 care to prevent themselves being thrown out of employ. 
 '* The spinners and power-loom dressers (of Glasgow), 
 who have been all hand-loom weavers, now prevent any 
 more of their former companions from being employed in 
 
 * Not only has this facility of production ruined hundreds of 
 thousands of our own cottage manufacturers, but it has also ruined 
 2,000,000 of East Indian hand-weavers. This fact will be noticed 
 more at length in a subsequent chapter. 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 43 
 
 their present business. They are united into close 
 exclusive societies, and absolutely possess a monopoly 
 of well - paid cotton labour. They keep up their 
 prices, and keep down their numbers. They can stop 
 every factory in Glasgow whenever they please, and 
 their means would enable them to hold out some 
 time ; but a strike of a month would starve more than 
 three-fourths of the hand-loom weavers, even supposing 
 that they could bring about a strike, which, under 
 their circumstances, would be impracticable." This 
 is the language held by Sir David Barry, in the Factory 
 Commission Report. Does it appear, from this, that the 
 hand-loom weavers have an opportunity for changing 
 their industrial condition, and that they are withheld 
 from doing so by their own negligent, idle, and dissolute 
 habits ? 
 
 ** In cotton spinning it would now be possible to 
 reduce the wages of labour, because, since the mules 
 have been enlarged, there is always a sufficiency of 
 hands ; but it has never been the policy of the masters 
 to do so, unless when absolutely compelled by the want 
 of profits, knowing that the lower the work-people are 
 reduced in circumstances, the less dependance can be 
 placed on their labour. The operative spinners, aware 
 that a great excess of hands would have the effect of 
 reducing their wages, combine to pay the expense of 
 sending their unemployed comrades away to America. 
 Mr. H. Houldsworth, of Glasgow, states that he knows 
 this fact from the individuals themselves, and from their 
 wives, and has occasionally been solicited to aid the 
 families in their emigration, and to forward them sums 
 contributed by the Union for their temporary support. 
 *' Within the last three years there have been not 
 less than eighty or one hundred spinners, shipped 
 
44: DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 from Glasgow, which is perhaps one-eighth of the 
 whole."* 
 
 In the face of evidence of this nature, given for very 
 different purposes from that for which it is here used, can 
 it be maintained that the hand-loom weaver is a volun- 
 tary sufferer, or a victim to his own idleness and dislike 
 for factory labour ? It is the spinning and dressing de- 
 partments which could alone employ him, steam weaving 
 being superintended by young women only. There is 
 no outlet for his labour ; he must either adhere to his 
 loom, or he must perish of want. The circumstance of 
 so many thousand families being dependent on hand 
 weaving, is the strongest proof that can possibly be ad- 
 duced, of the undying aptitude for labour, of the passive 
 courage and unwearying industry, of a large portion of 
 our population. In their struggles with want they have 
 not sunk down into pauperism ; and fathers of families 
 with earnings barely averging 55. per week, have nobly 
 toiled on, in the midst of starvation, rarely having re- 
 course to the poor-rate. Although famine and cold, and 
 supplications for bread from the mouths of his children — 
 although feebleness and hunger, and over-strained exer- 
 tion — have been the lot of the hand-loom weaver, it is of 
 late only that he has began to feel that he was reduced 
 to extremity ; that his contest with steam production 
 was a vain one ; that it had ground him to the dust, and 
 must ultimately either starve him into outrage, or force 
 him to quit his country. It is only of late, we repeat, 
 that this feeling has developed itself; the wonder is, 
 that it has been so long delayed, for the minimum rate 
 of wages has been passed long ago. The appearance and 
 daily experiences of the hand-loom weaver will satisfy 
 every inquirer, that he is exchanging his labour for a 
 
 * Report on Manufactures, p. 311. 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 45 
 
 price utterly inadequate to supply the commonest wants 
 of humanity. 
 
 The causes assigned by the hand-loom weavers for 
 the present depressed condition, are in the main correct ; 
 yet the remedies they propose, however just they may be 
 in the abstract, are to some considerable extent inex- 
 pedient, nay, impracticable.* Local boards for the 
 regulation of wages would be useless ; wide alterations 
 in taxation are nearly, if not altogether, impossible; 
 taxing steam power, when applied to manufacture, would 
 derange the entire commerce of the kingdom, and would 
 be attended with other difficulties, which would press 
 rather upon the operatives than upon capital, but it 
 would never restore hand-loom weaving. Greatly as 
 we deplore the condition of this body of men, we would 
 urge known and possible modes of amelioration, and 
 not lead them to further murmuring and discontent by 
 holding out any hope of benefit from interference with 
 the commercial policy of manufacture. 
 
 The most practicable of the proposed plans is the, 
 taxing of machinery, or, what would be equivalent toi 
 it, shortening the hours of labour. Both would limit 
 production, and raise its value, and hence hand-labour; 
 w^ould be benefited. The benefit would, however, be 
 temporary — the restriction would stimulate mechani- 
 cal ingenuity — and the crisis between human and 
 automatic industry would be accelerated. A moment's 
 examination of the consequences of "strikes" would 
 shew the hand-loom weaver that restriction injures the 
 operative.-}- 
 
 One remedial agent, of great value to the wretchedly 
 
 * Vide Appendix D. for resolutions of the hand-loom weavers, 
 t Fide Chapter on the Influence of Machinery on the value of 
 Human Labour, &c. 
 
46 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 paid operative, would be the cultivation of **v5^aste 
 lands." According to a very able report drawn up by- 
 Mr. Cowling, it would appear that there are fifteen 
 million acres of waste land, capable of improvement, in 
 Great Britain and Ireland, and somewhere about sixteen 
 million acres incapable of being turned to profitable 
 account. There can be little doubt, however, that this 
 quantity of waste land is rather founded upon conjectural 
 data than upon actual survey. Admitting this, there can 
 be no question but that there are many millions of acres of 
 uncultivated soil which would, under a proper system of 
 tillage, yield a more than equal return for a proper outlay 
 expended upon it. But this return would not be im- 
 mediate ; and many of the most extensive tracts are so 
 far removed from available markets, for the sale of their 
 produce, that there is little room to hope for their being 
 called into useful cultivation. No capitalist will embark 
 money upon the speculation of reclaiming waste ; for, 
 as Mr. Cowling very justly remarks, ** such an enter- 
 prise would undoubtedly be attended with considerable 
 loss in the first instance ; but," he continues, " you 
 have a surplus of labourers, whose maintenance imposes 
 upon the poor-rates a burden of 2,000,000/. per annum : 
 if you employ these labourers on the improvement of 
 your wastes, you will be losers to the amount of one 
 million per annum by the undertaking ; but as the poor- 
 rates will be lessened two millions in amount, the public 
 will be a gainer of one million by the undertaking." 
 In an able work are the following remarks on waste 
 lands and their cultivation : — " It is argued that waste 
 lands remain uncultivated because they are barren — 
 because their cultivation would not yield an adequate 
 return for the outlay required for their tillage. We cannot 
 accede to this opinion ; we contend, on the contrary, that 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 47 
 
 each division of the British dominions contains extensive 
 and valuable tracts of waste lands, which are not naturally 
 barren, — which in their present state are comparatively 
 unproductive, because they are not tilled, — which require 
 nothing but tillage to render them productive, and which 
 would make an adequate return for any outlay which a 
 judicious and industrious occupier might think it neces- 
 sary to expend in reclaiming and cultivating them." 
 Mr. Jacobs, in his very excellent work on the Culti- 
 vation of Poor Soils, remarks : — " Every man who has 
 been far from home must have observed, on every 
 barren heath, some spots surrounding cottages, which 
 exhibit marks of productiveness forming a striking con- 
 trast with the sterility that surrounds them. If inquiry 
 has been made, it has been found that at one period all 
 was alike barren ; that the difference has been created 
 solely by the application of human labour ;" and fur- 
 ther, " the practicability of achieving the object of bring- 
 ing our waste lands to a degree of highly productive 
 cultivation, and with an enduring profit after a course of 
 years of perseverance, may be inferred from what has 
 been performed in other countries, at no great distance 
 from our own. In the Netherlands, the district called 
 Maesland, between Ghent and Antwerp, is a mere agri- 
 cultural country. It is better peopled, better cultivated, 
 and more productive, than any other spot in Europe of 
 similar extent. It was, in the time of the civil wars in 
 Flanders, a mere sandy heath, without inhabitants, with- 
 out cultivation, and without live-stock. The change has 
 been effected by persevering labour through many gene- 
 rations ; and the results of that labour are most strikingly 
 exhibited in the fruitful fields, the beautiful cattle, the 
 healthful and cleanly population, .the comfortable resi- 
 dences, and all the other visible marks of rural prosperity." 
 
48 DOxMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 It can admit of no dispute, therefore, that there are 
 numerous tracts of waste ground capable of being suffi- 
 ciently fertilized for useful and profitable purposes. It 
 is, however, somewhat fallacious to assume that all waste 
 land is capable of profitable cultivation, or that at some 
 period the whole country was barren, and presented an 
 aspect similar to that now seen on our heaths and com- 
 mons. The mere existence of a piece of waste ground, 
 in the midst of a highly cultivated district where land is 
 valuable, is a proof, de facto, of the inferiority, generally 
 speaking, of such ground ; not that it is absolutely 
 barren, — for there is no soil, however sterile, but tillage 
 and manure will make something of it, — but that the 
 space is not worth the outlay for its subjection. And 
 again, it must be borne in mind that our poor soils and 
 waste lands belong to somebody : they are not waifs on 
 which any man may seize and appropriate ; freehold and 
 manorial rights meet us at every step, and great difficul- 
 ties are often experienced in securing a good title ; and 
 these, when added to the natural disadvantages of the 
 soil, prevent capital from locating itself upon it. 
 
 A case in illustration occurred some years ago. 
 Several gentlemen were anxious to rescue a large body 
 of hand-loom weavers, in the neighbourhood of Man- 
 chester, from a state of miserable poverty. Elee- 
 mosynary relief would have been useless ; and it was 
 found that, with a very praiseworthy spirit, they had 
 abstained from making application for parochial relief, 
 except in cases of sickness. It was clear that these 
 men, who exhibited the most unequivocal marks of 
 industrious and sober lives, were the victims of their 
 gigantic antagonist, steam ; and that all which was re- 
 quired to render them comfortable was a means by which 
 their labour might be made available. Funds were 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 49 
 
 provided to enable them to emigrate ; but objections 
 were raised to this, as we could see no substantial 
 cause for robbing ourselves of upwards of one hundred 
 valuable families. In the case of a few inferior cottage 
 tenants, the most admirable effects had resulted from 
 attaching small plots of ground to their cottages, 
 and satisfied, that if men are furnished with means for- 
 being useful to themselves and to others, they will 
 never fail to be so, it was resolved to give these poverty- 
 stricken weavers small garden-plots, on the cultiva- 
 tion of which their idle and now useless time might 
 be spent. In pursuance of this determination suitable 
 ground was sought ; but the excessive price demanded 
 in the immediate outskirts of the town was a complete 
 prohibition. A rough and sandy waste, as irreclaimable 
 in appearance as could well be imagined, was, how- 
 ever, at length fixed upon. But here again a price, 
 and that not a small one, was demanded ; and this, joined 
 to the conveyance, the outlay necessary for fencing, the 
 first coating of manure, and other additamenta, clearly 
 showed that upwards of twenty years must elapse before 
 even interest of money could be expected ; all things, 
 too, supposed to proceed favourably. The plan was, in 
 a great measure, abandoned, because private capital 
 will not submit to this delay, and probable prospective 
 loss. 
 
 The cultivation of waste land ought to he a national 
 work ; and the funds of the country could not be better 
 employed. Twenty millions have been voted as the 
 redemption money of the West Indian slaves : the condi- 
 tion of the domestic manufacturers is beyond compari- 
 son inferior to that of the late slave population of the 
 colonies. 
 
 In considering waste lands, therefore, as being bene- 
 
50 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 iicial agents in reference to the depressed artisan, some- 
 thing more should be taken into account than the mere 
 existence of wastes, and their capability of being culti- 
 vated. 
 
 Home colonization, which has been partially tried, 
 is the locating a body of labourers on some parti- 
 cular district, and there converting them into small 
 farmers. If the speculation should answer, — if the 
 promoters of it should continue to watch carefully 
 over the interests of their colonists, — if enlightened 
 and generous rules are laid down for the internal 
 government of these colonies, — they may succeed, but 
 not unless. The scheme goes too far : it changes the 
 character of the labourer — it makes him a small farmer 
 without capital, and thus leaves him exposed to ruin 
 from a single bad season^ or from depressions in the 
 markets. The examples of the Dutch colonies do not 
 apply with sufficient correctness to Great Britain. 
 
 The weavers have themselves answered the question 
 of emigration as a means of ameliorating their condi- 
 tion ;* and till every means have been tried at home, the 
 wholesale exportation of our labouring population is a 
 scheme to be decried. New countries require emigrants, 
 not from the class of pauperised artisans, but men with 
 small capital, sufficient to carry them through the first 
 stages of colonization. In this way Canada lias been 
 enriched by many thousands of our most valuable citizens, 
 and many millions of our wealth. ^We have not the 
 slightest hesitation in affirming, that we have space 
 enough, and more than enough, for the absorption of 
 every half- fed and half-paid labourer now pining in want 
 and in despair. If emigration be encouraged as a means 
 
 * Fide Appendix— Opinions of the Hand-loom Weavers. J ', 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 51 
 
 of peopling new states, let the recommendation rest upon 
 that basis ; but we protest against emigration being en- 
 couraged as a means of ridding us of our surplus labourers, 
 upon the ground that Great Britain has no resource 
 within herself for employing her sons. If the thou- 
 sands of pounds which are annually wasted by parishes 
 to assist emigrants, — if the thousands that are annually 
 carried from our shores to the United States and to 
 Canada, — if the thousands that are spent by different 
 land-companies, — if all these thousands were devoted to 
 their legitimate uses, we should hear no more of in- 
 curable distress. And has this enormous waste of 
 wealth and labour eased by one tittle the pressure upon 
 the labouring community ? Not one : for so universal 
 is this pressure, of such wide operation are the causes 
 leading to it, that every hiatus, every gap made by these 
 removals, is at once filled up. We cannot cure an uni- 
 versal disease in the social body by such local and partial 
 remedies, or rather by no remedies whatever; for emigra- 
 tion, employed for such a purpose, is merely Ippping away 
 the system inch by inch, without any sanative result. 
 An eloquent writer, in speaking of the condition of the 
 poor, has forcibly and truly said — ** Well may the cheek 
 of the patriot glow when he stands upon the quays of 
 Liverpool or Glasgow, and sees thousands and tens of 
 • thousands of his countrymen proceeding into voluntary 
 exile, in order to escape from the pressure of home 
 misery ! Well may his heart burn within him when he 
 recognises in these pilgrim-bands the very essence and 
 sinews of a nation's strength, — the provident and thrifty 
 labourer and his family, who is carrying his industry 
 and his hard-won earnings to some land where poor 
 laws and corn laws, where taxes upon every article of 
 production and consumption, have no existence, and 
 E 2 
 
52 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 where he hopes to find a field for his labour, as this is all 
 that he wants ; and this merry England denies to him !" 
 
 The status of the labourer should, in no respect, be 
 altered : he is, in his natural position, a man exchang- 
 ing his labour for the means of subsistence, — in the 
 character of an hired servant, and aiding, by private in- 
 dustry, his daily wage. This is the position he ought 
 to hold, and, if removed from it, he is decidedly injured. 
 As he now stands, he has lost, in a great measure, all 
 self-support — in the agricultural districts, partly by the 
 prevalence of large farms, a system which has been 
 carried so far, that in eight counties, during the last 
 century, a diminution of not less than 20,000 cottages 
 has taken place, partly by being deprived of home 
 manufacture, and partly by the desuetude of plot and 
 garden cultivation ; and in the manufacturing districts by 
 hand-labour being ruined by steam machinery. Which 
 of these can be restored to him ? We cannot break up the 
 large farm system, neither can we bring back his home 
 manufacture in its original state, nor interfere largely 
 with machinery ; but we can restore to him his land, and 
 ^^.j by so doing, find him a means of supporting his family, 
 { without at all infringing upon his character as a labourer. 
 This is not a theoretical scheme, — it does not innovate 
 upon the industrial character of the labourer, — it does 
 not make his degradation a source of speculative experi- 
 ment : no ! it would replace him as he has been. The 
 transition of property and industry has literally over- 
 > whelmed him, because his interests have never been 
 recognised. 
 
 In providing land for the poor man, the argument is 
 used, where is it to be found, and how is he to pay for 
 it ? — he is poor, he is reckless, and has neither means 
 nor inclination for becominoj a tenant. It is lamentable 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 58 
 
 that such language should be commonly heard. It 
 seems to proceed from a belief that the poor man is 
 without the nobler feelings of independence and pride 
 of self. But he is not so : he has within him all the 
 better and higher elements of humanity, and, in his 
 struggles with poverty and toil, he often exhibits a moral 
 heroism, and a pure sense of religion, which ought to 
 make him a subject for our admiration. Stretch out to 
 him the hand of fellowship, show sympathy for his con- 
 dition, enable him to exercise his energies, and the 
 labouring man will prove himself worthy of encourage- 
 ment. To assert that he is careless or indifferent is to 
 assert a positive falsehood. Every man familiar with 
 his feelings and disposition is aware what value the 
 labourer attaches " to a bit of land," with what pride it 
 is cultivated, and what a degree of independence and 
 personal respect it gives him for himself. And this is 
 the pivot upon which every plan for regenerating the poor 
 should turn. Give a moral stimulus, and the battle is won. 
 
 But where is the land to be found ? Every where. 
 A superficies of many thousands of acres might be pointed 
 out, which, during the late calamitous depression, has 
 gone nearly out of cultivation, and which it has been 
 impossible to let upon any terms. Again, notwithstand- 
 ing the millions of acres which have been inclosed during 
 the last century, there are still millions of waste fit for 
 cultivation scattered over every part of the country. It 
 must be borne in mind, that our labourers should be a fixed 
 population ; and the more closely they can be bound by 
 local ties, the better men, and the better citizens will 
 they be. 
 
 There can, therefore, be no difficulty in finding land, 
 as the *' waste lands of the kingdom ought to be treated 
 as a national domain, to be divided and allotted as the 
 demands of society for space and employment happen to 
 
54 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 increase." The community is entitled to address the 
 proprietors of such lands in the following terms : — 
 " Thousands of your fellow-countrymen are destitute of 
 employment and food ; you own thousands of acres of 
 waste, which yield very little profit to you, but on 
 which labour might enable them to raise the necessaries 
 of life which they require. If you choose, yourselves, to 
 undertake the cultivation of these neglected lands, well 
 and good ; this will create an extra demand for labour, 
 and afford to those persons the employment of which 
 they are now destitute ; but if you decline this task, 
 which is become necessary on public grounds, the gene- 
 ral good requires that the state should step in, and take 
 from you this source of employment and wealth, which 
 you think proper to overlook, giving you, at the same 
 time, the most ample compensation for the rights and 
 advantages which you are called upon to relinquish." 
 This would be perfectly just, and would open an im- 
 mense field for improvement. 
 
 It has been urged farther, that many of the enclosures 
 of wastes have failed as profitable speculations — and 
 that much poor land is thus lying useless. Very true ; 
 but why have these enclosures failed as sources of profit? 
 — From a want of due understanding of the nature of 
 the soil, and of the means necessary to reclaim it. It is 
 amongst the large allotments only in these enclosures 
 that failure can be instanced. The cottage allotments, 
 varying from half an acre to an acre and a half, have 
 been invariably successful ; witness, amongst multitudes 
 of other examples, Knaresborough Forest and the 
 wastes of Christchurch.* 
 
 * A body of valuable facts on the allotment system, will be 
 found in the " Labourer's Friend,*' published under the direction 
 of the Labourer's Friend Society, 20, Exeter Hall. 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 55 
 
 Waste lands have been expatiated upon at some 
 length, because they are valuable accessories, and they 
 occur in all places : but they are accessories only. 
 There is abundance of land already in cultivation, 
 which, by being divided into small allotments in the 
 immediate neighbourhood of villages and detached cot- 
 tages, would pay a vastly increased rept, and by spade 
 husbandry produce threefold its present returns. What 
 happens where this plan is in existence? " The 
 cottagers in Lincolnshire and Rutlandshire hold their 
 little tenements, jwt from the farmer, but directly from 
 the owner; and this rescues them from all slavish and 
 injurious dependence. The management of this little 
 demesne never, we believe, for one hour interferes with 
 the necessary occupations of the labourer ; it is managed 
 principally by his wife and younger children. The 
 labourer himself, no doubt, bestows upon his little 
 tenement some extra labour after his daily toil is over, 
 or occasionally the labour of a few whole days, whenever 
 he can be spared with the least inconvenience from the 
 work of his regular employer. The effect is all that the 
 most benevolent heart could desire — a more comfortable, 
 contented, and moral peasantry does not, we believe, 
 exist on the face of the globe.*' 
 
 ** In the year 1806, an enclosure was proposed in the 
 parish of Broad Somerford, and a very liberal offer made 
 to the rector for an allotment of land in lieu of tithe ; but 
 he considered it his duty to attend to the interests of his 
 poor parishioners, and did not consent till he had obtained 
 the following conditions for them : — Every poor man, 
 whose cottage was situated on the commons and waste 
 lands, should have his garden, orchard, or little enclosure 
 taken from the waste, within twenty years confirmed to 
 him ; and that in case the same did not amount to half an 
 
56 DOMESTIC MANUFACIURE. 
 
 acre, it should be increased to that quantity. In addition 
 to this, eight acres were allotted to the rector, church- 
 warden, &c. adjoining the village, for the benefit of the 
 poor inhabitants, to be annually allowed them, according 
 to the number of their respective families ; and thus 
 every man, who had three or four children, was sure of 
 his quarter of an acre at least. Very great benefit has 
 been derived from these provisions, and they in no way 
 interfere with the poor man's labour for the farmer. 
 Spade husbandry, and the constant and minute attention 
 of himself and family, secured him abundant crops even 
 when the farmer's failed. The profits upon every acre, 
 after paying a rent of 2Z., was 7L 6s. 4:d, So great was 
 the success attendant upon this plan, that in 1829, a 
 farmer made application to the rector to remit him half 
 his rent of 60L for a farm of eighty acres, stating that 
 the crops would hardly repay his labour. The rector 
 divided it into suitable lots, and offered it to the sur- 
 rounding cottagers : they were eagerly taken, and, at 
 Michaelmas day, 80Z. were paid to a sixpence, for land 
 which had the year before been thrown up at 60/. " 
 
 It is to the soil we must look as the means for rege- 
 nerating our labourers,— for again making them happy 
 and peaceable, — for again making them large consumers 
 of our home and colonial produce, — and, above all, for 
 again making them moral and independent members of 
 the community, and devoted adherents of their country 
 and her institutions. 
 
 In thus urging the restoration of the domestic manu- 
 facturers to an improved industrial status, by making 
 their labour available to themselves, and, in equal ratio, 
 beneficial to the state, it must not be supposed that 
 this being done all is done : but it is the first grand 
 step. It would be indeed vain to lessen the burden of a 
 
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 57 
 
 man's taxation; it will be in vain to lower the price 
 of his bread, whether by unshackling the corn trade, or 
 changing our monetary standard ; unless at the same time 
 we afford to the poor man a means of employing himself. 
 Adult labour is becoming daily of less value, since the 
 gigantic and plastic power of steam has been applied to 
 the arts ; and hence man is condemned to the hand- loom, or 
 left dependent upon the exertion of his wife and children. 
 Open a path for his labour, and unfetter capital, which 
 may be beneficially employed in calling forth its energies, 
 and directing its efforts to a multitude of purposes, still 
 waiting for enterprise to become important addenda to 
 our national resources, and he will be saved. But if the 
 labourers are permitted to sink, — if they are to be 
 overwhelmed by the progress of scientific discovery, — 
 if the adaptation of mechanical contrivances is to thrust 
 them back into idleness, — if pauperism is to spread its 
 influence still deeper and deeper, — if workhouses are to 
 be their future homes, — then is the sun of England's 
 prosperity on the decline : her enormous capital, the 
 skill of her artisans, the enterprise of her merchants, her 
 unrivalled resources, her wise institutions, — none can 
 save her. She may go on manufacturing, she may accu- 
 mulate wealth, but if large bodies of the community are 
 permitted to degenerate, at a pace equal to that with 
 which they have gone down during the last half century, 
 most disastrous results must speedily develop them- 
 selves. 
 
 Our artisans are yielding step by step before me- 
 chanism, whilst, at the same time, an universal pressure, 
 caused principally by the absorption of domestic manu- 
 facture into factories, is forcing immigration towards the 
 manufacturing districts, and by this means adding to the 
 obstructions in the labour market. And yet nothing is 
 
58 DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE. 
 
 done : — the only answer given by Government to the 
 hand-loom weavers is, that it is better to work for a 
 pittance however small, than to starve ; and the only 
 remedial agent, as yet proposed, is one certain to be 
 attended with great immediate suffering. The Poor 
 Law Amendment Act does nothing whatever towards 
 remedying the distress,"^ which has come upon the 
 labouring population ; and it is from this that the heavy 
 pressure on the poor-rate has arisen. It can benefit 
 industry only by shutting up the surplus labourers in 
 poor houses, and these, we humbly conceive, are dreadful 
 substitutes for the cottage-homes of England. 
 
 We would, on the contrary, say to our suffering ope- 
 ratives, who, be it ever remembered, are the victims of 
 agencies far beyond their influence, " We know you to 
 be distressed ; we know, too, that this distress has arisen 
 from a variety of causes, over which you have had no 
 control — namely, loss of home manufacture, restrictions 
 and trade monopolies, oppressive taxation, changes in 
 the currency, destruction of small farming, and the loss of 
 your proper position. To the last to some extent we can 
 restore you ; for the rest, so many conflicting interests 
 are at stake, that time is required for their proper ad- 
 justment." 
 
 * Fide Chapter on the Influence of Machinery on Human 
 Labour. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 FACTORY SYSTEM SEPARATION OF FAMILIES INFLU- 
 ENCE UPON THE MORAL AND SOCIAL CONDITION OF 
 THE MANUFACTURING POPULATION. 
 
 Domestic Manufacturer— Union of his Family — Its Consequences 
 and Advantages — No Child-labour — Effects of this upon the 
 Male and Female Portion of his Household described — Factory 
 Labour — Destruction of Home — Separation of Families — 
 Effects of these upon social Character — Payment of Wages to 
 Children, its Evils described — Conversion of Homes into 
 Lodging-houses — Loss of domestic Virtues, — Early Period at 
 which Factory labour begins— The Mind, &c. of Childhood — 
 Division of Families — Cultivation of Home Affections — In- 
 fancy of the Factory Child described — The Condition of the 
 Agricultural Labourer — Its Advantages — Domestic Economy — 
 Nonexistence of in the Factory Woman — Separation of Man 
 and Wife. 
 
 It has truly been remarked by Bacon, that ** the 
 culture and manurance of mind in youth hath such a 
 forcible though unseen operation, as hardly any length 
 of time or contention of labour can countervail its 
 influence." 
 
 The domestic manufacturer possessed the great 
 advantage, as we have already said, of carrying on 
 his occupation beneath the roof of his own cottage, and 
 in the midst of his family : here his children grew up 
 under his own eye and around his fire-side, and retained 
 for him the respect due to parental authority, by re- 
 maining members of one home and under the direction 
 of one head. By keeping up this natural and proper 
 
60 FACTORY SYSTEM. 
 
 order of things, he secured one means of making his off- 
 spring domestic in their habits, and it was his own fault 
 if their social character was not what it ought to be. 
 
 So long as families were thus bound together by the 
 strong link of interest and affection, each member in its 
 turn, as it attained an age fitted for the loom, joined 
 its labour to the general stock, its eafnings forming part 
 of a fund, the whole of which was placed at the disposal 
 of the father or mother, as the case might be ; and each 
 individual looked to him or to her for the adequate 
 supply of its wants. No separate or distinct interests 
 -were ever acknowledged or dreamt of. If any one, by 
 superior industry or skill, earned more in proportion 
 than another, no claim was made for such excess on 
 the part of that individual ; on the contrary, it was 
 looked upon equally as a part of the wages of the family 
 — perhaps gratefully and affectionately acknowledged, 
 but leading to no other result. 
 
 The family compact, of course, existed no longer than 
 the usual period when parental control yields before the 
 maturity of offspring. This was rarely before twenty- 
 two or twenty-three years of age, and often much later. 
 Grown up, as each member had, as part and parcel of a 
 little community, these divisions seldom took place 
 before marriage opened a series of new cares and new 
 prospects to son or daughter, which in consequencCji 
 seceded, or, as was frequently the case, brought a wife 
 or husband to be joined to the family union. Generally, 
 however, at this period an offset or branching took place, 
 which was best for all parties. 
 
 This natural arrangement preserved in all their vigour 
 the moral obligations of father and mother, brother and 
 sister, son and daughter, till a time of life was gained 
 which had given abundant opportunity for the formation 
 
SEPARATION OF FAMILIES. 61 
 
 of character — a character most assuredly the best calcu- 
 lated to render the labouring man happy and virtuous, 
 viz. a domestic one ; without which, no adventitious 
 aid can ever secure him its possession. 
 
 The greatest misfortune — the most unfavourable 
 change which has resulted from factory labour — is the 
 breaking up of these family ties, the consequent aboli- 
 tion of the domestic circle, and the perversion of all the 
 social obligations which should exist between parent and 
 child on the one hand, and between children themselves 
 on the other. 
 
 The age at which a child became useful to its parents 
 so long as the great mass of manufactures was manual 
 and confined to private dwelling-houses, was from four- 
 teen to sixteen. At an earlier age it was useful in a 
 minor degree, but that was the period at which it became 
 an auxiliary to the incomings of the family by regular 
 working. 
 
 Before this it was a mere child, entirely dependent 
 upon the exertions of its parents or older brothers and 
 sisters for support. During this time it was taught, by 
 daily experience, habits of subordination to its seniors. 
 The period at which it ranked itself by the side of the 
 efficient portions of the household was a happy medium 
 between too early an application and too late a procras- 
 tination of its physical energies, for the child was 
 sufficiently matured, in its material organization, to bear 
 without injury moderate and continued exertion ; and 
 no time had, as yet, been allowed for the acquirement pf 
 slothful habits. It came, too, at a time when the first im- 
 pulses of puberty were beginning to stir new associations 
 in his mind. These it checked by keeping him occupied, 
 while he was removed from the influence of bad example, 
 and laboured in an open workshop, free from the stimulus 
 
62 FACTORY SYSTEM. 
 
 of warmth, and in the presence of his sisters, brothers, and 
 parents, the very best anodyne for allaying and keeping 
 in due restraint his nascent passions, whilst his moral 
 and social instincts were under a process of incessant 
 cultivation. 
 
 The same observations apply with still greater force 
 to the females of the family. With them labour com- 
 menced at a somewhat earlier period, or they supplied 
 the place of their mother in the household offices, 
 leaving her at liberty to work for their sustenance, if 
 such a course of proceeding was deemed necessary, or 
 forced upon them by the pressure of circumstances. 
 Whichever it was, she was kept from promiscuous in- 
 tercourse with the other sex, at an age when it was 
 of the utmost importance, her young sensibilities ren- 
 dering her peculiarly liable to powerful and irresistible 
 impressions. It is true that the sports of her own sex 
 were to some extent libidinous, but to these she was 
 not admitted till a much later period ; and these, 
 though coarse and highly objectionable, rarely ended in 
 mischief, being considered as a sort of prelude to mar- 
 riage, a custom certainly " more honoured in the breach 
 than in the observance." 
 
 Her occupations and feelings were therefore exclusively 
 home-bred, and no idea existed that distinct or de- 
 tached interests could intervene betwixt her parents and 
 herself. 
 
 It is in these respects that the family of the factory 
 labourer offers such strong contrasts and unhappy differ- 
 ences to their precursors in manufacturing industry. 
 
 In the first place, there is no home labour. Home 
 becomes therefore a mere shelter, in which their meals 
 are hastily swallowed, and which offers them repose 
 for the night. It has no endearing recollections 
 
SEPARATION OF FAMILIES. 63 
 
 which bind it on their memories — no hold upon theii* 
 imaginations. 
 
 In the next place, the various members not only do 
 not labour under their own roof, but they do not labour 
 in common, nor in one mill ; or if in one mill, so sepa- 
 rated, that they have no opportunity of exchanging 
 a single glance or a word throughout the long hours 
 they are engaged there. Children are thus entirely 
 removed from parental guardianship ; and not only so, 
 but they are brought into immediate contact with par- 
 ties, generally of their own age, equally removed with 
 themselves from inspection, and equally unchecked by a 
 consciousness that the eye of a brother, sister, or parent 
 may be fixed upon them. They are placed, too, under 
 the control of an overlooker or spinner, who, from a 
 sense of duty to his employer or himself, if moved by 
 no baser feeling, treats them frequently with harsh- 
 ness,* making no allowance for childish simplicity, 
 bashfulness, delicacy, or female failings ; and this is 
 most 'fatal to self-esteem, which nothing so soon in- 
 jures or destroys as unworthy treatment, suffered in 
 themselves or witnessed in others, without the power of 
 redress, or even of appeal. 
 
 Again, they are subjected on all sides to the influence 
 of vicious examples — are placed in a heated atmosphere, 
 and have no occupation, save watching the passage of a 
 thread or the revolution of a spindle. The mind is but 
 little engaged, — there is no variety for it to feed upon, and 
 it has none of the pure excitements which home affords. 
 It becomes crowded with images of the very opposite 
 
 ♦ The extraordinary charges made against the factories in this 
 respect are gross exaggerations. Cruelty has existed, and does 
 exist amongst the spinners, but by no means in the shape gene- 
 rally supposed. 
 
64 FACTORY SYSTEM. 
 
 quality, and no opportunity is given for the growth of 
 modesty, on the one hand, or of the social obligations of 
 brother, sister, or child, on the other. 
 
 The next evil which removes factory labour another 
 step still more widely apart from the condition of 
 domestic manufacture is, that the wages of children have 
 become, either by universal consent, or by the growth of 
 disobedience, payable to the person earning them. This 
 has led to another crying and grievous misfortune, 
 namely, that each child ceases to view itself as a subor- 
 dinate agent in the household;* so far indeed loses the 
 character and bearing of a child, that it pays over to its 
 natural protector a stated sum for food and lodging ; 
 thus detaching itself from parental subjection and con- 
 trol. The members, therefore, of a spinner's or weaver's 
 family become a body of distinct individuals, occupying 
 occasionally, but by no means universally, the same 
 home, each paying its quota to the joint expenses, and 
 considering themselves as lodgers merely, and appro- 
 priating any surplus which may remain of their wages 
 to their own private purposes, accountable to no one for 
 the mode in which it happens to be used or wasted. 
 
 It is to be feared, that the mischiefs resulting from 
 such an unnatural arrangement must, in the first in- 
 stance, be saddled upon the errors of parents — such a 
 dereliction from filial duty being hardly likely to happen 
 spontaneously on the side of the children ; and that a 
 plan originally adopted in a few cases by the family of 
 idle and depraved parentSjf — and many such are to be 
 
 * Fide Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select Committee 
 on Hand-loom Weavers, p. 41, qsn. 671. 
 
 f " Too frequently the father, enjoying perfect health, and ample 
 opportunities of employment, is supported in idleness on the earn- 
 ings of his oppressed children." — The Moral and Physical Conditions 
 of the Working Classes f Sfc. p. 64. 
 
SEPARATION OF FAMILIES. 65 
 
 found, who would willingly live upon the toil of their 
 children, — has become general, in consequence of the 
 lowering in the reciprocal confidence and affection which 
 ought to exist between parent and child. 
 
 In numerous examples, then, at the present day, pa- 
 rents are become the keepers of lodging-houses for 
 their offspring, between whom little intercourse exists 
 beyond that relating to pecuniary profit and loss. In 
 a vast number of others, children have been entirely 
 driven away from their homes, either by unnatural treat- 
 ment, or they have voluntarily deserted them, and taken 
 up their abode in other asylums, for the sake of saving a 
 small sum, ' in the amount of payment required for food 
 and house-room. 
 
 This disruption of all the ties of home is one of the 
 most fatal consequences of the factory system. The 
 social relations which should distinguish the members of 
 the same family are destroyed. The domestic virtues, 
 man's natural instincts, and the affections of the heart, 
 are deadened and lost. The feelings and actions which 
 should be the charm of the fire -side —which should pre- 
 pare young men and young women for fulfilling the 
 duties of parents — are displaced by a selfishness utterly 
 repugnant to all such sacred obligations. Tenderness of 
 manner — solicitude during sickness — the foregoing of 
 personal gratification for the sake of others — submission 
 to home restraint — these are partially lost, and their place 
 occupied by individual independence — private avarice — 
 the withholding assistance,* however slight, from those 
 around them, who have a natural claim upon their gene- 
 
 * " When age and decrepitude cripple the energies of the parents, 
 their adult children abandon them to the scanty maintenance 
 derived from parochial relief," — Moral and Physical Condition of 
 the Working Classes, 8fc. p. 6^, 
 
 F 
 
66 FACTORY SYSTEM. 
 
 rosity— calculations and arrangements, based solely upon 
 sordid motives, — with a gradual extinction of those 
 sympathies and feelings, which are alone fitted to afford 
 happiness — a wearing away of the more delicate shades 
 of character, leaving nothing but attention to the simple 
 wants of nature, in addition to the depraved appetites which 
 are the result of other circumstances connected with their 
 condition ; — and in the end reducing them, as a mass, to 
 a heartless assemblage of separate and conflicting indivi- 
 duals, each striving for their ** own hand," uninfluenced 
 by the more gentle, the more noble, and the more hu- 
 manized cares, aspirations, and feelings, which could 
 alone render them estimable as fathers, mothers, brothers 
 and sisters. 
 
 When it is borne in mind, at what an early period of 
 life this separation of families takes place, its effects will 
 be better and more correctly appreciated, and the per- 
 manence of the injurious impression produced by it will 
 be more clearly comprehended. 
 
 Factory labour, in many of its processes, requires 
 little else but manual dexterity, and no physical strength ; 
 neither is there any thing for the mind to do in it ; so 
 that children, whose fingers are taught to move with 
 great facility and rapidity, have all the requisites for it. 
 Hence one reason for introducing mere infants into mills,* 
 though this is by no means the only one ; and were the 
 hours^of labour suificiently limited, and under proper 
 regulation, when the present habits of their parents are 
 considered, the evil — great in some respects as it is — 
 would almost cease to be one. Children from nine to 
 twelve years of age are now become part of the staple 
 
 * Considerably more than one-fourth of the entire workers in 
 factories are under fourteen, a large proportion not being ten years 
 old, and of all engaged under eighteen more than one-half are girls. 
 
SEPARATION OF FAMILIES. 67 
 
 hands, and are consequently subjected at this tender 
 period to all the mischiefs incident to the condition of 
 the older work-people.* 
 
 It may be urged that the mind of a child at this 
 age cannot, from its very structure and previous im- 
 pressions, be susceptible of the more vicious and 
 immoral parts of the system ; and that its previous edu- 
 cation, which it is presumed must have been conducted 
 at home, will, to some extent, guard it against evil com- 
 munications. 
 
 It has been truly observed, and not less beauti- 
 fully than truly, that " heaven is around us in our in- 
 fancy." This might have been extended, and said, that 
 " heaven is around and within us in our infancy ; " for 
 the happiness of childhood springs full as much from an 
 internal consciousness of delight, as from the novelty of 
 its impressions from without. Its mind, providing the 
 passions are properly guided, is indeed a fountain of 
 all that is beautiful — all that is amiable — overflow- 
 ing with joy and tenderness ; and its young heart is a 
 living laboratory of love, formed to be profusely scattered 
 on all around it. 
 
 The very copiousness of its sensations, however, pre- 
 vents stability in their direction, if not carefully tended ; 
 and if its heart and mind have capabilities for exhibit- 
 ing and lavishing the treasures of their awakening ener- 
 gies, they are, from their very immaturity, more easily 
 warped and misdirected. The hacknied quotation, "just 
 as the twig is bent,'* &c. is not the less true for being 
 hacknied. Most unhappily, every thing which goes on 
 before the eyes of the unfortunate factory children, is but 
 
 * The "Factories Regulation Act'* has caused multitudes of 
 these children to be dismissed, but it has only increased the evils 
 it was intended to remedy, and must of necessity be repealed. 
 F 2 
 
68 FACTORY SYSTEM. 
 
 too well calculated to nip in the bud — to wither in the 
 spring-time of its growth — the flower which was spring- 
 ing up within them, to adorn and beautify their future 
 existence. 
 
 There is no home education, and the independence 
 assumed by older brothers and sisters, the total inat- 
 tention to parental remonstrance or wishes, soon 
 produce their influence upon a child, which is quite 
 as ready to learn evil as good. Then, driven at the 
 early age it is into the mill, and at once placed 
 amongst crowds of children similarly circumstanced with 
 itself, the impressions made upon it at home soon become 
 permanent. The subsequent possession of money, with 
 the bickerings that arise therefrom, alienate any spark 
 of affection which might still be lingering in its breast 
 for its parents, and when a mere infant, it establishes 
 itself either as an independent inmate of its paternal 
 dwelling, or seeks out a lodging with other parties, as 
 the case may happen to be. 
 
 The existence of a divided interest in a household, 
 whether the division is between man and wife, or be- 
 tween parent and child, is alike fatal to its best interests. 
 No home can ever be what it ought without proper 
 government, or where all the inmates are on such terms 
 of equality as to give to each an equal right to the direc- 
 tion of the whole ; and even a household so constituted 
 will not hang long together. In the homes of the manu- 
 facturing population, the divisions between parents and 
 children, arising from the assumption of managing their 
 own earnings, so generally acknowledged amongst them> 
 deprives them of the most valuable portion of their in- 
 fluence. 
 
 Thus, whether at home or abroad, unfettered by 
 wholesome restraints, the factory child grows up, 
 
SEPARATION OF FAMILIES. 69 
 
 acquiring many vices, and utterly losing all that might 
 render its condition one of respectability and comfort — 
 the social and domestic virtues. Year after year rolls 
 on, unfitting it more and more for the best purposes 
 of life ; and if it should become a parent, it transmits 
 to its offspring the evils of a system of which it has been 
 the victim. 
 
 The entire breaking up of households, which is an 
 inevitable consequence of mill-labour, as it now exists, 
 is one which may be regarded as the most powerfully 
 demoralizing agent connected with it. This is, however, 
 aided by many other causes, some of which have been 
 already described, and others will be noticed in the 
 course of the work. The domestic affections, if they 
 are to assume strength, must be steadily cultivated, and 
 cultivated, too, in the only way of which they are capable. 
 This is by parental kindness in the first place, which, 
 by rendering home pleasant, and weaving its delightful 
 associations in the young imagination, forms one of the 
 most sacred, most delightful, and most permanent feel- 
 ings of the human heart. In the next place, the example 
 of proper household subordination, for without this the 
 first will be destroyed, or so weakened as to be ineffi- 
 cient and inoperative. Neither of these agents are 
 brought to bear actively and properly upon the factory 
 child. From its birth it sees nothing around it but dis- 
 sension, and its infant cries are not hushed by maternal 
 tenderness.* In thousands of cases it is abandoned 
 throughout the day by its parents, both of whom are 
 
 * " The infant has not lived long ere it is abandoned to the care 
 of a hireling or neighbour, while its mother pursues her accus- 
 tomed toil. Thus abandoned to one whose sympathies are not 
 interested in its welfare," &c. &c. — Moral and Physical Condition 
 of the Working Classes , Sfc. p. 69. 
 
70 FACTORY SYSTEM. 
 
 engaged in the mill, and left to the care of a stranger 
 or a mere child — badly used — badly fed — its little heart 
 hardened by harshness even in the cradle ; then badly 
 clothed — unattended during its growth by regular and 
 systematic kindness — constantly hearing much that is 
 improper — seeing on all sides strife, drunkenness, and 
 immorality ; and finally sent into the mill, to swell the 
 hordes of children which have been similarly educated, 
 and similarly abandoned to their own resources. 
 
 It may be said, that the agricultural labourer is sub- 
 jected to a separation from his family, and that the 
 members of his family are also, after a time, separated 
 from home. This is granted, and that thus, prima facie, 
 he appears circumstanced in these respects like the 
 factory labourer. Nothing can, however, be more dis- 
 similar than the two cases, when looked at in their true 
 bearings. 
 
 The agricultural labourer, it is true, pursues his occu- 
 pation from home — but he pursues it in nine cases out 
 of ten solitarily, or if he works in company, it is in small 
 gangs ; he works too in an atmosphere natural in its 
 temperature, and favourable to bodily health, saying 
 nothing of the moral influences of the sights and sounds 
 which are his familiar companions ; his labour is physi- 
 cally severe, and is just sufficient to require what intel- 
 lectual capacity he generally possesses ; his diet is plain 
 and wholesome ; he is freed from the example of many 
 vices, by his situation, to which the factory labourer is 
 exposed, and his habits and modes of life are simpler 
 and purer. His family, separated from each other, and 
 from home after a time, remain long enough under the 
 paternal roof to have acquired some notion of domestic 
 discipline, and that too under the best of all possible 
 teachers — a mother, whose avocations are exclusively 
 
SEPARATION OF FAT^^ILIES. 71 
 
 household. The labour of the sons, when old enough to 
 pursue it, which is not till sixteen years of age, is that 
 of the father, under similar circumstances. The daugh- 
 ters become household servants, either to persons of 
 their own class, or, what is more general, in the houses 
 of respectable families in the neighbourhood, or seek 
 service in the surrounding towns and villages ; * their 
 family interest thus, of course, merging in that of their 
 employers. In all these cases a strict watch is kept over 
 their morals. No point of similarity exists then be- 
 tween them, except in the single one of separation of 
 families, and that too at a period and in a way to be as 
 little injurious as possible to the moral character of the 
 parties. 
 
 The agricultural labourer has other moral advantages 
 over those possessed by the manufacturing one. He is 
 frequently under the direct inspection of his employer, 
 in the middle class of land proprietors, or respectable 
 land-holders ; and in the inferior order of both these, he 
 is the personal assistant, and works in conjunction with 
 it. In the highest order, he has the reflected benefit of 
 hereditary rank and wealth, circumstances of more im- 
 portance than the superficial observer is aware of, but 
 which are rendered sufiiciently apparent by examining 
 into the condition of the cottagers and labourers upon 
 those estates which are benefited by the residence of 
 their proprietors. 
 
 These are a few of the moral advantages which he 
 possesses still, to some extent, over the factory labourer. 
 
 * Nine-tenths of domestic female servants, both in the metro- 
 polis and in all large towns, come from agricultural districts. So 
 strong is the prejudice existing against town-bred servants, that 
 many families absolutely refuse to take them under any circum- 
 stances. 
 
72 FACTORY SYSTEM. 
 
 Of late years, indeed, the breaking up of small farms, 
 the loss of home manufacture, and other causes, have 
 brought into operation upon him the demoralizing agency 
 of poverty and want of employment, and its influence 
 has done much to deprive him of many of the benefits 
 he once enjoyed. 
 
 In addition to the enumeration already given of the 
 evils which result from the division of families, and the 
 early age at which children are impressed into earning 
 their own support, with the moral degradation which is 
 their universal effect, another misfortune, of a very 
 prominent character, attends upon the female division of 
 the manufacturing population. This is, the entire want 
 of instruction or example in learning the plainest elements 
 of domestic economy ; and this single circumstance goes 
 far to explain many of the improvident habits which 
 form a chief part of the curse upon their social condition. 
 No earnings, however liberal, can compensate for this. 
 It at once robs the home of the labouring man of every 
 chance of being rightly or even decently conducted. If 
 minute economy, which is the only true economy, is 
 to be of service, it must be carefully taught, with the 
 best means of furnishing the supplies of a family, and 
 making these supplies go to their utmost length. Of all 
 these essentials to the head of a household, the factory 
 girl is utterly ignorant, and her arrangements, if arrange- 
 ments they can be called, where every thing is left to 
 chance, are characterized by sluttish waste, negligence, 
 carelessness as to the quality of food, and indifference as 
 to the mode of cooking, and an absence of all that tidi- 
 ness, cleanliness, and forethought which are requisite 
 to a good housewife. 
 
 So complete is the separation of families, and so 
 entirely are all their members absorbed by mill labour, 
 
SEPARATION OF FAMILIES. 73 
 
 that it very frequently happens that man and wife do 
 not meet during the day at all.* Working at different 
 mills, or at different trades, perhaps at opposite sides of 
 the town, their various meals are procured at some lodg- 
 ing-house in the immediate neighbourhood ; thus adding 
 another evil — another cause of the dissolution of the 
 domestic links— to the long list already brought under 
 review. 
 
 The evidence given before the factory commissioners 
 fully bears out the statements made in this chapter. 
 Factory girls were found to be almost universally igno- 
 rant of domestic duties ; why they are so has been 
 sufficiently explained. It is said, indeed, that they 
 make good wives to factory men, and, as such, are 
 generally preferred by them ; but this does not make 
 them good wives ; they are preferred because they are 
 engaged in the mills, and marriage for a time makes no 
 difference in this respect. One of the witnesses examined 
 before the commissioners expressed an opinion little in 
 unison with our own, and we quote it because it exhibits 
 the fact of the separation of families in a different light. 
 In answer to the question : — 
 
 " What is your opinion of the moral habits which are 
 contracted by boys and girls in the occupation you have 
 just described ?" 
 
 " I would say, first of all, that where they work at 
 home, they are shut up all day long with their parents, 
 and have scarcely any acquaintance with others, and with 
 the feelings of their neighbours. The whole of the 
 feelings they thus imbibe may he selfish^ and as their 
 
 ♦ It has been said that few married women work in factories. 
 This is at variance with truth and with multitudes of cases which 
 have come under the author's personal notice. Some observations 
 will be found, when speaking of female labour, on this subject. 
 
74 FACTORY SYSTEM. 
 
 mode of working does not throw them out of the circle 
 of their own house, or lead them to form any connexion 
 with their neighbours, whatever connexions they do 
 form arise from other circumstances than those of work." 
 It has been urged, by those who extol factory labour, 
 that the evils flowing from separation of families are, 
 to some extent, counteracted by the young workers being 
 engaged under the eye of their parents or friends. 
 Children are employed chiefly in the spinning depart- 
 ment ; acting as assistants and servants, in fact, of the 
 spinner. This, as far as it goes, is well ; it goes however 
 but a little way. The spinner, an adult male, is other- 
 wise occupied than in watching attentively the conduct 
 of his juvenile servitors. In those mills where the pro- 
 prietors are themselves men of high moral principle, and 
 who pay strict attention to their work-people, some of 
 the mischief attendant on the breaking up of families are 
 mitigated by religious instruction ; but these cases 
 rarely are found in towns. Some details will appear in 
 subsequent chapters, on the benefits arising to the 
 labourer when the mills are detached from towns, and 
 well regulated. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION HABITATIONS DOMESTIC 
 
 MORALS, &C. 
 
 Progress of Civilization — Degradation the Social Condition of 
 Town Artisans — Homes — State of these — Occupation by seve- 
 ral Families of one House — Effects upon Domestic Morals- 
 Cellar Residences — Number in Manchester — Their Occupants 
 — Lodging- Houses — Maternal Affection — Destruction of Mo- 
 therly care by Factory Labour — Husband and Wife — Brother 
 and Sister — Parent and Child — A Household described — 
 Differences of Town and Country Operatives — Observations on 
 the Early Master Manufacturers — Their Origin — Manners* &c. 
 
 The inquirer into the progress of the civilisation of 
 man has learnt the folio v^ing series of facts. He 
 finds that as man removes from utter barbarism, from 
 a state elevated but one remove above the brute 
 creation, he raises himself a habitation, more or less 
 comfortable, as a shelter against the vicissitudes of the 
 seasons, and as a place of refuge ; that, in his primeval 
 condition, he contented himself with the shelter of a tree, 
 and the protection of the natural caves or strong-holds 
 around him ; that, at this period, he lives upon aliment 
 chiefly of a vegetable nature, or picks up a scanty and 
 precarious subsistence by fishing, or devouring the 
 
76 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 minuter forms of animal life ; that in his first advance 
 in social improvement, he erects himself a rude hut of 
 wood, or sods, or stone, as his particular locality may 
 point out to him, badly built, badly covered in, admit- 
 ting little light, but freely open to the winds of heaven ; 
 that he now becomes a hunter, and tills imperfectly a 
 small patch of ground for the production of those escu- 
 lent roots or seeds which experience has taught him are 
 fit for the support of life ; that, in his next advance, he 
 improves his hut, forms a communion with his fellows 
 under an acknowledged superior, joins his labours, 
 whether of the chase or of cultivation, with those of 
 athers — shows some tokens of religion, however barba- 
 rous and superstitious — selects a woman as a compa- 
 nion, and lays the foundation for the relations of husband 
 and wife ; that^ in his continued advance, his cottage 
 becomes to him more than a place of mere shelter ; that 
 its walls are now covered with the products of war or 
 the chase ; that it has other inmates — a family of children ; 
 that his moral attributes slowly and imperfectly develop 
 themselves ; that his labour or sport has for its aim the 
 maintenance of his family ; or that his wife, not yet 
 freed from savage thraldrom, is the principal agent in the 
 production of food ; that as he still progresses, his home 
 is better built, and assumes a dilFerent aspect ; its interior 
 having many simple decorations, and is neat and clean, 
 whilst its outside bears marks of attention being paid to 
 effect ; that he now surrounds it with a patch of ground, 
 over which he claims a right of exclusive possession ; 
 that his wife now becomes to him more than a creature 
 retained solely for the gratification of his appetites, and 
 that his children are looked upon as beings in whose 
 welfare he is deeply and sensitively interested ; that he 
 submits to codes of laws, or municipal regulations, which 
 
HABITATIONS. 77 
 
 although they may interfere with his individual liberty or 
 particular rights of property, are yet obviously beneficial 
 to the interests of the community of which he forms a 
 member; that he is now stationary, has lost his preda- 
 tory habits, and has assumed his rank as a social and 
 moral being ; that in his further advances he still im- 
 proves his habitation, builds his house in a more durable 
 manner, and with better materials ; divides it into 
 distinct compartments, and separates the sexes ; that his 
 wife is no longer an instrument of labour, but depends 
 upon him for support ; that promiscuous intercouse 
 between the sexes is condemned and prohibited as inju- 
 rious to the marriage contract ; and that thus, step after 
 step, he goes on to the maximum of civilisation and 
 excellence of social confederation, exhibiting, in habita- 
 tion, dress, and manners, a congruity, an homogeneous- 
 ness of improvement, shewing how intimately all these 
 separate conditions are essential to the perfection of the 
 whole system. 
 
 If the progress of civilisation is thus clearly marked 
 by these various gradations from the simple animal 
 existence of man in his primeval state, his lapse may be 
 truly said to be indicated by data of a similar character. 
 Taking the extent of refinement and the perfection of 
 social communion as they are displayed by the middle 
 class of society — neither placing it too high nor too low 
 — the degree to which the inferior classes in the manufac- 
 turing towns and districts have retrograded, or remained 
 behind in the march of improvement, is very apparent. 
 Judging them by the same rules which have been ap- 
 plied to mark the advancement of man from a savage 
 state, they have made but few steps forward ; and though 
 their primitive nature is disguised and modified by the 
 force of external circumstances, they differ but little in 
 
78 SOCIAL CONDITION, 
 
 inherent qualities from the uncultivated child of nature, 
 and shew their distinction rather in the mode than the 
 reality of their debased condition. 
 
 The houses of great numbers of the labouring com- 
 munity in the manufacturing districts are filthy, unfur- 
 nished, and deprived of all the accessories to decency or 
 comfort. What little furniture is found in them is of 
 the rudest and most common sort, and very often in 
 fragments — one or two rush-bottomed chairs, a deal 
 table, a few stools, broken earthenware, such as dishes, 
 tea-cups, &c. &c., one or more tin kettles and cans, a 
 few knives and forks ; no fender ; a bedstead or not, as 
 the case may happen to be ; blankets and sheets in the 
 strict meaning of the words unknown — their place often 
 being made up of sacking, a heap of flocks, or a bundle 
 of straw, supplying the want of a proper bedstead and 
 feather bed ; and these cooped in a single room, which 
 serves as a place for all domestic and household occupa- 
 tions.* 
 
 In those divisions of the manufacturing towns occu- 
 pied by the lower classes of inhabitants, whether engaged 
 in mill-labour alone, or in mill-labour conjointly with 
 hand-loom weaving, jthe houses are of the most flimsy 
 and imperfect construction. Tenanted by the week, by 
 an improvident and changeable set of beings, the owners 
 seldom lay out any money upon them, and seem indeed 
 only anxious that they should be tenantable at all long 
 enough to reimburse them for the first outlay. Hence, 
 in a very few years, they become ruinous to a degree. 
 One of the circumstances in which they are especially 
 defective, is that of drainage and water-closets. Whole 
 
 * We are here speaking from an extended series of personal 
 inquiries ; the tables which follow abundantly verify our descrip- 
 
HABITATIONS. 
 
 79 
 
 ranges of these houses are either totally undrained, or 
 only very partially soughed. The whole of the washings 
 and filth from these consequently are thrown into the 
 front or back street, which being often unpaved and cut 
 up into deep ruts, allows them to collect into stinking and 
 stagnant pools, while fifty, or more even than that 
 number, having only a single convenience common to 
 them all, it is in a very short time completely choked up 
 with excrementitious matter. No alternative is left to 
 the inhabitants but adding this to the already defiled 
 street, and thus leading to a violation of all those decen- 
 cies which shed a protection over family morals. 
 
 The following Table, arranged by the Classification 
 Committee of the Special Board of Health appointed 
 during the late irruption of cholera into Manchester, 
 aiSbrds the most decisive evidence upon this point : — 
 
 District 
 
 Number 
 ofhouses 
 inspect- 
 ed. 
 
 Houses re- 
 quiring 
 whitewash- 
 ing. 
 
 Houses 
 out of 
 repair. 
 
 Houses 
 
 warning 
 
 proper 
 
 soughing. 
 
 Houses 
 damp. 
 
 Houses 
 
 ill venti- 
 
 Jated. 
 
 Houses 
 wanting 
 privies. 
 
 J 
 
 850 
 
 399 
 
 128 
 
 112 
 
 177 
 
 70 
 
 326 
 
 2 
 
 2489 
 
 898 
 
 282 
 
 145 
 
 497 
 
 109 
 
 755 
 
 3 
 
 213 
 
 145 
 
 104 
 
 41 
 
 61 
 
 52 
 
 96 
 
 4 
 
 650 
 
 279 
 
 106 
 
 105 
 
 134 
 
 69 
 
 250 
 
 V5 
 
 413 
 
 176 
 
 82 
 
 70 
 
 101 
 
 11 
 
 66 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 , , 
 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 343 
 
 76 
 
 59 
 
 57 
 
 86 
 
 21 
 
 79 
 
 8 
 
 132 
 
 35 
 
 30 
 
 39 
 
 48 
 
 22 
 
 20 
 
 9 
 
 128 
 
 34 
 
 32 
 
 24 
 
 39 
 
 19 
 
 25 
 
 10 
 
 370 
 
 195 
 
 53 
 
 123 
 
 54 
 
 2 
 
 232 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 . . 
 
 , , 
 
 . . 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 113 
 
 33 
 
 23 
 
 27 
 
 24 
 
 16 
 
 52 
 
 1.3 
 
 757 
 
 218 
 
 44 
 
 108 
 
 146 
 
 54 
 
 177 
 
 14 
 
 481 
 
 74 
 
 13 
 
 83 
 
 68 
 
 7 
 
 138 
 
 ♦Totals 
 
 6951 
 
 2565 
 
 961 
 
 939 
 
 1435 
 
 452 
 
 2221 
 
 * "These numerical results fail to exhibit a perfect picture of 
 the ills which are suffered by the poor. The replies to the ques- 
 
80 
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 The next Table, the result of inquiries made by 
 the Special Board of Health, in 1832, shows the state 
 of the streets in Manchester, and shows how intimately 
 localities and characters are connected : — 
 
 Districts. 
 
 Streets in- 
 spected. 
 
 Streets un- 
 paved. 
 
 Streets in 
 part paved. 
 
 Streets ill 
 ventilated. 
 
 Streets containing 
 
 heaps of refuse, 
 
 stagnant pools, 
 
 ordure, &c. 
 
 1 
 
 114 
 
 63 
 
 13 
 
 7 
 
 64 
 
 2 
 
 180 
 
 93 
 
 7 
 
 23 
 
 92 
 
 3 
 
 49 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 12 
 
 28 
 
 4 
 
 66 
 
 37 
 
 10 
 
 12 
 
 52 
 
 5 
 
 SO 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 53 
 
 13 
 
 5 
 
 12 
 
 17 
 
 8 
 
 16 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 
 48 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 20 
 
 10 
 
 29 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 23 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 13 
 
 55 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 23 
 
 14 
 
 33 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 ♦Totals 
 
 687 
 
 248 
 
 53 
 
 112 
 
 352 
 
 tions contained in the inspector's table refer only to cases of the 
 most positive kind, and the numerical results would therefore have 
 been exceedingly increased, had they embraced those in which the 
 evils existed in an inferior degree. Some idea of the want of 
 cleanliness prevalent in their habitations may be obtained from 
 the report in the number of houses requiring whitewashing ; but 
 this column fails to indicate their gross neglect of order and abso- 
 lute filth. Much less can we obtain satisfactory statistical results 
 concerning the want of furniture, especially of bedding, and of 
 food, clothing, and fuel." 
 
 * " An accurate inspection of this table, will render the extent of 
 the evil affecting the poor more apparent. Those districts which 
 are almost exclusively inhabited by the labouring population, are, 
 Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 10 ; Nos. 13, 14, and 7, also contain, besides 
 the dwellings of the operatives, those of shopkeepers and trades- 
 men, and are traversed by many of the principal thoroughfares. 
 
DOMESTIC MORALS. 81 
 
 It very frequently happens that one tenement is held 
 by several families, one room, or at most two, being 
 generally looked upon as affording sufficient convenience 
 for all the household purposes of four or &ve individuals. 
 The demoralizing effects of this utter absence of social 
 and domestic privacy must be seen before they can be 
 thoroughly understood, or their extent appreciated. By 
 laying bare all the wants and actions of the sexes, it 
 strips them of regard for decency and modesty. 
 
 The brutalizing agency of this mode of life is very 
 strongly displayed in the language employed by the 
 manufacturing population, young and old alike.* Coarse 
 and obscene expressions are in common and familiar 
 use ; and these things may be imputed, in a very consi- 
 derable degree, to the promiscuous way in which families 
 herd together,-^ way that prevents all privacy, and 
 which, by bringing into open day things which delicacy 
 commands should be shrouded from observation, de- 
 stroys all notions of sexual decency and domestic chas- 
 tity. f 3 
 
 No. 1 1 was not inspected ; and Nos. 5, 6, 8, and 9, are the central 
 districts containing the chief streets, the most respectable shops, 
 the dwellings of the more wealthy inhabitants, and the warehouses 
 of the merchants and manufacturers. Subtracting, therefore, from 
 the various totals those items in the reports which concern these 
 divisions only, we discover in those districts which contain a large 
 portion of poor, viz. 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 13, 14, that among 579 streets 
 inspected, 243 were unpaved, 46 partly paved, 93 ill-ventilated, 
 and 307 contained heaps of refuse, deep ruts, stagnant pools, 
 ordure, &c. ; and in the districts almost exclusively inhabited by 
 the poor, viz. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 10, out of 438 streets inspected, 214 
 were unpaved, 32 partly paved, 63 ill-ventilated, and 259 con- 
 tained heaps of refuse, ruts, stagnant pools, ordure," &c. 
 
 * Vide Mr. Coweirs Report in Factory Commission. 
 
 + " In addition to overt acts of vice, there is a coarseness and 
 grossness of feeling, and an habitual indecency of conversation, 
 O 
 
82 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 Many ranges of houses are built back to back, front- 
 ing one way into a narrow court, across which the in- 
 mates of the opposite houses may shake hands without 
 stepping out of their own doors ; and the other way, into 
 a back street, unpaved and unsewered. Most of these 
 houses have cellars beneath them, occupied — if it is 
 possible to find a lower class — by a still lower class than 
 those living above them. 
 
 From some recent inquiries on the subject, it would 
 appear, that upwards of 20,000 individuals live in 
 cellars in Manchester alone. /These are generally Irish 
 families — handloom weaver^" bricklayers' labourers, 
 '&c. &c. whose children are beggars or match-sellers 
 in conjunction with their mothers. (The crowds of 
 beings that emerge from these dwellings every morning, 
 are truly astonishing, and present very little variety 
 as to respectability of appearance : all are ragged, 
 all are filthy, all are squalid. They separate to pursue 
 their various callings, either shutting up their dens 
 till night, or leaving a child as sole occupant. A 
 great portion of these wander about the town and its 
 suburbs, begging or stealing, as the case may be ; others 
 hawk little matters, such as pins, matches, oranges, <%c. 
 bringing back with them any fragment of meat or bread 
 they have been able to procure. These cells are the 
 
 which we would fain hope and believe are not the prevailing cha- 
 racteristics of our country. The effect of this upon the minds of 
 the young will be readily conceived ; and is it Hkely that any 
 instruction or education, or Sunday schools, or sermons, can coun- 
 teract the baneful influence, the insinuating virus, the putrefac- 
 tion, the contagion of this moral depravity which reigns around 
 them — 
 
 Nil dictu visuque faedum hoc lumina tangat 
 
 Intra quae puer est ?" — Juvenal. 
 ^—Enquirt/j &c. p. 25. 
 
DOMESTIC MORALS. 83 
 
 very picture of loathsomeness : placed upon the soil, 
 and partly flagged, without drains, subjected to being 
 occasionally overflowed, seldom cleaned, each return 
 of their inmates bringing with it a farther accession of 
 filth, they speedily become disgusting receptacles of every 
 species of vermin which can infest the human body. ->. .,„ -I- 
 
 The domestic habits of these improvident creatures 
 are vile in the extreme — carrying their want of house- 
 hold decency one step further than those which have just 
 been described. The Irish cottier has brought with him 
 his disgusting domestic companion, the pig ; for whenever 
 he can scrape together a sufficient sum for the purchase of 
 one of these animals, it becomes an inmate of his cellar.* 
 
 It is here too that he displays his recklessness in 
 another of his characteristic propensities — whiskey- 
 drinking; an opportunity for the indulgence of which 
 is furnished by the illicit distillers in his vicinity for a 
 mere trifle. The disgraceful riots which are calling per- 
 petually for the interference of the police, are mainly 
 attributable to this cause, and a return from the lock- 
 ups would abundantly show how terrible are the out- 
 rages inflicted upon each other during these drunken 
 
 * " In all respects the habitations of the Irish are most desti- 
 tute. A whole family is often accommodated on a single bed, and 
 sometimes a heap of filthy straw, and a covering of old sacking 
 hides them in one undistinguished heap, debased alike by penury, 
 want of economy, and dissolute habits. Frequently the inspectors 
 found two or more families crowded into one small house, contain- 
 ing only two apartments, one in which they slept, and another in 
 which they ate ; and often more than one family lived in a damp 
 cellar, containing only one room, in whose pestilential atmosphere 
 from twelve to sixteen persons were crowded. To these fertile 
 sources of disease were sometimes added, the keeping of pigs and 
 other animals in the house, with other nuisances of the most 
 revolting character." — Moral and Physical Condition of the Working 
 Classes, &c. p. 32. 
 
 G 2 
 
 \ 
 
84 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 brawls. When their passions are roused by intoxication, 
 most severe and often bloody conflicts ensue between 
 them, to the disturbance and degradation of the more 
 peaceable inhabitants. Thus it appears that the inferior 
 order of Irishmen have brought with them all their vices 
 into the manufacturing districts, and aid powerfully by 
 their example — independently of lowering the value of 
 the labour of the English operative* — the demoralization 
 which marks his general character. 
 
 Another fertile source of licentiousness in domes- 
 tic manners, exists in the number of lodging-houses, 
 which are very abundant in all the manufacturing 
 districts. In towns they are thickly scattered through 
 those divisions occupied by the poor. By a survey made 
 in Manchester in 1832, there were found very near 300 
 of these houses. When it is remembered that these are 
 but the temporary asylums of want and depravity, their 
 number, great as it is, affords no criterion for ascertaining 
 how many persons become their inmates during the year. 
 In another point of view they are extremely injurious : 
 the breaking up of the families, the consequence of mill 
 labour, drives many of those who should be sheltered 
 under a very different roof, to take up their abode in 
 these haunts of crime ; where, if not already debased by 
 other causes, they are speedily reduced to the very 
 lowest ebb of moral depravity. Their influence in this 
 respect resembles very closely that brought about by a 
 residence in prison ; for the parties which are the habitual 
 occupants of the one, are in their turn found living in 
 the other. 
 
 * Vide Appendix — Taole of Irish and English Setdements in 
 Manchester, This Table shews to what an extent the immigration 
 of impoverished Irish has been carried in the manufacturing 
 districts. 
 
DOMESTIC MORALS. 85 
 
 The extraordinary sights presented by these lodging- 
 iiouses during the night, are deplorable in the extreme, 
 and must fill the heart of any man, open to the feelings 
 of humanity, with pain and unutterable disgust. Five, 
 six, seven beds — according to the capacity of the rooms 
 — are arranged on the floor — there being in the genera- 
 lity of cases no bedsteads, or any substitutes for them ; 
 these are covered with clothing of the most scanty and 
 filthy descript'on. They are occupied by young men 
 and young women ; men, wives, and their children — all 
 lying in a noisome atmosphere, swarming with vermin, 
 and often intoxicated. They serve as so many foci for 
 crime — so many hot-beds for bringing into existence 
 vices which might have lain dormant, if not roused into 
 activity by their unnatural stimulus. 
 
 Maternal affection is one of those beautiful and bene- 
 ficent instincts which so strongly mark the goodness 
 and surpassing wisdom of the great Author of nature. 
 In all ages, in all countries, in all stages of civilization 
 — in war, in pestilence, shipwreck, or famine — whether 
 roaming through the jungle or over the prairie — whether 
 traversing the expanse of the continent or dwelling in 
 the far off and isolated island — woman has ever been 
 found with the hallowed character of a mother, and 
 exhibiting, for the sake of her offspring, an abandon- 
 ment of self — a pouring forth of her most holy affections, 
 which has been the brightest and purest portion of her 
 history. 
 
 Love of helpless infancy — attention to its wants, its 
 sufferings, and its unintelligible happiness, seem to form , 
 the very well-spring of a woman's heart — fertilizing, 
 softening, and enriching all her grosser passions and 
 appetites. It is an instinct in the strictest acceptation 
 of the word. A woman, if removed from all intercourse 
 
86 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 with all knowledge of her sex and its attributes, from 
 the very hour of her birth, would, should she herself 
 become a mother in the wilderness, lavish as much 
 tenderness upon her babe, cherish it as fondly, hang 
 over it with as fervent affection, attend to its wants, 
 sacrifice her personal comfort, with as much ardour, as 
 much devotedness, as the most refined, fastidious, and 
 intellectual mother, placed in the very centre of civilized 
 society. 
 
 Instincts are those dispositions for a certain train of 
 actions, which have been impressed, more or less dis- 
 tinctly, upon the minds or nature of all living beings, 
 whether endowed with reason or not; — and which, if 
 allowed to take their own course, freed from the control 
 of extraneous causes, are unerring guides for the attain- 
 ment of particular ends. Education, change of locality 
 and habits, will warp and derange their operations, but 
 never entirely extinguish them. Maternal feelings and 
 actions are rarely overcome in animals by domestica- 
 tion ; and it would be supposed that woman, who, in 
 addition to these instincts — which are fully as powerful 
 within her, possesses reason and a capability of culti- 
 vating a host of affections, would exhibit, in her social 
 condition, maternal love in its strongest, most durable, 
 and most amiable form. 
 
 The system of factory labour * has, however, gone far 
 towards annihilating this great and beautiful principle in 
 woman's moral organization. The substitution of female 
 labour for that of the adult male, has driven her to 
 the mills, in which she is confined the whole day : 
 this has torn asunder those links of affection which, 
 under almost all other circumstances, have bound a 
 
 ♦ Vide Moral and Physical Condition of the Working Classes, 
 &c. p. 69. 
 
DOMESTIC MORALS. 8? 
 
 mother to her offspring ; and in doing so it has de- 
 prived woman of that moral characteristic, which is the 
 most influential in rendering her a loveable and loving 
 being. 
 
 Compelled to rise early — no opportunity given for 
 visiting home, during the day, but at the hurried meal- 
 times — her social affections warped, her frame little 
 calculated to furnish her child with support, she becomes 
 inaccessible to its appeals to her tenderness — leaves it 
 to the care of a hireling, or young person, often a mere 
 infant — suffers it to be filthy and half- starved ; and, as 
 faculties develop, takes no interest in keeping it from the 
 contagion of vice and grossness.* 
 
 A system which thus depraves and perverts a mother's 
 love, or which demands those times and occasions a 
 mother ought to devote to her infant — which, from various 
 concurring causes, so far influences her domestic habits 
 as to interfere with the development of her social affec- 
 tions, and which, from its continued action upon her, at 
 length destroys or buries them beneath a load of gross- 
 ness and sensuality — must be wrong. 
 
 If a mother's love be thus injured — a love springing 
 as it does from the very groundwork of her moral nature, 
 
 * " In consequence of the mothers being employed from home, 
 their children are entrusted, in a vast majority of cases, to the 
 care of others, often to elderly females, who have no infant families 
 of their own ; and most of whom having in their youth had their 
 children nursed by others, have never formed those habits of 
 attachment and assiduous attention to their offspring, which could 
 alone afford a probability of a proper care of the children com- 
 mitted to their charge. These women often take care of several in- 
 fants at the same time— their habits are generally indolent and 
 gossipping, and the children are restless and irritable from being 
 deprived of a supply of their proper food." — Inquiry into the Ma- 
 nufacturing Population^ p. 17. 
 
88 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 no wonder can be excited that the relations of husband 
 and wife are perverted. The chastity of marriage is 
 often disregarded, and an habitual indifference to sexual 
 rights is generated, which adds one other item to assist 
 in the destruction of domestic habits. 
 
 No amenity of manners, therefore, no gentleness of 
 behaviour, mark the home of a factory labourer in a 
 crowded population ; often no regard is shown for con- 
 jugal obligations, no bashful reserve, no cultivation of 
 those finer sensibilities, which give to married life its 
 principal charms, when composed of its proper elements. 
 
 If the domestic manners of the parents are thus de- 
 praved, their example must of necessity influence their 
 children. Brother and sister lose that connexion which 
 ought naturally and properly to exist between them : 
 disregard for each other's welfare, a separation of in- 
 terests and feelings, a forgetfulness of what is due, one 
 to another, destroy those bonds which should link toge- 
 ther the hearts of individuals springing from the same 
 source, endeared as they ought to be by the memory of 
 their younger years — years which, unfortunately for 
 them, have been passed in total disregard for home 
 duties, uncared for likewise by their natural guardians, 
 and separated at an early age. 
 
 Neither is the conduct of parent to child, and of 
 child to parent, a whit more engaging, but is as remote 
 as possible from the just observance of filial and paren- 
 tal duties. Insubordination on the part of the child, 
 cruelty and oppression on that of the parent, quar- 
 relling, fighting, a total alienation of affection, and, finally, 
 a separation from home at an age when parental control 
 and proper domestic discipline are essential to the future 
 wellbeing of the child. 
 
 The instances of proper feelings between parents and 
 
DOMESTIC MORALS. 89 
 
 children are uncommon : those offices which should be 
 mutually rendered are neglected, and a disregard for 
 the well or evil doing of either party is exhibited. 
 
 A household thus constituted, in which all the de- 
 cencies and moral observances of domestic life are con- 
 stantly violated, reduces its inmates to a condition little 
 elevated above that of the savage. Recklessness, 
 improvidence, and unnecessary poverty, starvation, 
 drunkenness, parental cruelty and carelessness, filial 
 disobedience, neglect of conjugal rights, absence of 
 maternal love, destruction of brotherly and sisterly 
 affection, are too often its constituents, and the results 
 of such a combination are moral degradation, ruin of 
 domestic enjoyments, and social misery. 
 
 Dr. Ure, (in his Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 342, 
 after quoting the opinion of Mr. Tufnel, one of the factory 
 commissioners, to the effect that there is not a better or 
 more certain mode of benefiting a country village than by 
 establishing a cotton factory in it,) says — " It has been 
 justly remarked, by one of the first manufacturers in the 
 kingdom, that in large towns, and particularly with so 
 mixed and fluctuating a population as that contained 
 within the precincts of Manchester, with its various 
 occupations, its hastily and imperfectly constructed 
 streets, and crowded dwellings, and its many incentives 
 to vice, it is no easy task to determine the effect of 
 each particular kind of employment. The pure unmixed 
 effect of factory labour will be best and most easily 
 found in the country, where it affords regular employ- 
 ment during a series of years to the same families ; yet, 
 even in Manchester, evidence enough to satisfy the 
 candid inquirer may be obtained by inspecting the 
 factories and dwellings of the working classes. It may 
 be shown that the children of orderly parents, of both 
 
90 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 sexes, are taught at home and in schools ; and that 
 though there are too many heads of families who wholly 
 neglect or set a had example to their children, still in 
 Manchester and in all other large towns, the attendance 
 at the Sunday schools of such as are employed in 
 factories, shows that that class of operatives furnishes 
 its full proportion of scholars." 
 
 This is unquestionably true ; still it would be equally 
 unjust to take, as the sole ground for examination, 
 the establishment of the Messrs. Strutt, in the valley 
 of the Derwent, or any other country mill, conducted 
 by men of enlarged benevolence and active philan- 
 thropy. Nothing indeed can be more cheering to the 
 eye or gladdening to the heart than the admirable organ- 
 ization of a few out-town manufactories ; and if an 
 opinion were to be formed from these, we should at once 
 assent to that of Dr. Ure ; namely, that factory labour 
 is the best which can be found for the operative. The 
 instances adduced are rather beautiful examples of what 
 may be done, than illustrations of what is done. Why 
 is it that, as at Belper, Quarry-bank, Ramsbottom, 
 and other places, order, sobriety and morality charac- 
 terize the labourers ? Because they form, as it were, 
 one great family, bound together by common ties, and 
 dependent on one common master. ** The population," 
 says Mr. Tufnel, ** surrounding a country mill, to the 
 number of one or two thousand, are sometimes entirely 
 dependent upon its master for work and subsistence;" 
 he is their landlord and their master ; in short, they are 
 completely under his control and supervision ; and if he 
 be a man with the honourable pride of seeing around 
 him a healthy and moral people, he has it in his power 
 to make them so. The whole of the system emanates 
 from and is dependent on him, and so complete is the 
 
DOMESTIC MORALS. 91 
 
 control he exercises, that any family which displays 
 troublesome propensities is at once dismissed. The 
 regularity required by factory processes renders any 
 deviation from sobriety or social order a very sufficient 
 reason for dismissal : thus Mr. Marshall, of Leeds, 
 says, " that in their establishment they do not employ 
 any operatives who are guilty of intoxication ;" and, in 
 other country mills, where the proprietors have sur- 
 rounded themselves by a distinct set of fixed labourers, 
 the most happy results follow. 
 
 All country manufacturers, however, are not men who 
 thus show that factory labour may be so conducted as to 
 obviate its first grand evil — an evil which only partially 
 exists in the best conducted country mills, as the workers, 
 by intimate and daily association become greatly amal- 
 gamated ; in towns, however, the strict surveillance exer- 
 cised in rural districts is impossible ; thus, says Dr. Ure — 
 " In towns the tie that binds together employers and 
 employed, is of course less strong ;'* and, a few lines 
 further on, acknowledges that even in the country many 
 instances are to be found where the moral feelings and 
 habits of the young are exposed to injurious infiuences. 
 Another writer, whose observations refer chiefly to town 
 manufacturers, and whose position and intelligence give 
 his evidence a higher character than that due to the 
 observations of a mere casual visitor, says : " Little 
 advance can be made towards improving the morals of 
 the manufacturing population, till a strict and scru- 
 pulous attention is paid by the masters to the cha- 
 racters of those they employ. This is done in a few 
 isolated cases, and with excellent effect ; but these 
 instances are very rare. The great body of master- 
 manufacturers pay no attention to the morals of their 
 workmen, nor reprobate bad conduct, except as far as it 
 
92 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 interferes with their daily labour. A large numbe of 
 their female hands are notoriously of immoral cha- 
 racter, and a considerable portion of their men drunkards, 
 more or less confirmed." * This is the plain and unde- 
 niable truth, 
 
 " Like master, like man," is a proverb no less appli- 
 cable to public works than to private families. The mill- 
 owner, who has a nice sense of purity in heart and life, a 
 just comprehension of his own interest, and a conscien- 
 tious concern for the well-being of his dependents, wilj 
 adopt every practicable measure to raise the standard of 
 their behaviour. If, on the other hand, he is lax in his 
 own principles, and careless of their conduct, except as to 
 their punctuality at their task, he will experience the 
 consequences of this unconcern in slovenliness of work, 
 and in personal disrespect. Let us figure to ourselves 
 a proprietor of extensive factories, a man of old expe- 
 rience, an unwearied worshipper of Mammon, and, of 
 course, a stranger to the self-denying graces of the 
 gospel. Such a man knows himself to be entitled to 
 nothing but eye-service, and will therefore exercise the 
 most irksome vigilance, but in vain, to prevent his being 
 overreached by his operatives ; the whole of whom, by 
 natural instinct, as it were, conspire against such a 
 master. Whatever pains he may take, he can never 
 command superior workmanship, he will find the cha- 
 racter of his goods to be second-rate in the market, and 
 he will of course get a second-rate price and set of cus- 
 tomers : his whole business is blasted, as it were, by an 
 evil eye. Aware of his unpopularity with his work- 
 people, he strives to regain their favour, by conniving at 
 
 * Inquiry into the State of the Manufacturing Population, &c. 
 p. 35. 
 
DOMESTIC MORALS. 93 
 
 their vices ; and views their intemperance^ on Saturday- 
 night and Sunday with indifference, provided it does not 
 interfere with their labour on Monday morning. 
 
 Such policy may have been compatible with profit in 
 times of narrow competition ; but now it seldom fails, as 
 I could prove by examples, to counteract prosperity, at 
 least, if not to impair the fortunes realized under better 
 auspices. It is, therefore, excessively the interest of 
 every mill-owner to organize his moral machinery, on 
 equally sound principles with his mechanical; for, 
 otherwise, he will never command the steady hands, 
 watchful eyes, and prompt cooperation, essential to excel- 
 lence of product. Improvident work-people are apt to be 
 reckless, and dissolute ones to be diseased ; thus both 
 are ill qualified to discharge the delicate labours of 
 automatic industry, which is susceptible of many grades 
 of imperfection, without becoming so obviously defec- 
 tive as to render the work liable to a fine. There is, in 
 fact, no case to which the gospel truth, ' Godliness is 
 great gain,' is more applicable than to the administra- 
 tion of an extensive factory."* 
 
 These are sound observations ; and after the descrip- 
 tion we have given of the domestic morals of labouring 
 manufacturers, let us apply the above remarks to the 
 past conditions of many extensive mill-proprietors. 
 
 THE EARLY MASTER MANUFACTURERS. 
 
 It may be laid down as a maxim, that whenever nu- 
 merous bodies of men — whatsoever their rank, and 
 whatsoever the cause which has led to their congre- 
 gation — are brought together, a deterioration, more or 
 
 * Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 416. 
 
94 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 less marked, in the moral condition of some portions 
 of the community, is the inevitable result. Large 
 cities and populous districts have, in all ages, been 
 the foci from whence have emanated, if not great, at 
 least numerous crimes. 
 
 One principal effect of the steam engine has been, 
 to crowd workmen together, collecting them from parts 
 in which they had hitherto formed portions of a scattered 
 population.* 
 
 Example appears to be one of the most powerful 
 agents in the production of the common actions of life. 
 The various grades of society, from the most elevated 
 to the most debased, are led equally away by it. 
 
 Many of the first successful manufacturers, both in 
 town and country, were men who had their origin in the 
 rank of mere operatives, or who sprung from the extinct 
 class of yeomen. It has been already explained that 
 this class had been driven, by the pressure of circum- 
 stances,^ to the adoption of spinning, at the period when 
 trade was undergoing that series of changes which ended 
 in the introduction of steam. 
 
 The celerity with which some of these individuals accu- 
 mulated wealth in the early times of machine spinning 
 and weaving, are proofs — if any such were wanting — 
 that they were men of quick views, and great energy of 
 character, possessing no small share of sagacity, and 
 by these means were able to avail themselves to the 
 utmost of the golden advantages which were presented 
 to their grasp, at a time when they supplied the whole 
 universe with the products of manufacture. 
 
 But they were men of very limited general informa- 
 
 * " Manufacturers naturally condense a vast population within 
 a narrow circuit," &c. &c. — Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 407. 
 f Vide Chap. I. passim. 
 
DOMESTIC MORALS. 95 
 
 tion — men who saw and knew little of any thing beyond 
 the demand for their twist or cloth, and the speediest 
 and best modes for their production.* They were, how- 
 ever, from their acquired station, men who exercised 
 very considerable influence upon the multitudes of work- 
 men who became dependent upon them. 
 
 The acquisition of wealth, unfortunately for the in- 
 terests of all parties, was not, in the first instance, 
 attended by a corresponding improvement in their 
 moral and social character ; on the contrary, all who 
 had an opportunity of watching its effects, can only 
 deplore and condemn the evil purposes to which, for 
 many years, some portions of it were applied. 
 
 The extreme rapidity with which the returns were 
 made for a considerable period — and this too with an 
 immense profit — might well dazzle them. The animal 
 enjoyments, — the sensual indulgences, which were wit- 
 nessed at the orgies of these parties, totally unchecked by 
 any intercourse with polished society, should have had 
 the veil of oblivion drawn over them, were it not that, 
 to some degree, they tend to explain the depravity which 
 in a few years spread, like a moral plague, over the 
 factory artisans. 
 
 The sprinkling of men of more refined habits amongst 
 the early successful cotton manufacturers, was extremely 
 scanty. Very few who brought large capital into the 
 trade, were fortunate, or even made satisfactory progress. 
 Neither will this fact be considered singular, when it is 
 
 * Arkwright, who may be styled the founder of our present 
 manufactures, was a country barber. He acquired an immense 
 fortune. Those who have followed in his steps, and of no higher 
 origin, are, by the mere force of wealth, placing themselves in the 
 path of our aristocracy. The House of Commons includes several 
 of them already. 
 
96 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 remembered with whom the battle had to be fought. 
 They had to oppose men who had a practical acquaint- 
 ance with machinery, and who laboured themselves, 
 assiduously and diligently ; whereas the previous pur- 
 suits and education of the capitalist, had unfitted him, 
 in some respects, for that rapidity of action and quick- 
 ness of calculation, which were essentially necessary, if 
 he must keep pace with the daily improvements projected 
 and carried on around him. 
 
 Master manufacturers then, at the commencement of 
 this important epoch,* were in many instances men 
 sprung from the ranks of the labourers, or from a grade 
 just removed above these — uneducated, of coarse habits, 
 sensual in their enjoyments, partaking of the rude 
 revelry of their dependants — overwhelmed by success, 
 but yet, paradoxical as it may sound, industrious men, 
 and active and far-sighted tradesmen. 
 
 Wealth brought with it some of its usual accessories. 
 Cottages were exchanged for mansions erected purposely 
 for them, larger, more commodious, and furnished in a 
 style of shew and expense, if not of taste, sufficiently 
 indicative of the state of the owner's purse and pros- 
 pects ; and to these were transferred the manners which 
 had unhappily disgraced their late more humble re- 
 sidences. 
 
 Destitute of every thing intellectual, and condemning 
 every thing savouring of refinement, whether in manner 
 or thought, they were in some measure driven to 
 the indulgence of their animal sensations. This was 
 
 ♦ Stockport, Hyde, Duckenfield, Stayley Bridge, &c.— places 
 exclusively manufacturing — may be pointed cut as illustrating the 
 above. Many of the wealthy masters, in early life, worked as 
 common labourers, either as hatters, shoemakers, carters, weavers, 
 or at some other trade. 
 
DOMESTIC MORALS. 97 
 
 generally sought for in the use of ardent spirits, which 
 roused them for a time into furious excitement, 
 and rendered them unconscious of all that was due 
 to decency or propriety. Thus wallowing in intemper- 
 ance, little wonder can be excited that other passions 
 were stimulated into active operation ; and from their 
 situation, unbounded facilities were offered for their 
 display. 
 
 The almost entire extinction of sexual decency, 
 which has been one of the darkest stains upon the cha- 
 racter of the mill artisans, the laxity in all the moral 
 obligations which ought to exist between the sexes, and 
 the consequent loss of this most important influence in 
 the formation of social manners, may be traced, to some 
 extent, to this period of their history. 
 
 Condemning, as every man must, the conduct of 
 these parties, it may be remarked, that the mischief lay 
 in no small degree with the particular juncture in which 
 they were brought so conspicuously forward. Their 
 want of education — the animal life they had previously 
 led — the sudden accession of wealth — the contempt in 
 some cases generated for refinement, by the discovery 
 they soon made, that wealth, although burdened with 
 blunt and coarse manners, was still an all-powerful agent 
 for procuring worldly respect — the vanity which leads 
 men to ascribe results to causes personal to themselves, 
 keeping up their original vulgarity, in which they took a 
 strange pride — the facilities for lascivious indulgence 
 afforded them by the number of females brought under 
 their immediate control — the herding together of work- 
 men, the result of the factory system, more especially 
 multitudes of boys and girls from ten to sixteen years 
 of age, freed from domestic discipline — the separation of 
 man and wife during the hours of labour — the dependence 
 
98 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 which naturally grew up on the part of the labourers — 
 all these are matters which will serve to explain at 
 least, the immorality which marked the bearing of 
 many, though by no means the whole of the early 
 mechanical manufacturers. 
 
 There were amongst them, indeed, some who pos- 
 sessed a very elevated tone of moral thinking — men 
 whose sagacity clearly foresaw many of the evils which 
 threatened, and which have since fallen upon the opera- 
 tives from these causes ; but the impulse was given — 
 the barriers of domestic virtue were broken down — and 
 nothing but a strenuous effort on the part of all the 
 masters could have checked and destroyed the evil 
 which was marching about them with giant strides, and 
 with almost irresistible force. 
 
 As these men became better established in their 
 several successes, and as they rose in importance by the 
 extension of their trade, and as, by its continuance and 
 diffusion, other parties, of better education and more 
 refined manners, joined the manufacturing phalanx, a 
 better order of things gradually developed itself, and 
 worked great and beneficial changes in the characters of 
 the masters. 
 
 One of the niost permanently injurious consequences 
 resulting from the mode of life led by these individuals, 
 and one which has been severely felt and deplored by 
 them, was its influence upon their families. The demand 
 for hands necessarily led to the employment of all the 
 male relatives of the master manufacturer, at a very early 
 age. His own sons were invested with considerable 
 authority when mere children — taken from school to 
 superintend certain portions of the mills, and liberally 
 supplied with money. The same remark holds good 
 with reference to others, his relations. Boys, at an 
 
DOMESTIC MORALS. 99 
 
 age when they should have been sedulously kept apart 
 from opportunities of indulging their nascent sexual 
 propensities, were thrust into a very hot-bed of lust, and 
 exposed to vicious example, in addition to other causes, 
 irresistibly tending to make them a prey to licentiousness. 
 The consequences of these criminal and unadvised pro- 
 ceedings were, that long after the masters had freed 
 themselves from the vices incident to their first advance- 
 ment, they had the shame and mortification of seeing 
 their errors propagated through a series of ramifications, 
 every remove seeming to become more and more de- 
 praved in its character.* 
 
 Numbers of these infatuated youths reaped their 
 reward early, and were cut off on the very threshold of 
 manhood, by a career of unbridled indulgence ; marriage 
 was repudiated amongst them, and was indeed utterly 
 at variance with the license reigning over all their sexual 
 appetites. 
 
 Nothing can more clearly show the demoralizing 
 effects of this pernicious intercourse than the fact, that a 
 girl, who was known to have lived in a state of con- 
 cubinage, found no difiiculty in marrying subsequently 
 amongst her equals. So debased became their tone of 
 thinking, and so utterly were they lost to all sense of 
 decency and shame, that not only was no difiSculty 
 found by these girls in procuring husbands, but this was 
 even managed during the very time their intimacy was 
 going on with their seducer, and which, not unfrequently, 
 
 * " The fact then undoubtedly is, that the licentiousness which 
 prevails among the dense population of manufacturing towns, is 
 carried to a degree which it is appalling to contemplate, which 
 baffles all statistical inquiries, and which can be learned from the 
 testimony of personal observers." — Inquiry into the State of the 
 Manufacturing Population^ p. 25. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 was continued up to the very day of their marriage, and 
 even subsequently. 
 
 This laxity,* or rather this entire absence of all 
 regard for moral obligations relating to sex, extending, 
 as it did, beyond the threshold of marriage, sapped the 
 
 * " On the subject of the general licentiousness and illicit inter- 
 course which prevails in manufacturing districts, we cannot, for 
 obvious reasons, dwell long, nor as minutely as the extreme im- 
 portance of the subject would justify. In the few words we shall 
 devote to this branch of our investigation, we shall be careful to 
 keep within the limits of the most scrupulous accuracy, and to 
 affirm nothing which we do not possess the materials for proving. 
 First, then, we shall remark that nothing but personal observation, 
 on the testimony of eye-witnesses, can be relied on for satisfactory 
 information. The returns of illegitimate children (in the few 
 cases where they can be procured) are worse than useless ; for it 
 will be obvious, on a few moments' consideration, that in such 
 cases they can afford us no possible criterion of the desired result. 
 On this subject some writers on political economy betray the same 
 ignorance as in their assertion of the extensive use of animal food 
 among the manufacturing labourers. Both instances furnish an 
 illustration of what appears to be a common source of error with 
 them ; viz. a disposition to draw inferences from isolated facts, 
 instead of resting their doctrines upon the basis of extensive and 
 accurate observation. They conclude that because the proportion 
 of illegitimate births appears to be greater among the agricultural 
 than the manufacturing population, the females of the former are 
 the more immoral of the two. We draw, without doubt or hesita- 
 tion, exactly the opposite conclusion, and every one intimately 
 acquainted with the south of Lancashire will bear us out in this 
 opinion. This deduction is also materially confirmed by the 
 practice which, it is painful to state, is far from uncommon 
 among the abandoned females of these districts, of destroying, 
 prematurely, the fruit and the evidence of their guilt." — Inquiry 
 into the State of the Manufacturing Population, p. 24. 
 
 " The bonds of domestic sympathy are too generally relaxed, 
 and as a consequence, the filial and paternal duties are unculti- 
 vated." — Moral and Physical Condition of 'the Working Classes, Sfc. 
 p. 64. 
 
DOMESTIC MORALS. 101 
 
 foundations and overthrew the structure of the social 
 virtues. Father, mother, son, and daughter, were mere 
 words, leading to none of those delightful associations 
 which are the fount from whence spring the best and 
 most hallowed of man's pleasures and emotions ; and 
 the loss of these deprived the homes of the mill artisan 
 of almost every thing which can give home value. 
 
 It must be understood that in pointing out a state of 
 things and a mode of life happily greatly amended, the 
 first manufacturers of this epoch must bear the blame 
 of presenting an example, to which the peculiar cir- 
 cumstances of the times gave great and immediate 
 force. Had a high sense of moral obligations taught 
 them to introduce strict discipline into their mills, by 
 separating the sexes as far as possible, and by keeping 
 a watchful eye upon their own passions, a very different 
 aspect would now be undoubtedly presented by this 
 population. The impulse being given, the barrier of 
 private decency being broken down, man's natural pro- 
 pensities, aided in their operation by collateral causes, 
 will long prevent a filling up of the breach ; and till 
 this is done, till the social virtues, till the morals of 
 home are established among them, no theories of 
 political economy, no bare intellectual education, no 
 extension of political rights, ever can or ever will 
 make them a happy, respectable, or contented race of 
 men. 
 
 Of late years — we record the fact with great satis- 
 faction — the master manufacturers have become aware 
 that order, regularity, and punctuality, are important 
 items in the character of their hands, and we are per- 
 fectly willing to believe that this has arisen from con- 
 scientious and pure motives. If it should not be so, it 
 has arisen from the rapid improvement in the processes 
 
102 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 of manufacture, and in the organization and internal 
 economy of their mills ; and from these has sprung the 
 necessity for an orderly and steady set of work-people. 
 As this organization proceeds, this necessity will be still 
 farther felt ; and, eventually, some of the mischiefs 
 attendant on the factory system will work their own 
 cure. 
 
 Dr. Ure, the late Factory Commissioners, and others, 
 who have theorised on the condition of the masters and 
 operatives, contend, that as the internal economy of 
 the mills goes on to perfection, order and morality 
 must reign within their walls. They overlook the fact, 
 however, that before this consummation of what they 
 style the " palladium " of British industry is reached, 
 the operatives actually engaged will be reduced to a 
 fragment, and that that fragment will consist almost 
 entirely of women and girls. Whether idleness is not 
 likely to generate farther depravity in the male part of 
 the community is not remarked upon, but reasoning 
 and observation lead to an inference fatal to the opinion 
 of those who advocate the moral and industrial advan- 
 tages of the factory system ; the commercial economy of 
 the system is another and distinct question. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE AND MANNERS UPON PHY- 
 SICAL DEVELOPMENT, &C. AND UPON MORALS. 
 
 Puberty and sexual Appetence— Causes influencing their develop- 
 ment — Vicious Example — Peculiarity of sexual Passions — Im- 
 portance of propriety of Manners — Want of Attention on the 
 Part of the Mill-Owners and Overlookers — A Want of proper 
 mental Growth — Error of Mothers— Influence of Temperature 
 on physical and sexual Development — Influence of Manners 
 upon physical and sexual Development — Late Acknowledg- 
 ment of Puberty in Great, Britain — Its Influence upon physical 
 Condition, &c. and upon Society — Importance of proper sexual 
 Restraint — Value of Refinement of Manners — Necessary Mea- 
 sures on the Part of the Masters — Present sexual Character in 
 manufacturing Districts. 
 
 The "bringing together numbers of the young of both 
 sexes in factories, has been a prolific source of moral de- 
 linquency. The stimulus of a heated atmosphere,* the 
 contact of opposite sexes, the example of license upon 
 the animal passions — all have conspired to produce a 
 very early development of sexual appetencies. Indeed, 
 in this respect, the female population engaged in mill 
 labour, approximates very closely to that found in 
 tropical climates; puberty, or at least sexual propen- 
 sities, being attained almost coeval with girlhood. 
 
 * The average temperature of the atmosphere in mills is about 
 70° to 75" Fahrenheit ; formerly it was much higher. 
 
 w 
 
104 INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE, &C. 
 
 The influence of these maturing causes is more 
 strikingly seen in the female than in the male, in con- 
 sequence of its effects being of a more prominent and 
 observable character. 
 
 The advantages resulting from the simple observances 
 of common propriety, may be judged of by the evils 
 which attend upon their absence. Gross language, 
 and allowance of word and deed pertaining to sexual 
 gratification, are pregnant proofs of what the reality 
 is when the outward form is so debased. The pe- 
 culiar qualities of these passions — one of the most 
 striking of these being the readiness with which they 
 are roused by a word, a look, or a gesture, and the 
 undying hold they take on the imagination, when once 
 permitted to revel at large — render the want of some 
 sufficient visible check very obvious. 
 
 Unfortunately little regard has been paid to these 
 matters by the majority of mill-owners. A certain 
 number of hands are required to superintend the labours 
 of their untiring engine, with its complement of looms, 
 &;c. &c. for a certain number of hours, and for a certain 
 amount of wages : so long as these are attained he 
 looks no farther. He considers the human beings who 
 crowd his mill, from five o'clock in the morning to 
 seven o'clock in the evening, but as so many accessories 
 to his machinery, destined to produce a certain and well- 
 known quantity of work, at the lowest possible outlay 
 of capital. To him their passions, habits, or crimes, are 
 as little interesting as if they bore no relation to the 
 errors of a system, of which he was a member and sup- 
 porter.* 
 
 " If the master acknowledges no common bond as existing 
 between him and his labourers ; if he does not even know their 
 names or faces ; if, avowedly or practically, which is the same 
 
ON PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT AND MORALS. 105 
 
 The early age at which sexual development calls 
 into play a crowd of irrepressible sensations — which, 
 when properly tempered and directed, form the basis of 
 future character — and the unfavourable circumstances 
 under which this forced development occurs, are, in 
 a great measure, destructive to the well-being of those 
 who may well be called its victims. 
 
 The mind does not keep equal pace with the body, 
 though in some respects its faculties are precocious. 
 Its better qualities are destroyed by the preponderance 
 of animal sensations : it is a period when, even under 
 the most favourable auspices, it is vacillating and 
 uncertain in its determinations — now dreaming of sen- 
 sual indulgence, and now devoting itself to the better 
 purposes of which it is capable — hurried away by 
 external associations — forming itself on the model of 
 whatever is near it, and taking its impress, an impress 
 which will never be entirely worn off, from the hands of 
 those who may accidentally have the fashioning of it. 
 
 " Udum et molle lutum est, nunc properandus et acri, 
 Fingendus sine fine rota." 
 
 The evil unfortunately does not end with the party 
 first yielding to temptation : were it an isolated case, it 
 might do so ; but here, extending as it does throughout 
 a whole people, it descends from parent to child as an 
 hereditary curse. 
 
 thing, he disclaims all regard to their conduct except as manufac- 
 turers ; if, in fine, he keeps wholly aloof from them — and under 
 present circumstances it is not easy to see how he can act 
 otherwise ; then it is clear that some of the best feelings of our 
 nature can never be called into exercise in the breast of the 
 operative,'*— Robertson on the Health of Manufacturers, p. 23. 
 
 " Their employers know it would be unsafe to inquire into 
 these matters.'* — Inquiry into the State of the Manufacturing Popu- 
 lation, 8^c. p. 26. 
 
106 INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE, &C. 
 
 The mother who has never felt her own moral and 
 social rank injured hy her sexual indulgences — who 
 looks around her, and sees that all are like herself — who 
 has experienced no difficulty in settling herself as a 
 wife — who even, if, after her marriage, she has continued 
 her former practices, has derived positive and substantial 
 benefits in consequence, by improving the condition of 
 her husband, and adding to the comforts of her family — 
 forgets, if she ever felt, that she was sinning. 
 
 Her family inherit the same lax feelings ; her sons 
 and daughters are both subjected to the same causes 
 which prematurely evolved her own propensities ; are 
 themselves in the same state of precociousness ; have 
 the same failings, and become fathers and mothers in 
 their turn. 
 
 The additions which are incessantly made to the 
 population of the manufacturing towns, and which addi- 
 tions are made up chiefly of increments from the 
 surrounding agricultural districts, are very rapidly 
 assimilated, as to moral perversity, with those amongst 
 whom they become sojourners. 
 
 It is true that those who have already attained 
 maturity cannot undergo the same physical changes 
 which have determined the moral condition of the 
 parties whose early youth has been spent in the enervat- 
 ing atmosphere of a large mill ; but their union with 
 those who have suffered these changes soon obliterates 
 any difference which might originally have existed 
 between them : or if it should fail in doing this, as far 
 as regards the senior members of these immigrations, 
 it never fails to do so with the juniors. In the end, 
 therefore, although each addition modifies, to a limited 
 extent, the universality of the evils complained of, — 
 these, constant as they are, produce no permanent 
 
ON PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT AND MORALS. 107 
 
 impression upon the leading traits of the whole community. 
 The rapidity with which generation succeeds generation, 
 and the continuance of the same energetic and efficient 
 causes, operating upon the moral framework of society, 
 tnxxst ever prevent any decided improvement — providing 
 this improvement is left to the natural course of events, 
 unaided and unsustained by remedial measures of a 
 more decided character and more cogent operation. 
 
 The influence of temperature upon physical develop- 
 ment has been tolerably investigated, or at least fully 
 acknowledged, by those who have paid attention to 
 external causes operating upon the human race. Tra- 
 vellers in all tropical countries have rendered the 
 early age at which sexual intercourse takes place 
 sufficiently familiar ; and this has been generally 
 taken as a sort of acknowledgment of an equally 
 early puberty. That it is influenced to some ex- 
 tent by climate cannot be doubted ; but it may be 
 seriously questioned whether as an accelerating agent 
 it has not been greatly overrated.* 
 
 * If temperature were the sole cause in producing early sexual 
 development, it might reasonably be concluded that the inha- 
 bitants of the extreme north would exhibit a very protracted 
 celibacy. That this is not the case is abundantly proved by 
 northern voyagers and travellers — witness Hearne, Franklin, 
 Parry, Lyon, Crantz, Richardson, &c. &c. Parry declares that in 
 no country is prostitution carried to a greater extent than among 
 the Esquimaux — that no people are more libidinous and dissolute. 
 Mention is more than once made of girls of ten years of age being 
 taken as wives. Mr. Richardson remarks, " that the women marry 
 very young." Examples are given of wives of fourteen, sixteen, 
 and eighteen years of age. — Fide Parry's First and Second 
 Voyages ; Franklin's First and Second Journey; Hearne, &c. &c. — 
 Humboldt, in speaking of the tribes of northern Asia, says, " that 
 girls of ten years are found mothers." The evidence of Clarke 
 and other writers who have visited the northern countries all agree 
 in the same facts. 
 
108 INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE, &C. 
 
 If the influence of temperature has been exaggerated 
 upon these points, there is one question which has been 
 neglected in taking into account the causes which govern 
 sexual maturity ; and that is, the customs, habits, and 
 modes of life which prevail in the countries in which 
 observations have been made. These are unquestion- 
 ably far more important agents than mere temperature, 
 both in calling into being sexual desire, and accelerating, 
 in consequence, the period of puberty. It is quite need- 
 less to enter into any argument to prove — that whatever 
 excites the generative organs will have a tendency to 
 develop their specific functions. The same remark is 
 applicable not only to these organs, but to any and 
 to every organ composing the human body. An atten- 
 tive examination of the writings of various travellers and 
 observers* would demonstrate the accuracy of this 
 opinion very sufficiently, and would show that sexual 
 indulgence precedes and leads to what is here consi- 
 dered premature physical perfection. This is dependent 
 not so much upon any constitutional peculiarity, as upon 
 manners, which encourage and keep up libidinous feel- 
 ings, and examples brought to bear upon passions so 
 excitable and active as are those having reference to 
 sexual enjoyments. 
 
 It has long been noticed, that in warm countries, and 
 in nations still barbarous, or only in a state of partial 
 civilisation, very early marriages take place, and that 
 
 * Fide Russel's " Natural History of Aleppo ; " Marsden's 
 " Sumatra; " Winterbottom's " Natural History of Sierra Leone;" 
 Ellis's " Polynesian Researches ;" Buchanan's '* Journey through 
 Mysore," &c. ; Crawford's " Indian Archipelago;" Long's " Ja- 
 maica ; " Collinses " New South Wales ; " Forster's " Voyage 
 Round the World ; " Cook's *' Second Voyage ;" Raffles*s 
 •* History of Java," &c. ; Volney, Madden, and a host of others. 
 
ON PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT AND MORALS. 109 
 
 women become mothers at a time which appears sin- 
 gularly premature to northern ideas ; at a time, indeed, 
 when girls are looked upon as mere children, alike 
 unknowing of and incapable of being roused to sexual 
 appetence. The moral and religious institutions which 
 have prevailed in Great Britain have discountenanced 
 the intercourse of the sexes, till, comparatively speaking, 
 a late period of life. Jurists and legislators have also 
 lent the weight of their authority to the protraction of 
 adult age till such time as it was supposed both body 
 and mind would be equally matured.* These arrange- 
 ments are, however, merely conventional ; but they have 
 nevertheless produced very decided effects upon the 
 physical nature of the population, by acting as so many 
 powerful checks upon the display and early development 
 of puberty. The germs of its maturity were neverthe- 
 less in being ; and, were these checks removed, it 
 is unquestionable that a great and striking change 
 would take place in the social arrangements at present 
 existing. -j- 
 
 * The English law makes it felony to have intercourse with 
 a child under ten years of age ; and a misdemeanor if above that 
 age and under twelve. 
 
 f The experience of medical men engaged in manufacturing 
 towns affords evidence of this, for in these situations the restraints 
 of law and decency are unacknowledged. A case is related in 
 Mr. Robertson's paper in the " North of England Medical and 
 Surgical Journal," as having occurred to a respectable surgeon, 
 where a girl working in a cotton factory had become pregnant 
 during her eleventh year, and that in all respects she was a full- 
 grown woman, and that the menses had appeared prior to this. 
 Two similar cases have occurred to the author, and very many 
 others to his professional friends. It is far from uncommon to 
 find mothers at fifteen years of age, a period perhaps full as 
 early as that in tropical countries. 
 
110 INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE, &C. 
 
 One of the most important advantages which has 
 attended the past and present delay in acknowledging 
 and countenancing the occurrence of puberty till so late 
 a period, has been, that time and opportunity are given 
 for the growth of those feelings of reserve and delicacy 
 which both sexes have been necessarily driven to adopt 
 for their mutual protection. It is this protection, 
 dependent upon, and having its origin in, the causes 
 just mentioned, that eventually becomes the armour 
 shielding the chastity of sex : it is this, too, which forms 
 the grand distinguishing mark between a nation far 
 advanced in civilisation and refinement, and one com- 
 mencing its career, or still wallowing in the coarseness 
 of savage existence : it is this which gives its charm to 
 the associations of common life, shutting out and com- 
 pletely excluding the grosser topics, which are subversive 
 to so many of the social virtues — for virtues they are, 
 even though matters of form. 
 
 By thus ridding the communion of all grossness, the 
 best guarantee is given for its moral propriety. The 
 character of the sexes is raised in the estimation of 
 each other. It clothes them with a covering of purity, 
 which must be first removed before man's animal 
 nature can be fully displayed ; and this is generally 
 prevented by the high tone of public and private 
 morality. Or if, in spite of these, it is rashly cast 
 aside, the wanderer is condemned to the persecution 
 of a host of troubles and vexations, which in the one 
 sex ends by its expulsion from its natural rank in the 
 social confederacy. 
 
 In speaking thus strenuously on the observances of 
 the forms of society, it may perhaps be imagined that 
 too much stress is laid upon them, and that the natural 
 instincts of mankind, its moral tendencies, its religious 
 
ON PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT AND MORALS. Ill 
 
 feelings, are too little consulted ; in fact, that the com- 
 position of the essence is overlooked in its fragrance and 
 beauty. 
 
 The form here, however, constitutes whatever there is 
 of reality. Man cannot be taught to forget that he is 
 a man, or that the breathing and blushing being before 
 him is a woman ; that she is endowed like himself with 
 an ardent temperament — a desire for gratification ; that 
 she has within and around her a world of delights which 
 he is framed for and destined to enjoy ; and that she has 
 passions which, if roused into activity, would overwhelm 
 all sense of shame or propriety. Neither can he forget 
 that he has a fire within his own breast, which, if 
 freed from the asbestos coating of moral decency, would 
 overthrow all obstacles standing between him and the 
 object of his desire ; nor that he has the capability of 
 stirring into vigorous life his own and woman's propen- 
 sities. These he cannot be taught to forget — the voice 
 of nature is potential. But he may be taught that his 
 own welfare, and more especially that of the creature 
 before him, are intimately connected with the suppres- 
 sion and concealment of their separate desires and capa- 
 bilities. His sense of justice as to what is due to 
 himself, to her, and to the still wider circle in which he 
 moves amongst his fellows, may be called into action, 
 and thus become his own safeguard, and the safeguard 
 of the woman, against the machinations of their respective 
 passions ; and hence it is that the forms of society are 
 worthy the greatest attention and the most sedulous 
 cultivation . 
 
 Considerable sexual laxity has been brought about 
 in the manufacturing population, more especially in the 
 large towns. It is the triumph of sense over morals — 
 a great revolution in the period of physical development 
 
112 INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE, &C. 
 
 — a consequent premature indulgence of sexual appe- 
 tite, unchecked by any sufficient impediment, and 
 producing important effects upon all that relates to 
 the morals and well-being of those subjected to their 
 influence. 
 
 The change in the moral and physical attributes of this 
 population has been operated by temperature partly, 
 but more especially by the force of example and man- 
 ners already existing. Both are no doubt powerful 
 agents, but there can be no difficulty in saying which 
 must bear the principal onus of imputation. Cooperation 
 has manifestly aided the effect of each separate influence, 
 and has been the reason of its unexampled and rapid 
 spread, and its permanence must of course depend upon 
 the continuance or abstraction of the same causes. 
 
 As yet no sufficient moral or religious check or 
 impediment is in force to prevent the displays, neces- 
 sarily resulting from this change ; nor are there any 
 modifying and correcting agencies powerful enough to 
 lessen its mischievous tendencies. 
 
 Had it been the wish of the early manufacturers to 
 have made their workmen an orderly, moral, and domestic 
 race, their own example would, in the first pl^ce, have 
 been of the utmost importance. Failing in this, the next 
 most important point would have been to have entrusted 
 the overlooking department to individuals of good cha- 
 racter, of untainted morals, and of humane and consi- 
 derate dispositions. Then the separating, as far as 
 possible, the sexes, during the hours of labour, and 
 carefully suppressing any display of grossness and im- 
 morality, so long as they were confined to the mills. 
 Great improvements have taken place, and are taking 
 place in these respects. Next, dismissing or disgracing 
 any party guilty of improper practices : and finally, 
 
ON PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT AND MORALS. 113 
 
 rejecting steadily and as an inviolable rule, all and e very- 
 applicant foi> work who did not bring some testimony 
 that he was a sober and moral person. 
 
 These regulations have, however, been neglected or 
 overlooked, and a power which the masters might have 
 exercised easily in the first instance, it would now be 
 difficult, if not impossible to assume. The numerous 
 causes of dissension and suspicion which have arisen 
 between them and the labourers are so many impediments 
 in the way of beneficial and salutary inspection ; till 
 these are removed, little expectation can be had of any 
 striking amelioration proceeding from their interference. 
 There are, however, certain changes in progress, that will, 
 ere long, most probably enable them to do this easily 
 and efficiently, if, in the mean time, the dangerous 
 elements composing the manufacturing population do 
 burst out into active operation, and destroy the whole 
 system of which they form the foundation. 
 
 As it is, the baleful influence of the circumstances 
 already detailed are in full and undisguised action ; 
 licentiousness and depravity* shewing themselves at a 
 very early age, and to an extent painful to contemplate. 
 The exhibitions of the utter absence of sexual delicacy 
 common in manufacturing towns, are notorious to the 
 most superficial observer. The robe of Arthur's mis- 
 tress would be tried in vain on the great majority of 
 the females.f 
 
 ♦ " The depravity of large numbers in Manchester exceeds 
 aught I ever before saw." — Report of the Ministry to the Poor, p. 17. 
 
 f So intolerable a nuisance is the unblushing effrontery of the 
 lower class of the junior mill-operatives, that in Manchester, 
 Stockport, and other places similarly circumstanced, respectable 
 females never pass along the streets during the period of their 
 going to and returning from work. 
 I 
 
114 INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE, &C. 
 
 It is not denied that there are many girls who, from a 
 coincidence of favourable causes, or from their posses- 
 sing a higher and more just sense of what is due to 
 themselves, escape some of the many evils which beset 
 them, and grow up decent and moral women, fitted to 
 make good wives and good mothers. These are never- 
 theless exceptions ; not so rare as to be extremely 
 remarkable, but still standing out in strong relief from 
 the mass to which they are attached. 
 
 The causes which are so injurious to the female are 
 operating, in a similar degree, and with similar force, 
 upon the male, and produce precisely similar effects, 
 both upon his moral and physical organization. 
 
 ** There is," says Dr. Kay, " a licentiousness capable 
 of corrupting the whole body of society, like an insidious 
 disease, which eludes observation, yet is fatal in its 
 effects : " and hence it must be that the Factory Com- 
 missioners failed in the discovery of the sexual depravity 
 so notoriously existing amongst mill artisans. The un- 
 natural substitution of the labour of the child for that 
 of the parent, has led to the evil of early marriages, 
 fostered by premature development. Pregnancy gene- 
 rally precedes marriage ; as it is a well-known fact, and 
 one familiarly spoken of the operatives, that a woman 
 who is not fruitful is unfit for a wife, because the men 
 look forwards to the labour of their children as their 
 resource against dismissal from the mills. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION DOMESTIC HABITS, &C. &C. 
 
 Social Confederacy — Mode of life pursued by the Factory La- 
 bourer — Hour of commencing Work — Breakfast — Dinner — 
 Tea, or Baggin — Their Constituents, &c. — Diet of the Manu- 
 facturing Population — Use of Tobacco — State of Market — Sa- 
 turday's Market — Description of the Morning and Evening — 
 Effects of want of solidity in Diet — Dram-drinking — Increase 
 of Gin Vaults and Beer Houses — Description of a Gin Vault — 
 Visit of the Male Labourer to the Gin Vault — Visit of his Wife 
 and Child — Girls and Young Women, their Visit to the Beer 
 House — Conduct of Wives — Pawnbrokers' shops — The Use 
 made of these by the Operative — Illicit Distilleries — Their 
 Extent — Their localities described — Irish Population — Country 
 MiUs. 
 
 There is nothing which so truly marks the character 
 of a community, in a moral point of view, as domestic 
 manners, — nothing which affords so correct a criterion 
 by which a judgment may be formed of its happiness 
 and comfort. Politically speaking, the common people 
 may be a dead letter, whilst their homes exhibit private 
 independence and social enjoyment. Politically speak- 
 ing, a people may possess many immunities, many 
 rights, may even exercise a very marked control over 
 the actions of their rulers, whilst their homes exhibit 
 social disorganization and moral worthlessness. 
 
 The social condition of the present generation is full 
 of anomalies. Possessing, as the great bulk of the 
 population does, many advantages never known or 
 I 2 
 
116 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 dreamt of by their forefathers ; education rapidly pro- 
 gressing ; its wants liberally relieved ; its sicknesses 
 carefully tended ; religion afforded it, nay, even brought 
 to its doors, and applied to its senses ; a practicability 
 of earning something towards a livelihood ; continual 
 accessions of political privileges ; it is, nevertheless, 
 filled with immorality, irreligion, improvidence, politi- 
 cal discontent, refusal to earn any thing, ingratitude, 
 ignorance, and vice, in every conceivable form in which 
 these can develop themselves. 
 
 The mode of life which the system of labour pursued 
 in manufactories forces upon the operative, is one singu- 
 larly unfavourable to domesticity. Rising at or before 
 day-break, between four and five o'clock the year round, 
 he swallows a hasty meal, or hurries to the mill without 
 taking any food whatever. At eight o'clock half an 
 hour, and in some instances forty minutes, are allowed 
 for breakfast. In many cases, the engine continues at 
 work during meal-time, obliging the labourer to eat and 
 still overlook his work. This, however, is not universal. 
 This meal is brought to the mill, and generally consists 
 of weak tea, of course nearly cold, with a little bread ; 
 in other instances, of milk-and-meal porridge. Tea, 
 however, may be called the universal breakfast, flavoured 
 of late years too often with gin or other stimulants. 
 Where the hands live in inynediate proximity to the mill, 
 they visit home ; but this rarely happens, as they are 
 collected from all parts, some far, some near, but the 
 majority too remote to leave the mill for that purpose. 
 
 At twelve o'clock the engine stops, and an hour is 
 given for dinner. The hands leave the mill, and seek 
 their homes, where this meal is usually taken. It con- 
 sists of potatoes boiled, very often eaten alone ; some- 
 times with a little bacon, and sometimes with a portion 
 
MODES OF LIVING. Il7 
 
 of animal food. This latter is, however, only found at 
 the tables of the more provident and reputable work- 
 men. If, as it often happens, the majority of the 
 labourers reside at some distance, a great portion of the 
 allotted time is necessarily taken up by the walk, or 
 rather run, backwards and forwards. No time is allowed 
 for the observances of ceremony. The meal has been 
 imperfectly cooked, by some one left for that purpose, 
 not unusually a mere child, or superannuated man or 
 woman. The entire family surround the table, if they 
 possess one, each striving which can most rapidly devour 
 the fare before them, which is sufficient, by its quantity, 
 to satisfy the cravings of hunger, but possesses little 
 nutritive quality. It is not half masticated, is hastily 
 swallowed in crude morsels, and thrust into the stomach 
 in a state unfavourable to the progress of those subse- 
 quent changes which it ought to undergo. As soon as 
 this is effected, the family is again scattered. No rest 
 has been taken ; and even the exercise, such as it is, is 
 useless, from its excess, and even harmful, being taken 
 at a tiriie when repose is necessary for the digestive 
 operations. 
 
 Again they are engaged from one o'clock till eight or 
 nine, with the exception of twenty minutes, this being 
 allowed for tea, or baggin-time, as it is called. This 
 imperfect meal is almost universally taken in the mill : 
 it consists of tea and wheaten bread, with very few 
 exceptions. 
 
 It must be remembered, that father, mother, son, and 
 daughter, are alike engaged ; no one capable of working 
 is spared to make home comfortable and desirable. No 
 clean and tidy wife appears to welcome her hus- 
 band — no smiling and affectionate mother, to receive 
 her children — no home, cheerful and inviting, to make 
 
118 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 it regarded. On the contrary, it is badly furnished — 
 dirty and squalid in its appearance. Another meal 
 sometimes of a better quality, is now taken, and they 
 either seek repose, or leave home in the pursuit of 
 pleasure or amusements.* 
 
 The staple diet of the town-mill artisans is potatoes 
 and wheaten bread, washed down by tea or coffee. -f- 
 Milk is but little used. Meal is consumed to some 
 extent, either baked into cakes or boiled up with 
 water, making a porridge at once nutritious, easy of 
 digestion, and readily cooked. Animal food forms a 
 very small part of their diet, and that which is eaten 
 is often of an inferior quality. In the class of fine 
 spinners and others, whose wages are very liberal, 
 flesh meat is frequently added to their meals. Fish 
 is bought to some extent, though by no means very 
 largely. Herrings are eaten not unusually ; and though 
 giving a relish to their otherways tasteless food, are not 
 very well fitted for their use. The process of salting, 
 which hardens the animal fibre, renders it difficult of 
 digestion ; it dissolves slowly, and their stomachs do not 
 
 * " The artisan seldom possesses sufficient moral dignity, or 
 intellectual or organic strength, to resist the seductions of appetite. 
 His wife and children, subjected to the same process, have little 
 power to cheer his remaining moments of leisure." — Moral and 
 Physical Condition of the Working Classes, p. 25. 
 
 t The increased consumption of tea and coffee, as compared to 
 the increase in population, shows the change in the habits which 
 has been going on so rapidly during the present century. The 
 quantity of sugar consumed in 1814 was 1,997,000 lbs. ; in 1832, 
 3,655,000 lbs., an increase of 83 per cent. ; increase in population, 
 24 per cent.; tea, in 1814, 19,224,000 lbs. ; 1832, 31,548,000 lbs., 
 increase Q5 percent.; coffee, in 1814, 6,324,000 lbs.; 1832, 
 22,962,000 lbs., increase 183 per cent, against an addition of popu- 
 lation amounting to 24 per cent. 
 
MODES OF LIVING. 1 19 
 
 possess the most active or energetic character. Eggs, 
 too, form some portion of the operative's diet. The staple , 
 however, is tea and bread. Little trouble is required in 
 preparing them for use ; and this circumstance, joined to 
 the want of proper domestic arrangements, favours their 
 extensive use amongst a class so improvident and care-^ 
 less as the mill artisans. 
 
 Tobacco is very largely consumed by the male and 
 female labourers indiscriminately ; hundreds of men 
 and women may be daily seen inhaling the fumes of 
 this plant, by means of short and blackened pipes.* 
 Smoking, too, is an almost universal accompaniment to 
 drinking — a pernicious habit, as will be shortly seen, 
 prevailing to a frightful extent in this portion of the 
 population. 
 
 The difference exhibited both by the buyers and sellers, 
 of animal and vegetable food on the Saturday, which is 
 the general provision market-day and the pay-day of the 
 labourers in the morning and evening, very strikingly 
 illustrates the different grades into which the community 
 of a manufacturing town or district is divided. 
 
 Speaking generally, the markets are well supplied, both 
 as regards quality and quantity. Animal food, consisting 
 of beef, mutton, veal, and pork, is plentiful, and of the 
 best sorts — certainly not surpassed by any market in the 
 kingdom. Vegetables are equally abundant, and of an 
 equally good quality. Lancashire has indeed long been 
 famous for the excellence of its potatoes, a native rarely 
 meeting with any fit to be compared with them for 
 
 * The consumption of tobacco has increased from 1814 to 
 1832, from le'SjOOOjOOOlbs. to 20,000,000 lbs. that is, about 31 per 
 cent, against an increase in population of 24 per cent. It is much 
 less used now than formerly by the upper and middle classes. 
 
120 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 growth and flavour. Cheese, flour, butter, &c. &c. are 
 also in like manner good and abundant ; in short, there 
 is nothing eatable but what may be found at a moderate 
 price, and in any quantity. 
 
 In the morning the markets are crowded with well- 
 dressed, respectable persons, making their purchases 
 for the ensuing week — order, civility, decency being 
 preserved as far as these things can be on such occasions. 
 The best animal food, whether it be flesh, fish, or fowl, 
 is of course first carried away to the larders and cellars 
 of the middle and upper classes, and the same with the 
 vegetables. The day wears on, and about noon a change 
 is observable in the appearance of the markets. The 
 morning's trading had pretty well cleared them, a tolera- 
 bly accurate balance being preserved between the supply 
 of prime and first-rate articles, and the probable demand. 
 At this time they are beginning to fill again — the 
 butcher's stalls are replenished — the vegetables start 
 into being — the sides of the streets in the principal 
 market thoroughfares become lined with baskets or 
 petty stalls, the property of sellers of every variety of 
 minor article likely to tempt the cupidity or taste of 
 vulgarity. 
 
 It might be supposed that a supply of similar quality 
 to that of the morning was now to be found, — but it is 
 widely difierent. Coarse, badly fed, too long kept, and 
 not unfrequently diseased animal food, stands in the 
 room of the excellent article of the morning. The 
 vegetables have undergone an equal deterioration, con- 
 sisting of the refuse of the morning's supply. These 
 are retailed out, not by the respectable dealer or 
 grower, but by a congregation of small buyers who have 
 selected their stocks, not from their excellence, but 
 from their cheapness ; and the same inferiority holds 
 
MODES OF LIVING. 121 
 
 throughout. And what a scene is Saturday night's 
 market — what a huhbub of discordant sounds — what 
 jangling, swearing, drunkenness, noisy vociferation, con- 
 fusion worse confounded, riot, and debauchery ! Thus 
 passes Saturday till near midnight— a scene of turmoil, 
 strife, and roguery. 
 
 If the perfection of social and domestic life consisted 
 in limiting and stinting the supplies of man's natural 
 wants, as to food, — or if this perfection consisted less in 
 the limiting these supplies, than in an indifference as to 
 their quality, — a very great portion of the lowest classes 
 in the great manufacturing towns are rapidly approach- 
 ing, or rather have already nearly approached perfection. 
 If true wisdom, as to eating, consists in simply satisfying 
 the cravings of appetite, without reference to the nature 
 of the food or place of doing this, then do these people 
 exhibit a high order of wisdom. There is, however, an 
 Jatimate relation between moral and domestic virtues 
 and modes of living. 
 
 The Irish hand-loom weaver, who rarely tastes any 
 food but potatoes, has reduced his scale of living to 
 its utmost simplicity, and he holds the lowest rank in 
 the very low classes even in these situations. Reck- 
 lessness and improvidence may be ever detected by 
 coarse, inferior, and badly cooked diet. Poverty, even 
 in its very extremity, if still retaining any trace of self- 
 respect, any tincture of a v.dsh or hope for better things, 
 will have its meals, even though they may be hardly 
 worthy the name, with a regard to common decency and 
 decorum. The savage, who feeds promiscuously upon 
 whatever comes before him, from his own species to ants 
 and caterpillars, affords, by this very omnivorousness, 
 the most decisive proofs of his want of civilisation, and 
 domestic forethought and economy. Sp does the work- 
 
122 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 man, in a different order of society, who consumes the 
 refuse merely of those around him, without regard to its 
 quality, — he proclaims, if possible, in still more decided 
 language, the extent of his moral and social debase- 
 ment. 
 
 The mere supply of the wants of nature, with respect 
 to food, absorbs but a very small amount of the wages 
 earned by the majority of the manufacturing labourers, 
 confined, as the supply is, to the coarsest and most 
 simple viands. Men may be found who have not,yielded 
 to the indifference and destructive habits of the mass, 
 who are living in comfort and decency upon the average 
 amount of wages earned by the whole population — a 
 sufficient proof, if proof were wanting, that the mischief 
 lies full as much with the labourers themselves, as in 
 the system of labour, bad as that is acknowledged 
 to be. 
 
 The extinction of decent pride in their household 
 establishments, which at present characterizes the mass 
 of the manufacturing town population, presents them in 
 a very unfavourable point of view. There are none of 
 the minor comforts of existence — nothing but a hut of 
 squalor and filth, alike repulsive to sight and smell, and 
 injurious to health — having few of the requisites of 
 home. It is stripped of every thing which might render 
 it pleasant or delightful, and has, in consequence, no hold 
 upon the affections.* The labourer leaves it without 
 regret — he anticipates no joy on his return — he finds 
 there nothing but want— and all these are in a great 
 
 * " Domestic economy is neglected, domestic comforts are too 
 frequently unknown. Home has little other relation to him than 
 that of shelter — few pleasures are there," &c. &c. — Moral and 
 Physical Condition of the Working Classes, &c. p. 25. 
 
MODES OF LIVING. 123 
 
 measure the results, not of the pressure of actual want, 
 but of his own bad and improvident habits. 
 
 The operative having no home, therefore, which can 
 cheer the brief period allowed him from labour — too ' 
 often destitute of moral principle, unguided and unin- 
 fluenced by good example-^ies for relief to the gin- 
 . vault or the beer house, dissipating in these haunts of 
 xrime and depravity, resources which, if properly 
 applied, would furnish his house decently, supply his 
 table with wholesome and nutritious food, and provide 
 him with ample means to make him a respectable 
 member of society.* 
 
 The plainness and want of solidity and proper stimu- 
 lus in the food of the labourer, is attended by some other 
 evils, bearing strongly upon his domestic habits. 
 
 His labour is continued so interruptedly, that whe- 
 ther it is morning, or noon, or night, he leaves the mill 
 or workshop, and devours his watery meal with feelings 
 of mental depression, exhaustion or wearisomeness, and 
 he eagerly swallows a stimulus in the shape of spirits 
 or beer, to supply, by its temporary exciting influence, 
 the want of proper food on the one hand, and of due 
 relaxation on the other. 
 
 ♦ *' If I were to form a judgment of the whole town from the 
 small number of families which I have visited, I would divide the 
 working class into three parts : two of these parts have the means 
 of making a comfortable living, their wages being sufficient to pro- 
 vide them with plenty of food and clothing, and every thing need- 
 ful to make a family comfortable, if well laid out ; but I am sorry 
 to say that a large number of these are as destitute of clothes, 
 bedding, and furniture, and occasionally of provisions, as the 
 poorest families in the town. They drink more money than 
 would amply provide them with every substantial necessary for 
 their families." — Report of the Ministry to the Poor'^Manchesterj 
 18:34, p. 17. 
 
124 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 The increase which has of late years taken place in 
 the number of gin vaults, and the more than equal 
 increase in the number of low beer houses, since the 
 passing of the bill termed the Beer Bill, — though its 
 more correct designation would have been a** Bill for 
 the Demoralization of the Working Classes," — is suffi- 
 ciently indicative of the prevalence of dram-drinking and 
 tavern-haunting.* 
 
 In Manchester alone there are very near, if not quite, 
 one thousand inns, beer houses, and gin vaults. Of 
 these more than nine-tenths are kept open exclusively 
 for the supply of the labouring population,"! placed in 
 situations calculated for their convenience, decked out 
 with every thing that can allure them, crowded into 
 back streets and alleys, or flaunting with the most 
 gaudy and expensive decorations in the great working 
 thoroughfares. They are open at the earliest hour, 
 when the shivering artisan is proceeding to his work, 
 holding out to him a temptation utterly irresistible ; 
 and remain open during a considerable portion of the 
 night, ministering their poisons to thousands who flock 
 to them, in place of seeking excitement and pleasurable 
 stimulus in fire-side comforts and enjoyments. 
 
 * Mr. Braidley, the respectable and intelligent boroughreeve of 
 Manchester during 1832-3, observed the number of persons 
 entering a gin shop, in five minutes, during eight successive 
 Saturday nights, and at different periods, from seven o'clock till 
 ten. The average result was 112 men and 163 women, or 275 in 
 forty minutes, which is equal to 412 per hour. — Moral and Social 
 Condition of the Working Classes, p. 58. 
 
 f Manchester is divided into districts for municipal conve- 
 nience. Of these, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, belong exclusively to the 
 labouring population ; including with these, Nos. 5 and 6, there 
 are, in these localities, 270 taverns, 216 gin shops, and 188 beer 
 houses ; total, 674, which minister almost entirely to the wants of 
 the poor. — Ibid, 
 
MODES OF LIVING. 125 
 
 Nor is it the adult male labourer who alone visits 
 
 these receptacles for every thing that is wicked and 
 
 degraded. Alas ! no. The mother with her wailing 
 
 child, the girl in company with her sweetheart, the 
 
 mother with her daughter, the father with his son, the 
 
 grey-haired grandsire with his half-clad grandchild, all 
 
 come here, herding promiscuously with prostitutes and 
 
 pickpockets, the very scum and refuse of society,— all 
 
 jumbled together in an heterogeneous mass of evil, to 
 
 3he ruin of every thing chaste and delicate in woman, 
 
 ^and the utter annihilation of all honourable or honest 
 
 ^feeling in man.* 
 
 It is a strange sight to watch one of these dens of 
 wickedness throughout an evening : it is a strange, a 
 melancholy, yet, to the meditative man, an interesting 
 sight. There approaches a half-clad man, a hand-loom 
 weaver, or an improvident spinner, shivering even 
 beneath the summer breeze which is singing around 
 him. He comes with faltering step, downcast eye, and 
 air of general exhaustion and dejection. He reaches 
 his accustomed gin vault, disappears for half an hour or 
 less, and now comes forth a new creature : were it not 
 for his filthy dress, he would hardly be recognised, for 
 his step is elastic, his eye is brilliant and open, his air 
 animated and joyous. He inhales the breeze as a 
 refreshing draught, and he deems himself happy. His 
 enjoyment is, however, shortlived, and purchased at an 
 immense sacrifice ; for the 
 
 " Price is death ! 
 
 It is a costly feast." 
 
 * The dram shops, Tom and Jerry shops, and public houses, 
 swarm the Lord's day over (except an hour or two during service- 
 time) and overflow at night by the addition of gamblers, and 
 
126 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 Now comes a woman, perhaps his wife, bearing a 
 sickly and cadaverous-looking infant, wailing and 
 moaning as if in pain, or wanting nutriment. She is 
 indeed offering it the breast, but it is flaccid and cold as 
 marble. She has no endearments for her child, it is 
 held as a burden — passively and carelessly. She is 
 thin, pale, and badly dressed — is without bonnet, and 
 her cap is soiled and ragged ; her bosom is exposed, 
 her gown is filthy, her shoes only half on her feet, and 
 her whole aspect forlorn and forbidding. She too 
 disappears for a time within the gin shop, remains 
 longer than her husband, but returns equally changed. 
 The child is now crowing in her arms, clapping its tiny 
 hands, and is filled with infantine mirth, whilst its 
 mother views it with fondness, joins in its vociferations, 
 tosses it in her arms, and kisses it like a mother. She 
 passes on cheerily, her whole gait is altered, her cheeks 
 are flushed, and she thinks herself happy, for her 
 maternal feelings are aroused, and her inebriated child 
 seems to her own disordered senses the very paragon of 
 beauty and delight. 
 
 The pair have now reached home ; night is far 
 advanced, and the fumes of their intoxication are worn 
 off or become converted into sullenness. The child is 
 in a stupor, and the husband and wife meet without a 
 single kindly greeting. There is no food, no fire : 
 bickerings arise, mutual recrimination, blows, curses — 
 till both at last sink into the stupified sleep of drunken- 
 ness, worn out by toil, excessive stimulus, and evil 
 passions. 
 
 Here come several girls and young women, tolerably 
 
 multitudes of females, lost to all sense of shame, and totally desti- 
 tute of every virtue that makes woman lovely and respectable."— 
 Report of the Ministry to the Poor—3Ianchester, 1834, p. 15. 
 
MODES OF LIVING. 127 
 
 dressed ; some ^dth harsh, husky voices, shewing the 
 premature development of puberty, others full and ,o >^< 
 perfectly formed women. All, save one, have the same r 
 pallid hue of countenance, the same coarseness of expres- ]^^ 
 sion, the same contour of figure. One amongst them is '%^ 
 however beautiful, and beautiful as an innocent girl alone 
 can be,— the very purity of her heart and her soul gleam- ^ ^ 
 ing in her face. Her figure is plump and round, and her 
 cheeks, though somewhat pale, are yet firm in their out- 
 line. It is evident that she is scarcely at home in the 
 presence of her companions, nor one of them in feeling, 
 though it wouid seem that she is condemned to the 
 same labour. Yes ! it is so. She is not many weeks 
 returned from a distant town, in which she had been 
 apprenticed to a respectable trade. Adverse circum- 
 stances have, however, driven herhome, and she has no 
 resource but to become a weaver, and this she has been 
 for upwards of a week. She hesitates to enter the beer 
 shop — she withdraws timidly, but at length is lost 
 within its door, amidst the laughter and jeers of her 
 companions. They remain long : and now approach a 
 number of young men with soiled dress, open necks, and 
 of obscene speech. They too enter the beer house. 
 Laughter long and loud resounds from it ; time wears on, 
 but the drunken revel continues unabated, now shew- 
 ing itself in bursts of obstreperous merriment, now by 
 vollies of imprecations — now by the rude dance — and 
 now by the ribald song. But where is that delicate and 
 beautiful girl ? Can she be one sharing such scenes ? 
 Can she, whose eyes and ears evidently revolted from 
 the bold gestures and speeches of her companions, be 
 remaining to share such coarse orgies ? Eleven o'clock, 
 and the party reappear. Cursing, swearing, hiccuping, 
 indecent displays, mark their exit ; and there is the fair 
 
128 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 girl, whose *' unsmirched brow" so lately gave token of 
 her purity. But now she is metamorphosed into a 
 bacchanal, with distended and glowing cheeks^ stag^" 
 gering step, disordered apparel — utterly lost, to her- 
 self; and when the morning bell rings hei* to her 
 appointed labour, she will be one of the herd, and will 
 speedily lose all trace of her purity and feminine 
 beauty. 
 
 If there is one period of the day when these displays 
 excite more unmingled disgust than another, it is during 
 the hours of labour, when those wives and mothers of the 
 absent artisans, who are either unable to work, or can- 
 not procure it, are left at home. No domestic cares 
 occupy them, except in a few rare cases. Their hearths 
 are unswept, their persons and houses uncleaned, their 
 rooms untidied. On the contrary, they are seen in 
 groups of two or three, lounging about the gin or beer 
 shops, wasting any trifle of money they may have re- 
 served, or procuring a supply by pawning some 
 portion of their wretched apparel, or equally wretched 
 furniture. 
 
 Pawnbrokers' shops have an affinicy in their demo- 
 ralizing agency to the gin and beer houses, and are 
 almost as numerous, occupying the same localities, and 
 giving unhappy facilities to the poor man to protract his 
 Saturday night's or Sunday's debauch throughout the early 
 part of the week. Article after article is pledged for small 
 sums, to be redeemed the next pay-day, and homesteads 
 which, on the Saturday mornings, are destitute of every 
 necessary utensil, are found, in the evening, possessing 
 some of these. They have been fetched from pledge, a 
 loss has been sustained upon them, and in ninety-nine 
 cases out of one hundred they are again missing before 
 the middle of the ensuing week. The same with regard 
 
MODES OF LIVING. 129 
 
 to dress — coat or trousers, cloak, dress, or under dress, 
 shoes, stockings, &c. &c, all have a constant round. 
 Sacrifice after sacrifice takes place, till at length the 
 articles are either left unredeemed, or are become so far 
 worn and tattered as to be no longer a valid security 
 to the pawnbroker, even for the very small sum he ad- 
 vances upon them, be it twopence, fourpence, sixpence, 
 eightpence, or one shilling. 
 
 This disregard for personal comfort and household 
 decency in the mass of town manufacturers, strongly 
 demonstrates the miserably low ebb to which their 
 domestic relations are reduced, and proclaims, in a voice 
 which it is impossible to misunderstand, how deplorable, 
 how pitiable is the condition, which thus deprives itself, 
 like the untutored and uncultivated savage, of every 
 thing humanizing, for the sake of a momentary excite- 
 ment ; which leaves matters in an infinitely worse state 
 than before, and precipitates the unhappy being who thus 
 blindly indulges a depraved taste only the more rapidly 
 upon his inevitable ruin.* Truly did Mr. Hunter remark 
 
 * Neither has this passion lessened since the day of the acute 
 Hunter. At the treaty of Chicago, in 1821, the commissioners 
 ordered that no spirits should be issued to the Indians. A depu- 
 tation of the chiefs was sent to remonstrate against this precau- 
 tionary measure; and at its head was Topnibe, chief of the 
 Potawatomic tribe, a man upwards of eighty years of age. Every 
 argument was used to ^onvince them that the measure was indis- 
 pensable ; that they were exposed to daily murders ; and that, 
 while in a state of intoxication, they were unable to attend to the 
 business for which they were convened. All this was useless, and 
 the discussion only terminated by the peremptory refusal of the 
 commissioners to accede to their request. " Father," said the 
 hoary-headed chief, when he was urged to remain sober, and make 
 a good bargain for his people ; " father, we care not for money, 
 nor the lands, nor the goods ; we want the whiskey. Give us the 
 
 whiskey." 
 
 K 
 
130 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 that of all the products of civilisation, the North Ameri- 
 can savage wsls anxious alone for brandy and gunpowder ; 
 and with equal truth it may be said, that the nearer a 
 people approach to the destitution of savage life, the 
 more eagerly do they seek to participate the enjoyments 
 
 of intoxication. Distilled spirits afford a cheap and 
 
 effectual oblivion of cares and wants, and however much 
 the indulgence may increase the sum of human suffer- 
 ings, it is not surprising that they who have no other 
 pleasure within their reach should madly snatch at this 
 solitary comfort. 
 
 Independently of these open and recognised means, 
 which are within the reach of the labourer and his 
 family, there are others of most extensive operation for 
 demoralizing him, through the agency of drunkenness 
 and its attendant vices. The lowest class of the popu- 
 lation, in the manufacturing towns, is, to a very consi- 
 derable extent, made up of Irish, who inhabit the cellars, 
 and those portions of the towns which, to the casual 
 observer, w^ould appear totally uninhabitable. In these 
 places, however, is congregated a very numerous body 
 of people, who have introduced with them the same 
 spirit of recklessness and improvidence, with the same 
 systematic evasion of, or violent resistance to, law and 
 order, which have so long disgraced their native country, 
 and gone far towards ruining its resources. Here, and 
 by these individuals, illicit distillation is carried on to a 
 great extent. It has been calculated, upon not very 
 perfect data, that there are not less than one hundred 
 stills in constant operation in Manchester alone,* pro- 
 du'cing genuine potheen of the highest strength. 
 
 * During the year 1832, thirty persons were committed to the 
 New Bailey, Manchester, for having either been detected in dis- 
 tilling or hawking illicit spirits. Nearly the whole of these were 
 
MOIUilS OF LIVING. 131 
 
 From many seizures which have been made, it appears 
 that the average size of the tubs may be about thirty 
 gallons, and if each distillery should produce no greater 
 quantity than this, the whole amount would be very con- 
 siderable 5 and this is drunk, be it remembered, almost 
 exclusively by the lowest classes. E,eckoning thirty 
 gallons as the weekly produce, it would give annually 
 156,000 gallons, which pays no duty, and the manufac- 
 ture of which is carried on under circumstances in the 
 highest degree unfavourable to the welfare of a peaceable 
 population. This estimate is, however, most probably 
 underrated ; the difficulty of detection is extreme, occu- 
 pying, as the distilleries do, sites apparently the most 
 improbable, and unfitted for the purpose. These generally 
 are dark cellars, having no outlet except a trap-door, 
 opening into some obscure court, half filled with filth, or 
 excavations dug in the sand-stone rock, beneath tene- 
 ments occupied by persons either knowing nothing of 
 their subterranean neighbours, or being in league with 
 them. The requisite apparatus is so simple and so 
 little expensive, that detection is no hinderance, and a 
 seizure valueless. The fine inflicted, £30, is of no 
 ' moment to the successful speculator ; and if it should 
 so happen that he is unable to pay it, the short impri- 
 sonment which is the alternative only hardens him in 
 crime, and turns him out upon society a more deter- 
 mined and experienced scoundrel. 
 
 Amongst the higher classes of factory operatives, 
 such as fine-spinners and dressers, where a very ample 
 amount of wages is earned, the houses, and the manners 
 of their inhabitants, are often found of a very superior 
 
 Irish ; one half had been known to have carried on the trade 
 before, and one- third bad been previously convicted, and suffered 
 imprisonment. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 kind. The spinners, indeed, form a fast-improving 
 body of men ; they are the most influential part of the 
 hands in the factories, and they are fully aware of it. 
 Their interests are in general strictly guarded by com- 
 binations ; and of late years, since the rapid advance in 
 automatic labour, they have been compelled to throw 
 aside habits which at one time rendered them a most 
 disorderly and licentious class. 
 
 The domestic habits of the manufacturing population 
 in out-town districts are of a better order than those 
 found amongst town-operatives ; their houses are built 
 by the mill-proprietor, and in immediate contiguity with 
 the mill. Every thing connected with their mode of life 
 is immediately under his eye ; they form a colony, as it 
 were, detached to a very considerable extent from 
 foreign associations. Their entire interests are concen- 
 trated in and about the mill ; and it is to parties thus 
 circumstanced that Dr. lire's observation applies, 
 namely, "that all the conveniences, and not a few of 
 what our forefathers would have reckoned the luxuries 
 of life, are attainable by the factory population, and are 
 very generally to be found in their dwellings."* 
 Striking out the word generally, and substituting in 
 particular cases, where the masters take pains to 
 superintend and furnish with every convenience the 
 houses of the labourers, this is true. 
 
 The establishment of Mr. Ashton, of Hyde, where 
 Dr. Ure found houses " more richly furnished than any 
 common work-people's dwellings I had ever seen before. 
 In one I saw a couple of sofas, with good chairs, an 
 eight-day clock in a handsome mahogany case, several 
 pictures in oil on the wall side. In another house I 
 observed a neat wheel barometer with its attached 
 * Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 372. 
 
MODES OF LIVING. 133 
 
 thermometer, suspended against a snow-white wall. 
 In a third there was a piano, with a little girl learning 
 to play upon it;" New Lanark mills on the Falls of 
 Clyde, where little strong liquor of any kind is taken by 
 the operatives, water being the usual drink at dinner ; 
 where many of the females wear silk dresses on Sundays ; 
 and Deans ton, near Stirling ; — instances deduced from 
 these establishments are not to be taken as examples of 
 the social condition of the bulk of the manufacturing 
 population. A few weeks' residence in Hyde, and a 
 knowledge of the painful steps by which the principal 
 proprietors have elevated themselves into social estima- 
 tion, would satisfy Dr. Ure that he has painted an outside 
 picture of the moral and social condition of the manu- 
 facturers, and that in his enlarged mechanical views he 
 has overlooked the human agent except in so far as it 
 forms a subordinate part in his great drama of steam 
 and machinery. 
 
 A detailed history, indeed, of the rise and progress of 
 manufactures in Hyde, Duckenfield, and Staley Bridge, 
 would form a valuable Appendix to the " Philosophy of 
 Manufactures," as it would exhibit all the good and the 
 evil of the factory system, from the time when the prin- 
 cipal manufacturers w^re hatters, shoemakers, and carters, 
 and the neighbourhood thinly inhabited, to the present, 
 when the same hatters, shoemakers, and carters, are 
 become wealthy and intelligent men, and the district 
 peopled by sixty thousand inhabitants. 
 
 The domestic habits of the operatives will improve 
 
 as their moral condition is amended. There are to be 
 found many detached sections, distributed in favourable 
 localities, and governed by moral and religious masters, 
 which clearly show that it is not factory labour, consi- 
 dered in itself, which produces the social evils which 
 
134 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 have followed upon its steps. The separation of 
 families, which is generally complete in towns and po- 
 pulous manufacturing districts, is the primary evil ; and 
 this, though it cannot be altogether done away with, 
 may be to some very considerable extent remedied. 
 
 For the rest, a system of moral and religious education 
 will do much ; and it should be made a rule that mothers 
 should in all cases be confined to domestic duties, and 
 should on no account be permitted to become mill- 
 workers. It was a fine and correct expression of 
 Madame Campan to Napoleon, when he asked what 
 more was required for the education of the children of 
 France — " Mothers, sire, mothers ;*' so we would say 
 that mothers are wanted for the mill artisans of Great 
 Britain. 
 
 ,^</9^n.f i.. ^'cN.t4si| , 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 INFANT LABOUR FEMALE LABOUR. 
 
 Infant Labour — Small and Simple Machinery— Mill Labour by 
 Children from Five to Twelve Years of Age — Apprentice Sys- 
 tem — Size and Locality of the first Spinning Mills — Excess of 
 Labour — Dr. Percival's Inquiries in 1796 — Sir Robert PeePs 
 Evidence — Free Labour — Introduction of Steam Power — En- 
 largement of Machines — Great improvement of Mills — Propor- 
 tion of young Children employed in Factories — Increase of Adult 
 Labour— Effects of improved Machinery upon Adult Labour — 
 Cause of Women and Children being preferred by Masters — 
 Equalization of Infant and Adult Labour — Material organization 
 of Childhood described — Progress of Ossification — State in the 
 Embryo, in the Foetus, in the new-born Child, described — 
 Periods of completion of different points according to function 
 — Progress of Ossification subsequent to Birth — Physical condi- 
 tions, &c. — Childhood — Importance of proper Nutrition — Ne- 
 cessity for Exercise, &c. &c. — Condition of the Factory Child — 
 Effects of Disturbing healthy Nutrition — Earthy deposit in Bone 
 — Rickets, Scrofula, is hereditary, in what sense — State of Fac- 
 tory Child prior to commencing Labour — Necessity of this being 
 properly understood — Error of Abolitionists — Healthy Children 
 fit for Labour at eight or nine years of age — State of a Child from 
 the country — Its change when placed in a large Town — Differ- 
 ence of capability for bearing labour in a Town and Country 
 Child at nine years of age — Their Conditions compared — Factory 
 Labour, consequences to Children described — Deformity, how 
 produced — Inhalation of Dust, Effluvia of Oil, &c. — Odours, in- 
 fluence of upon Health — Temperature — First impression upon 
 Children — Ventilation — Deoxigenation of respired Air — Conti- 
 nuance of Mill Labour — Consequences — Examination of Chil- 
 dren — Opinion of Dr. Baillie — Influence of Deformity on the 
 
136 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 Female— Mischiefs of present Social Condition— Difficulty of 
 alteration— Want of restriction, &c. &c. — Factories Regulation 
 Act — Female Labour, its extent. 
 
 '* The discoveries of Arkwright, Watt, Crompton, 
 and other great benefactors of mankind," remarks an 
 intelligent and extensive manufacturer, in his evidence 
 before a Committee of the House of Commons, on the 
 employment of Children in Manufactories, " produced 
 a complete revolution in the spinning manufactures of 
 cotton, of wool, and of flax, which might now be more 
 properly termed mechanical productions : by the appli- 
 cation of the power of waterfalls, and of ingenious 
 mechanism, adults were superseded by children, whose 
 wages were lower, and who soon acquired a great dexte- 
 rity : the production, of the manufacturers was enor- 
 mously increased, because the extraordinary cheapness 
 produced a consumption in proportion to the great aug- 
 mentation of the wealth and revenue of the nation. 
 The very moderate exertion of the children, and the 
 great expense of the mechanism, introduced the custom 
 of working twelve hours per day in the mills. Under 
 these circumstances it became the duty and the advan- 
 tage of every proprietor to render his mill as healthy as 
 possible, by cleanliness, ventilation, spaciousness, and 
 temperature, and to interest himself generally for those 
 employed by him. As the children grew to be adults, 
 notwithstanding their acquired expertness, they became 
 too big for the machinery, and their labour too expen- 
 sive. In consequence of the introduction of the revolv- 
 ing steam engine, factories were established in manufac- 
 turing towns ; the establishments in manufacturing towns 
 were more calculated for adults, and machines of greater 
 size and complication were constructed for the more 
 
INFANT LABOUR. 137 
 
 difficult and finer kinds of spinning. If this arrange- 
 ' ment had not taken place, and the business continued 
 to extend, a numerous population of children would 
 have been formed, and employed in remote situations, 
 without an adequate demand for their labour when 
 adults ; the employment of adults by such suitable 
 establishments in manufacturing towns, therefore, ob- 
 viated this evil. It has likewise produced that excel- 
 lence in the operations which could never have been 
 obtained or rewarded, except in the great and open 
 market of talents in large towns. The labour of adults 
 is infinitely more regular in machinery than in manual 
 employment, but can never be controlled and reduced to 
 the uniformity of attendance of children. On the other 
 side, they are capable of greater exertion, and possess 
 far greater skill. The system of employing adults 
 restores society to its proper direction, which had been 
 changed by sudden discoveries, and probably neither 
 a younger nor a greater number of children will be 
 required to be trained in the mills upon the new scale, 
 than that proportion which is necessary to supply the 
 demand for adults in many other labouring classes of 
 society." -^ 
 
 The simplicity of the first machines adapted for spin- ^ 
 ning, and their small size, fitted them for being tended 
 by children. The localities in which the mills were at 
 first erected for the convenience of water power, 
 were often remote from towns or villages, from which 
 alone an adequate supply of hands could be obtained : 
 hence, in the early period of mill labour, apprentices, 
 from six to twelve years of age, were almost the only 
 workers. These apprentices were chiefly taken from 
 the workhouses of large towns, such as London, Bir- 
 mingham, &c. and from foundling hospitals, and trans- 
 
138 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 mitted in droves* to the different mills, where, in many 
 instances, it is to be feared they suffered very severely, • 
 Villages, however, sprung up in the vicinity of the mills, 
 and the parents of children very naturally took advan- 
 tage of their labour, and hence » free labourers became 
 superadded, and, in time, displaced the apprentice sys- 
 tem to a considerable degree. 
 
 The construction of the first mills was, of course, 
 fitted only for small machines ; they were consequently 
 small, and the rooms in them were low, and of very 
 contracted dimensions, and very little precaution was 
 used, either as to ventilation or temperature. The time 
 of labour was extended to twelve hours, with very little 
 interval ; the immense profits which accrued from their 
 produce pushing aside all ulterior considerations. Nor 
 was this all : unsatisfied with the day labour, the night 
 was almost uniformly spent by one portion of the hands 
 in the mill ; the owners or occupiers thus securing 
 twenty-three hours out of the twenty-four for making 
 \ their machinery valuable."! 
 
 There cannot be a question but that child-labour, 
 urged to this extent, and under these circumstances, 
 was prejudicial in every way, and gross immorality was 
 one result. In 1796, the evil of it had aroused the 
 attention of various philanthropic individuals, amongst 
 whom the name of Dr. Percival stands conspicuously 
 forward; and he, in conjunction with others, stirred them- 
 selves to produce some alteration and amendment. 
 
 On the establishment of the Manchester Board of 
 Health, the following statement was made by him, on 
 
 * Mr. Arkwright's first mills were almost entirely filled with 
 very young children. The house of Peel and Co. employed at one 
 time a thousand of these children. 
 
 f The practice of night work is nearly abolished at the present day. 
 
INFANT LABOUR. 139 
 
 the 15th of January, 1796 :— " The Board have had their / 
 attention particularly directed to the large cotton factories / 
 established in the neighbourhood and town of Manchester, >- 
 and they feel it a duty incumbent on them to lay before 
 the public the result of their inquiries : 1 . It appears 
 that the children and others, who work in the large cotton 
 factories, are peculiarly disposed to be affected by the 
 contagion of fever; and that when such infection is 
 received, it is rapidly propagated, not only amongst those 
 who are crowded together in the same apartments, but in 
 the families and neighbourhoods to which they belong. 
 2. The large factories are generally injurious to those 
 employed in them, even when no particular diseases 
 prevail, from the close confinement which is enjoined, 
 and from the debilitating effects of hot or impure air, 
 and from the want of the active exercises which nature 
 points out as essential in childhood and youth, to invi- 
 gorate ^the system, and to fit our species for the employ- 
 ments and the duties of manhood. 3. The untimely 
 labour of the night, and the protracted labour of the day, 
 with respect to children, not only, tends to diminish 
 future expectations, as to the general sum of life and 
 industry, by impairing the strength, and destroying the 
 vital stamina of the rising generation ; but it too often 
 gives encouragement to idleness, extravagance, and pro- 
 fligacy in the parents, who, contrary to the law of nature, 
 subsist by the oppression of their children. 4. It appears 
 that the children employed in factories are generally 
 debarred from all opportunities of education, and from 
 moral and religious instruction." 
 
 According to .the evidence of Sir Robert Peel, who 
 was himself very extensively engaged in manufactures at 
 this period, contagious and epidemic diseases were very 
 common in the people, or rather children, employed in 
 
140 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 these badly constructed mills, and under the influence 
 of such continuous labour. He remarks, that they 
 were uniformly of stinted growth, and that although in 
 his own case they were fed and lodged under his roof and 
 at his own expense, they still looked to be in ill -health. 
 
 That gross mismanagement existed in numberless 
 instances there can be no doubt ; and that these unpro- 
 tected creatures, thus thrown entirely into the power 
 of the manufacturer, were over- worked, often badly 
 fed, and worse treated. No wonder can be felt that 
 these glaring mischiefs attracted observation, and, 
 finally, led to the passing of the Apprentice Bill,* 
 a bill intended to regulate these matters. It may be 
 questioned whether the bill of itself did much good, but 
 from the discussions it excited, and the vast superiority 
 displayed by some mills over others, when general 
 inquiries were made, very beneficial consequences 
 were the result, and some attention began to be paid 
 both to the better ordering of the mills, and to the 
 welfare of the children. 
 
 The machines for spinning were, day after day, be- 
 coming more bulky, and requiring greater skill and 
 exertion for producing fine numbers, so that adults gra- 
 dually found their way to them. The application of 
 steam as a moving power, which became general from 
 1801 to 1804, produced a great change in all respects. 
 It did away with the necessity for so much water power, 
 and hence mills were more commonly built in towns or 
 populous districts, favourable as to coal, &c., and where 
 a population was at hand for their occupation. The 
 uniformity, the increased rapidity of motion, and the 
 greater size of the machines, called in some departments 
 for active labour, and grown-up men and women were 
 
 * The Apprentice Bill was passed 1802. 
 
INFANT LABOUR. 141 
 
 now largely engaged in spinning ; — but still children 
 formed the majority of hands, many processes being 
 better calculated for them than for adults. But they 
 were not put to work quite so young, few before ten 
 years of age — an age, in fact, which the masters found 
 to be as soon as they could be properly useful. 
 
 The hours of labour have not undergone any very 
 material alteration since the universal application of 
 steam, and since the doing away with night labour as a 
 general custom. Notwithstanding this the condition of 
 the children has undergone great amelioration. This 
 has arisen not from increased wages, but from the im- 
 provement in the construction of the mills. Subsequent 
 to 1806, when the steam-loom was first brought into 
 operation, many of the first mills were either much 
 enlarged, or in very numerous examples abandoned by 
 the more wealthy manufacturers, and in their stead 
 large buildings were erected, fitted to receive, in addition 
 to the spinning processes, a quantity of looms. 
 
 Nor was this increase in size the only advantage. The 
 rooms were much more lofty, generally of large propor- 
 tions, had numerous windows, so arranged as to afford 
 excellent ventilation, whilst improved modes of warming 
 them did away with many of the inconveniences which had 
 hitherto attended upon this necessary portion of their 
 interior economy. This consisted in carrying through 
 the room pipes conveying steam, or heated air, which 
 enabled the overlooker to regulate the temperature 
 according to the necessity of the season. Various im- 
 provements took place in the cleaning the cotton, so 
 as to free the mill from a great part of the flue or fine 
 cottony down, which in the old mills, spinning coarse 
 numbers had been nearly suffocating. Cleanliness began 
 to be cultivated, and this was materially aided by the 
 
142 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 use of cast-iron floors. These were much more easily- 
 cleaned than wood, which had absorbed the oil drop- 
 pings, and soon became offensive and exceedingly diffi- 
 cult to get off; added to which was the gradual 
 substitution of iron in the frame-work of machinery : 
 this by its diminished bulk materially increased the 
 empty space in the rooms, the wooden frames having 
 been large and massy, and always getting filled with dirt. 
 The number of young persons employed in factories 
 since the breaking up of the apprentice system, and since 
 the divisions of labourers have fairly settled themselves, 
 has not till of late years varied very largely, when esti- 
 mated as to the proportion they bear to the remainder 
 of the hands. In 1816, a return from forty-one mills in 
 Scotland gave a total of ten thousand persons engaged 
 in them. Of this number, 
 
 Under ten years of age. 
 
 From ten to eighteen 
 years of age. 
 
 Above eighteen years 
 of age. 
 
 191 Males. 
 224 Females. 
 
 1179 Males. 
 2810 Females. 
 
 5596. 
 
 415 
 
 S989 
 
 
 Total under 18 . . . 4,404. 
 
 A similar return from forty-eight mills in Manchester 
 gave a total of 1 2,940 hands. 
 
 Under 10, 793; 10 to 18, 5460 ; above 18, 6687. 
 
 This approximates very nearly to the Table first 
 given. 
 
 A return from thirty-six mills in Stockport, in 1833, 
 gave a total of 11,444. 
 
 Under 10, 326 ; 10 to 18, 4017 ; above 18, 7101.* 
 
 * Vide Table in Appendix for details, as to number of hands 
 employed, with their age, sex, &c. 
 
INFANT LABOUR. 143 
 
 The diversity in the foregoing Tables arises from 
 several causes. Wherever spinning is more especially- 
 prosecuted, there the number of hands under eighteen 
 years of age will appear proportionately increased ; and 
 wherever weaving is the staple manufacture, there the 
 number of hands upwards of eighteen will be in greater 
 ratio. There can be no question indeed, but that since 
 steam-weaving became general, the number of adults 
 engaged in the mills has been progressively advancing, 
 inasmuch that very young children are not competent to 
 take charge of a steam-loom. The individuals employed 
 at them are chiefly girls and young women, from sixteen 
 to twenty-two or twenty-three years of age ; indeed, the 
 weavers in many mills are exclusively females, and it 
 is not likely that any very material alteration in this 
 respect will occur. In spinning, children are as valuable 
 workers in many of its processes as adults, in some 
 degree more so. 
 
 Yet a change is rapidly taking place in the condition 
 of the operatives, and a disposition is developing itself to 
 have recourse to the labour of women and children in 
 preference to adults. The causes which have led to 
 this are, the great improvements which are taking place 
 in machinery, and its application to an infinite variety 
 of minute operations, requiring the nicest management, 
 the requisite power being given by steam. Nearly 
 the whole of the hands employed in the silk factories 
 are females, as well as in the Scotch flax, cotton, and 
 woollen mills. 
 
 The labourer is indeed become a subsidiary to this 
 power. Already he is condemned, hour after hour, day 
 after day, to watch and minister to its operations, — to 
 become himself as much a part of its mechanism as its 
 cranks and cog-wheels, — already to feel that he is but 
 
144 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 a portion of a mighty machine, every improved appli- 
 cation of which, every addition to its Briareus-like arms, 
 rapidly lessen his importance, and tend to drive him 
 from a participation with it, as the most expensive and 
 unmanageable part of its materials. 
 
 The contest, however, between human and steam 
 power, as applied to manufactures, is not yet so far 
 advanced as to annihilate its value to its possessor. In 
 another portion of this work it is satisfactorily shown 
 that the labourer, though losing rapidly his independent 
 character, is paid for his labour a sum amply sufficient, 
 when properly applied, to supply all his natural wants, 
 and to provide him with comforts and opportunities for 
 making provision for sickness or old age, without be- 
 coming a burden upon the fixed capital of the nation. 
 This observation, it must be understood, refers to those 
 artisans who work aided by mechanism and steam. The 
 hand-loom weavers are, on the contrary, crushed by their 
 mighty opponent to the dust, and keep up a warfare with 
 it upon the most unequal and untenable grounds. 
 
 The necessity for human power thus gradually yield- 
 ing before another and more subservient one, has had, 
 in the first place, the effect of rendering adult labour of 
 no greater value than that of the infant or girl ; the 
 workmen are reduced to mere watchers, and suppliers of 
 the wants of machinery, requiring in the great majority 
 of its operations no physical or intellectual exertion ; and 
 the adult male has begun to give way, and his place 
 been supplied by those who in the usual order of things 
 were dependent upon him for their support. 
 
 It may be asked why, if adult labour was still effi- 
 cacious, though its physical and intellectual energies 
 were not demanded, it was thrown aside, and women 
 and children brought to perform its functions; thus 
 
INFANT LABOUR. 145 
 
 reversing the law generally acknowledged, that man, as 
 a husband and a father, should furnish his wife and 
 family with support till such periods as his offspring 
 were themselves arrived at an age when the develop- 
 ment of their physical powers fitted them for earning a 
 separate and independent support, or at least assisting 
 their parent, and lessening in some degree his burdens. 
 Why take from their homes and proper occupation 
 women and children, and employ them to the exclusion 
 of their husbands and fathers,* and subject them to labour 
 which, in the instance of the children, their physical 
 organization was unable to bear, and in that of the 
 women must of necessity lead to the neglect of all the 
 domestic offices — household economy — and conjugal and 
 maternal duties ; why throw the active labourer into 
 idleness and dependence, and thus lower immensely his 
 moral importance ? and why thus, laying the axe to the 
 root of the social confederacy, pave the way for breaking 
 up the bonds which hold society together, and which are 
 the basis of national and domestic happiness and virtue ? 
 The previous sketch of the progress of tbe manufac- 
 tures in reference to machinery and its influence upon 
 labour, and the conditions and localities in which the 
 mills were first established, will explain the employment 
 of children in the spinning department to the exclusion 
 of adults ; the introduction of the steam loom, the sub- 
 sequent excellence and simplification of the machinery, 
 and lastly, a history of the combinations, will be suf- 
 ficient to unravel the question, and to explain why 
 masters, taking advantage of steam power, and finding^ 
 that the child or woman was a more obedient servant 
 
 * This substitution is felt very acutely by the operatives ^ 
 themselves— they denounce it as an unchristian and most cruel 
 policy. 
 
 L 
 
146 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 to himself, and an equally efficient servant to his 
 machinery, were disposed to displace the male adult 
 labourer, and throw him for support upon his family, or 
 send him, as it might happen, a pauper or depraved 
 being to prey upon the community at large. 
 
 It may be supposed that the masters, in thus wishing 
 to rid themselves of a turbulent set of workmen, were 
 influenced by other causes — that women and children 
 could be made to work at a cheaper rate, and thus add 
 to his 'profits. This has had considerable weight doubt- 
 less. The mode of payment now universally adopted 
 by the trade, which is payment for work done, piece 
 work as it is called, — the spinner for the number of 
 pounds of yarn he produces, the weaver for the number 
 of cuts or yards turned off from his loom, — places the 
 active girl upon a par with the most robust adult.* 
 It is true there are some of the processes which do 
 require the exertions of strength and skill, and in 
 these, of course, men are still employed ; but these 
 processes are few, and even now machinery is making 
 them still fewer, as the manufacturer has to pay very 
 high wages, and is therefore striving to do away with 
 the adult and expensive labourer. 
 
 It has happened, then, that in consequence of the 
 great improvements in the adaptation of machinery to 
 
 * " In the cotton factories of Lancashire," says Dr. Ure, " the 
 wages of the males, during the period when there is the greatest 
 number employed, from eleven to sixteen, are on the average 
 4*. lO^d. per w^ek; but in the next period of five years, from 
 sixteen to twenty-one, the average rises to lO*. 2|^. a-week, and 
 of course the manufacturer will have as few at that price as he can. 
 In the next period of five years, from twenty-one to twenty-six, 
 the average weekly wages are 17*. 2^d. Here is a still stronger 
 motive to discontinue employing males as far as it can practically 
 be done." 
 
INFANT LABOUR. 147 
 
 complicated and delicate processes, and the steam-engine, 
 affording a moving power capable of exercising any requi- 
 site degree of force, — that, in consequence of machines, 
 thus impelled, requiring merely feeders or watchers, and 
 these watchers or feeders, being not, of necessity, strong 
 in body or intellect, — that adult male labour having 
 been found difficult to manage, and not more pro-, 
 ductive, — its place has, in a great measure, been sup- 
 plied by children and women ; and hence the outcry 
 which has been raised with regard to infant labour, in 
 its moral and physical bearings. The moral consi- 
 derations have been partly discussed in another portion 
 of this work. The important question of infant labour 
 as to health and physical development, two points inti- 
 mately connected with the future welfare, well-being, 
 and happiness of the mill artisans, now remains to be 
 examined. 
 
 The material organization of childhood is decidedly 
 unfavourable to labour. The functions of nutrition, 
 which are those peculiarly active, leave little either 
 of nervous or muscular energy beyond what is re- 
 ' quired for their due supply. The whole body is in a 
 state of rapid alteration, full of vascular excitement, 
 and requiring long periods of repose. The constitution 
 at large is very excitable, abounding in vitality, and 
 prone to irregular action. The osseous system is in- 
 complete, its structure, as yet, being in a very great 
 proportion cartilaginous, and hence beautifully adapted 
 for accommodating itself to the growth and extension 
 of the body. It is, however, soft, yielding, bends be- 
 neath pressure, and is easily made to assume curvatures 
 and alterations in direction, incompatible, more or less, 
 with the natural arrangements, which are, in all instances, 
 full of harmony and architectural and mechanical 
 L 2 
 
148 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 beauties. The long bones, those of the arms and legs, 
 do not 'become completely ossified till the body has 
 attained its full growth. The flat bones, those of the 
 head, pelvis, &c. become hard sooner, serving, as they 
 do, for the walls of cavities, or supports for delicate 
 and important viscera, essential to life. 
 
 It will be useful to trace the progress of bone from 
 its mucous state in the foetus to its complete perfection 
 in after-life, as it bears very considerably upon the 
 fitness or unfitness of young children for labour, and 
 will sufficiently demonstrate that external agencies 
 may have a very important influence upon its due 
 development. 
 
 The first stage in which the anatomist can detect 
 bone, or rather the rudimentary parts, which a re subse- 
 quently to become the depositories for bony matter, is 
 at a very early period, at a time when the whole embryo 
 is a mere mass of transparent matter, which is so soft 
 and unresisting that it yields beneath the finger like a 
 firm pulp. At this time, however, the forms of the bones 
 are discernible, holding their proper respective positions 
 in the frame of the foetus. This is the condition in 
 which they will be found in the very early periods of 
 pregnancy. Gradually they become firmer, more carti- 
 laginous, and about the end of the first month of utero- 
 gestation, specks of bony deposit appear in the centre of 
 the long bones, and in one or two or more places in the 
 flat bones. From these specks, as from centres, radiate 
 osseous fibres towards the extremities of the various 
 separate portions, into which the long bones and the flat 
 bones, forming the cavities, are divided. In the long 
 bones these osseous striae, or streaks, are longitudinal, 
 running towards their extremities; in the flat bones, 
 tjiey take a star-like course, diverging towards their 
 
INFANT LABOUR. 149 
 
 edges ; and in the short bones, such as the bones of the 
 hand and foot, they proceed from the interior to the 
 surface. 
 
 Previous to the deposit of bone, the cartilaginous 
 parts were nearly without^ colour, merely indeed tinged 
 with a yellowish hue ; but now a red dot is per- 
 ceived in the point where the bone is forming, and 
 blood-vessels gradually show themselves. This red 
 spot is synchronous with the earliest bony formation ; 
 not that the cartilaginous parts were before destitute of 
 circulating fluids, but that its circulation consisted of 
 colourless matter. 
 
 This bony formation steadily progresses till the 
 period of birth, and has generally touched, in one 
 or more points, the extreme length of the long bones, 
 and the edges of the flat and small bones. But 
 the whole is very far from being complete. The 
 heads or extremities of the long bones offer distinct 
 points of ossification ; in the flat bones, those of the 
 head and pelvis, and shoulder blades, several distinct 
 points are also often found, each forming a small centre 
 for the divergence of similar striae to those of the pri- 
 mary ones. The bones of the head, which in later life 
 become one continuous case or surface, are at this period 
 divided into several plates, that gradually stretch out 
 their ossific rays, and indent into the edges of those 
 next them, forming serrae, or teeth, which dovetail one 
 into another, and finally make a very firm and im- 
 movable union, the bone breaking before these give 
 way, as the edges are thickened purposely to strengthen 
 and fortify this point of junction. 
 
 The Divine Architect, whose omniscience has con- 
 trived a mechanical apparatus like the human body, 
 has also, in the mode of its growth, and the periods 
 
150 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 appointed for the completion of particular parts, clearly- 
 indicated the order in which their functions should be 
 called into active employment. Respiration being 
 immediately essential to the new-born creature, the 
 points of bones to which the muscles are attached, 
 chiefly concerned in that ofl[ice, are the very first to 
 show signs of ossification. So early as the end of the 
 first month of gestation, the collar-bones and ribs are 
 hardening, and at birth are suflftciently firm to afford 
 unyielding fulcra for them to act upon. The spinal 
 column shows early marks of ossification, as it is, in a 
 considerable degree, interested in the same function ; 
 while the extremities of the flat bones are still incom- 
 plete, and the process of hardening in the small bones 
 of the hands and feet is hardly commenced. 
 
 At this period (the time of birth) the osseous system 
 is a great series of detached portions of bone, incapable 
 of supporting the soft parts without yielding beneath 
 their weight — the connecting medium between them 
 (cartilage) is flexible, the only portions which have 
 assumed a very decided formation being those connected 
 with respiration. 
 
 Month after month, as the infant acquires muscular 
 vigour, the bones solidify in ratio as the peculiar organs 
 are called into play. Point after point hardens, and is 
 connected with the shafts of the long bones, or firm 
 ridges spring up along the surface of the flat bones, 
 giving origin or insertion to the moving powers which 
 are destined to enable the child to perform the actions 
 of locomotion, lifting weights, &c. &c. 
 
 It is not till complete growth has been attained, which 
 is from the seventeenth to the twentieth year, that all 
 the bones are completely ossified, and till this period 
 they are more or less liable to give way under continued 
 
INFANT LABOUR. 15l 
 
 pressure. They have, however, assumed a very consi- 
 derable firmness of structure long prior to this, and little 
 danger need be apprehended of evil consequences from 
 any common labour or exertion which the purposes of 
 life require. 
 
 The system of bones — the skeleton — is the basis or 
 frame-work on which all the soft parts are, as it were, 
 hung. It sustains their weight, affords points of support 
 for muscular action, and by the beauty and order of its 
 articulations, is capable of assuming a variety of direc- 
 tions, while its symmetrical proportion is most perfect, 
 and admirably adapted for the packing and convenient 
 arrangement of the numberless components of which a 
 man's body is made up. 
 
 During the growth of the child, then, its bones are 
 to some extent soft and yielding, — a circumstance 
 familiar to many mothers, in whose infants the bony 
 structure has not, from some fault in its peculiar nutri- 
 tion, gone on apace with muscular development : this, 
 by inducing the child to support its weight upon its 
 feet, causes its legs to give way beneath the body, and 
 bow out, — a very common case in strumous families. 
 
 It has been said that the child's system was one full 
 of excitement, of rapid changes in structure, and that 
 its sensibilities were acute. The world brings to the 
 infant, for many years, a constant succession of new 
 sensations ; and its activity, its variableness, its jocund 
 laugh, its quiet repose, are all evidences that, like the 
 young of other animals, its life was intended by the 
 Creator for unrestricted bodily enjoyment, for to it 
 motion itself ever seems a high gratification. 
 
 No one familiar with the wants and habits of a child 
 is ignorant how irksome confinement is to it — how 
 utterly unfit it is for settled occupations — how listless 
 
152 ' INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 and heartless it speedily becomes when shut out from 
 its instinctive mode of life — how soon it droops and 
 pines, and loses the vigour and freshness of the wild 
 flower. 
 
 Whatever causes tend to derange digestion must of 
 necessity interfere with nutrition ; for, in fact, the terms 
 may be considered as almost synonymous. The growth 
 of every part depends intimately upon this first process 
 being well performed. Whatever interferes with this 
 deranges the whole circle of the animal economy, and, 
 if continued, will lay the foundation for a series of 
 irregular actions, which may either run into scrofula, if 
 such taint already exists, or may bring about, indepen- 
 dently of such taint, the same or some analogous afiec- 
 tion. Whatever vitiates this series of operations, — and 
 it is liable to be vitiated by many causes, — puts the 
 whole animal machine out of equilibrium ; and irregular 
 formations, strumous swellings of the cancellated heads 
 of the long bones, as at the knees, ancles, elbows, and 
 wrists, or a similar train of evils in the glandular struc- 
 ture, evidenced by swellings in the neck, terminating in 
 sores difficult to heal, or of the mesenteric or other 
 glands of the abdomen, or of derangements in the 
 mucous surfaces of the mouth, eyes, breathing appara- 
 tus, bowels, &c. &c. — all these are results, more or 
 less marked, of any continued derangement in that 
 most important function of childhood — nutrition. 
 
 Light, air, recreation, freedom from toil, proper cloth- 
 ing, wholesome food, attention to the bowels, &c., are 
 all essential to this function being well performed. 
 Children placed even under the most favourable con- 
 ditions, if deprived of their necessary amount of unre- 
 stricted physical enjoyment, show very plainly their 
 want of it. In fashionable boarding-schools, and in 
 
INFANT LABOUR. 153 
 
 private families, where tuition is commenced early, and 
 where little proper exercise is taken, but where e very- 
 attention is paid to food, &c., the pallid face and spirit- 
 less demeanour of the children very soon show that 
 nothing can compensate for the abstraction of their 
 necessary stimuli. 
 
 The factory child,* from the very earliest period of 
 its existence, is, in large towns, subjected to all the 
 necessary causes for the production of the physical evils, 
 resulting from derangement of the digestive organs. Its 
 food is coarse, and the times of feeding irregular ; it is 
 exposed to cold, ill clad, allowed to be filthy. It in- 
 hales the impure atmosphere of a badly ventilated and 
 uncleanly house, and the equally impure one of an un- 
 paved and unsoughed street ; is allowed to get wet, 
 goes barefoot, no attention is paid to its dietetic com- 
 forts, and consequently vast numbers die very young, 
 and the remainder who live exhibit symptoms that they 
 have suffered from neglect and exposure. They have 
 pale and flaccid features, a stunted growth, very often 
 tumid bellies, tender eyes, and other marks that the 
 primce vice have been permitted to go wrong. The 
 effect of all the other causes is aided by the abominable 
 practice, so general amongst this class, of cramming 
 children with quack and patent medicines, to quiet 
 their irritability, increased as it is by their digestive 
 derangement, or the equally pernicious one of giving 
 them gin for the same purposci* 
 
 * Vast numbers of these children are hired out at the rate of 
 1*. Qd. per week. 
 
 f " In consequence of the absence of the mothers, these chil- 
 dren are entrusted, in a vast majority of cases, to the care of 
 others, often of elderly females. These women often undertake 
 the care of several infants at the same time ; the children are 
 
154 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 Whatever tends to disturb that function, the products 
 of which furnish the materials for the building up of the 
 body, or which alters and depraves those materials, 
 must necessarily impede and retard the completion of 
 the healthy structure of the system. In childhood, 
 much has to be done in these respects ; muscles have 
 to be strengthened and brought into use ; the bony 
 fabric solidified ; growth carried on, by the deposition 
 of new matter in every portion of the body ; prepara- 
 tion made for sexual development : all these keep the 
 feeders in incessant action. The vessels which are to 
 be the first stage in preparing the new matter, and 
 carrying it to its final depositories, are all connected 
 with the alimentary canal ; these convey the chyle they 
 
 restless and irritable from being deprived of a supply of their 
 natural food (as when the mothers suckle them, they can only per- 
 form that duty in the intervals of labour), and the almost universal 
 practice amongst them is to still the cries of the infant by admi- 
 nistering opiates, which are sold for the purpose under several 
 well-known and popular forms. The quantity of opium which 
 from habit some children become capable of taking is almost 
 incredible, and the effects are correspondingly destructive. Even 
 when the children have a healthy appearance at birth, they almost 
 uniformly become in a few months puny and sickly in their aspect, 
 and many fall victims to bronchitis, hydrocephalus, and other 
 diseases, produced by want of care, and the pernicious habits we 
 have detailed. We may mention, also, that spirits, particularly 
 gin, are given frequently when the infants appear to suffer from 
 pain in the bowels, which from injurious diet is very common 
 among them." — Inquiry^ 8fc. p. 17. 
 
 " The child is ill-fed, dirty, ill-clothed— exposed to cold and 
 neglect, and in consequence more than one half of the offspring of 
 the poor die before they have completed their fifth year. The 
 strongest survive, but the same causes which destroy the weakest 
 impair the vigour of the more robust, and hence the children of 
 our manufacturing population are proverbially pale and sallow, 
 though not generally emaciated, nor subjects of disease."— Mora/ 
 and Physical Condition of the Working Classes, Sfc. p. 70. 
 
INFANT LABOUR. 156 
 
 have elminated from the food. If, however, this chyle 
 is imperfectly formed, which must inevitably be the 
 case when digestion is impaired by the causes already 
 mentioned, it cannot fulfil perfectly its destined offices 
 in the system — growth is retarded, and particular struc- 
 tures unfinished. 
 
 The formation of bone, the necessary earthy deposit 
 upon which its hardness depends, is one singularly 
 under the influence of the digestive operations. Rick- 
 etty children are ever wrong in this respect : the food 
 they take furnishes but little nutriment : their bowels 
 are disturbed ; assimilation goes on imperfectly ; all 
 the processes connected with absorption and deposition 
 are irregular, and do not preserve that reciprocity of 
 action, that balance of quantity, which is necessary for 
 proper growth. 
 
 Without going more diffusely into the pathology of 
 the two diseases, scrofula and rickets, which are in 
 their origin clearly traceable to disturbed digestion, it 
 may be sufficient to state, that both, when they have 
 been fairly established, seem to be transmissible from 
 parent to child, — to become hereditary. By the term 
 hereditary, however, when applied to diseases, whether 
 mental or physical, it must be understood only m a 
 general sense, as meaning, that a parent endows his 
 offspring with certain peculiarities of constitution, certain 
 tendencies to take on diseased actions ; not that he 
 transmits the disease in its distinct form, but that he 
 gives a liability to have it called into action by causes 
 which would not develop a similar disease in a child 
 descended from parents perfectly free from any such 
 taint. With scrofula this is decidedly the case, scrofu- 
 lous parents very frequently having offspring with all 
 the traces of its peculiar diathesis, light eyes, fair 
 
156 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 skin, &c. &c. With rickets this transmission is less ob- 
 servable, probably because its incipient stages are not 
 so strongly marked. 
 
 The factory child then, from its birth, is placed under 
 circumstances certain to deprave its nutritive functions, 
 and to produce effects injurious to the healthy stamina of 
 its physical organization. Its soft parts become flabby, 
 relaxed, open to disease ; its osseous system becomes 
 firm very slowly and irregularly, yields to superincum- 
 bent weight, producing deformity more or less marked, 
 and more or less prejudicial, as affecting parts more or 
 less connected with important outlets or cavities. 
 
 But farther than this, the child which is descended 
 from parents who have themselves been subjected to 
 like causes of physical debility, must have an organiza- 
 tion weakly from its very origin ; must have inherited- 
 to some extent, their debilitated constitution, and in 
 consequence be much less able to resist the influence of 
 the unfavourable conditions to which it is exposed 
 subsequent to birth. 
 
 This condition, it must be constantly borne in mind, 
 has nothing to do with labour — as yet the child has 
 undergone none : it has been allowed to run wild, half- 
 clad and half-starved. It is of the utmost consequence 
 to a correct understanding of the question of infant 
 employment, that this preliminary state should be pro- 
 perly considered and correctly appreciated. It would, 
 indeed, be a monstrous perversion of every thing like 
 justice, both to the masters and to the system of factory- 
 labour, to burden the one with the moral responsibility 
 of this prior condition, or the other with all the results 
 for which it paves the way ; a state, be it remembered, 
 little likely to be ameliorated or improved if the child 
 were permitted to remain in idleness at home, since it 
 
INFANT LABOUR. 157 
 
 would be still exposed to the same causes of physical 
 and moral depravity. If, indeed, it could be shown 
 that abstinence from the mill would, to some very consi- 
 derable extent, give it an opportunity for regaining 
 during youth what it had lost during infancy, a powerful 
 argument would be afforded for government interfering 
 with what the abolitionists of this species of labour do 
 not hesitate to term infanticide, and compare it to the 
 Hindoo Gangetic superstitions, and the Chinese syste- 
 matic child-murder. A perversion of words is, however, 
 no argument ; it may be ingenious, and serve party 
 purposes, but it leaves the question at issue precisely in 
 the same state in which it found it. 
 
 There can be no question that a child of nine or ten 
 years of age, if it has been placed under circumstances 
 to permit the healthy development of its organs, is 
 capable of performing light work. If a child gets over 
 its fifth year, even when it has shown symptoms of 
 slight scrofulous or rachitic affections, it generally 
 pushes forward, and does well, providing that it is 
 properly nurtured, and is well fed and well clothed. 
 
 A child from an agricultural district, eight or nine 
 years old, blooming with rosy health, full of vitality, 
 is transported to a crowded town ; its parents are 
 compelled to leave it whilst they prosecute their work 
 at the manufactories ; it is exposed to m.iasmatic evapo- 
 rations, shut up in a narrow street, its home is damp 
 and cold, its food poor and badly cooked: in a few 
 months, from the force of these circumstances, the Hebe- 
 looking child has become pallid ; its muscular system 
 loses its tone ; but it seldom goes down below this, its 
 bony fabric having attained already so much firmness 
 and completeness of ossification as to prevent it from 
 yielding to any very great degree. In consequence, 
 
158 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 however, of the lessened efficiency of its digestive 
 apparatus, it is much more liable to chronic diseases, 
 glandular enlargement, irregular developments, at the 
 expense of the whole 'system. This train of circum- 
 stances is independent of labour : it is brought about 
 simply by its change of locality, the altered habits of its 
 parents, and its damp and unwholesome home. 
 
 The difference between the child born and subjected 
 to these mischievous agencies, and the one born under 
 more favourable auspices, in the influence of which it 
 has lived till seven years of age, and then brought under 
 the same train of mischiefs, as to living, &c., when 
 they are examined at nine years of age, is less strik- 
 ing than would have been previously supposed, from 
 a comparison of data. Externally they present but 
 few points of dissimilarity in physical structure'; but a 
 more attentive inspection will very readily enable the 
 inquirer to ascertain that, in their several capabilities of 
 bearing labour, or continued exertion, they are widely 
 disproportioned, the preponderance of ability leaning 
 vastly to the child whose prior healthy development had 
 enabled its organs to make a decided progress. 
 
 In this instance its nutrition, for several years, had 
 been unimpaired ; its long bones had become in a great 
 measure ossified; the whole increments of its system 
 had been eliminated from a healthy source, through a 
 series of vessels equally healthy and capable of perform- 
 ing their functions, and a degree of growth established, 
 which no subsequent derangement could materially 
 injure or deface. Not so the child whose destiny has 
 fixed it here from birth : not only is its muscular system 
 flaccid, supplied with thin watery blood ; its mucous 
 surfaces unhealthy ; its glandular system deranged ; but 
 the groundwork upon which these are built, the frame 
 
INFANT LABOUR. 159 
 
 upon which they are arranged, is incomplete in compa- 
 rison. The bony fabric has had no opportunity for 
 becoming properly solidified — contains as yet too large 
 a proportion of cartilaginous matter ; so that the child 
 whose early years have been passed in healthy localities, 
 and had home-tendance, is far more advantageously 
 framed for work, and much less liable to the yielding of 
 its osseous supports, than the child differently circum- 
 stanced. 
 
 Factory labour is a species of work in some respects 
 not unfitted for children. Being cooped up in a heated 
 atmosphere, debarred the necessary exercise of one set 
 or system of muscles chiefly called into activity, it 
 cannot be wondered at that its effects are, to some 
 extent, injurious to the physical growth of a child. 
 Where the bony system is still imperfect, the vertical 
 position it is compelled to retain influences its direc- 
 tion ; the spinal column bends beneath the weight of 
 the head, bulges out laterally, or is dragged forward by 
 the weight of the parts composing the chest ; the pelvis 
 yields beneath the opposing pressure downwards, and 
 the resistance given by the thigh-bones : its capacity is 
 lessened, sometimes more and sometimes less ; the legs 
 curve, and the whole body loses height, in consequence 
 of this general yielding and bending of its parts.* 
 
 * " Had five hundred children, from five to eight years of age ; 
 work thirteen hours, one hour and a half for meals. I very soon 
 discovered that these children, though well fed, and well clothed, 
 and well lodged, and very great care taken of them when out of 
 the mills, their growth and their mind were very materially injured 
 by being employed at these ages within the cotton-mills for eleven 
 and a half hours per day. It is true that these children, in con- 
 sequence of being well fed, well clothed, and well lodged, looked 
 fresh to a superficial observer, healthy in their countenances, yet 
 their limbs were very generally deformed, and their growth was 
 stunted*" — Evidence before Committee, 
 
160 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 These effects are necessarily produced only in in- 
 stances where ossification has been retarded, and it has 
 been shown how the conditions of the child born and 
 bred up in large towns tend to this state. With regard 
 to the general health of the child, there is nothing in the 
 labour to which it is subjected which is likely to injure 
 it ; and it may be questioned whether, cceteris paribus, 
 it has not full as good a chance of its health being un- 
 impaired in the mill, as if it were left at home, neglected 
 as it inevitably must be. 
 
 The inhalation of dust, &c., the effluvia from oil, 
 steam, &c. with which the atmosphere of the rooms is 
 infected, are in no other way injurious than by show- 
 ing that ventilation is imperfect: of themselves they 
 have no ill effects upon health, provided the consump- 
 tion of the oxygen of the respired air be replaced 
 by sufficient portions of fresh air. Odours, however 
 disgusting — nuisances though they be — and though 
 upon those unaccustomed to their foetor,* they produce 
 squeamishness, and a temporary indisposition for taking 
 food, experience has proved are by no means delete- 
 rious. On the contrary, there are certain gases, which 
 would appear to be even conducive to human health, 
 
 * To prove that odours are not of themselves injurious to 
 health, it may be remarked, that the oyster fishing affords as 
 striking an example as can perhaps be found bearing upon the 
 subject : — '* It is a curious fact that these numerous couttos (or 
 heaps), each containing an enormous mass of oysters, all putrefy 
 together on a narrow extent of soil, and emit the most detestable 
 odours ; yet the health of the precarious and crowded population 
 gathered there is in no ways affected. During two consecutive 
 years," says M. de Noe, ** that I did duty at the fishery, I never 
 saw a soldier of my regiment sick : Europeans and Sepoys all 
 equally enjoyed good health." — Memoires relatifs h VExpedition 
 Anglaise de VInde en Egypte, 
 
INFANT LABOUR. 161 
 
 though sufficiently disgusting. Soap-boilers, chandlers, 
 stable-men, dealers in oil, curriers, tanners, are generally 
 healthy men, and to some extent have appeared to 
 enjoy an immunity from contagious diseases. Nei- 
 ther is the dust in the carding-rooms of cotton-mills so 
 great as to produce any marked effect upon health. The 
 temperature in which the infant portion of factory la- 
 bourers work is not so high as to be actively pernicious, 
 except in the first instance ; nor does it extend beyond 
 a certain point. 
 
 When a child is first introduced into the mill, the 
 warmth often produces slight fever ; this, however, does 
 not go so far as to prevent the sufferer working, nei- 
 ther is it at all contagious, being simply the effect of 
 temperature, and preceded by considerable perspiration 
 whilst at work. This of course produces some degree 
 of debility and a paleness of skin, rarely recovered from ; 
 but the health does not continue to suffer from this 
 cause — use soon reconciles the constitution to it. The 
 mischief is, that in the climate of England it is difficult, 
 during certain seasons, to keep up an increased tempe- 
 rature without prejudicially interfering with ventilation ; 
 for when great numbers of individuals are congregated 
 together, that portion of the atmosphere which is essen- 
 tial to life is rapidly removed, and a gas evolved fatal to 
 animal existence. 
 
 The proportion with which a room may be impregnated 
 with this, may have no Very visible immediate effects, 
 yet it lowers the powers of life, and depresses the action 
 of the heart ; and thus adds to the physical declension 
 under which the child of the factory labourer already 
 suffers. Great numbers of mills have however been 
 examined, in which these disadvantages are in a great 
 measure done away with, by a system of ventilation and 
 
 M 
 
162 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 cleanliness, adopted as far as is compatible with the nature 
 of the operations carried on in them ; and where the 
 amount of mischief resulting from the inhalation of 
 floating particles, or of deoxygenated air, is so small, as 
 to be worthy of little notice.* 
 
 Nothing appearing then in the condition of the labour, 
 considered 'per se, to which children are subjected, of an 
 activelyj- injurious character, as far as physical health is^ 
 concerned, the evils, if any, have their origin in causes 
 foreign to it, — and these are, first, its continuance, and 
 secondly, the prevention of all recreation and exercise 
 necessary for sustaining or repairing their already shat- 
 tered constitutions : and to these must be added the 
 moral effects of example, of independent earning and 
 appropriation of wages, the evils of which have already 
 been detailed. 
 
 The continuance of labour for so many hours is the 
 one great physical agent for keeping up and increasing 
 the inconveniences resulting from depraved nutrition. 
 The whole burden, however, must not therefore be 
 thrown upon factory labour ; one halfthe mischief is done 
 
 ♦ Nothing can more strongly mark the puerility which so often 
 disgraces the opinions of scientific men, than the stress which has 
 been laid upon the importance of a certain number of cubic feet 
 of space being devoted to each individual in mills. The space 
 (generally about 1200 feet) is more than enough, if ventilation is 
 well performed, and is ridiculously small if this is imperfect. 
 
 f *' It must be admitted that factory children do not present the 
 same blooming, robust appearance as is witnessed among children 
 who labour in the open air ; but I question if they are not more 
 exempt from acute diseases, and do not on an average suffer less 
 sickness than those who are regarded as having more healthy 
 employments. The average age at which the children of this dis- 
 trict (Preston) enter the factories is ten years and two months." — 
 Report of Inspectors of Factories for 1834, to the Home Secretary y 
 pp. 52, 5Z. 
 
INFANT LABOUR. 163 
 
 long before the child is engaged in it, and even were 
 the period in which it is engaged deferred, the home 
 and habits, of which it is the victim, are not those ma- 
 terially to assist in its regeneration. 
 
 To avoid misconstruction, it is highly necesssary that 
 the state of the child, preparatory to its being brought 
 into the mill, should be correctly understood. To call 
 out a number of children, and examine into their moral 
 and bodily conditions, and to charge the whole of what- 
 ever is found bad in both or in either upon the mill 
 directly (however truly it may be charged with it re- 
 motely), would be manifestly unjust. " Suum cuique 
 tribuito," should be strictly observed; the evils are 
 sufficient without adding any thing beyond what fairly 
 and properly belong to the actual conditions of the mills. 
 
 Of late years a vast improvement has taken place in 
 the internal economy of factories. In the first stages of 
 the system, when mills and machines were small, venti- 
 lation imperfect, and night work common, serious injuries 
 were inflicted upon the infantile workers. 
 
 It is beyond all question then, for it is abundantly 
 proved by physiological and pathological considerations, 
 that factory labour, continued for twelve or fourteen 
 hours, is liable to produce certain distortions of the bony 
 system in children, if there be previous want of healthy 
 growth ; that it prevents proper and natural exercise ; 
 and that, in conjunction with a continuance of imperfect 
 nurture, and want of domestic comforts, it keeps up an 
 unhealthy condition of the digestive organs, making the 
 body peculiarly prone to take on a variety of chronic 
 diseases ; and that it checks growth, the necessary sup- 
 plies being impaired.* 
 
 * The opinion of Dr. Baillie, one of the most enlightened and 
 judicious physicians who have adorned the annals of British medi- 
 m2 
 
164 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 An inspection and admeasurement of 2000 children, 
 taken indiscriminately from several large establishments 
 ten years ago, strikingly verified the accuracy of the fore- 
 going results deduced from reasoning upon the known 
 functions and operations of the body in a state of 
 health and disease. The children were stunted, pale, 
 flesh soft and flabby ; many with limbs bent, in most 
 the arch of the foot flattened ; several pigeon chested, 
 and with curvatures in the spinal column ; one hun- 
 dred and forty had tender eyes, in a great majority the 
 bowels were said to be irregular, diarrhoea often exist- 
 ing, and ninety shewed decided marks of having sur- 
 vived severe rachitic affections. 
 
 In the early period of factory spinning distortion was 
 very common, from the lowness of the old water- 
 frames. 
 
 The employment of children in manufactories ought 
 not to be looked upon as an evil till the present moral 
 and domestic habits of the population are completely 
 reorganized. So long as home education is not found 
 for them, they are to some extent better situated when 
 
 cine, is coincident with the actual conditions as described above, 
 and is the more valuable, as having been entirely drawn from the 
 general operations of the animal economy. 
 
 " I cannot," he says, " say much from experience, but I can 
 say what appears to me likely to arise out of so much labour, from 
 general principles of the animal economy. I should say, in the 
 first place, that the growth of those children would be stunted — 
 that they would not arrive so rapidly at their full growth — that 
 they would not have the same degree of general strength — that it 
 is probable their digestion would not be so vigorous as in children 
 who are more in the open air, and less confined to labour — and 
 that they would probably be more liable to glandular swellings 
 than children who are bred differently." — Evidence before Com- 
 mittee, 
 
INFANT LABOUR. 165 
 
 engaged in light labour, and the labour generally is 
 light which falls to their share.* The duration of mill 
 labour, from the natural state of the body during growth, 
 and where there is a previous want of healthy develop- 
 ment, is too long. 
 
 There can be no question but that very considerable 
 practical difficulties lie in the way of any extensive 
 change as to the hours of labour, — difficulties on the 
 part of the masters and the men equally. It is doubtful 
 if any legislative interference can be effective ; on the 
 other hand, it is a question whether it may not mate- 
 rially injure the future prospects of the labourers, and 
 accelerate a fate already too rapidly approaching them : 
 still some modifications might be made to satisfy the 
 claims of nature and humanity, contradistinguishing 
 these from fanaticism and bigoted ignorance. 
 
 It can admit of little dispute, that by diminishing the 
 length of time which the factory child now spends in the 
 mill, some advantages would be gained by it physically ; 
 or, that the same advantages might be to some extent*"--— 
 derived from periods of relaxations during the day. 
 As it is, the perpetual necessity for attention prevents 
 any thing like bodily repose, so that, although no labour, 
 in the common meaning of the word, is undergone, 
 fatigue necessarily results. 
 
 * " The labour is these mills is not perpetual labour — it is / 
 attention. The employment is not at all laborious — it is more a I 
 matter of attention than of labour.** — Evidence before Committee, , 
 
 " In those manufactories in which the time of work is not very 
 long, where the children are not taken in at a very early age, and 
 where the proprietors are men of enlarged minds, and possess some 
 degree of benevolence, to induce them to look after the welfare of 
 those from whom they derive their support and their wealth, the 
 children are perhaps better off than in many other situations." — 
 Evidence before Committee, 
 
166 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 If any regulations tending to do away with some of 
 the evils attendant upon child labour were introduced, 
 and generally acted upon, it may be safely asserted, that 
 the man who would abolish it in large towns does not 
 understand the position in which children are there 
 placed : or, if he does, he suffers himself to be led away 
 by false notions of philanthropy, and is no friend to the 
 best interests of his species. The interior economy of 
 mills has been so much improved as to remove most of 
 the obnoxious agents, which fell with such dreadful 
 severity upon the parish apprentices, who first became 
 their victims ; and there is nothing whatever in a well- 
 regulated mill directly injurious to life, save only the 
 length of time spent there, and its consequences. The 
 real evil lies in the habits of the people themselves ; 
 habits, it is very true, generated by the system of factory 
 labour: and one half the mischiefs suffered by the children 
 are inflicted upon them prior to their commencing work. 
 
 The influence of infant labour upon the mental facul- 
 ties is a subject of less importance than is generally 
 imagined. The children employed in mills exhibit the 
 peculiar intellectual traits which distinguish the town 
 child from that of a rural district. ' They are acute and 
 of quick intelligence— a circumstance arising from the 
 greater variety Jpf objects brought under their notice 
 early in life, and to their being left to their own re- 
 sources. It is not, indeed, improbable that the exclu- 
 sive attention which is required to one particular 
 employment, may, in some degree, limit and confine 
 the general capacity for acquiring diversified knowledge. 
 This is, however, by no means proved to be the case ; 
 neither if it were would it signify much, as this is a 
 species of knowledge which would not add to their 
 individual happiness. 
 
INFANT LABOUIU. 167 
 
 Much has been said as to the cruelty and injuries 
 supposed to be inflicted upon children in mills. There 
 is, however, but little ground for the extravagant accu- 
 sations which have been made on these heads. Chil- 
 dren are punished by their employers in the factories 
 for carelessness, and other faults, and now and then a 
 hasty -tempered spinner may carry the punishment into 
 actual violence. The masters are in very few cases to 
 blame, the fault lying principally with the operative. 
 A humane master of course attends to any flagrant act 
 of oppression, and this is the best shield for the child. 
 The general reports of the Factory Commissioners are 
 tolerably satisfactory on this subject. Cases were 
 indeed found of harsh treatment and over-working, in 
 the old and small mills, and in the flax, woollen, and 
 silk factories, hue they are not now of very common 
 occurrence ; neither are injuries so frequent as formerly, 
 and as machinery improves, they will become less and 
 less common. 
 
 The outcry raised regarding Infant Labour was one 
 main cause of the Factories Regulation Act of 1833. 
 This Act applies to all cotton, wool, flax, tow, hemp, 
 and silk mills in which machinery is moved by steam 
 or water power. Its enactments are as follows : — 
 
 No child can be employed at all before it is nine 
 years old. 
 
 No child younger than eleven must work more than 
 forty-eight hours in one week, or more than nine hours 
 in any one day. 
 
 After the 1st of March, 1835, the same restriction 
 applies to children under twelve, and after the 1st of 
 March, 1836, to children under thirteen. 
 
 To prevent these restrictions being evaded, no child 
 
168 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 must, on any pretence, remain more than nine hours 
 a-day in any working apartment of the mill. 
 
 Persons under eighteen years of age must not work 
 more than sixty-nine hours in a week, or twelve hours 
 in a day ; nor at all between half-past eight o'clock at 
 night and half-past five in the morning. 
 
 Children under nine may be employed in silk mills. 
 
 One hour and a half allowed for meals, exclusive of 
 working hours. 
 
 Two whole holidays, and eight half-holidays, to be 
 allowed to young persons annually. 
 
 Children prohibited working more than forty-eight 
 hours per week must attend school two hours every 
 day. The master is not allowed to employ any child 
 who has not a certificate of such school attendance from 
 the teacher. 
 
 School to be chosen by parent, guardian, or in default 
 of these, by the factory inspectors, who are appointed 
 with very wide and loose powers to see the above enact- 
 ments carried into effect. 
 
 Of this Bill it may be truly said that it is an absurdity, 
 being founded upon the most singular ignorance of the 
 interior economy #f mills. This economy consists of a 
 series of operations in which the child performs an essen- 
 • — tial part. There is a mutual dependence of the entire 
 labourers one upon the other ; and if the children who 
 are employed principally by the spinner are dismissed, 
 his work ceases, and the mill is at a stand still. The 
 absurdity of the measure lies in the gradations, if we 
 may so term it, which it appoints. Supposing that 
 perjury and evasion fail in rendering the act nugatory, 
 in what position do the masters stand ? That they must 
 reduce their working hours to the lowest limit, eight 
 
INFANT LABOUR. 169 
 
 hours per day, for the whole of their establishment ; or 
 that they must have relays of young hands to enable 
 them to work full time ; or that they must dismiss all 
 young persons under thirteen years of age. Every one 
 of these alternatives would be attended with considerable 
 loss and annoyance to the master, but would press far 
 more heavily upon the labourers. 
 
 The following remarks of Dr. Ure on this point are 
 perfectly just : — " The twenty-first clause of the Factories 
 Regulation Bill is an act of despotism towards the trade, 
 and of mock philanthropy towards the work-people who 
 depend on trade for support. It requires every factory 
 child, twelve years of age, to produce every Monday 
 morning a certificate of having attended school for two 
 hours at least in six days of the preceding week, on pain 
 of dismissal from the mill in which he earns his livelihood. 
 Against this absurd law strong remonstrances have been 
 made by the real friends of the poor. Few mills, in 
 fact, are situated near schools which are open at hours 
 convenient for these busy children, namely, early in the 
 morning and late in the evening, and therefore to make 
 the requirements practicable, one or more factories 
 should have a school or schools subservient to them, 
 open at suitable times of the day. The school clauses 
 exhibit an ingenious sample of legislative wisdom, for 
 they have had the diametrically opposite effect of their 
 avowed purpose. Instead of protecting and improving 
 the condition of the children, the supposed victims ofl/^ 
 the mill -owners' avarice, they have deprived them of 
 the means of subsistence, causing them to be turned 
 adrift to sympathize with the listless progeny of the 
 farm-labourer. 
 
 " The mill proprietor, after finding that this factory 
 act, like its predecessors, was the fruitful parent of 
 
170 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 deceit and perjury to the young operatives and their 
 guardians, and a law-trap to himself, has had no alter- 
 native but to dismiss from his works all children under 
 twelve years of age — an event fraught with wide-spread 
 privation. The children so discharged from their light 
 and profitable labour, instead of receiving the education 
 promised by Parliament, get none at all : they are thrown 
 out of the warm spinning rooms upon the cold world, 
 to exist by beggary or plunder — in idleness and vice." 
 
 This is the truth ; but we would pause a moment to 
 ask the writer how far the statement is in accordance 
 with his previous account of the moral and saving habits 
 of the parents of these children ? because, surely, if such 
 were the fact, these parents would guard against their 
 children sinking down into thieves and beggars. That 
 they become such we know — a notable illustration of 
 our description of the moral and social habits of the 
 mill artisans. 
 
 " After the first of March, 1836, all children, even 
 up to thirteen, will be in danger of being dismissed from 
 factory employment, by a prospective ordinance, which, 
 under the mask of philanthropy, will aggravate still 
 more the hardships of the poor, and extremely embarrass, 
 if not entirely stop, the conscientious manufacturer in 
 his useful toil. This law will no doubt be evaded in 
 many ways by the indignant artisans, whose families it 
 tends to starve ; and it will thus prove operative only for 
 evil, by perverting their moral principles. A proprie- 
 tor of a large factory in Manchester lately told me, that, 
 on the first of March this (1835) year, having discharged 
 thirty-five children as being under proper age, he was 
 surprised to find that, within a week or two, the whole 
 of them had resumed their work, under the sanction of 
 legal surgical certificates, which the managing partner 
 
INFANT LABOUB. 171 
 
 of the concern had no leisure to investigate, and could 
 not reject."* 
 
 In other words, the operatives perjured themselves, 
 and the master connived at it. It did not require the ex- 
 perience to be derived from this Bill to demonstrate the 
 low state of morals amongst these 'people ; Hohhouse^s Act 
 had already shown, in the most vivid colours, what might 
 be expected, " In fact," says Dr. Ure, " the perjury of 
 the witnesses placed an effectual barrier against con- 
 viction, and compelled the masters in Manchester to 
 abandon all attempts to enforce by law the provisions of 
 Hobhouse's Act with regard to the age of the children 
 and hours of work." 
 
 Does this plain confession argue a moral population ? 
 We readily grant the stern necessity of the case, for it 
 amounts to neither more nor less than this ; that, by the 
 change from the natural order of industry, the labour 
 of the child supersedes that of its father, who, thus 
 thrown into idleness and poverty, is ready to forswear 
 himself, and lead his child to tell a deliberate lie that he 
 may not starve. Is this a moral or satisfactory condition 
 of the hundreds of thousands engaged in mill labour ? 
 
 Dr. Ure's view of the restrictive clauses of the 
 Factories Regulation Bill is, however, exceedingly 
 narrow, and overlooks some of the most important con- 
 siderations connected with them. One of them, and not 
 the least is, the influence these restrictions will have 
 upon the progress of mechanical development ; this will 
 be discussed in ft subsequent chapter, remarking here 
 only, that it affords a singular proof of the extensibility 
 of this development. Another is, their effect upon the 
 population of the manufacturing districts, if the plan 
 contemplated by the masters of having two sets of chil- 
 ^ * Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 406. 
 
172 INFANT LABOUR. 
 
 dren, for a time, be carried into general operation. This 
 would, in the first place, produce considerable immigra- 
 tion to manufacturing towns, and swell enormously the 
 amount of unemployed male and adult labour ; and in '^ 
 the second, increase the dangers already threatening 
 from this cause very materially. 
 
 There is no employment to be found for adult males ; 
 on the contrary, they are becoming daily more and more 
 a clog in the way of the masters, and the hand loom, 
 with its necessary companion, utter poverty, is alone 
 open to them. The attempts made by the Poor Law 
 Commissioners to encourage the depressed agriculturists 
 to emigrate into the manufacturing districts, is at once 
 strange and unaccountable, and can only serve to derange 
 the present trembling balance which connects the human 
 labourer to many mill processes, and to lower the value 
 of labour generally, at a crisis when such a process will 
 be dangerous to the prospects of that vast branch of 
 industry dependent upon manufactures. 
 
 The Factories Regulation Act, then, is absurd in its 
 details, complicated in its machinery, and worse than 
 useless for the purposes aimed at. It is not founded on 
 the reports of the commissioners appointed expressly 
 for procuring information on which government might 
 proceed, having been passed, to crown the absurdity of 
 the entire proceedings, seven months before the returns 
 were completed. 
 
 "* — The only measures which can be brought to bear 
 beneficially upon the labour of infants, and upon the 
 general welfare of the operatives, would be the establish- 
 ment of a well-organized system of national education, 
 
 * having schools for very young children, and a prohibition 
 to the employment of children under twelve years of 
 age. This is early enough for regular labour to be 
 
I 
 
 FEMALE LABOUR. 173 
 
 undertaken ; and if the child has befen properly attended 
 to, morally and physically, the subsequent attendance 
 at a Sunday school will furnisji all the information it 
 requires. 
 
 At this age, the labour imposed upon it in a modern 
 and well-regulated factory will be innocuous, although 
 not favourable to a full development of its physical powers, 
 nor to a condition of high and robust health. After this 
 period, if it is to work in the mill at all, it must become 
 an integral part of the machinery of that mill, and as 
 such must be subjected to the general economy regu- ' 
 lating the whole. No interference can avail it, and j 
 should never be attempted. It is the steam engine that ! 
 should be legislated for, and not the child who is its * 
 passive minister. 
 
 Another point which connects itself very naturally 
 with infant labour, is female labour. The causes which 
 have led to the substitution of female 'for male workers 
 have been already explained. 
 
 The extent to which this substitution has been already 
 carried is extraordinary. Thus there are, in the — 
 
 Male. Female, 
 Cotton factories in Lancashire and Cheshire . . 100 to 103 
 
 Cotton factories in Scotland 100 to 209 
 
 Flax factories in Leeds 100 to 147 
 
 Flax factories in Dundee and East Coast oH 
 
 •} 
 
 On this Table, Dr. Ure remarks, in his Appendix, 
 ** that factory females have in general much lower wages 
 than males, and they have been pitied on this account with 
 perhaps an injudicious sympathy, since the low price of 
 their labour here tends to make household duties theii*' 
 most profitable as well as agreeable occupation, and 
 prevents them from being tempted by the mill to abandon 
 
174 FEMALE LABOUR. 
 
 the care of their offspring at home. Thus Providence 
 effects its purposes with a wisdom and efficacy which 
 should repress the short-sighted presumption of human 
 devices." 
 
 , It would be well if this statement expressed the actual 
 condition of the factory women, and if the partial disap- 
 pearance of the sex, noticed when they reach their 
 ' twenty-fifth or twenty-sixth year, could be accounted for 
 so satisfactorily. It is true that at this age many are 
 married, but it is not true that they devote themselves 
 to domestic duties. They quit the factories, not volun- 
 tarily, but because accouchemens and other causes unfit 
 them for the unvarying attendance required by the 
 system of factory labour. They are compelled to have 
 recourse to fustian cutting, hand-loom weaving, or some 
 other less unbroken labour, when no longer engaged in 
 mills. 
 
 If, as Dr. Ure states, and he states the truth, that the 
 dismissal of a child from the mill necessarily sends it 
 out a beggar or a thief, when its wages were certainly not 
 more than 2s, 6d, per week, what is to become of a 
 family, in which the earning of a wife, the most important 
 item of their means of support, is cut off? The excess 
 of female over male factory labourers, shows clearly 
 enough, that providing they were unmarried, as Dr. Ure 
 hints, they could not marry factory men, and therefore 
 could not enjoy the advantages so glowingly painted as 
 attending on factory earnings ; besides, the liberally 
 paid male operatives form a very small proportion of the 
 whole. 
 
 No ; factory women generally marry some one who 
 has been a factory labourer, but who has been driven 
 from this branch of industry because he grew to be a 
 man, and who has since either sunk down into a hand- 
 
FEMALE LABOUR. 175 
 
 weaver, or been compelled to seek some other and 
 more precarious trade. Hence, for the first few years 
 after marriage, for they marry early, in order that 
 children may result, they do labour in the mills univer- I 
 sally, and it is not till circumstances interfere with the 
 regularity of their attendance that they quit them. 
 
 In cases where they marry young men whilst engaged 
 in the mills, both husband and wife continue their occu-\ 
 pation as long as it is possible ; but unless the husband 
 be engaged in the higher departments of mill-labour, 
 he is displaced to make room for his child, or for a 
 junior hand, whose wages are about one- tenth those of 
 the skilled adult labourer, or of the labour of those 
 hands who, by strict union, have hitherto compelled the 
 master to pay high prices — namely, the spinners, 
 dressers, &c. &c. 
 
 Dr. Jarrold, an old medical practitioner in Manches- 
 ter, says of women — " Brought up to factories, that they 
 can have no domestic habits, and are consequently in- 
 attentive to cleanliness. That they make wretched 
 wives." We have already said the same thing, and it is 
 too notorious to admit of question.* 
 
 * " The children run wild in the streets, their parents being- 
 often engaged in labour." — Moral and Physical Condition of the 
 Working Classes » p. 70. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PHYSICAL CONDITION. 
 
 Connexion of Food and Clothing with Civilisation and bodily Ap- 
 pearance — Influence of Caste, &c. upon persjonal Appearance 
 — Negroes — CafFres — Bushmen — Bodily Inferiority ever atten- 
 dant upon barbarous Habits — Personal Appearance of theDomes- 
 tic Manufacturer — Inferiority of personal appearance in the 
 Factory Labourer — " Lancashire Witches" — Female Form, its 
 Imperfections — The Pelvis — The Mammae — Changes in these 
 — Influence of Woman upon Man's Character — Importance of 
 Woman retaining her Social Rank — Circumstances connected 
 with her becoming a Mother — Approximation to Barbarism — 
 Physical Declension : its probable extent — Physical Changes in 
 the Families of the Masters, &c. 
 
 u < With, civilisation and barbarism, food and cloth- 
 ing appear intimately connected. We should before- 
 hand be induced to imagine that the most excellent 
 development of every animated species would be effected, 
 where all its wants were supplied, its powers all duly 
 called forth, and all injurious and unpleasant circum- 
 stances least prevalent, and vice versa. But experience 
 teaches us that no change can by any means be brought 
 about in an individual, and transmitted to his offspring. 
 The causes of change in a species must therefore ope- 
 rate, not by altering the parents, but by disposing them 
 to produce an oflfspring more or less diflferent from them- 
 
PHYSICAL CONDITION. 177 
 
 selves.' Such is Mr. Hunter's view of the question, 
 and it is certainly confirmed by every fact. Uncivilized 
 nations, exposed to the inclemency of the weather, sup- 
 ported by precarious and frequently unwholesome food, 
 and having none of the distinguishing energies of their 
 nature called forth, are almost invariably dark coloured 
 and ugly, while those who enjoy the blessings of civili- 
 sation, that is, good food and covering, with mental cul- 
 tivation and enjoyment, acquire, in the same proportion, 
 the Caucasian characteristics." 
 
 *' * The different effects of the different degrees of 
 civilisation,' says Dr. Smith, * are most conspicuous in 
 those countries in which the laws have made the most 
 complete and permanent divisions of rank. An immense 
 difference exists between the nobility and peasantry of 
 France, Spain, Italy, and Germany. It is still more con- 
 spicuous in eastern countries, where a wide difference 
 exists between the highest and lowest ranks of society. 
 The naires, or nobles, of Calicut, in the East Indies, 
 have, with the usual ignorance and precipitancy of 
 travellers, been pronounced a different race from the 
 populace, because the former, elevated by their rank, 
 and devoted only to martial studies and achievements, 
 are distinguished by that manly beauty and elevated 
 stature, so frequently found with the profession of arms, 
 especially when united with nobility of descent : the 
 latter, poor and laborious, and exposed to hardships, 
 without the spirit or the hope to better their condition, 
 are much more deformed and diminutive in their per- 
 sons, and in their complexion much more black.' * In 
 France,' says Buffon, * you may distinguish by their 
 aspect, not only the nobility from the peasantry, but the 
 superior orders of the nobility from the inferior, these 
 
 N 
 
178 PHYSICAL CONDITION. 
 
 from citizens, and those from the peasants.' " The 
 field slaves in America,* says Dr. Smith, * are badly 
 clothed, fed, and lodged, and live in small tents on the 
 plantations, remote from the example and society of 
 their superiors. Living by themselves, they retain 
 many of the customs and manners of their ancestors. 
 The domestic servants, on the other hand, who are kept 
 near the person, or employed in the family of their 
 masters, are treated with great lenity : their work is 
 light, they are fed and clothed like their superiors, they 
 see their manners, adopt their habits, and insensibly 
 receive the same ideas of elegance and beauty. The 
 field slave is in consequence slow in changing the aspect 
 and figure of Africa. The domestic servants have 
 advanced far before him in acquiring the agreeable and 
 regular features of civilized society. The former are 
 frequently ill shaped — they preserve, in a great degree, 
 the African lip, and nose, and hair — their genius is dull, 
 and their countenance sleepy and stupid : the latter are 
 straight and well proportioned, their hair extended 
 to three, four, and sometimes even to six or eight 
 inches ; the size and shape of their mouth handsome, 
 their features regular, their capacity good, and their 
 looks animated.'" 
 
 " 'The South-Sea islanders, who appear to be all of 
 one family, vary according to the degree of their culti- 
 vation. The people of Otaheite and the Society Islands 
 are the most civilized and the most beautiful. The 
 same superiority,' says Captain King, * which is ob- 
 servable in the eeces, or nobles, throughout the other 
 islands, is found also here. Those whom we saw were 
 without exception well formed, whereas the lower sort, 
 besides their general inferiority, are subject to all the 
 
PHYSICAL CONDITION. 179 
 
 variety of make and figure that is seen in the populace 
 of other countries.' "* 
 
 Food and clothing, then, are intimately connected with 
 civilisation, and civilisation is intimately connected with 
 personal appearance. The half-starved and ill-clothed 
 negro, snatched from maritime provinces, utterly bar- 
 barous in his habits, and exchanging only one sort of 
 slavery for another, has long since stamped the notion 
 of ugliness upon all the coloured races of men. Bruce, 
 Denham, Clapperton, Lander, and other travellers in 
 the interior of Africa, give assurances that there are 
 numerous tribes, and portions of tribes, possessing, in 
 an eminent degree, bodily excellence, and exhibiting in 
 their persons but few traces of the negro lip or nose, his 
 monkey calf, or pointed shin-bone. Neither can' these 
 assertions be doubted, when it is remembered that they 
 are described as having made some progress in the arts 
 of life, and are distinguished into classes or castes. The 
 Dahoman and Ashantee Caboceers, according to Bow- 
 ditch and Norris, are in many points widely dissimilar 
 from the inferior natives, — their personal appearance 
 improving as they recede from the houseless and preca- 
 rious condition of the rude African tribes. 
 
 The pastoral CafFres of Southern Africa Mr. Barrow 
 describes as a remarkably well-built and handsome race 
 of men ; they have made some advances in civilisation, 
 and present as perfect a picture of patriarchal existence 
 as can well be imagined.-f In all these respects they 
 
 ♦ Elliotson — Blumenbach's Physiology. 
 
 f " From the fertiUty of their soil, the abundance of their 
 rivulets, and the pleasant situation of their craals, may probably 
 arise that settled and contented turn of mind which in time of 
 peace so remarkably distinguishes the Caffre. To him a neat 
 little dwelling, solidly constructed in the centre of a corn-field, 
 N 2 
 
180 PHYSICAL CONDITION. 
 
 offer a striking contrast to the Bosjesman, or Bushmen, 
 who appear at some not very remote period to have 
 derived their origin from the same source. The com- 
 bined evidence of Barrow, Lichstenstein, Vaillant, 
 Campbell, and Burchell, prove that the Bushmen are as 
 ugly a race as any under the sun ; leading a wandering 
 life ; frequently half-starved ; then indulging ravenously, 
 and to a most enormous extent, in eating — rivalling 
 even the Esquimaux as to quantity ; almost naked ; 
 and hunted by the colonists and their dependents. Their 
 bodily form is but an index of their barbarism. There 
 is, however, no reason to doubt but that if their wander- 
 ing and predatory habits should, in course of time, yield 
 to a more settled mode of life, it would be followed by a 
 great improvement in their physical conformation. 
 
 Thus, then, it seems evident that barbarous habits, 
 occasional want of food, bad clothing, one and all, pro- 
 duce bodily inferiority. The records of all nations 
 prove this, where an absolute division into castes is in 
 force ; by nations still termed savage, yet having 
 amongst them a superior and inferior order, whether of 
 governors, priests, or warriors ; by slaves imported, 
 presenting no apparent social or bodily disparity, yet, in 
 a few years, or in one or two generations, undergoing 
 very decided modifications, when favourably placed for 
 that purpose ; by tribes inhabiting similar districts, and 
 obviously tracing their origin to similar sources — the 
 one becoming cultivators and men of settled habits, and 
 quickly losing their coarseness of bodily form ; the 
 
 that was once cultivated by his ancestors, is sufficient to claim the 
 agreeable appellation of his country. The CafFres must certainly 
 be acknowledged a more civilized people — their industry is more 
 perceptible, and their acquaintance with some of the necessary 
 arts of life greatly superior."— Ze Vaillant. 
 
PHYSICAL CONDITION, 181 
 
 Other leading a doubtful and precarious existence, de- 
 pending for support upon the uncertain products of the 
 chase or plunder, and retaining all their aboriginal 
 ugliness and peculiarities. 
 
 If it were necessary to bring forward as proofs other 
 quotations from the historians of mankind, to substan- 
 tiate the position, that the mill artisans, in con- 
 sequence of their mode of life, must exhibit great 
 inferiority in figure and personal proportion, they might 
 be readily found. Wherever men are condemned to 
 toil — wherever wide distinction of caste separates them 
 from their superiors — wherever their manners and do- 
 mestic habits are coarse and improvident — their bodies 
 uniformly become stunted, ill-shaped, wanting elegance 
 of contour, and that development and arrangement of 
 parts constituting beauty. The universality of this 
 truth needs no confirmation or illustration to those who 
 have read or inquired into the subject, or whose obser- 
 vation has been exercised upon a comparison of bodily 
 forms, infinitely varied as they are, in common society. 
 
 The population engaged in mill-manufactures, since 
 the application of the steam engine has so assimilated and 
 simplified their condition, ofiers an admirable field for 
 examining how far external causes, aided by morals, 
 can modify the physical proportions of man, and how 
 far this modification is likely to influence the off*spring 
 of parents thus changed, providing the same causes 
 continue to operate through several successive genera- 
 tions. 
 
 The personal appearance of the domestic manufacturer 
 is still well remembered by those whose memories carry 
 them back to the days of quoit and cricket-playing — 
 wakes— May-day revels — Christmas firesides, and a host 
 of other memorabilia, now ranked but as things that 
 
182 PHYSICAL CONDITION. 
 
 were ! Some faint traces of these by-gone times are 
 still discoverable in the remoter rural districts : they are, 
 however, only the " disjecta membra" of a large divi- 
 sion of the community. 
 
 He was a robust and well-made man, reaching the 
 average altitude of his race; clean-limbed, and with an 
 arched instep ; ruddy complexioned : his general con- 
 tour rounded from the deposition of adipose matter, and 
 from muscular development, possessing considerable 
 physical power, and delighting in athletic sports. Xot 
 called into active and permanent labour till his frame 
 was to some extent set, and his bony system perfected, 
 he ran no danger of any shrinking or yielding in these 
 parts; neither were his animal passions pushed into 
 premature activity by high atmospheric temperature, 
 aided in its exciting operation by vicious example at 
 home and abroad. His offspring were, like himself, a 
 chubby and rosy-faced set of urchins — healthy from their 
 birth upward ; tended by affectionate mothers, whose 
 domestic occupations never interfered with their maternal 
 duties. Permitted to range at will in the free and 
 balmy air of heaven, their young minds inhaled a love 
 of nature with their daily and hourly growth, while their 
 social affections w^ere fostered and directed under the 
 eye and admonition of their parents. 
 
 The same ruddy and healthy appearance marked the 
 whole household of the domestic manufacturer, as, at 
 the present day, characterise the rural population of other 
 countries enjoying moderate prosperity ; they were, in 
 fact, a strictly rural people, partly indeed engaged in the 
 various processes of manufacture, but partly also in 
 cultivating the soil as small farmers, either in their own 
 right, or as leaseholders or yearly tenants of farms, 
 averaging in extent from four to eight acres. 
 
PHYSICAL CONDITION. 183 
 
 Their manners were, no doubt, coarse and rude, but 
 their habits were a thousand times more moral and 
 civilized than those of their descendants. This was 
 owing very materially to their intercourse with their 
 superiors, and by their living in immediate contact with 
 them. They derived, in consequence, essential advan- 
 tages from their example, which kept up a spirit of 
 private and public decorum, quite at variance with open 
 and avowed vice and profligacy. Hence their persons 
 exhibited no traces of debilitating excesses ; their nerves 
 were well strung ; their step elastic, and their feeling of 
 existence buoyant and joyous. Their days were passed 
 in sport or labour, as their necessities demanded, and 
 their nights in deep and profound sleep, the result of 
 active physical exertion. 
 
 The deterioration in personal appearance which has 
 been brought about in the manufacturing population,* 
 during the last thirty years, a period not extending over 
 one generation, is singularly impressive, and fills the 
 mind with contemplations of a very painful character. 
 If hardship — if low wages — if an impossibility of ac- 
 quiring the means to secure the necessaries of life, or 
 of clothing fit for protection against the influences of a 
 variable climate ; if one or all of these causes had been 
 in operation, their effects might have been anticipated. 
 But nothing of this sort has been in operation. On the 
 contrary, with the exception of one particular class 
 (hand-loom weavers) wages have been and are good, 
 and more than amply sufficient to supply all that is 
 wanted even for liberal support. 
 
 Any man who has stood at twelve o'clock at the 
 
 * The fact of this deterioration having occurred is familiar to the 
 most partial observer. The opinion of the operatives themselves 
 (worthless as it is) may be seen in Mr. Cowell's Report. ^ 
 
184 PHYSICAL CONDITION. 
 
 single narrow doorway, which serves as the place of 
 exit for the hands employed in the great town mills, 
 must have been struck with their appearance. Their 
 complexion sallow and pallid,* with a peculiar flatness 
 of feature, caused by the want of a proper quantity of 
 adipose substance to cushion out the cheeks. Their 
 stature low ; the average height of four hundred men, 
 measured at different times, and different places, being 
 five feet six inches. Their limbs slender, and playing 
 badly and ungracefully. A frequent bowing of the legs. 
 Great numbers of girls and women walking awkwardly. 
 Many have flat feet, accompanied with a down-tread, 
 differing very widely from the elasticity of action in the 
 foot and ancle attendant upon perfect formation. Hair 
 thin and straight ; ma«y of the men having but little 
 beard, a sprawling and wide action of the legs, and an ap- 
 pearance, taken as a whole, giving the world but " little 
 assurance of a man," or if so, ** most sadly cheated of 
 his fair proportions." Beauty of face and form are 
 both lost in angularity, while the flesh is soft and flabby 
 to the touch, yielding no " living rebound" beneath 
 the finger. The hurry of this juncture brings out very 
 strongly all their manifold imperfections. 
 
 *' It is," says Dr. Ure, *' perfectly true that the Man- 
 chester people have a pallid appearance, but this, for 
 two reasons, is certainly not attributable to factory 
 labour ; first, because those who do not work in fac- 
 tories are equally pallid and unhealthy-looking with 
 those that do ; and the Sick Society returns show that 
 the physical condition of the latter is not inferior. 
 
 * Dr. Hawkins was greatly struck by the pale and delicate 
 appearance of factory operatives ; that of the hand-loom weavers 
 is perhaps equally striking, poverty and starvation having weighed 
 heavily upon them. 
 
PHYSICAL CONDITION. 185 
 
 Secondly, because the health of those engaged in country 
 cotton-factories, which generally work more hours than 
 town ones, are not injured even in appearance. Many 
 a blooming, cheerful countenance may be seen in 
 Mr. Ashton's mill at Hyde. The apprentices in Mr. 
 Greg's mill at Quarry Bank, near Welinslow, are equally 
 well-looking."* 
 
 There are several errors in this statement, one of 
 which is that the non- factory labourers are as pale 
 and unhealthy-looking as the factory labourers; on 
 the contrary, the out-door artisans of Manchester 
 and its vicinity are a fresh-looking, healthy set of 
 men, when of sober habits. It is in vain to refer the 
 reader to Mr. Ashton or Mr. Greg's mills as examples 
 of the excellence of factory labour ; or rather the refe- 
 rence shows, joined to the admission of the squalid 
 appearance of the mill-workers in general, how strong 
 an impression the contrast produced upon Dr. Ure*s 
 mind. In the chapter devoted to the Health of the 
 Mill Artisans will be found some further observations 
 on this subject. 
 
 The opinion of Mr. Thackrah, of Leeds, a man accus- 
 tomed to compare and estimate the appearances of 
 operatives, is worth the report of a hundred casual 
 visitors. " I stood in Oxford Road, Manchester, and 
 observed the stream of operatives, as they left the mills 
 at twelve o'clock. The children were almost universally 
 ill-looking, small, sickly, barefoot, and ill-clad. Many 
 appeared to be no older than seven. The men generally 
 from sixteen to twenty-four, and none aged, were almost 
 as pallid and thin as the children. The women were 
 the most respectable in appearance ; but I saw no fresh, 
 
 * Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 399. 
 
186 PHYSICAL CONDITION. 
 
 fine-looking individuals amongst them. * * * * Here I 
 saw, or I thought I saw, a degenerate race — human 
 beings stunted, enfeebled, and depraved."* 
 
 Mr. Thackrah remarks that this was a "mournful 
 spectacle." It may be witnessed every day at twelve 
 o'clock, near any of the outlets of the large factories in 
 Manchester. The conclusions of the Factory Commis- 
 sioners and Factory Inspectors are based upon what 
 mill -labour and mill-operatives may possibly become — 
 not upon what they are, nor upon what they have 
 been. 
 
 Lancashire has long been celebrated for the beauty of 
 its women ; ** the Lancashire witches " being a stand- 
 ing toast in all private and public convivialities. In the 
 higher and middle classes of society there are certainly 
 to be found many exquisite specimens of female loveli- 
 ness — many exceedingly graceful and feminine beings. 
 But these must not be sought for amongst the preco- 
 ciously-developed girls herding in town factories. Here, on 
 the contrary, will be found an absence of grace and femi- 
 nine manners — a peculiar roughness of voice — a pecu- 
 liarity owing to various causes, a principal one of which 
 is, too early sexual excitement, producing a state of 
 vocal organs closely resembling that of the male. Here 
 is no delicacy of figure, no elegance of tournure, and no 
 retiring bashfulness ; but in their place an awkward and 
 ungainly figure — limbs often badly moulded from imper- 
 fect nutrition — a bony frame-work, in some points 
 widely divergent from the line of womanly beauty — a 
 beauty founded upon utility — and a general aspect of 
 coarseness and a vulgarity of expression quite opposed 
 
 ► On the Effects of Arts, Trades, &c. on Heahhand Longevity, 
 147. 
 
PHYSICAL CONDITION. 187 
 
 to all ideas of excellences in the moral and physical 
 attributes of the sex. 
 
 Sir David Barry, in the Second Factory Commission 
 Report, has given some highly-coloured details, drawn 
 from inspecting a number of girls in the New Lanark 
 Mills. He says, " A most extraordinary degree of 
 attention is devoted in the New Lanark Mills to the 
 education of the children of the workers, candidates for 
 admission to employment in the mills. They are taught 
 reading, writing, wath the elements of geography, music, 
 dancing, natural history, &c. in fine spacious rooms. I 
 witnessed considerable proficiency in some of these 
 branches, and saw eight young persons, from ten to 
 thirteen, dance a quadrille in the very best style, under 
 their dancing master. Employment in the mill is looked 
 forward to by their children with much ambition as the 
 reward of diligence in their studies. It is quite clear 
 that Mr. Walker, the managing resident partner, devotes 
 the kindest attention to his people — he is beloved by 
 them all." * 
 
 Children thus nurtured have nothing to fear from 
 factory labour; but they are nurtured so only in 
 a few detached mills, superintended by men like 
 Mr. Walker, who is deservedly beloved by his people. 
 In these instances Sir David found many perfectly 
 formed women, at which he candidly expresses his 
 surprise, not being able to believe but that the frame 
 must have suffered. It will never suffer in instances 
 like the above-mentioned. The only remarkable part 
 of Sir David's observations is, where he says, " There 
 is one thing I feel convinced of from observation, that 
 young persons, especially females, who have begun mill- 
 work, at from ten to twelve, independently of their 
 * Second Factory Commission Report, p. 53, A. 3, 
 
188 PHYSICAL CONDITION. 
 
 becoming much more expert artists, preserve their 
 health better, and possess sounder feet and legs at 
 twenty-five than those who have commenced from thir- 
 teen to sixteen and upwards." * This is singular even 
 on physiological grounds, and quite opposed to existing 
 realities in the mass of labourers. Such details as are 
 here given by Sir David do not bear upon the general 
 factory system ; they are bright spots in it, indeed, but 
 at present nothing more. 
 
 There is something in the female figure strongly indi- 
 cative of its aptitude for the performance of certain 
 functions peculiar to her sex. Child-bearing is one of 
 these, and the nourishment she is subsequently destined 
 to afford her offspring, another. The gait of women who 
 labour under any alteration in the axis of thigh-bone is 
 singular — a sort of waddle, an alternate side-long pro- 
 gression. This alteration is brought about by any 
 change in the direction or bearing of its socket, which is 
 seated in the pelvis — or by changes operated upon the 
 thigh-bone itself— or by changes in the direction of the 
 action of certain great muscles which have their origin 
 on the spine, pelvis, or adjacent parts, — all of which are 
 liable to be influenced more or less by the circum- 
 stances in which she spends her infant years, and by 
 that derangement in the primae vise, and their effects, 
 which her occupation and habits expose her to.-j" This 
 gait may be detected in great numbers of factory girls 
 and women, and is exceedingly ungraceful — ^ungraceful 
 
 * Second Factory Commission Report, p. 4. 
 
 f Instances of positive deformity are not very common now in 
 mill workers. Formerly many were absolutely crippled. Mr. 
 Tufnel's admirable Report, as well as tbat of Mr. Cowell, contains 
 the evidence given before the Factory Commissioners on this head. 
 It is, as in other, quite contradictory. 
 
PHYSICAL CONDITION. 189 
 
 in itself, and still more so in its impression upon the 
 mind, by the evidence it gives of certain alterations in 
 form peculiarly unsexual. 
 
 The condition of those organs from which the child 
 is to derive its first aliment is not less strikingly 
 illustrative of their habits. Very early in life, from 
 ten to fourteen years, the breasts are often found 
 large and firm, and highly sensitive, vsrhilst at a 
 later period — at a period indeed v^rhen they should 
 show the greatest activity and vital energy — when in 
 fact they have children to support from them, they are 
 soft, flaccid, pendulous, and very unirritable — both 
 states giving the most decisive proofs of perversion in 
 the usual functional adaptation of parts. That the 
 physical energies of the factory women are injured 
 is proved by the fact, that miscarriages are exceedingly 
 common amongst them. We have had many oppor- 
 tunities of noting this circumstance both in girls engaged 
 in silk and cotton mills. Parturition is not particularly 
 difficult, but they are liable to copious discharges. 
 Young women not urifrequently re-enter the mill within 
 ten days after confinement. 
 
 The moral influence of woman upon man's character 
 and domestic happiness, is mainly attributable to her 
 natural and instinctive habits. Her love, her tenderness, 
 her affectionate solicitude for his comfort and enjoyment, 
 her devotedness, her unwearying care, her maternal 
 fondnesses, her conjugal attractions, exercise a most en- 
 nobling impression upon his nature, and do more 
 towards making him a good husband, a good father, and 
 a useful citizen, than all the dogmas of political eco- 
 nomy. But the factory woman cannot have this benefi- 
 cial agency upon man's character. Her instincts, from 
 their earliest birth, have been thwarted and pushed aside 
 
190 PHYSICAL CONDITION. ' 
 
 from their proper channels ; they have had no field in 
 which they could be cultivated, no home where their 
 abeiTations might have been checked, no legitimate 
 object on which her love could be lavished ; on the 
 reverse, — her passions have been prematurely de- 
 veloped, her physical organization stimulated into 
 precocious activity, her social affections injured, whilst 
 her ocpupation has destroyed her home sympathies and 
 maternal affections. 
 
 Under these circumstances, woman is reduced to pre- 
 cisely the same grade in the social rank which she holds 
 * in half civilized countries. She is no longer the com- 
 panion of man, in the proper meaning of the term ; but 
 is a mere instrument of labour, and a creature for satis- 
 fying his grosser appetites. It is true, her condition 
 differs in some respects from that of her sex in countries 
 * which are called savage ; she is not the slave, though 
 she is no longer the companion of man ; neither is she 
 the subordinate being whose interests are esteemed so 
 secondary as to be totally unregarded ; — bat, as far as 
 concerns the better portion of her attributes, she is upon 
 . the same degraded level. 
 
 Nothing would tend more to elevate the moral 
 I condition of the mill artisans, than the restoration of 
 I woman to her proper social rank ; nothing would 
 f exercise greater influence upon the form and growth of 
 her offspring, than her devotion to those womanly occu- 
 pations which would render her a denizen of home. 
 No great step can be made till she is snatched from 
 unremitting toil, and made what Nature meant she 
 should be — the centre of a system of social delights. 
 Domestic avocations are those which are her peculiar 
 lot. 
 
 The poor man who suffers his wife to work, separated 
 
PHYSICAL CONDITION. 191 
 
 from him and from home, is a bad calculator. It. 
 destroys domestic economy, without which no earnings \ 
 are sufficient to render him comfortable; it produces ' 
 separate interests and separate sets of feelings — they lose 
 their mutual dependence upon each other — their oiFspring 
 is suffered to starve or perish* — to become, even as a 
 child, the imitator of their bad example — to have its 
 frame permanently injured — to acquire bodily conditions 
 which it must, in its turn, transmit to its own children, 
 for, by their being thus early implanted, they become 
 part and parcel of its very nature. 
 
 Another circumstance, which shows very decidedly 
 the extent of moral and social degradation in the female 
 sex among this population is this— that upwards of two- 
 thirds of all the children born to this class in Manchester 
 are brought into the world by the aid of public charity ; 
 that decent and proper pride, which should lead women 
 to prepare for an event so interesting to her as a mother, 
 is abolished ; and, like the Indian squaw, she pursues her 
 labour almost till the hour of her delivery, to abandon 
 her tender and delicate infant, after the interval of a few 
 days, to other and hireling hands, again to pursue her 
 usual routine of work.f 
 
 * Mr. Roberton, a very competent authority, a surgeon in 
 Manchester, stated to Dr; Hawkins, that but of every one hundred 
 children born in that town, fifty-four died under five years. This 
 is about 20 per cent, above the average. — Factory Commission Re- 
 port. 
 
 f '* The number of married women deUvered annually by the 
 Manchester Lying-in Charity, on the average of the last two years, 
 is upwards of four thousand three hundred. Now it is well known 
 to those conversant with statistics,* that the number of baptisms 
 occurring annually in England is in the proportion of one baptism 
 to thirty-four inhabitants nearly. This is about the average for 
 th<* kin^'dom. But the births are somewhat more numerous than 
 
192 PHYSICAL CONDITION. 
 
 The mean appearance already acquired by the 
 inferior order of manufacturers — even though one 
 generation has scarcely passed away since the processes 
 in which it is engaged have been so essentially changed, 
 by the application of steam — is not the less remarkable 
 for its own sake, than as it arouses examination into the 
 probable alterations their descendants must undergo, 
 placed, as they inevitably must be, as still more abject 
 and passive slaves beneath machinery. 
 
 Physiological inquiries will serve to develop these 
 
 the baptisms, because some children are still-born, and others die 
 before they are baptized, and some are christened who are not 
 entered into the public registers. When we have made allowances 
 for these incidental circumstances, the annual rate of births in 
 Manchester may be stated to be, at the very highest, as one to 
 twenty-eight of the existing number of inhabitants — perhaps one 
 to thirty would be nearer the truth. 
 
 " The application of this, with the view of showing what pro- 
 portion of the inhabitants produce the number of births, attended 
 annually by the Lying-in Charity, is a sufficiently simple process. 
 Taking it for granted that the four thousand three hundred births 
 before-mentioned as the average annual nuqj^ber that may be anti- 
 cipated regularly to occur (and I am sorry to say that there is no 
 prospect of the number decreasing),* it follows that since the pro- 
 duction of one birth annually requires twenty-eight inhabitants, 
 the production of four thousand three hundred births will require 
 one hundred and twenty-four thousand four hundred inhabitants ; 
 in other words, if we take the population of Manchester at two 
 hundred and twenty-seven thousand, we have thus considerably 
 more than half of the whole, who are in so destitute a condition, 
 or, if you will, so degraded, as to have their offspring brought into 
 the world by the aid of a public charity." — Roberton on the Healthy 
 ^c, p. 22. 
 
 * Mr. Roberton's anticipations have proved correct enough, 
 the present number of women delivered by the charity being very 
 near 5000. 
 
PHYSICAL CONDITION. 193 
 
 changes to some extent ; facts of observation are like- 
 wise in abundance,* and both prove, that a body worn 
 down and debilitated, although the generative faculty- 
 may be uninjured as to intensity in either sex, cannot 
 give the necessary pabulum for the production of a vigo- 
 rous offspring, endowed with active vitality. Bodily 
 deformity, bodily defect, or ugliness, may not, nay, in $ 
 genera], will not be transmitted ; but an universal | 
 weakness and want of tone in all the organs, a disposi- 1 
 tion little able to resist disease, sufficiently prove, that 
 although the child has not inherited the peculiar failings 
 of its parents, yet it has, as an heir-loom, their weak- 
 ened constitution, attended with all its liabilities to 
 physical inferiority. That parents so circumstanced 
 may occasionally produce fine and robust offspring, 
 goes for nothing ; the mass must be depraved and 
 deteriorated, and how far this may extend no human 
 sagacity can foretel. 
 
 Nature may, indeed, raise up some countervailing 
 influence ; her powers of modification and adaptation are 
 extraordinary, and their extent unknown ; but neither 
 the extent nor effect of this can be predicated. Judging 
 from those things upon which judgment should alone be 
 formed, namely, an accurate examination into the existing 
 state of things, and the causes which have led to that 
 state, and proceeding upon the belief that similar causes 
 must be attended with similar results, it may be asserted 
 — that a race, possessing little muscular strength, and 
 fitted as labourers only to act in subservience to a more 
 
 * The lines of Horace are founded upon nature and her work- 
 ings— 
 
 " Fortes creantur, fortibus et bonis ; 
 Est in juvencis, est in equis patrum 
 Virtus.*' 
 
194 PHYSICAL CONDITION. 
 
 powerful agent, will be the product of the present mode of 
 manufacture.* Steam, which has been the principal 
 instrument in rendering human force and skilled labour -j" 
 valueless, will, in time, be the means of generating a set 
 of helpers, peculiarly its children, and doomed to depend 
 entirely upon it for support. 
 
 The want of sympathy and proper intercourse between 
 the master manufacturer and those employed by him 
 is one very powerful cause which tends to keep down 
 their moral habits and their physical condition. Living, 
 as the majority of the operatives do, in the midst of 
 large towns, and incessantly occupied, they see nothing 
 around them but beings like themselves. There is no 
 middle class to which they can look for countenance 
 and example. The family of their employer they either 
 detest, and studiously avoid imitating its manners, how- 
 ever humbly or remotely, or they see so little of it, and 
 are treated so coldly and harshly by it, that they nurse 
 their own grossness in direct and avowed opposition 
 to it. 
 
 The force of external circumstances in modifying 
 bodily form, is seen acting forcibly in another and 
 more pleasing point of view in the manufacturing 
 districts. Many of the masters have raised themselves 
 from the very humblest rank of labourers — in many 
 instances after a family had been born to them in humi- 
 lity. These individuals with their families, at this period, 
 of course possessed all the traits distinguishing their 
 
 * The difference of weight between boys engaged in factories, 
 and those not engaged in factories, was found by Mr. Cowell, after 
 an extensive series of examinations, to be 3 lb. on the average. — 
 Report, p. 87. 
 
 t ?'ide chapter on the Influence of Machinery on the Value of 
 Human Labour. 
 
PHYSICAL CONDITION. 195 
 
 grade, both moral and physical. Change of condition, 
 better food, better clothing, better housing, constant 
 cleanliness, mental cultivation, the forc:5 of example in 
 the higher order of society ia which they are now placed, 
 have gradually converted them into respectable, and even 
 handsome families. The first remove places them still 
 more favourably, and, ceteris paribus, they become ele- 
 gant and intelligent females, and well-formed and robust 
 men. They now resemble but slightly, in their general 
 aspect and deportment, the class from which they have 
 risen. 
 
 It has been said by Mr. Thackrah, in the work already 
 quoted, that, " on conversing with a mill-owner, he urged 
 the bad habits of the Manchester poor, and the wretched- 
 ness of their habitations, as a greater cause of debility and 
 ill health than confinement in factories ; and from him, 
 as well as from other sources of information, it appears 
 that the labouring classes in that town are more dissi- 
 pated, worse fed, housed, and clothed, than those of the 
 Yorkshire towns. Still, however, I feel convinced that, 
 independently of moral and domestic vices, the long 
 confinement in mills, the want of rest, the shameful 
 reduction of the intervals for meals, and especially the 
 premature working of children, greatly reduce health 
 and vigour, and account for the wretched appearance of 
 the operative." Some observations on this subject have 
 already been made in the chapter devoted to Infant 
 Labour. 
 
 o 2 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 HEALTH RATE OF MORTALITY. 
 
 Opinions as to Health, &c. — Rate of Mortality — Mill Em- 
 ployment, its Extent — Artisans, their Increase compared 
 with that of Agriculturists — Improved Value of Life de- 
 pendent upon a low State of Health — Change, &c. in the 
 Habits of the People — Definition of Health — Mortality and 
 Health among Savages — Mortality and Health in Agricultural 
 Districts— Health in Manufacturing Towns — Low condition of 
 Vital Energy — Causes of this — Diseases, their Peculiarities — 
 Almost universally Chronic, and compatible with long Life — 
 Table — Number of Patients annually relieved in Manchester 
 — Medical Men — Comparison with other large Towns — Diffi- 
 culty as to Registration in Manufacturing Districts —Rate of 
 Mortality in Agricultural and Manufacturing Counties — General 
 Opinion — Dissenters, Proportion of, in Towns and Rural 
 Districts — Causes of apparent Disparity in the Rates of Morta- 
 lity placed much too high in Towns — This explained — Immi- 
 grations, their Effects — Mortality, its Extent — Crowding 
 of Men into Towns — Influence upon Health — Mean Rate of 
 Mortality in Manchester — General Summary. 
 
 The health and physical condition of the mill artisans 
 are dependent in a great degree upon the perversion of 
 their moral and social hahits, and upon the early age at 
 which factory labour commences. 
 
 The fallaciousness of the opinions deduced from the 
 existing state of the population, held by men of consider- 
 
RATE OF MORTALITY. 197 
 
 able information is very strikingly shown by one cir^ 
 cumstance. Mr. M^Culloch, and other writers of his school, 
 from observing the improvement in the value of human 
 life, and coupling this with its known rate of increase, 
 have come to the conclusion that the health and com- 
 fort of the people at large must have materially 
 improved. Joining this fact to a consideration of the 
 change which has been going on in the occupation of 
 the people, namely, their rapid conversion into manu- 
 facturers — a conversion so rapid and extensive, that 
 whilst the entire population has increased from 1801 to 
 1831 rather more than 50 per cent., in the manufacturing 
 towns and districts this increase has advanced 140 per 
 cent. — they suppose that the increased longevity of the 
 whole must indicate that manufactures are decidedly 
 healthy, notwithstanding since steam became the moving 
 power, they were of necessity confined to particular lo- 
 calities for the convenience of fuel, and crowded into 
 towns and populous districts for a supply of hands.* 
 
 According to Mr. M*Culloch, the average rate of 
 mortality in 1780 was 1 in 40 ; 1810, 1 in 53 ; 1820, 1 
 in 57 ; and, it may be added, in 1833, 1 in 60. 
 
 Mr. Finlayson's calculations enabled Sir G. Blane to 
 draw up the following Table, which shews very distinctly 
 the comparative mortality at two distant periods. These 
 calculations, it must never be forgotten, are to be looked 
 upon rather as approximations to reality than reality 
 itself ; still they are highly valuable : — 
 
 * Fide Mr. Senior's Lecture on Wages. 
 
198 
 
 Ages. 
 
 Mean duration of life. 
 
 The increase of vitality is 
 
 in the inverse ratio of 
 
 100 to 
 
 In 1693. 
 
 In 1789. 
 
 5 
 
 41.05 
 
 51.20 
 
 125 
 
 10 
 
 38.93 
 
 48.28 
 
 124 
 
 20 
 
 31.91 
 
 41.33 
 
 130 
 
 30 
 
 27.57 
 
 36.09 
 
 131 
 
 40 
 
 22.67 
 
 29.70 
 
 131 
 
 60 
 
 17.31 
 
 22.57 
 
 130 
 
 60 
 
 12.29 
 
 15.52 
 
 126 
 
 70 
 
 7.44 
 
 10.39 
 
 140 
 
 The changes which have taken place in the different 
 classes of the community are equally curious, as shewing 
 the progress of manufactures from 1811 to 1821. These 
 changes have been reckoned upon ten thousand of each 
 class. 
 
 
 Agriculture. 
 
 Manufactures. 
 
 Unproductive as 
 professions, &c. 
 
 England . 
 Wales . . 
 Scotland . 
 
 Decrease 168 
 do. 555 
 do. 211 
 
 Increase 175 
 do. 63 
 do. 34 
 
 Decrease 7 
 
 Increase 422 
 
 do. 178 
 
 Taking the counties separately, the increments of 
 agriculturists are 1437, for trade and manufactures 
 10,658, a proportion seven times greater than the 
 first. 
 
 According to Mr. Marshall's analysis of the population 
 in 1821 and 1881, it appears that in the manufacturing 
 districts it had increased one-fourth, and in the agricul- 
 tural only one-eleventh. 
 
 The rapidity of increase in the mill population, and 
 its extraordinary growth, compared to that engaged in 
 agriculture, is indicated by the fact that, in 1801, it was 
 calculated as six to five, in 1821 as eight to ^ve, and 
 in 1830 as two to one. 
 
RATE OF MORTALITY. 
 
 199 
 
 This transition, for so it mitst be called, is still farther 
 elucidated by the following Table, drawn up from the 
 Report of the Committee of the House of* Commons, 
 on manufacturers' employments, in July 1830, and from 
 the census of 1831. In a period of thirty years, the 
 following increase per cent, -appears in the manufacturing 
 towns : 
 
 
 1801 
 
 1811 
 
 1821 
 
 1801 ) 
 
 Places. 
 
 to 
 
 to 
 
 to 
 
 to V Total. 
 
 
 1811. 
 
 1821. 
 
 1831. 
 
 1831. ) 
 
 Manchester . . 
 
 22 
 
 40 
 
 47 
 
 151 
 
 Glasgow 
 
 30 
 
 46 
 
 38 
 
 161 
 
 Liverpool . . . . 
 
 26 
 
 31 
 
 44 
 
 138 
 
 Nottingham . . 
 
 19 
 
 18 
 
 25 
 
 75 
 
 Birmingham. . 
 
 16 
 
 24 
 
 33 
 
 90 
 
 Great Britain . 
 
 14.2 
 
 15.7 
 
 15.5 
 
 52,5 
 
 The population of Lancashire, which is the great 
 centre of the cotton trade, in 1 700 was 1 66,200 ; in 
 1750, 297,400 ; in 1801, 672,731 ; in 1811, 828,309 ; 
 in 1821, 1,052,859 ; in 1831, 1,335,800. 
 
 When the increase is compared with that of an agri- 
 cultural country through the same periods, the disparity 
 will be strikingly seen. Norfolk, for example, in 1700, 
 210,000; in 1750, 215,000; in 1801, 273,371; in 
 1811, 291,999 ; in 1821, 344,368; in 1831, 390,000; 
 an increase of one and three-fourths ; whilst Lancashire 
 in the same period has added to its population nine- 
 fold. 
 
 These details are amply sufficient to shew the rapid 
 growth of the population, engaged in mill manufactures 
 when compared with the general increase of the inha- 
 bitants of the kingdom at large, and with that division 
 more immediately connected with agriculture. The nu- 
 merical disproportion which is steadily progressing shews 
 
200 HEALTH. 
 
 very clearly, when joined to the diminished rate of mor- 
 tality evidenced by the general increase, that there can 
 be nothing in the processes of manufacture necessarily 
 destructive of human life. On the contrary, it may be 
 asserted that the improvement in its average duration is 
 intimately dependent upon the conversion of the bulk of 
 the population from agriculturists to manufacturers. 
 
 Paradoxical as it may sound, it by no means follows 
 that because the duration of life is extended the people 
 are a more salubrious race than their forefathers, whose 
 lives averaged hardly 1,35. It is indeed true, that many 
 of the fatal diseases which formerly at certain times nearly 
 depopulated whole provinces, are no longer in active and 
 extensive operation : plague, sweating sickness, petechial 
 fevers, small-pox, the scourges which, during their pe- 
 riodical visitations, destroyed hundreds of thousands, are 
 themselves gone to the " tomb of the Capulets." 
 
 This salutary change has been brought about not 
 by improvement in the art of medicine — though very 
 great and very admirable discoveries have been made, 
 and, above all, the treatment of disease has been much 
 simplified and become more rational, — but has been in 
 a great degree produced by the alteration which has 
 been gradually going on in the habits of the people, 
 and their modes of living. The rush-covered fioorj' 
 generally unflagged, a receptacle for the filth of weeks 
 — the animal diet, the ale drinking, the popular sports 
 and seasonal celebrations, each in their way induced 
 a state of health unfavourable to longevity. The 
 narrow and crowded streets, the small and low rooms, 
 with their contracted windows and thick walls, nearly 
 dark and badly ventilated, the want of proper drainage, 
 and half occupation, were all predisposing causes for the 
 generation or propagation of mischievous contagions. 
 
RATE OF MORTALITY. 201 
 
 War, famine, want of medical aid amongst the poor, 
 were other abundant sources of destruction. 
 
 Notwithstanding these drawbacks, the population of 
 Great Britain enjoyed much better health than it does at 
 the present period, and this too notwithstanding the 
 diminished rate of mortality. Taken as individuals, 
 they were more robust, fuller of organic activity, enjoyed 
 in much higher degree the feelings of existence ; but, in 
 consequence, their diseases were of a much more acute 
 character,>ftnd infinitely more fatal in their tendency. 
 
 Health may be defined that condition of the body in 
 which all its functions or operations go on without 
 exciting uneasiness. Nature no doubt meant, that as 
 far as mere existence is concerned — that is, that every 
 thing connected with the taking of food, and its necessary 
 changes, constituting nutrition, and every thing con- 
 nected with sensation, the link which binds man to the 
 material world around him, — should be a source of 
 pleasurable feelings, or, at all events, that it should be 
 unattended by pain ; were it otherwise, mankind would 
 be stretched upon the rack of its own sensibilities. 
 Whatever produces an opposite state of things must be 
 looked upon as causative of disease, or that condition of 
 body, in which some of its functions are so far deranged 
 as to interfere with personal comfort, inducing uneasi- 
 ness or pain, or proceeding farther, and deranging and 
 disordering the action of parts, so as to interfere with 
 the operations essential to life, and, in the end, pro- 
 ducing its extinction. 
 
 The rate of mortality among savage tribes, and in 
 states just emerging from barbarism, is universally high ; 
 one in thirty, as far as data can be collected, being the 
 average. The health of individuals composing these 
 tribes or states is nevertheless, according to all travellers, 
 
202 HEALTH. 
 
 exceedingly vigorous, and their frame generally robust, 
 indicated by the great fatigue they are capable of en- 
 during, the severe wounds from which they rapidly 
 recover, the rarity of chronic diseases amongst them, and 
 the few decrepid and premature old men who burden 
 their huts or wigwams. Infanticide and voluntary 
 abortion, neglect in the early periods of life, the little 
 estimation in which female children are held, and the 
 want of remedial means of even doubtful efficacy, destroy 
 vast numbers shortly after birth. 
 
 A great deal is often said as to the hardihood of the 
 Indian mother, and the vigorous nature of her offspring, 
 evidenced by her easy delivery, generally unassisted and 
 uncared for, and from the circumstance of her slinging 
 her infant on her back, and almost immediately joining 
 the march, or pursuing her household or field labour ; 
 but if a list of children who perish from want of proper 
 attention could be obtained, it would present a frightful 
 picture of infantile mortality.* 
 
 The habits of women in civilized countries are re- 
 pugnant to the simple forms of savage life ; and in 
 most cases, the infant is tenderly nurtured, and, in con- 
 sequence, vast numbers are reared, which, under a 
 different regime, must have inevitably perished ; and 
 this is one very important item in the account of the 
 comparative mortality in the two conditions. Again, 
 the adult male population in savage nations is seldom 
 at peace — war being the maximum of their animal 
 existence and happiness. This is especially destructive, 
 by cutting off in their prime the very flower of the men, 
 
 * Vide James's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains ; Hum- 
 boldt's Travels ; Cruze's New Zealand ; Dobrizhoffer ; Collin's 
 New South Wales ; Franklin's First and Second Journeys ; Parry's 
 Voyages; Vaillant, Bruce, &c. &c. 
 
RATE OF MORTALITY. 203 
 
 and laying the remainder of the tribe open to exter- 
 minating aggression. It is, indeed, rare to find an adult 
 labouring under sickness, nine-tenths being carried off 
 either by war or accidents in the chase, or falling victims 
 to acute inflammatory disease. Famine is another 
 powerful agent in the destruction of tribes, whose exist- 
 ence depends chiefly upon the produce of hunting or 
 fishing, or upon the imperfect cultivation of a very 
 limited portion of ground ; and this again exposes them 
 to contagious or epidemic diseases, which often sweep 
 away a whole people. The rate of health is, however, 
 high, and their bodily vigour well known to all inquirers, 
 frequently, indeed, presenting splendid examples of 
 almost animal perfection. 
 
 The condition of man in a state of civilisation diflers 
 of course very widely in some of these particulars. He ^ 
 is better lodged, better clothed, and exposed to fewer 
 and less important variations. In the agricultural dis- 
 tricts, where labour is moderate and food abundant and 
 nutritious, the labourer has, in many points, a bodily / 
 constitution closely resembling that of the savage. He 
 possesses great physical development, high health, 
 uninfluenced by intellectual irritability, and is, conse- 
 quently, open to the attack of acute diseases, which 
 soon destroy him when brought under their influence. 
 
 Fevers, inflammations in important viscera, resulting 
 from deranged circulation in a system of blood-vessels, 
 gorged with nutritive fluids, are rapidly fatal, without 
 the most prompt and energetic measures for their relief, 
 and which he is usually unfavourably placed for obtain- 
 ing. An examination of the lists of patients of a 
 country practitioner, in a district exclusively agricultural, 
 will verify the correctness of these observations ; the 
 majority of deaths resulting from inflammation of the 
 
204 HEALTH. 
 
 ^ chest, head, and abdominal or pelvic viscera, or the 
 consequence of accidental violence, and exhil)iting very- 
 few chronic diseases, except the anomalous ones amongst 
 \ females. 
 
 Thus the state of health is high in agricultural dis- 
 tricts, and amongst savage and semi-barbarous tribes. 
 It is, indeed, very common to hear individuals, so cir- 
 cumstanced, declare that they have never known a day's 
 sickness, or been plagued with ache or pain, when a 
 rapid disease seizes them, and their vigorous health 
 and great vascular activity become the agents of their 
 destruction. 
 
 In comparing this state of things with the corre- 
 spondent ones in manufacturing towns and districts, a 
 very striking contrast is observed. In the former case, 
 it may be truly said that life is physical enjoyment, 
 and disease hasty death ; in the latter, that life is 
 one long disease, and death the result of physical ex- 
 haustion. 
 
 The population crowded into the large manufacturing 
 towns, which have sprung into being almost with the 
 rapidity of Aladdin's palace, and where their growth has 
 preceded all efficient police regulations, is exposed to 
 many causes tending very powerfully to depress its vital 
 activity. Unpaved and unsewered streets, ricketty 
 houses, huddled into heaps, undrained, unprovided with 
 needful conveniences, badly ventilated, and crowded 
 with inmates ; the habits of the population itself, its 
 improvidence, its neglect of domestic comforts, its indul- 
 gence in dram-drinking, its general immorality, its thin 
 and innutritions diet ; and these, joined to the pecu- 
 liarity of their labour, continued unremittingly for twelve 
 or fourteen hours, cooped up in a heated atmosphere, 
 and debarred from the cheering influences of the green 
 
RATE OF MORTALITY. 
 
 205 
 
 face of nature, and of fresh air ; and, finally, deprived of 
 all recreation in open and salubrious situations — all 
 these are agents for lowering the tone of the system, and 
 produce a series of diseases widely dissimilar from that 
 which has been explained as proving so destructive to a 
 population placed under opposite conditions. 
 
 In these towns disease generally assumes a chronic . 
 type ; its progress is slow, and often interferes but little ^ 
 with the proper functional actions which are essential to 
 life. Neither, in many instances, does it, of necessity, 
 shorten its duration ; but rather, by keeping the standard ^ 
 of vital energy somewhat below par, it abstracts the 
 system from, the impression of more fatal affections, 
 which kill by disturbing the circulation. To illustrate 
 this, the following Table, including 5833 patients, who 
 came under the care of one medical gentleman attached 
 to the Manchester Infirmary, has been drawn, specifying 
 the nature of the diseases in as simple a manner as 
 possible. These cases occurred in the four years from 
 1826 to 1830. 
 
 Inflammation of the Brain, 
 
 &c 6 
 
 Inflammation of the Ton- 
 sils, &c 41 
 
 Inflammation of the Bron- 
 
 chiae, &c 31 
 
 Pleurisy, &c. &c. . . . 80 
 Affections of the Liver, 
 
 &c 32 
 
 Inflammation of the Bow- 
 els, &c 26 
 
 Inflammation of Bladder, 
 
 &c 17 
 
 Rheumatism .... 569 
 Intermittent Fevers . . 47 
 Remittent Fevers ... 11 
 Common continued Fever 861 
 
 Common Catarrhal Fever 
 
 (Colds) 550 
 
 Measles 8 
 
 Scarlet Fever . . . . 24 
 
 Small Pox 19 
 
 Chicken Pox .... 2 
 
 Erysipelas 26 
 
 Purpura 4 
 
 Nettle Rash, &c. . . . 47 
 Simple Cough .... 640 
 Hooping Cough ... 21 
 Asthma and Difficult 
 
 Breathing .... 297 
 Loss of Voice, &c. . , 8 
 Consumption .... 228 
 Secondary Syphilis . . 48 
 Bronchocele ..... 5 
 
206 
 
 HEALTH. 
 
 Dentition 5 
 
 Abortus 1 
 
 Scrofula, common ... 18 
 
 Haemorrhages . ... 62 
 
 Dyspepsia, &c 203 
 
 Jaundice 19 
 
 Cholera 45 
 
 Diarrhoea 191 
 
 Dysentery 323 
 
 Constipation .... 755 
 
 Colic 72 
 
 Verminatio 44 
 
 Hemorrhoids .... 15 
 
 Hypochondriasis . . . 28 
 
 Headaches 51 
 
 Apoplexy 1 
 
 Paralysis 50 
 
 Epilepsy 25 
 
 Hysteria 20 
 
 Chorea 27 
 
 Convulsion (Children) . 3 
 
 Palpitation 12 
 
 Anginae Pectoris ... 1 
 
 Nervous Pains .... 26 
 
 Diabetes ..;... 4 
 
 Ischuria 8 
 
 Dropsies 110 
 
 Amenorrhoea, &c. ... 47 
 
 Leucorrhoea, &c. ... 14 
 
 Poison 1 
 
 This singular Table very clearly and satisfactorily 
 ,i shows the prevailing character of diseases amongst the 
 ! operative population, medically considered. The great 
 I majority of these are compatible with a very extended 
 I life ; few are fatal of themselves, and still fewer with 
 ^1 the aid which is liberally afforded them. The acute 
 diseases are limited in number when compared to 
 the whole ; and this is the more worthy of notice, 
 since they are precisely those which are the most 
 likely to come under the observation of the medical 
 officers attached to this admirable institution. It 
 vtrill be remarked that the cases of dyspepsia, consti- 
 pation, and other affections dependent on derangement 
 of the digestive apparatus, are more than one-third of 
 the entire cases. This most distinctly indicates the 
 vast amount of these peculiar derangements ; for great 
 as their number is in this one Table, they must have 
 been extreme cases to bring them under notice. An- 
 other peculiarity distinguishing the list is, that one-fifth of 
 the number is made up of coughs, &c., while scrofula and 
 consumption, in its varied forms, are exceedingly limited. 
 
RATE OF MORTALITY. 207 
 
 The number of patients annually receiving advice and 
 medical assistance at the various munificent charitable 
 institutions in the metropolis of the manufacturing 
 world,* will afford another valuable document to esti- 
 mate the rate of health enjoyed by the community ; all, 
 however, that are relieved here are not of the class of 
 operative manufacturers. The number of individuals 
 resorting to these charities cannot be less than 30,000 
 per annum,'}' an immense proportion out of a population 
 of 240,000. There are, in addition to these, 133 sur- 
 geons, 26 physicians, 76 druggists and apothecaries, 
 making a total of 235, all and each of whom procure a 
 livelihood by ministering to the ailments of the different 
 classes of society. Besides these there are a host of 
 quacks, at all times a flourishing order, sellers of patent 
 medicine to a great amount annually ; those too who 
 adhere to domestic medicine, and lastly, and by no 
 means a small item, the numbers who resort to many 
 physicians and younger surgeons for gratuitous advice, 
 perhaps not less than 2,000 in the year. To this must 
 be also added the female patients of the Lying-in 
 Hospital, amounting, at the present period, to 5,000 
 more, who are supplied with medicine for diseases in- 
 cident to gestation, accouchement, and subsequent re- 
 covery ; also their infants till arrived at a certain age. 
 Taking all these together, it may be inferred, very safely, 
 that 3-4ths of the entire population require medical aid 
 annually ; a vast proportion certainly, and in all pro- 
 bability greater than what exists in other large towns 
 
 * Manchester. 
 
 t In 1831, patients admitted at the Royal Infirmary, 21,196; 
 House of Recovery, 472 ; Ardvvick and Ancoat's Dispensary, 
 3,163; Workhouse, 2,100; Children's Dispensary, 1,500; Lock 
 and Eye Institutions, 1500 ? Chorlton and Hulme Dispensaries, 
 1,000 ? 
 
208 HEALTH. 
 
 more favourably placed in some respects than Man- 
 chester.* 
 
 It might be supposed, in looking at this formidable 
 list of disease, with the number of charities, and 
 the array of medical men devoted to its alleviation, 
 that death would sweep away a great proportion of a 
 people possessed of so little physical energy ; that, con- 
 sequently, manufactures, with their necessary crowding 
 together of men in towns and mills, would be singularly 
 injurious to the average duration of human life. To 
 some extent, doubtless, this is so, but a little examina- 
 tion will show the fallacy of judging of this from the 
 state of health enjoyed or suffered by communities. 
 
 The very imperfect registries of births and deaths — so 
 generally complained of in Great Britain — exist in full 
 force in the manufacturing districts. It is, indeed, utterly 
 impossible to form any estimate even approaching to 
 accuracy as to the rate of mortality in any given amount 
 of population. The increase depends, very materially, 
 upon immigration from surrounding neighbourhoods, to 
 
 * If a judgment may be formed of the number of sick from the 
 number of medical men, Manchester is very unfavourably placed 
 in this respect ; though the criterion is far from being a fair one. 
 Taking the population of London at 1,200,000, in 1821— 
 There were Physicians .... 174 or 1 to 7,000 
 
 Surgeons 1,000 or 1 to 1,200 
 
 General Practitioners 2,000 or 1 to 600 
 Druggists, &c. . . . 300 or 1 to 4,000 
 Paris at 800,000, in 1821— 
 
 Surgeons .... 128 or 1 to 6,000 
 Physicians .... 600 or 1 to 1,300 
 General Practitioners 180 or 1 to 4,450 
 London Total 3,474, or 1 Medical Man to every 345 inhab. 
 
 Paris . . . 1,310, or 1 900 
 
 Manchester . 235, or 1 121-3 inha- 
 
 [bitants, in 1831. 
 
RATE OF MORTALITY. 209 
 
 which again many of those who die are removed for 
 interment. Great numbers of interments take place in 
 the towns from the out-townships, so that the registries 
 which do exist exhibit burials only, without any particular 
 specification which can be depended upon. 
 
 The registries of baptisms, as data for births in a par- 
 ticular town or locality, are no guide whatever, looked 
 at generally ; a very great proportion of the baptisms 
 at the established churches, where alone any tolerable 
 register is kept, being from out districts. The chief 
 difficulty, however, lies in the circumstance of the ma- 
 jority of the inhabitants engaged in manufactures being 
 dissenters ; and from the fact, which is much to be 
 regretted, that amongst them, as a body, it is out of the 
 question to collect satisfactory statistical details. 
 
 Again, immense numbers of the children born to 
 parents in the lowest grades of society are never bap- 
 tized at all, and if these perish, they are buried in the 
 free burial grounds without the slightest attention to 
 registration. The population, too, is an exceedingly 
 fluctuating one, differing widely from that in agricultural 
 districts, and presenting insuperable obstacles to the 
 collection of accurate details. When all these things are 
 taken into consideration, it must be quite obvious that 
 with so many sources of error in the way of partial 
 examination, it will be safer to adhere to the general 
 rate of mortality for the whole kingdom, which can 'be 
 ascertained with considerable accuracy, and establish 
 deductions taken from that. 
 
 It has been universally asserted that the mortality, 
 in counties largely engaged in manufactures, was much 
 higher than in agricultural counties. The following 
 Table shows the generally received opinion upon this 
 subject : — 
 
210 
 
 HEALTH. 
 
 
 5 fl 
 
 
 o C 
 
 
 o d 
 
 
 -" o 
 
 
 ■^ o 
 
 
 +3 O 
 
 Manufacturing 
 Counties. 
 
 i1, 
 
 Agricultural 
 C J unties. 
 
 
 Wales. 
 
 
 
 tt o 
 
 
 «a 
 
 
 fia 
 
 Middlesex . 
 
 47 
 
 Sussex . . 
 
 72 
 
 Anglesey. . 
 
 83 
 
 Chester . . 
 
 55 
 
 Monmouth . 
 
 70 
 
 Brecon . . 
 
 67 
 
 Lancashire . 
 
 55 
 
 Gloucester . 
 
 64 
 
 Cardigan . . 
 
 70 
 
 Yorkshire • 
 
 60 
 
 Suffolk . . 
 
 67 
 
 Pembroke . 
 
 83 
 
 Stafford . . 
 
 56 
 
 Wilts . . . 
 
 66 
 
 Carnarvon . 
 
 69 
 
 Warwickshire 
 
 52 
 
 Hereford . . 
 
 63 
 
 Glamorgan . 
 
 69 
 
 Average . . 
 
 53 
 
 
 67 
 
 
 73 
 
 This Table, which has been selected in consequence of 
 having been drawn up for a very opposite purpose, and 
 which gives the extremes, might at once seem decisive as 
 to the question of mortality. When fairly explained, its 
 disproportionate results will be materially changed. 
 
 In the agricultural counties, as it has been before re- 
 marked, the population is a fixed one, and, generally 
 speakirfg, one attached to the Church, and exceedingly 
 scrupulous in every thing relating to deaths and baptisms. 
 The following Table will verify this : — 
 
 Manufacturing 
 Counties. 
 
 II 
 
 § be 
 
 Agricultural 
 Counties. 
 
 11 
 
 31 
 
 bog 
 
 Middlesex . 
 Chester . . 
 Lancashire 
 Yorkshire . . 
 Stafford . . 
 Warwick . 
 
 233 
 145 
 
 287 
 809 
 178 
 209 
 
 289 
 153 
 504 
 1,019 
 213 
 108 
 
 Sussex . . . 
 Monmouth . 
 Gloucester 
 Suffolk. . . 
 Wilts . . . 
 Hereford . . 
 
 300 
 118 
 290 
 486 
 274 
 201 
 
 87 
 72 
 117 
 132 
 129 
 49 
 
 
 1,861 
 
 2,286 
 
 
 1,669 
 
 586 
 
 Nor is the numerical disproportion all that must be 
 borne in mind in carrying on the comparison. In the 
 
RATE OF MORTALITY. 211 
 
 manufacturing counties and towns, the dissenters' con- 
 gregations are often more numerous than those of the 
 Established Church, whilst in the agricultural counties 
 they are generally very small, and placed in remote 
 situations. 
 
 This single fact of the diJiFerence existing in the reli- 
 gious forms between the agriculturist and the mill arti- 
 sans will show how much more accurate are the means 
 for ascertaining the particular condition of the one over 
 those of the other, and will explain one cause why all the 
 tables of mortality exhibit so great a preponderance in 
 favour of the agriculturist, greatly indeed above what in 
 truth belongs to him. 
 
 It is not denied that the rate of mortality is higher in 
 towns and manufactories, but the disparity is less than 
 is generally believed. The immigrations which are 
 continually going on from the agricultural districts to 
 the manufacturing ones, consist of those families which 
 would be precisely the parties to swell the bill of mor- 
 tality in their own parishes, and they are little likely to 
 improve that of the situation in which they settle them- 
 selves. These families are generally those that have 
 numerous children, the parents of which have no means 
 of supporting them by agricultural labdur. These there- 
 fore appear in the lists of births, but no further. 
 
 Again, the extensive immigrations into these districts 
 are uniformly driven there by want, and often suffer very 
 severe privations before they can obtain work ; — many of 
 them perish in consequence, especially the children, from 
 the change of locality, and hence swell enormously the 
 deaths in the towns ; but these have nothing to do with 
 the fixed population. Farther still, great numbers of these 
 families bring with them the older members, who have 
 hitherto lived in open and healthy situations, favourable 
 p 2 
 
212 HEALTH. 
 
 for the prolongation of life, but who sink at once beneath 
 the depressing influence of their new abodes. When 
 these several drawbacks are taken into account, the mean 
 mortality naturally incident to manufacturing districts 
 will be considerably lowered, for it would be a manifest 
 injustice to load these with the imputation of a destruc- 
 tion which is perfectly foreign to them. But still the 
 mortality will not be brought down to that in agricul- 
 tural districts, in which it has been shown the elements for 
 fatal disease are much more rife, and where consequently 
 a rate of death should be exhibited according to this mode 
 of viewing the question as high, if not higher, than in 
 the opposite case. This remains to be explained. 
 
 In that portion of this work which has been devoted 
 to the examination of the social and domestic conditions 
 of the mill artisans, it has been demonstrated how 
 closely in some respects these approximate to the 
 modes of life in savage and half civilized states or 
 tribes ; and in a previous portion of the present chapter 
 it has been said, that amongst people so situated, one 
 great cause of the excessive contraction in the average 
 duration of life, was to be found in the number of infants 
 who perished shortly after birth, and in the prevalence of 
 infanticide and voluntary abortion. 
 
 It has been stated that the majority of children deli- 
 vered in Manchester, the offspring of the poor, are brought 
 into the world by the aid of public charity ; that these 
 children are abandoned by their mothers in a few days 
 after birth to the care of strangers ; that they are of 
 necessity badly attended to, badly fed, exposed to cold, 
 or are crammed with patent medicines or dosed with gin ; 
 and the consequences are, that more than one-half of all 
 children born to the lower class perish before they have 
 completed their fifth year. This appears upon the face 
 
RATE OF MORTALITY. 
 
 213 
 
 of the bills of mortality, and their imperfection has 
 been pointed out. In this case they only serve as an 
 index to the enormous extent of infantile mortality — an 
 extent equal, if not greater, than what exists in the most 
 uncivilized nation on the face of the globe. This too, 
 when compared with the average number of deaths 
 before ten, explains at once one reason why the general 
 rate of mortality is so high in these situations. 
 
 Manufactures since absorbed into mills have also 
 the inevitable effect of bringing men together in masses, 
 and hence the districts where they chiefly prevail may 
 be looked upon as one vast town ; and this is another 
 cause of the increase of mortality, and one too which, 
 de factOy has nothing to do with the town being a manu- 
 facturing one. The rate of mortality, as far as can be 
 ascertained, is about 1 to 35 to Manchester ; and though 
 this at first sight appears excessive, yet, when com- 
 pared to other great towns, it ceases to be remarkable.* 
 
 * From a parliamentary paper, containing a return of the 
 number of burials occurring annually in Manchester, from 1821 
 to 1830, and returns obtained by the Board of Health, the follow- 
 ing Table has been constructed . — 
 
 
 Interments 
 
 Interments 
 
 Total 
 
 
 ^ Rate 
 
 
 Year. 
 
 of 
 
 of 
 
 of inter- 
 
 Population. 
 
 ^ of 
 
 
 
 Churchmen. 
 
 Dissenters. 
 
 ments. 
 
 
 Mortality. 
 
 
 1821 
 
 1,561 
 
 1,726 
 
 3,287 
 
 152,683 
 
 46.45 
 
 1822 
 
 1,285 
 
 1,044 
 
 2,329 
 
 156,663 
 
 67.223 
 
 
 1823 
 
 1,585 
 
 3,230 
 
 4,815 
 
 160,664 
 
 33.36 
 
 mean 
 
 1824 
 
 1,428 
 
 3,219 ' 
 
 4,647 
 
 166,117 
 
 35.74 
 
 rate ; 
 
 1825 
 
 1,398 
 
 3,539 
 
 4,928 
 
 173,083 
 
 35.12 
 
 35.22 
 
 1826 
 
 1,548 
 
 3,804, 
 
 5,352 
 
 180,052 
 
 33.64 
 
 
 1827 
 
 1,604 
 
 3,235 
 
 4,839 
 
 186,462 
 
 38.53 
 
 
 1828 
 
 1,615 
 
 4,106 
 
 5,721 
 
 192,874 
 
 33.73 
 
 
 1829 
 
 1,479 
 
 3,719 
 
 5,198 
 
 201,691 
 
 38.80 
 
 
 1830 
 
 1,590 
 
 4,383 
 
 5,973 
 
 212.913 
 
 35.64 
 
 
 1831 
 
 
 
 6,736 
 
 224,143 
 
 33.27 
 
 
 This Table shews, too, very distinctly, the preponderance of Dis- 
 senters numerically, which is even considerably greater than the 
 proportion it exhibits. 
 
214 HEALTH. 
 
 In Paris it is as 1 to 32 ; in London, 1 to 34 ; in Bir- 
 mingham, 1 to 40. 
 
 In making these calculations, and in reasoning upon 
 them, it must never be forgotten that, from the rapid 
 growth of the manufacturing towns, and from the fluc- 
 tuating and uncertain nature of their population, they 
 have been built without the slightest regard to health 
 or convenience ; and the account given in Chapter III. 
 will show in how lamentable a condition Manchester was 
 found in 1832, in every thing having reference to the 
 health, decency, or comfort of its inhabitants. 
 
 When these various concurrent causes, adding to the 
 mean mortality of manufacturing counties and towns, 
 are taken into due consideration, and proper weight 
 attached to them, an explanation is afforded why, in all 
 tables of increase and decrease of population, these 
 counties always seem very unfavourably placed ; but 
 these concurrent causes have most clearly nothing what- 
 ever to do with manufactures as an occupation, and 
 their influence upon health and mortality. 
 
 The details in the beginning of this chapter have 
 shown, that during the last fifty years the entire popu- 
 lation has been undergoing a rapid conversion from 
 an agricultural to a manufacturing character, or, more 
 correctly speaking, that mill labour has superseded 
 domestic manufacture : that in 1800, it was calculated 
 that manufacturers, strictly so called, were, to agricul- 
 turists, or mixed labourers, partly manufacturers and 
 partly husbandmen, as 6 to 5 ; in 1825, 8 to 5 ; and in 
 1830, as 2 to 1 : that if this examination is carried farther 
 back, the tables are turned, and agriculturists have the 
 numerical majority. Beginning in 1780, they were about 
 equal ; 1760, 6 to 5 ; 1740, 8 to 5 ; 1700, 2 to 1 ; and 
 so on, till the great body of the inhabitants were ex- 
 clusively devoted to agriculture : that at the period 
 
RATE OF MORTALITY. 215 
 
 when this was the condition of society, the average mor- 
 tality was fully 1 in 35 ; in 1780, when manufactures 
 had received their first great impulse, 1 in 40; in 1810, 
 when the bulk of the population was engaged in them, 
 1 in 52; in 1820, 1 in 57 ; and in 1830, 1 in 60. 
 Hence it appears that during the transition of employ- 
 ment, the mean duration of life has been steadily 
 improving, and that at the present time its value is 
 double to what it was in 1700. How manifestly 
 unjust — how manifestly absurd, to declare that manu- 
 factures are injurious to human life ! On the contrary, 
 it may be said that, were the population a fixed one, 
 it would show a rate of mortality lighter than that in 
 agricultural counties ; although the health and physical 
 vigour of the mill artisans are so greatly inferior to those 
 of the husbandmen, that they may be said to labour 
 under constant illness. 
 
 In thus speaking, it must be borne in mind that no 
 account is taken of an immense body of farm manufac- 
 turers. This observation should be carefully remembered 
 in connexion with the whole of this chapter. 
 
 As a particular example of the diminution of mor- 
 tality, Leeds may be quoted. In 1801 the population 
 of the township was 30,669. At that period there 
 were few manufactories established, and the annual 
 burials were 941, giving a mortality of 1 in 32 J. In 
 1831 the population amounted to 71,602, of which 
 number nearly 9,000 are engaged in manufacture, chiefly 
 woollen and flax, and the mortality has been reduced 
 to 1 in 4 If. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FACTORY LABOUR IN GENERAL — PECULIAR DISEASES, &C. 
 
 Wages — Bodily Labour — Attention — Temperature — Effects of 
 Heat— Vegetable and Animal Decomposition — Difference of 
 these upon Health — Effect of continued Labour in high Tem- 
 peratures — Smell of Oil, &c. — Inhalation of Dust — Knife 
 Grinders, &c. — Dust in Cotton Spinning — Effects of Breathing 
 • — Does it produce Organic Disease ? — Dust proceeding from 
 Filing of Steel — Polishing Marble, and its Difference from 
 Cotton Flue — Habit — Bronchitis — Comparison of Mortality 
 between Weavers and Spinners — Error of the received Opi- 
 nion as to the Injurious Effects of this Dust — De-oxygenation 
 of the Atmospheric Air in Mills — Production of Carbonic Acid 
 Gas — Qualities of the Gas, and the Consequences of Breathing it 
 — Its Specific Gravity, &c. — Change of Temperature — Summary 
 of their Conditions — Scrofula — Indigestion — Fever — Consump- 
 tion, &c. &c. 
 
 Before proceeding to examine the diseases to which 
 the manufacturing population are peculiarly exposed, it 
 will be useful to take a survey of factory labour in 
 general, and the conditions (if any) which render it so 
 noxious to health, as is universally imagined. 
 
 The persons engaged in cotton mills earn much 
 higher wages* than most other classes of labourers. 
 
 * Bricksetters, builders, joiners, painters, &c. &c., earn, it is 
 true, higher wages per day, and their labour never exceeds ten 
 working hours. A day's wages for these men may, as an ave- 
 
FACTORY LABOUR. 217 
 
 Spinners of fine yarn can earn 255. to 305. per week ; 
 coarse spinners, chiefly women, I85. to 2I5. ; children of 
 nine years of age, and upwards, get from Ss. to 45. 6d, ; 
 weavers, chiefly young women and girls, IO5. to I65. ; 
 and various other rates of wages, none below 35., are 
 paid to the batters, pickers, carders, stretchers, doublers, 
 reelers, makers-up, warpers, winders, &c., which form 
 the complement of workers in the mills, as at present 
 constituted. The average rate of wages for each indi- 
 vidual may be fixed at IO5. per week ; this, of course, 
 includes the children, who in all instances form a great 
 proportion of the hands. This rate of payment is very 
 nearly the same as that which was obtained in 1816. 
 The usual hours of labour are from five o'clock in the 
 morning to seven o'clock in the evening, half an hour 
 being allowed for breakfast, one hour for dinner, and 
 half an hour in the afternoon. The time of labour has 
 also undergone very little change during the last twenty- 
 six years. 
 
 With respect to the amount of bodily labour gone 
 through by the operatives — generally speaking it is 
 exceedingly small, the steam engine doing the work. The 
 labour of spinners and stretchers certainly is fatiguing 
 at times, and from its length, twelve entire hours, it 
 is necessarily accompanied by great exhaustion. In these 
 processes the 'hands are hardly an instant at rest, except 
 whilst their mules are dofiing, in which they sometimes 
 assist : and however hardy or robust a man may be, this 
 incessant exertion is overpowering. But in all other 
 cases, as in the carders, rovers, winders, piecers, weavers, 
 
 rage, be stated at four shilhngs. The great drawback is, that the 
 demand for their labour is fluctuating and uncertain, and at some 
 periods of the year they are in complete idleness. The manufac- 
 turer's employment is invariable. 
 
218 FACTORY r 
 
 &c., very little manual labour is required —none indeed 
 worth speaking of. The only fatigue suffered is that 
 brought on by the necessity for continued attention — a 
 fatigue as injurious to health as that induced by physical 
 exertion, if not excessive. 
 
 The mean temperature in the factories may be taken 
 at 70° Fahrenheit. In dressing and finishing, a much 
 higher temperature is necessary in the present mode of 
 going through these operations. It is, however, likely 
 that certain changes will be introduced, very shortly, 
 which will very considerably modify this. Inquiries 
 amongst the dressers have shown that, as a body, they 
 are by no means unhealthy when their habits are mode- 
 rately regular. They earn excellent wages, perspire 
 during their work very copiously, and in place of sup- 
 plying this waste by proper food, drink largely, a fact 
 quite sufficient to account for their occasional illnesses 
 and general emaciated appearance. Temperature in 
 itself is in no wise injurious to health, provided it is 
 not joined with close and imperfectly ventilated situa- 
 tions.* 
 
 The difficulty in the mills has always been the keep- 
 ing up the requisite degrees of heat, with a free admis- 
 sion of fresh air ; and some years ago the system was 
 decidedly noxious. By means of steam-pipes tra- 
 versing the rooms in various directions, and giving out 
 certain known quantities of heat, the mischief has, in a 
 great measure, been done away with ; and in the best 
 regulated mills, the temperature, though considerable, is 
 in no farther degree oppressive or injurious than as its 
 relaxing muscular tonicity. 
 
 • A number of girls work in the stoves at Mr. Monteith's printing 
 estabUshment near Glasgow, the average temperature of which is 
 140o Fahrenheit : they enjoy excellent health. 
 
PECULIAR DISEASES. 219 
 
 Hot climates may be, and are healthy, when cleared 
 from vegetable undergrowth, and free from swampy soils. 
 . Humboldt, and other travellers and observers, have 
 examined this point quite sufficiently. Heat generates 
 miasmata fatal to human life, wherever moisture, joined, 
 as it universally is in tropical countries, with rank vege- 
 tation, exists. The littoral districts of New Spain, the 
 cedar swamps bordering the great South American 
 rivers, the jungles of Africa, and of the torrid zone 
 in Asia, bear evidence how deadly an influence may 
 be produced by vegetable decomposition, &c. &c. Be- 
 yond these, however, perfect salubrity is quite com- 
 patible with a very elevated temperature. 
 
 A wide distinction must be here made between 
 animal and vegetable decomposition — a distinction little 
 understood, and still less attended to. The gases which 
 are evolved during the putrefaction of animal sub- 
 stances do not appear, from experience, to be fatal to 
 life, but, on the contrary, in some respects, and to some 
 extent, seem rather conducive to health. In a note, 
 which will be found in the chapter on Infant Labour, 
 some remarks have been made on this subject ; and in 
 illustration, M. de Noe's account of the Oyster Fisheries 
 has been quoted. Here, although millions of oysters 
 are putrefying under a, burning sun, in the very midst 
 of a dense and promiscuous mass of human beings, fill- 
 ing the atmosphere with a most intolerable stench, 
 sickness is hardly known. In the process of grinding 
 bones in this country for manure, a smell the most 
 dreadfully offensive attends upon the operation ; yet the 
 men, who are constantly inhaling this odour, are exceed- 
 ingly healthy. Butchers, tripe-men, tanners, candle- 
 makers, &c. are all exposed more or less to the effluvium 
 from animal matter, in various stages of decomposition ; 
 
220 FACTORY LABOUR. 
 
 ostlers, niglitmen, are under similar circumstances, and 
 yet, all things considered, are far from being unhealthy. 
 Not only this, but many nations devour ravenously 
 putrid meat, and, in our own times, several species of 
 animal food are esteemed unfit for the table till putre- 
 faction is very considerably advanced ; and yet these are 
 considered as wholesome articles of diet. 
 
 It is often said that factory labour must be exceedingly 
 prejudicial to life, in consequence of the crowding toge- 
 ther numbers of individuals in one room, or one mill, 
 from the effluvia which proceed from the bodies of these 
 individuals — none of them, probably, very cleanly, and 
 all in a state of perspiration, more or less profuse. This 
 opinion is not borne out by facts, where the crowding is 
 not extreme — and it never is extreme in modern fac- 
 tories. Many persons have drawn a parallel between 
 the factory and the Black Hole of Calcutta, and have 
 suffered their imaginations to run riot, in colouring a 
 series of dismal pictures similar to that so forcibly and 
 graphically described by Mr. Howell. There is no simi- 
 larity in the two cases whatever ; therefore deductions 
 drawn from the one are not applicable to the other. 
 
 The consequences of labour carried on for twelve 
 hours, in a heated atmosphere, which slightly accelerates 
 the action of the heart, are, that the muscular system 
 becomes languid, and a degree of irritability is pro- 
 duced, which exhausts the powers of the nervous 
 system, and excites feelings of great discomfort and 
 depression. Still this is not disease. It is true 
 that it is a condition closely bordering upon it, but it 
 neither is disease, nor would it lead to disease, if the 
 operative had a home stored with domestic comforts, 
 which he could well afford, and had habits which led 
 him to devote all his spare time to their enjoyment. 
 
PECULIAR DISEASES. 221 
 
 What is the fact ? His home itself is often a sty, 
 abounding in all the elements for exciting and perpe- 
 tuating disease. In place of seeking by nutritious food 
 and rest, to dissipate his languor and exhaustion, he 
 flies for temporary relief to the excitement consequent 
 on drinking ardent spirits — the very mode to add to his 
 other evils, and to develop the seeds of disease lurking 
 within him, generated partly by the nature of his occu- 
 pation, and partly by his want of proper diet. 
 
 The exhalations from oil, &c. in a heated atmosphere, 
 though sickly in their impressions upon strangers, there 
 is no reason to believe are injurious to health ; probably, 
 indeed, the reverse, as it is a well-known fact that oil- 
 men, and oil-porters, have enjoyed a singular exemption 
 from the attacks of plague, and other epidemic and con- 
 tagious diseases. So far has this been the case, that as 
 a protection during the visitation of these scourges, it 
 has been recommended to wear oiled dresses, or to 
 anoint the body with oil several times a day. The 
 copious use of oil for the purpose of lessening friction 
 does away with the notion, that this going on so exten- 
 sively in mills, between metallic bodies, might give rise 
 to a state of atmosphere something, though remotely, 
 analogous to that breathed by knife-grinders and 
 pointers of needles, and which is exceedingly destruc- 
 tive. Every precaution, however, is taken to lessen the 
 amount of this friction, which rapidly destroys the parts 
 upon which it acts, and which, without these precau- 
 tions, would speedily ruin the machinery. 
 
 Several writers who have devoted their attention to 
 the influence of particular occupations upon health, 
 have noticed the effects of inhaling particles of solid 
 matter into the bronchi, &c. &c. No question exists, 
 that when an atmosphere is surcharged with foreign 
 
222 FACTORY LABOUR. 
 
 matter, so finely pulverized as to float easily, the 
 breathing such an atmosphere must be more or less 
 injurious. The extent of the mischief which will result 
 from this, however, must depend considerably upon the 
 nature of the inspired particles. 
 
 The vivid sketch given by Dr. Knight,* has shown 
 very decidedly that all the operations of steel grind- 
 ing and polishing produce a species of asthma and 
 phthisis in those engaged in them, which generally 
 proves fatal early in life. The researches of Patis- 
 sier,^ in relation to cotton-spinners, led him to remark, 
 " These workmen constantly inhale an atmosphere 
 loaded with very fine cotton dust, which excites the 
 bronchi, provokes cough, and maintains a perpetual 
 irritation in the lungs. They are often obliged to change 
 their employment in order to avoid phthisis." Simi- 
 lar observations have been made with regard to other 
 branches of trade, such as stone-masons, bakers, fur- 
 riers, feather-dressers, knitters, flax-dressers, &c. &c. 
 In the words of Mr. Thakrah, *' The dust largely in- 
 haled in respiration irritates the air tubes, produces at 
 length organic disease of its membrane, or of the lungs 
 themselves, and often excites the development of tuber- 
 cles in constitutions predisposed to consumption." J 
 These remarks refer more particularly to the filing, &c. 
 of metals. 
 
 - In the production of yarn, the cottoji has to go 
 through several processes, some of which are attended 
 by considerable quantities of dust, and minute filaments. 
 
 * Fide North of England Medical and Surgical Journal, 
 No. II. 
 
 t Sur les Maladies des Artizans, p. 215. 
 
 X Vide Thakrah " On the Effect of the Principal Arts, Trades 
 Professions, &c. upon Health and Longevity." 
 
PECULIAR DISEASES. 223 
 
 In the scutching and blowing department, especially 
 where coarse and inferior cotton is used, spite of every 
 precaution, much dust is diffused through the rooms. 
 There are many contrivances to lessen this inconve- 
 nience, such as turning a strong current of air over the 
 blowing machine, an aperture being made to permit the 
 escape of flue outside — covering the machines with 
 woodwork so as to isolate them in some degree, &c. &c. 
 These succeed to some extent. After the first process 
 of cleaning the cotton from foreign bodies, it is carried 
 into the card rooms, and isjiere further cleaned, and 
 advanced another step towards being converted into 
 yarn. Here also, where coarse cotton is employed, 
 there is a quantity of dust and filaments thrown off, and 
 it is here perhaps that most inconvenience is felt. When, 
 however, fine cotton, of the first qualities, is used, very 
 little dust arises from it. 
 
 The system of better ventilation and attention to 
 cleanliness, which is spreading among the mills, has 
 already freed many of them from the greater portion 
 of the atmosphere of dust, which, not many years ago, 
 rendered it difiicult to breathe in those divisions in 
 which the first processes were carried on. Much re- 
 mains to be done, and there is no doubt, that, as far as 
 human invention can succeed in ridding the mills from 
 dust and flue, this will be effected ; for it is advanta- 
 geous to have them as clean, &c. as possible.* 
 
 Many hands are of course employed in this labour — 
 the carding of cotton, &c. — though but few, when com- 
 pared to the entire complement of mill labourers : and it is 
 here that, if evils do arise from the inhalation of foreign 
 
 * Since this was written, ventilators of the most powerful ope- 
 ration have been introduced into factories, producing a current of 
 air sufficient to remove every impurity. 
 
224 FACTORY LABOUR. 
 
 particles, they will of course be discovered, for all the 
 subsequent processes are nearly free from this nuisance. 
 In the weaving department nothing of the sort exists. 
 
 There can be no doubt but that in many instances 
 this dust, and these cottony particles, lead to slight 
 irritation of the mucous membrane lining the bronchi, 
 and produce cough and expectoration ; but it may be 
 questioned whether they induce organic disease of the 
 substance of the lungs, or even bring on ulceration of 
 the air passages, terminating in bronchial consumption ; 
 although a disease has been named the " spinners' 
 phthisis." It will be remembered, that Dr. Knight, in 
 the paper already mentioned, has very clearly demon- 
 strated — less by post mortem examinations, than by 
 symptoms during life certainly — that the inhaling steel 
 particles, which are plentifully evolved during grinding, 
 polishing, &c. produces asthma, running into consump- 
 tion. By a parity of reasoning, it has been wished to 
 prove, that the cotton-spinner breathing an atmosphere 
 surcharged with dust must be a sufferer in like manner. 
 The comparison is not fair ; and the results from it 
 must be viewed with suspicion. 
 
 In the first place, this nuisance exists to any serious 
 degree only in a few mills, and in the working a peculiar 
 kind of material ; and in the second, this dust, where it 
 does exist even abundantly, is of a vegetable nature 
 chiefly, and free from the irritating qualities of metallic 
 particles, which must in general be more or less angular, 
 and which cannot undergo any softening, before chemical 
 decomposition resolves them into new compounds. In 
 these particulars, the dust floating in cotton, flax, and silk 
 mills, is widely different from that in cutlery workshops, 
 marble and stone grinding, &c., and most assuredly is 
 much less prejudicial. That this dust should excite a 
 
Pj:CULIAR DISEASES. 225 
 
 very troublesome irritation to persons who have never 
 been exposed to its influence, except during the few 
 minutes spent in the mills on a casual visit, need excite 
 no surprise : but in the parties who have become accus- 
 tomed to such an atmosphere it produces little or no 
 inconvenience. 
 
 Dr. Kay, who advocates the opposite opinion, re- 
 marks very correctly, that " in this example, as in others, 
 is displayed that peculiar law of structure, by which it 
 insensibly undergoes changes which enable it to endure 
 the presence of a foreign or noxious substance, without 
 suffering the ordinary functional derangement ; and a 
 great proportion of the operatives engaged in cotton 
 spinning, suffer little, if at all, from the foreign particles 
 which they inspire during twelve hours in the day. The 
 diseases which arise from the circumstances which we 
 have described are chronic and subacute bronchitis."* 
 
 The latter part of this quotation maybe questioned as 
 to its accuracy. In some few cases indeed, which have 
 been brought under medical notice, a species of bron- 
 chitis, having a few trifling points of difference, when 
 compared to the common symptoms of this affection, 
 have been cited as proofs that they were the result of 
 the inhalation of this dust. Symptomatology is how- 
 ever too uncertain a science to be worthy implicit credit, 
 and is deserving little consideration when viewed singly, 
 and none whatever when its dicta are opposed to the 
 results of general observation. These cases differ so 
 little from others occurring under circumstances where 
 this agent could not have been applied, that it is quite 
 obvious they are not dependent upon it ; but rather 
 that cases of common bronchitis have been rendered 
 
 ♦ Fide North of England Medical and Surgical Journal, No. III. 
 Q 
 
226 FACTORY LABOUR. 
 
 occasionally more obstinate in their character in conse- 
 quence of these cottony particles being brought inces- 
 santly into contact with the inflamed and diseased 
 Surfaces . 
 
 If the inhalation of this dust was, as is asserted by 
 these authors, followed by consumption, whether laryn- 
 geal or pulmonary, which is on all hands acknowledged 
 to be almost uniformly fatal, there would unquestionably 
 be found a higher rate of mortality among spinners than 
 among weavers, the one being exposed to this inconve- 
 nience, the other being nearly, if not quite free from it. 
 This datum, if it can be correctly ascertained, will be at 
 once conclusive. Fortunately such is the case, as it is 
 given in a return from the mill of Mr. Ashton, and is 
 undoubtedly correct. 
 
 *' In thirteen years, during the first six of which, the 
 number of rovers, spinners, piecers, and dressers, {that is, 
 those connected with the dusty part of 'the processes) was 
 one hundred, and during the last seven, above two hun- 
 dred, only eight deaths occurred, though the same persons 
 were, with rare exceptions, employed during the whole 
 period. Supposing these deaths, for the sake of con- 
 venience, to have been nine, then by ascribing three to 
 the first six years, and six to the last seven, the mortality 
 during the former period was 1 in 200, and during the 
 latter, 1 in 233. The number of weavers {that is, those 
 unconnected with the dusty part of the processes), during 
 the first six years, was two hundred, and during the last 
 seven, four hundred ; and in the body of workmen forty 
 deaths occurred in thirteen years. By ascribing thirteen 
 of these deaths to the first six years, and twenty-seven 
 to the last seven, the mortality during the former period 
 was I in 92, and during the latter, 1 in 103."* 
 
 • Moral and Physical Condition, &c. p. 104. 
 
PECULIAR DISEASES. 227 
 
 Thus, then, it appears, that the mortality amongst 
 those persons who were removed from the supposed 
 noxious agent — -dust, was more than double that which 
 occurred among those who were exposed to its influence ; 
 and this disparity is the more remarkable, when it is 
 considered that in the body of spinners, which exhibits 
 such a low rate of mortality, a great number of children 
 are included from eight to twelve years of age — a period 
 when many deaths occur ; whilst, on the contrary, the 
 weavers consist chiefly of young men and women from 
 fifteen to twenty-five, a decade as little fatal as any 
 in the course of human life. 
 
 Nothing can be more conclusive as to the question — 
 Is the ^atmosphere which is breathed by the factory 
 labourer necessarily injurious to his existence, in con- 
 sequence of its being loaded with the debris of cotton 'I 
 Public opinion says, yes ; examination into the fact says, 
 no ; though it may be admitted that the catarrhal affec- 
 tions to which he is so much exposed are occasionally 
 aggravated by this cause. 
 
 Another circumstance supposed to influence the 
 salubrity of mill labour is, that numbers being congre- 
 gated into one room — by the process of respiration, the 
 air being rapidly deoxygenated, is rendered unfit for the 
 purposes of respiration.* Wherever numbers of human 
 beings are crowded into a limited space, the respired air 
 is rapidly freed from its oxygen, that portion of its 
 constituent parts which alone possesses capabilities for 
 supporting animal life ; and its place becomes occu- 
 pied by a gas produced by certain chemical changes 
 carried on within the lungs, named carbonic acid gas — 
 a gas destructive to life, and incapable of supporting 
 
 * This deoxygenation is aided at the present day by the exten- 
 sive use of gas as an illuminating agent. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 FACTORY LABOUR. 
 
 flame. This change in the nature of the respired air 
 is fatal in two ways, — one, by removing the oxygen, and 
 the other, by substituting the gas just mentioned ; but to 
 be injurious in a very marked degree in either of these 
 ways, the place must be confined, and the temperature 
 pretty nearly the same with that of the surrounding 
 atmosphere, — as elevation of temperature produces a 
 continual current of fresh air, which it is very difficult 
 to shut out, even were this desired. 
 
 Before, however, that degree of saturation with this 
 obnoxious gas is reached, which would be immediately 
 fatal to animal existence, the atmosphere of a room may 
 be so far impregnated as to produce very depressing effects 
 upon the vital activity of the system, which is attended 
 with some peculiar consequences ; and these have been 
 well hinted at by Cabanis, in conjunction with some other 
 circumstances which have been noticed. " Dans les 
 ateliers clos, surtout dans ceux ou I'air se renouvelle 
 avec difficulte, les forces musculaires diminuent rapide- 
 ment ; la reproduction de la chaleur animale languit ; 
 et les hommes de la constitution la plus robuste, con- 
 tractent le temperament mobile et capricieux des 
 femmes. Ajoutez que, si la nombre des ouvriers est un 
 peu considerable, I'alteration progressive de I'air agit 
 d'une maniere directe et pernicieuse, d'abord sur les 
 poumons, dont le sang refoit son caractere vital, et 
 bientot sur le cerveau lui-meme. Ainsi done, sans parler 
 des emanations malfaisantes que les matieres manufac- 
 turees ou celles qu'on emploi dans leur preparation exha- 
 lent souvent, presque toutes circonstances se reunissent 
 pour rendre les ateliers egalement malsains au physique 
 et au moral."* 
 
 * Rapports du Physique et du Moral de I'Homrae, par P. I. G. 
 Cabanis. Vol. II. p. 83. 
 
PECULIAR DISEASES. 229 
 
 An atmosphere thus impregnated acts indeed as a 
 slow poison, and produces a particular impression upon 
 the sensorium, apparently through the medium of the 
 blood, which loses its florid colour ; and when circu- 
 lated through the brain in this condition, lowers all the 
 powers of life in direct proportion with the extent of 
 deterioration ; and this is one cause of the low degree of 
 vital energy possessed by the mill artisans. In former 
 times, when the interior economy of mills was imperfect, 
 and the rooms were low and small, the baleful influence 
 of this poisonous gas operated most powerfully upon 
 those engaged in them. Latterly, since the great im- 
 provement as to ventilation, loftiness of rooms, &c., this 
 influence is decidedly lessened, and, in the best con- 
 structed mills of the present day, can hardly be said to 
 exist. 
 
 This gas, carbonic acid, is heavier than common air,* 
 and as fast as it is evolved sinks down to the floor, 
 forming a stratum more or less dense, according to the 
 facilities allowed for its escape. It is thus, in some 
 degree, removed from the influence of ventilation, as 
 generally managed, namely, by apertures or windows 
 placed high in the walls of the room. This plan is the 
 best' and most eflicacious for regulating temperature, 
 merely as the heated air rising, according to its specific 
 gravity, escapes freely from any opening offered it, and 
 is replaced by a current of cold air, which rushes in to 
 
 * A very simple experiment is sufficient to show this — ** When 
 ajar is perfectly filled with this gas, take another jar of smaller 
 size, and place at the bottom of it a lighted taper, supported by a 
 stand ; then pour the contents of the first-mentioned jar into the 
 second, as if you were pouring water. The candle will be instantly 
 extinguished, as if it had been immersed in water. — Br. Henry's 
 Chemistry t Vol. I. p. 341. 
 
230 FACTORY LABOUR. 
 
 occupy its place. Not so with carbonic acid gas : it 
 remains undulating on the floor, or falls slowly through 
 any casual aperture, or flows down the stairs, but very 
 little escapes through a common ventilator. The Grotto 
 del Cane is a curious example of this, the depth of 
 the stratum of gas generally being about two feet. Its 
 existence at the bottom of wells, mines, &c. &c., is 
 another proof of its density being greater than that of 
 common atmospheric air, the mine or well being quite 
 free from it, except within two or three yards at the 
 bottom. It may be questioned whether the use of cast- 
 iron floors, now so common in mills, does not interfere 
 with the dispersion of this gas, however advantageous 
 they may be in other respects. 
 
 This evil is, however, undergoing a beneficial change, 
 from the increased use of machinery requiring a less 
 number of hands in particular rooms ; and might be 
 still more eflectually removed by directing a current 
 of air along the floors, and leaving openings sunk 
 through the walls.* 
 
 The transitions from a heated temperature to the 
 common day, and vice versd, especially during certain 
 portions of the year, are circumstances which inevitably 
 expose the mill labourers to colds and catarrhal fevers. 
 This effect is aided by their very light and imperfect 
 clothing, — often issuing from the mill but half- clad, and 
 without shoes or hat. This might to a great degree be 
 remedied by the labourers themselves, by a greater atten- 
 tion to their personal comforts. 
 
 From this cursory examination of the conditions of 
 factory labour in general, it will be apparent, that there is 
 
 * The powerful ventilators now in use in the best regulated 
 mills carry away this noxious agent very completely. 
 
PECULIAR DISEASES. 231 
 
 nothing connected with them necessarily fatal to life; ; 
 but that some of the agencies to which the labourers are k 
 exposed exert a depressing influence upon their muscular 
 and sensorial systems ; that there is nothing in the 
 structure of the mills, as to temperature — nothing in the \ 
 material upon which they are engaged— nothing in the f 
 processes, which are, per se, prejudicial. On the con- 
 trary, from an extensive inquiry, it appears that the 
 average rate of mortality has been and is diminishing /\ 
 since the mills have absorbed such an increased amount 
 of population ; but that, although life has been bene- 
 fited, considered as to its duration, — yet, that the standard 
 of health has been seriously diminished. The former is 
 demonstrably the result of lessened vital energy, render- 
 ing the human system less susceptible of acute fatal dis- 
 eases ; and the latter is owing, first, to the use of steam, 
 which, by requiring certain local advantages, of neces- 
 sity crowds men into limited spaces, a circumstance 
 ever unfavourable to health; secondly, from the uninter- 
 mitted attention demanded by machinery ; thirdly, from 
 protracted hours of labour ; and, fourthly, from the bad 
 habits of the labourers themselves. 
 
 The diseases of the manufacturing population take 
 their peculiar character from the causes mentioned, and 
 are almost uniformly of a slow and very protracted 
 kind.* Few amongst the population can be said to 
 enjoy perfect health ; all are more or less ailing, and 
 are deprived of every chance of restoration by the im- 
 possibility of removing themselves from the influence 
 which is ever around and within them. 
 
 * " We have no reason to believe that in the cotton mills 
 urgent diseases are often produced, or the immediate mortality 
 great. Disorders of the nervous and digestive systems are fre- 
 quent, but not severe." — Thackrah on^Jealth, Sfc. p. 106. 
 
232 FACTORY LABOUR. 
 
 In the chapter on Infant Labour, the situation of the 
 factory child has been dilated upon, and shown to be ex- 
 posed to every thing which can injure its constitution. In 
 reference to this, Mr. Green, in his evidence before a Com- 
 mittee of the House of Commons, remarks : " There is no 
 disease to which children, both from the constitution of 
 their frames, and the various unfavourable circumstances 
 to which they are exposed, are more liable than scrofula, 
 in all its multitudinous forms. To the production of this 
 disease, one of the most influential circumstances is, I 
 am persuaded, breathing an impure air ; and by purity 
 of air I do not mean any thing that can be determined 
 by chemistry : but I refer to the fact that scrofula chiefly 
 prevails in the children of the inhabitants of densely 
 peopled towns and crowded cities." 
 
 Scrofula may be defined a disease, or rather the name 
 for a group of diseases, arising from imperfect or de- 
 praved nutrition, and exhibits itself in a variety of forms, 
 all evincing that the processes of absorption and deposi- 
 tion are going on badly, and that the series of vessels 
 devoted to these purposes is conveying a fluid unfitted 
 for healthy growth, the result of imperfect elimination. 
 This is a disease to which, a priori, it might be supposed 
 the manufacturing population, in its younger branches, 
 would be very liable, — all the conditions of their labour, 
 localities, and modes of living, favouring the production 
 of its peculiar diathesis. Such, indeed, observation 
 tells is the fact: but this by no means so universally as 
 Is believed. 
 
 The records of the Royal Infirmary at Manchester, 
 containing a classification and list of diseases, are, in 
 many points, of somewhat doubtful authenticity, no 
 regular and systematic plan of registry being in use. 
 Independently of surgical operations, consequent upon 
 
PECULIAR DISEASES. 233 
 
 accidents, the majority of cases of amputation, &c. &c. 
 are from scrofulous diseases in the joints and other 
 parts. If a judgment were formed from this circum- 
 stance alone, it would appear that the greater num- 
 ber of patients seeking assistance were scrofulous. 
 That a very considerable portion of these patients, under 
 sixteen years of age, is affected by this disease, is per- 
 haps true, but its effects are not marked as such ; and 
 again, vast numbers of the worst cases which fill the 
 wards are brought from out- districts, generally in the 
 anticipation that some operation may be needful. Still, 
 scrofula must be ranked as one of the diseases of the 
 operative manufacturer ; but it exists to an equal extent 
 both in the one engaged in factories, and in the hand- 
 loom weaver, who, although removed from a part of the 
 depressing agencies of the mill-spinner or weaver,* has 
 to contend with an enemy still more destructive — actual 
 want ! In early life, rachitic affections prevail largely ; 
 but has been spoken of in connexion with infant 
 labour. 
 
 One of the most frequent ailments of the mill arti- 
 sans, however, is derangement in the digestive organs, 
 attended by a host of troublesome symptoms, and fol- 
 lowed by a tissue of mischiefs, which place it in advance 
 of all other affections preying upon the manufacturing po- 
 pulation. The diet of these people is innutritious and 
 badly cooked. Their habits, their dram-drinking, their 
 undrained houses and streets, are all fruitful sources of 
 
 ♦ ** For the last sixteen years, I have been in the habit of 
 putting to the patients the question, * What trade are you of?* 
 especially when the case was that of a distorted limb or joint ; to 
 which question the answer has almost never been, * Work in a 
 cotton factory ;' but almost constantly, ' A hand-loom weaver,' or 
 other trade." — Factory Commission— ^Appendix to Medical Report, 
 P-281. 
 
234 FACTORY LABOUR. 
 
 evil, and tell most decidedly upon the functions of the 
 primce vice^ altering their secretions, and producing effects 
 in the highest degree injurious to bodily health, and 
 reacting very powerfully upon the functions of the brain. 
 
 It may be very safely stated, that one half the diseases 
 among adults spring from this cause. The food they 
 take is hastily swallow^ed, almost unmasticated : it is 
 often coarse, and not very easily digested ; it wants the 
 stimulants of solidity and proper nutritive qualities ; 
 and, pushed into the stomach as it is, does not undergo 
 complete chymification ; hence portions are forced 
 downwards into the intestines, and become so many 
 sources of irritation. The constant repetition of this 
 disturbs the healthy function of the mucous membrane 
 lining the whole of these passages. Its secretion is 
 changed, and it becomes exceedingly irritable, in some 
 instances exciting the muscular coat of the intestines to 
 frequent, irregular, and spasmodic action, giving rise to 
 griping and cholicky pains, which are very distressing. 
 In other examples, an opposite state of things is the 
 consequence : the bowels are torpid, and many days, 
 and sometimes upwards of a week, pass over, and no 
 alvine evacuation takes place. 
 
 In both these instances the appetite fails after a time ; 
 the sufferers lose flesh, become pale and languid, and 
 this very often attended by hypochondriasis,* which in- 
 creases a hundred-fold their miseries, aggravating every 
 paroxysm of pain to a degree almost unendurable. This 
 mental accompaniment is one of the peculiarities of in- 
 digestion ; and, in the case of the labouring poor who 
 suffer under it, hurries them to seek relief from ardent 
 
 * " Hypochondriasis, from indulging too much the corrupt de- 
 sires of the flesh and spirit, is in fact the prevalent disease of the 
 highest paid operative." — Philosophy of Manufacture Sf p. 386. 
 
PECULIAR DISEASES. 235 
 
 spirits, which are a very poison when systematically or 
 largely swallowed during the continuance of these attacks. 
 
 Little wonder can be excited that, harassed by the miser- 
 able sensations to which this condition of health gives birth, 
 the degraded labourer should have recourse to this tempo- 
 rary relief. He either knows not, or cares not, that it is 
 injurious, but follows up too truly the rest of his impro- 
 vidences by thinking only of to-day ! Medical aid, it is 
 true, is at ha^d ; but to seek that he must lose his work, 
 and a difficulty might arise as to his resuming it. He there- 
 fore struggles on till the disease takes a favourable turn, 
 or he is so far reduced as to be incapable of going to 
 the mill. The singularly miserable aspect presented 
 by many of the operatives, shewing, as it were, an 
 epitome of every thing that melancholy can impress on 
 the human face, is owing to these bowel affections. 
 Beyond their own immediate seat of disease or derange- 
 ment, they call into play a crowd of painful feelings in 
 all parts of the body, and are the originators of many of 
 those anomalous diseases classed under the general 
 term — nervous, the majority of which are dependent 
 upon the chylopoietic viscera. 
 
 However troublesome this class of diseases may be, — 
 and it would be impossible to point out any maladies 
 attended by a more harassing train of consequences, — 
 they are not necessarily fatal. To what extent de- 
 rangements in the digestive organs may run, com- 
 patible with life, it is very difficult to say : not many 
 years have elapsed since their importance became under- 
 stood — a circumstance which may be explained from the 
 change in the diet and general habits of society, render- 
 ing it not improbable that, as an extensive class of 
 disease, they are only of recent origin. So long as the 
 lower orders were engaged in active out-door occupations, 
 
236 FACTORY LABOUR. 
 
 and were supported by a simple and nutritious diet, 
 there is no reason to suppose that they were subject to 
 these morbid conditions of the bowels. 
 
 In the higher classes of society, a tribe of diseases, hav- 
 ing their origin in too nourishing and stimulant a diet, 
 which produces a precisely similar train of suffering, has 
 attracted considerable attention. It is, indeed, a new 
 feature in the history of medicine, to find the two extremes 
 of the social confederacy labouring under the same mala- 
 dies, running through a similar course, and producing the 
 same peculiar feeling of morbid irritability, intermitting 
 with the most profound melancholy. If the situation of 
 the pampered man of wealth, who is the victim to dy- 
 spepsia, is pitiable, how shall that of the operative be 
 described ? Language wants force to depict its evils : 
 unmitigated, as it is, by all those foreign aids which can 
 be procured by individuals differently circumstanced, he 
 is condemned to labour on, a prey to bodily sufferings, 
 and the most deplorable mental anxiety — alternately 
 drowning his troubles in the delirium of intoxication, or 
 standing, a miserable and woe-worn figure, before his 
 machine or loom. 
 
 Fever occurs in manufacturing towns, as in all other 
 localities, but is neither more common nor more severe 
 in its attacks. It generally assumes a low and somewhat 
 typhoid character, and very often is attended by slight 
 ulcerations in the bowels — a condition which has been 
 ably described by several recent pathological writers. 
 The manufacturing towns, from the denseness of their 
 population, might reasonably be supposed to be pecu- 
 liarly liable to epidemic febrile visitations. When it is 
 recollected in what state the homes, streets, &c. are 
 found, it is indeed a source of wonder that the most 
 destructive pestilences do not periodically rage among 
 
PECULIAR DISEASES. 237 
 
 them. Sporadic cases of fever are of course common ; 
 but looking at these towns and districts generally, they 
 will be discovered to be exceedingly free from contagious 
 diseases — adding another proof to those already given, 
 that the low and depressed state of vital activity, uni- 
 versally characterizing this population, removes it 
 beyond their influences.* Many speculations have been 
 thrown out as to the purifying qualities of smoke, gas 
 emanations, &c. &c., but no proofs are in existence 
 which endow these with any importance. 
 
 Consumption has been supposed to be another dis- 
 ease of great extent and mortality in this population. 
 Connected as it appears to be in some degree with a 
 scrofulous diathesis, and exposed to so many causes of 
 mischief in the respiratory organs, as the mill artisans 
 are, this disease is doubtless common. The imperfect 
 clothing, the sudden changes as to temperature, &c., are 
 powerful agents in keeping alive bronchial irritation, which 
 occasionally runs into ulceration, or the formation of 
 tubercles in the lungs. Still pulmonary consumption 
 does not merit consideration, as a peculiar affection among 
 the operative manufacturers. Neither does it appear that 
 the deaths from this disease are increasing, in any thing 
 like an equal ratio, with the increase in this class of 
 workers. Coughs and asthmatic affections are very pre- 
 valent from the same causes, but do not necessarily 
 shorten life, or lead to organic changes beyond a slight 
 thickening of the mucous membrane lining the air 
 passages. 
 
 On the whole, it may be said that the class of manu- 
 facturers engaged in mill labour, exhibit but few well- 
 
 * Vide Second Factory Commission Report, p. 56, &c. This 
 population was remarkably exempt from cholera during the late 
 visitation of that disease. 
 
238 FACTORY LABOUR. 
 
 defined diseases ; but that nearly the entire number are 
 victims to a train of irregular morbid actions, chiefly 
 indicated by disturbances in the functions of the diges- 
 tive apparatus, with their consequent effects upon the 
 nervous system ; producing melancholy, extreme mental 
 irritability, and great exhaustion. Their existence does 
 not seem shortened ; on the contrary, a general improve- 
 ment in the value of human life is the result of the 
 changes which have operated on the condition of the 
 labouring community. 
 
 The nature of the labour of the factory artisan, and 
 the imperative necessity for his regular attendance, ex- 
 plain what might at first sight appear a contradiction 
 between many of the foregoing observations and Dr. 
 Mitchell's very curious table of the comparative amount 
 of sickness in different occupations per annum. 
 
 Days' sicknesses. 
 Staffordshire Potteries, to the age of 61 . 9.3 each man. 
 
 Silk mills 7.8 — 
 
 Woollen mills 7.08 — 
 
 Flax mills 5.01 — 
 
 Cotton mills (Glasgow) 5.6 — 
 
 East India Company's servants . . . 5.4 — 
 Labourers in Chatham dock-yard . . . 5.38 — 
 Lancashire cotton mills ...... 5.35 — 
 
 Lancashire ditto, under 16 years of age .3.14 — 
 
 The sub-acute character of the diseases of manufac- 
 turers is also strongly demonstrated by the fact, that of 
 1046 patients admitted into the Manchester hospital in 
 the year 1832, and whose occupations were registered, 
 only 208 belonged to the factory classes. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 EDUCATION RELIGION — CRIME PAUPERISM. 
 
 Knowledge — Advantages of Knowledge — Education — Moral — 
 Proper Education for the Labouring Man — Its Objects — Home, 
 the best School for this Education — Intellectual Education — 
 Sunday Schools — Their Advantages and Disadvantages — Want 
 of Regulation — Mechanics' Institutes — Their Advantages, &c. — 
 Infant Schools — Their Importance — The Prospect they open 
 to the Factory Child, &c. — Error of these Schools — Duty of 
 Master Manufacturers — Cheap Periodicals — In what wanting — 
 Religion— Amount and Character of Crime — Extent of Pauper- 
 ism, &c. &c. 
 
 It has been said that "knowledge unemployed will 
 preserve us from vice, for vice is but another name for 
 ignorance ; but knowledge employed is virtue." This 
 assertion is, however, in so far fallacious, that it assumes 
 vice to exist alone with ignorance, and to be alone 
 compatible with it. The history of all ages and the 
 experience of every-day life are sufficient proofs that 
 this is a position which cannot be maintained, unless by 
 the term knowledge be understood both moral and 
 intellectual acquirement — and these, too, so proportioned 
 and determined, as to maintain an equal balance, a 
 nicety of adaptation diiScult to point out, and still more 
 difficult to reduce to settled rules. 
 
 The ignorant man, indeed, is improvident in propor- 
 tion to his ignorance ; for being unaware of the evils 
 
240 EDUCATION. 
 
 which result to him individually, and to the good of 
 society in general, he has no check to restrain his 
 irregular and inordinate appetites ; knowing nothing 
 also of the resources open to his exertions, he makes no 
 advance in civilization or refinement, and is much under 
 the influence of example, and much more easily led 
 away from the path of private duty and public propriety. 
 The ignorant man, not understanding the principles 
 which guide the conduct of the legislature, the particular 
 acts of municipal bodies, the relation of master and 
 servant, is consequently a bad servant and a turbulent 
 citizen ; and having no data on which to reason, neces- 
 sarily forms erroneous conclusions upon most of [the 
 phenomena, whether moral or physical, which come under 
 his notice. Hence ignorance is a great evil. 
 
 Education is a word applied to a series of acts having 
 for their objects, first, the development and proper 
 direction of man's social instincts ; this may be termed 
 the education of morals : and, secondly, the cultivation 
 of mind, considered in reference to its peculiar attributes ; 
 this may be termed intellectual education. . 
 
 The intention of educating the labouring community 
 ought to be, and no doubt is, to increase the individual 
 happiness of every separate member ; to elevate him in 
 the scale of society, and to add to the harmony and 
 contentment of the whole social union. 
 
 Moral education is that which, by acting upon man's 
 feelings and principles, his natural instincts, his duties 
 as a father, son, husband and brother, and upon his 
 religious aspirations, has the most immediate and direct 
 inffuence upon his character and happiness. 
 
 This is the education which is of the most importance 
 to the labouring man. Circumstanced as he often is, 
 verging upon positive want, a most demoralizing agent, 
 
EDUCATION. 241 
 
 he requires all the aids which can be given to preserve 
 him from habitual vice. He is at perpetual warfare 
 with himself, inasmuch as his appetites and desires are 
 more varied and more extensive than his means and 
 opportunities can satisfy. Hence it is that morals, as 
 applied to his domestic affections and duties, are of 
 such mighty importance to his well being. 
 
 If the education which is afforded him does not aim at 
 these ends, its proposed advantages are illusory, and its 
 effects may be positively injurious. If the poor man's 
 home is not rendered happier by it, he is better without 
 it. He had better be suffered to remain in ignorance, 
 that other classes have certain specific advantages, denied 
 him, if at the same time he is shewn that he has the 
 capabilities, the physical and political strength to aim at 
 a summary mode of changing his condition. If his 
 instincts and social affections are not roused and deter- 
 mined to their legitimate objects, his comfort is only 
 more widely ruined ; for he becomes discontented with 
 a lot which he inherits as a birthright, and with which 
 he might have struggled on through existence, mi- 
 serable indeed in the estimation of the looker-on, but 
 rendered more miserable a thousand times by having 
 superadded the gnawing sense of his inferiority, which, 
 had he been suffered to remain in his original state 
 of obtuse ignorance, would never have disturbed his 
 peace. 
 
 Home ever has been and ever will be the school for 
 moral education. It is here alone that man can develop 
 in their full beauty those affections of the heart which 
 are destined to be, through life, the haven to which he 
 may retire when driven about by the storms of fortune. 
 It is here that he may have about him, if his condition 
 is not supereminently wretched, feelings and emotions 
 
 R 
 
242 EDUCATION. 
 
 of the most ennobling influence ; it is here that he may 
 hold communion with himself; and it is here, and here 
 alone, that he will be enabled to retain his pride of self, 
 and his personal respectability. 
 
 Moral education then is that, the oJ05ces of which are 
 to cultivate man's inherent sense of justice, to direct his 
 religious aspirations, to make him charitable, humane, 
 and honourable in his dealings ; to bring into play his 
 social virtues and his domestic affections ; to render him 
 a good father, son, husband, and citizen. To secure the 
 noble ends of moral instruction, it must be cultivated at 
 home ; and the way in which its primary influence will 
 be perceived, is in increasing the happiness of himself 
 and family. 
 
 It may be safely asserted, that the means hitherto in 
 force have not been well calculated to the great pur- 
 poses of true education. The error has lain, and it is one 
 as yet but partially and imxperfectly acknowledged, in 
 the giving of mere mental instruction — the acquisition 
 of fundamental learning. 
 
 It is, however, insuflicient to teach a child to read or 
 write ; it is insufficient to teach it texts from the Bible ; 
 it is insufficient to teach it mathematics, chemistry, or 
 history ; it is insufficient to teach it a language beyond 
 its own. These do nothing towards teaching its moral 
 duties, and it is upon these the excellence of its charac- 
 ter and future life must depend. As accessories, as a 
 means to an end, and as extending the sphere of man's 
 knowledoje, these are excellent. As fitting him for im- 
 proving or modifying his condition, they are excellent ; 
 as elevating him another step above the brutes around 
 him, and as giving him a more correct estimate of him- 
 self, they are excellent ; but they should be considered as 
 subsidiary to morals, for without morality knowledge is 
 
EDUCATION. 243 
 
 pernicious, as it extends more widely the capabilities for 
 being mischievous. 
 
 Mere intellectual education cannot improve the moral 
 condition of the labouring classes — it cannot render them 
 better men or better citizens ; but it can teach them their 
 own power, and it is doing so at a period when that 
 tuition is pregnant with danger to themselves. 
 
 So long as the homes of the factory labourer are what 
 they are — so long as drunkenness and riot, so long as all 
 the ties of natural affection and parental subordination 
 are unacknowledged and unfelt — so long as children are 
 deprived of the force of beneficial example — so long as 
 they are, both at home and abroad, exposed to vicious 
 example, so long will intellectual cultivation not prove 
 the remedy for the manifold miseries incident to their 
 present condition. Many of these have their origin in 
 the conduct of the interested parties themselves, and 
 many of them are the consequence of a system of labour 
 and of payment capable of great improvement. 
 
 The benevolent founder of Sunday schools was prompt- 
 ed, no doubt, by feelings of the purest humanity. In 
 the agricultural districts in which, compared with manu- 
 facturing towns, morals were in much higher perfection 
 in ratio with intellectual acquirements, their effects were 
 beneficial. The child of the agricultural labourer has 
 a purer sense of religion than the child of the artisan 
 born and bred in a great town ; its domestic habits are 
 formed at home, in which home, however, no means or 
 opportunities for the acquisition of learning are afforded. 
 To the child so circumstanced the Sunday school was 
 an invaluable boon in some respects. 
 
 Its introduction into the large manufacturing towns, 
 in certain points of view, was equally valuable, as the in- 
 cessant occupation of the factory child entirely prevents 
 r2 
 
244 EDUCATION. 
 
 it from acquiring the simplest rudiments of knowledge 
 during the week-days. 
 
 The Sunday school to this child, therefore, gives the 
 only possible means of gaining instruction intellectually. 
 In another point of view it is of equal consequence to it ; 
 it prevents the desecration of the sabbath, which, were 
 it not engaged here, would inevitably follow the want of 
 its customary labour. It thus becomes a moral restraint^ 
 and it may perhaps admit of question whether this be 
 not the chief benefit derived from it. 
 
 The Sunday school may be thus looked upon as the 
 first step towards the establishment of moral feelings in 
 the bosom of the factory child : it removes it from home 
 — a home having little within or around it breathing a 
 healthy or social atmosphere. It exhibits the day of rest 
 in its proper light — an abstraction from habitual labour, 
 and it conduces materially to personal cleanliness. 
 
 Sunday schools are not exclusively appropriated to 
 the child of the manufacturing labourer ; a very consi- 
 derable portion of their attendants are the children of 
 shopkeepers, petty tradesmen, and people engaged in 
 various other occupations. Here one mischief arises 
 from them : these, which of themselves are freed from 
 many of the evils of the social condition of their com- 
 panions, derive any thing but benefit from their asso- 
 ciation, indiscriminate as it is. It is here that great 
 improvement may yet be made in the constitution of 
 these schools. As they now stand, the moral good they 
 produce on the one hand, is counterpoised by a corre- 
 spondent extent of evil on the other ; and their influ- 
 ence on the whole community has not been operative 
 in the moral regeneration of the factory districts as 
 could have been wished. 
 
 Want of due classification may be looked upon as the 
 
EDUCATION. 245 
 
 one leading error : the selection of teachers and moni- 
 tors, another. Vulgar habits and coarse minds should 
 never have a place in the superintendence of any portion, 
 however minute, in these schools. 
 
 The number of children who receive a limited edu- 
 cation in these schools, is very considerable. This 
 argues well on the part both of their promoters, and of 
 those who attend them. 
 
 The evidence in the Factory Report Commission is 
 on this head, as well as some others, singularly meagre, 
 or rather exceedingly defective. From inquiries in- 
 stituted by the Statistical Society of Manchester, there 
 are it appears about 36,000 children taught in the 
 Sunday schools of that town, of whom five-eighths are 
 factory children, as near as can be judged — a fair pro- 
 portion, considering the occupation of the inhabitants. 
 In Stockport, 4,932 children are educated in Sunday 
 schools, of whom one-half are connected with factory 
 labour.* 
 
 The following Table, though obviously inaccurate in 
 many particulars, is curious. For example, it has been 
 ascertained that in Manchester alone, somewhere about 
 five-eighths of 36,000 children are connected with fac- 
 tories, and taught in Sunday schools. It does not follow 
 as a matter of course that all can read ; but it is cer- 
 tainly true that the majority can ; and yet, in the Table 
 below, 11,000 factory people, capable of reading, are 
 given to the whole of Lancashire. The same observation 
 applies to Cheshire : — Stockport furnishing 2,668 factory 
 Sunday school learners, and the whole county only 3,000 
 factory people capable of reading. 
 
 * The Statistics of Dr. Ure, in his "Philosophy of Manufac- 
 tures," are often of a very singular kind. The population he gives 
 to Stockport is one illustration. 
 
246 IFiiUCATION. 
 
 If this return is to be looked upon as an accurate 
 one, what becomes of the educational benefit, so loudly- 
 vaunted as resulting from Sunday schools ; since it 
 appears that in the magnificent and admirably conducted 
 Stockport great Sunday school, not less than 40,850 
 scholars have been inscribed on its registers, and, in the 
 language of its own Report for 1833, a great part of 
 these children have received a religious and moral edu- 
 cation in its walls ? How happens it, then, that if near 
 30,000 factory children have received the elements of 
 education, reading being the first of these, only 3,000 
 factory people were found capable of reading? Another 
 curious fact shewn by the Table is the comparative 
 education of factory labourers in different counties. 
 
 We have again to repeat that the Table must be con- 
 sidered not as a complete tabular view of the state 
 of education amongst the parties to whom it has refer- 
 ence ; and it must be remembered that the mind of the 
 mill artisan is little disposed to intellectual pursuits.* 
 
 * " The mind (of the mill artisan) gathers neither stores nor 
 strength from the constant extension and retraction of the same 
 muscles. The intellect slumbers in inert supineness, but the 
 grosser parts of our nature attain a rank development, fo con- 
 demn man to such a toil as this, is, in some measure, to cultivate 
 in him the habits of an animal : he becomes reckless; he disregards 
 the distinguishing appetites and habits of his species ; he neglects 
 the comforts and delicacies of life ; he lives in squalid wretched- 
 ness, on meagre food, and expends his superfluous gains in de- 
 bauchery." — Moral and Physical Condition of the Working Classes, 
 p. 22. 
 
EDUCATION. 
 
 FACTORY EDUCATION TABLE. 
 
 247 
 
 
 Numbers taken from the | 
 
 Proportion in the 
 
 
 Returns. 
 
 
 hundred. 
 
 1 
 
 6- 
 
 
 
 '6 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 1.1 
 
 ENGLAND. 
 Lancashire .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 83 
 
 17 
 
 38 
 
 62 
 
 11,393 
 
 2,344 
 
 5,184 
 
 8,553 
 
 Cheshire 
 
 3,092 
 
 344 
 
 1,630 
 
 1,806 
 
 90 
 
 10 
 
 47 
 
 53 
 
 Yorkshire 
 
 9,087 
 
 1,616 
 
 5,194 
 
 5,509 
 
 85 
 
 15 
 
 48 
 
 52 
 
 Derbyshire .... 
 
 2,490 
 
 314 
 
 1,200 
 
 1,604 
 
 88 
 
 12 
 
 43 
 
 57 
 
 Staffordshire . . . 
 
 3,530 
 
 718 
 
 2,603 
 
 1,645 
 
 83 
 
 17 
 
 61 
 
 39 
 
 Leicestershire . . 
 
 351 
 
 92 
 
 174 
 
 269 
 
 80 
 
 20 
 
 40 
 
 60 
 
 Nottinghamshire . 
 
 948 
 
 127 
 
 455 
 
 616 
 
 88 
 
 12 
 
 43 
 
 57 
 
 Norfolk, Suffolk,) 
 Essex . . . . ) 
 
 1,914 
 
 433 
 
 608 
 
 1,739 
 
 81 
 
 19 
 
 26 
 
 74 
 
 Wiltshire 
 
 3,045 
 
 527 
 
 1,364 
 
 2,208 
 
 85 
 
 15 
 
 38 
 
 62 
 
 Somersetshire . . 
 
 2,040 
 
 229 
 
 591 
 
 1,678 
 
 89 
 
 11 
 
 26 
 
 74 
 
 Devonshire .... 
 
 755 
 
 34 
 
 401 
 
 386 
 
 96 
 
 4 
 
 51 
 
 49 
 
 Gloucestershire . . 
 
 4,556 
 
 379 
 
 1,983 
 
 2,952 
 
 92 
 
 8 
 
 40 
 
 60 
 
 Worcestershire . . 
 
 21 
 
 — 
 
 16 
 
 5 
 
 100 
 
 — 
 
 77 
 
 23 
 
 Warwickshire . . 
 Total . . . 
 
 105 
 
 15 
 
 81 
 
 39 
 
 88 
 86 
 
 12 
 14 
 
 68 
 43 
 
 32 
 
 57 
 
 43,327 
 
 7,172 
 
 21,484 
 
 29,009 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Aberdeenshire . . 
 
 4,336 
 
 305 
 
 2,133 
 
 2,508 
 
 93 
 
 7 
 
 46 
 
 54 
 
 Forfarshire . . . . 
 
 4,879 
 
 237 
 
 2,425 
 
 2,691 
 
 95 
 
 5 
 
 47 
 
 53 
 
 Perthshire .... 
 
 1,601 
 
 96 
 
 1,054 
 
 643 
 
 94 
 
 6 
 
 62 
 
 38 
 
 Fifeshire 
 
 1,558 
 
 38 
 
 862 
 
 734 
 
 97 
 
 3 
 
 57 
 
 43 
 
 Clackmannanshire 
 
 213 
 
 6 
 
 754 
 
 65 
 
 97 
 
 3 
 
 70 
 
 30 
 
 Stirlingshire . . . 
 
 795 
 
 23 
 
 547 
 
 271 
 
 97 
 
 3 
 
 66 
 
 34 
 
 Lanarkshire . . . 
 
 7,815 
 
 317 
 
 4,454 
 
 3,678 
 
 96 
 
 4 
 
 54 
 
 46 
 
 Renfrewshire. . . 
 
 5,664 
 
 199 
 
 3,165 
 
 2,698 
 
 97 
 
 3 
 
 54 
 
 46 
 
 Ayrshire 
 
 867 
 
 2 
 
 594 
 
 275 
 
 100 
 
 — 
 
 68 
 
 32 
 
 Bute 
 
 430 
 
 4 
 
 310 
 
 124 
 
 99 
 
 1 
 
 71 
 
 39 
 
 Mid Lothian . . . 
 Total . . . . 
 
 98 
 
 3 
 
 96 
 
 5 
 
 97 
 96 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 95 
 53 
 
 5 
 
 47 
 
 28,256 
 
 1,230 
 
 16,394 
 
 13,692 
 
248 EDUCATION, 
 
 It is amongst this population, gathered together as it 
 is in masses, that a general plan of education should be 
 introduced. It has been, and is yet, a disgrace to Great 
 Britain, that whilst palaces and halls have been built 
 and richly endowed for the sons of her higher ranks, 
 the people, emphatically so called, have been left 
 uncared-for, and that, to the present day, there are but 
 few kingdoms in Europe which do not put us to shame 
 in this respect. The educational institutions of Ger- 
 many are open before us as an example of what may be 
 effected by a well-organised system either of voluntary 
 or compulsory education. Were a plan of primary 
 schools, well developed, and introduced into the manu- 
 facturing districts, and made to include all children 
 from six to twelve, a vast moral improvement would be 
 the immediate result. 
 
 Mechanic institutions, intended for the instruction of 
 ** children of a larger growth," have certain advantages 
 and disadvantages, similar to those of Sunday schools. 
 
 The mental improvement must again be looked upon 
 as subordinate to the moral restraint which their mem- 
 bers voluntarily, impose upon themselves. If a man 
 spends time, and a limited portion of his earnings in the 
 institute, both the one and the other must be abstracted 
 from the demands of home. But as it so generally 
 happens, that a very small amount of the operative's 
 actual earnings are devoted to domestic wants and 
 enjoyments, it necessarily follows that his money must 
 be spent, and his time engaged in the pursuit of debasing 
 pleasures, if they can be so called ; viz. in the beer-shop, 
 the gin-vault, or the political club ; any time or any 
 money, therefore, which a wish for instruction may 
 induce him to devote to the institution, is one step 
 gained towards a better order of things. They are 
 
EDUCATION. 249 
 
 doubtless worthy of every encouragement, but it is far 
 from desirable that they should be too exclusively made 
 up of operatives ; in fact, the greater number of masters 
 and other respectable and superior members there are, 
 the better it is for the true advantage of these societies. 
 
 There is one circumstance connected with these insti- 
 tutions, which those who augured that they would effect 
 a complete moral revolution in the habits of the artisan 
 must deeply deplore ; and this is the gradual divergence 
 which has been going on from their original object and 
 intentions. Few, indeed, of their numbers are from the 
 class they are chiefly intended to benefit. 
 
 The great moral evils which press upon the manufac- 
 turing population, are — first, the causes producing the 
 separation of families, and the consequent breaking up 
 of all social ties ; secondly, the early introduction of 
 children into the mills ; and thirdly, the neglect to 
 which the infant members of the family are exposed. 
 
 To remedy this last evil — one not less in its conse- 
 quences than the two others in the determination of 
 character — a means happily has been devised, and par- 
 tially adopted, which propiises the best results. 
 
 Neglected, as the great majority of the infants of the 
 factory and hand-loom labourers are by their parents 
 throughout the day ; left in charge of a mere child, or, 
 what is still worse, a hireling nurse ; badly fed, badly 
 clothed, badly treated ; their young affections blighted 
 and seared in the bud — the establishment of schools 
 for very young children would obviate these evils, and 
 be of the most signal benefit. 
 
 The error into which infant schools have fallen, and 
 which, from a want of correct understanding as to the 
 noble purposes to which they may be directed, and a 
 corresponding want of correct knowledge of the moral 
 
250 EDUCATION. 
 
 evils under which their little charges labour at home, is 
 the wish and endeavour to cultivate too much the intel- 
 lect. This is an error, and, still further, it is an absur- 
 dity ; for no purpose of real utility can be effected by 
 it. The great objects of the promoters and super- 
 intendents of these infant asylums should be, to stand 
 in loco parentis in all those attachments and moral asso- 
 ciations which are inherent in young minds, and by so 
 doing, lay the foundation for a structure which, though 
 it may never be finished ; and though it may be injured 
 and defaced by occurrences to which it will be subjected, 
 will, nevertheless, still show itself at points like the 
 beautiful proportion of a Greek temple, half buried amidst 
 the ruins of a coarser and later period of architecture.* 
 
 It is much to be wished that the master manufac- 
 turers would rouse themselves universally to organize 
 juvenile schools amongst their hands. They are the 
 only parties who can do so effectually ; and no mill 
 owner could more worthily perform the duties which 
 abstractedly he most certainly owes to those in his 
 employ, than by establishing, or aiding in the esta- 
 blishing these schools, which should embrace every 
 child, the parents of which were manifestly unfitted for 
 its charge, either by moral delinquency, or by being 
 engaged in the factory. 
 
 Some of these men have,-)- indeed, forwarded these 
 
 * " Great numbers of young men and women, but perhaps 
 more of the latter, have received, with reading and writing, reli- 
 gious instructions and impressions in Sunday schools, and though 
 these are often weakened and obscured in after life, there is still a 
 preparation for good." — Report of the Ministry to the Poor — Man- 
 chesteVf p. 10. 
 
 t Mr. David Dale, near Lanark, Mr. Grant, of Ramsbottom, 
 and many other intelligent masters, in country situations, have by 
 judicious arrangements for education and religious instruction 
 surrounded themselves by moral labourers. 
 
EDUCATION. 251 
 
 institutions, as well as shown in other points a dispo- 
 sition to assist and guide the moral conduct of their 
 hands ; their numher is, however, exceedingly small. 
 It must he hoped that the discussions which have arisen 
 concerning the moral and physical evils attendant upon 
 the factory system, will not he without their influence 
 upon them. As a class, they have a most extensive 
 power of doing good ; and as a class they have, either 
 by direct example or by negligence, extensive power of 
 doing harm. Of one thing they may he assured, that 
 by forwarding the interests and happiness of the demo- 
 ralized artisan, they will in equal ratio add to their 
 own ; and that if they continue to neglect or overlook 
 these for selfish purposes, they will have cause for 
 repentance. . 
 
 The number of children brought under the system of 
 infant schools, when all things are considered, is full as 
 great as could be expected. Its practical advantages 
 want explaining to the parents ; probably the provident 
 societies now establishing will do something towards 
 this — their influence cannot be better directed. 
 
 The difl'usion of correct information on the common 
 arts of life, with facts and moral examples drawn from 
 authentic and pure sources, in the shape of very cheap 
 periodicals, will undoubtedly have their influence upon 
 the minds of all classes. It is a vast advantage to what 
 may be termed the accidental reader and inquirer, to 
 have information brought to him at short intervals, and 
 in an attractive form, — a thing aimed at by all the pub- 
 lications of this class. 
 
 The diff'usion of these, however, amongst the lower 
 orders of the population in manufacturing towns, amounts 
 to nothing. It is true enough that the lowness of their 
 price brings them within the reach of most of the opera- 
 tives, and it is equally true that many of them can 
 
252 EDUCATION. 
 
 read, but they do not purchase the weekly magazines ; 
 the vast number sold being taken by the middle classes 
 of society. Their place is occupied by sectarian and 
 political tracts, which, by their exciting nature, seem to 
 harmonize better with the depraved taste existing 
 amongst them. Very little interest or curiosity is shewn 
 by this class of the community for the generality of sub- 
 jects discussed and illustrated by the weekly periodicals. 
 They do not come home sufficiently to their feelings and 
 situations, they do not apply themselves with sufficient 
 closeness to their peculiar passions and wants, and they 
 are in consequence neglected. 
 
 The literature which will succeed at present in extend- 
 ing itself amongst them, must come down to their moral 
 and intellectual level — must take a much lower tone, 
 and must be coarser and ruder in its details : facts 
 clearly demonstrated by an examination of the works 
 which are read and studied by them. By the neglect of 
 this, they have as a body been left to the writings of in- 
 dividuals who have written for some particular purpose, 
 totally independent of moral aim ; and it is desirable that 
 the field should be now occupied by something equally 
 homely, equally stirring, but directed to better purposes. 
 
 The results of the various effi)rts which have been 
 made, and which are still making, to educate this por- 
 tion of the community, are extensive and surprising, 
 and, were intellectual education alone wanting, highly 
 satisfactory. Not many years ago, very few of the 
 thousands that were congregated in these districts could 
 read, and still fewer write. Now, the majority can at 
 least read. No human being whose time, for twelve to 
 sixteen hours per day, is occupied by exertions for 
 procuring a livelihood, can devote himself to extend the 
 sphere of his knowledge beyond some of its primary 
 elements ; and to do this they must be brought to his 
 
EDUCATION. 253 
 
 door, and be offered to him, or they will never be sought 
 for by him. 
 
 It is in vain to imagine and theorize upon that dispo- 
 sition of the human mind, vv^hich, having had its impulses 
 once stirred, will be led to seek for information at the 
 sacrifice of needful repose, or the grosser pleasures of 
 sense. It neither is, nor will it ever be, the case gene- 
 rally. Isolated examples may indeed be found of men 
 struggling through the severest and most oppressive 
 difficulties in this pursuit ; but they are isolated ex- 
 amples — nothing upon which to found data applicable 
 to the mass. Till the factory system is revised— till 
 morals are established — no intellectual education will 
 render them better husbands, better fathers, or better 
 citizens ; still it is a step gained — a step which, if fol- 
 lowed by an attention to their wants by those who have 
 the means of alleviating them, may, and it is fervently 
 hoped will, have the most happy and beneficial result. 
 
 The little regard paid to religion by the mass of the 
 manufacturing population in towns, is a painful circum- 
 stance connected with their condition,* as it has been 
 truly said, by Dr. Chalmers, that the masses of mill 
 artisans live in practical heathenism. A disregard for 
 the common observances of religious worship, and the 
 spending the Sabbath in drunkenness, is almost uni- 
 versal in the lowest classes. The proportion of these 
 degraded beings, who possess no knowledge whatever of 
 the most simple portions of Christian faith, is truly 
 astonishing. The Report of the Ministry to the Poor in 
 
 * " Religious ceremonies are exceedingly neglected; with rare 
 exceptions, the adults of the vast population of 81,147 contained in 
 districts (Manchester) Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, spend Sunday either in 
 supine sloth, in sensuality, or in listless inactivity.*' — Moral and 
 Physical Condition of the Working Classes, p. 64. 
 
254 
 
 RELIGION. 
 
 Manchester, says : — " The wide open fields at the out- 
 skirts of the town, and places in town less frequented by 
 the walks of man, are, on the Lord's day, occupied by 
 herds of boys and young men, and even by men more 
 advanced in life, gaming. The dram-shops, Tom and 
 Jerry shops, swarm the Lord's day over (except for an 
 hour or two in service time), and overflow it at night . . . 
 Very many of the people whom I visit believe that they 
 have no power to do the will of God — that they must wait 
 until they have received assistance from the Spirit of 
 God — until God enables them, and makes them willing to 
 repent. They believe their children equally powerless 
 to do good. This belief, and the habits which it has 
 produced, makes them neglect the moral culture of 
 themselves and children." — P. 16. Dr. Kay, who was 
 connected professionally with several charitable insti- 
 tutions, which led him into the homes of these people, 
 says, that the men spend the Sabbath day in idle 
 and drunken negligence ; and our own observations, 
 continued for many years, have abundantly satisfied us, 
 that religion is little cared for, and its forms, in a great 
 measure, unattended to. 
 
 Inquiries made amongst these classes have ^shewn, 
 that often there is no belief in the superintending care 
 of a beneficent Creator — none, of a state of future 
 rewards or punishments ; and that materialism has 
 placed them, in these respects, upon a level with the 
 beasts that perish. In numerous other examples, where 
 even some knowledge was found on religious subjects, it 
 failed in producing its salutary influence upon morals, 
 in consequence of apathy and indiflerence. 
 
 Thus, deprived of the most ennobling characteristic of 
 the human mind, what wonder can be felt that it is a wild 
 waste, overgrown with noxious weeds, which choke and 
 
RELIGION. 255 
 
 destroy the seeds of a better harvest, scattered as they are 
 so thinly and so rarely over its surface. The savage, 
 roaming through his native wilderness, bows down with 
 reverence before the objects he has been taught to wor- 
 ship ; and however degraded these are, they are such as 
 his condition leads him to fear or to love ; and he looks 
 forward to the " spirit land" as his place of rest. Thus, 
 he is religious in the only way in w^hich his untutored 
 mind and limited observation will permit, and thus far he 
 is superior to that portion of the operative manufacturers 
 which acknowledges no God — which worships no 
 image — which regards no hereafter. The savage, in- 
 deed, from his familiarity with the operations of nature, 
 in all their wild wonders, is impressed with her power, 
 and yields obedience to the dictates of a whispering 
 consciousness that there is — that there must be — a cause 
 for all he sees around him. But how differently placed 
 is the factory labourer ! He knows nothing of nature — 
 her very face is hidden and obscured from him, and he 
 is surrounded and hemmed in by a vast circle of human 
 inventions. He is at perpetual warfare with the world 
 and with himself, and his bad passions are consequently 
 in constant play. Thus combating — the pure and holy 
 impulses of religion can find no home with him, but, 
 like the dove hanging with trembling wing over the 
 agitated waters of the deluge, they seek a refuge in the 
 ark of some more peaceful bosom, and leave him occu- 
 pied solely by his own impure sensations.* 
 
 The immoralities which stain the character of the 
 
 * Many manufactories in detached situations, and under the 
 superintendence of religious masters, must not be included in the 
 above condemnation. We are speaking of the many — the infer- 
 ences of the Factory Commissioners, and others, are drawn from 
 the few. 
 
256 
 
 CRIME. 
 
 manufacturing population, have been brought under 
 review ; these admit of no classification — no statistical 
 inquiries can reach them. Vice, licentiousness, and 
 depravity, which are of universal extent, can only be 
 pointed out, and their operations watched by individuals 
 who are led into their haunts, either by curiosity, a 
 desire to learn in order to amend, or by professional and 
 private duties. Crime, however, open violations of the 
 existing laws, which subject the criminal to punishment, 
 is more in view, and a tolerably accurate account may 
 be given of it. 
 
 As civilization advances, and as countries become 
 populous, a change takes place in the character of crime. 
 In the early ages of society, human life was little con- 
 sidered ; and hence, injuries to the person characterize 
 this portion of its history. In an opposite state of 
 things, offences against property chiefly prevail ; blood- 
 shed and murder giving way to cfriminal acts of minor 
 enormity ; whilst, at the same time, crimes, in proportion 
 as they lessen in enormity, become numerically greater, 
 and of more universal prevalence. 
 
 The following table, which has been drawn up with 
 great care, and the results of which have been verified by 
 examination of the authorities, very distinctly shews the 
 varieties in the criminal character of different countries, 
 when viewed in relation to their particular social systems.' 
 
 Countries. 
 
 Population. 
 
 Crimes as 
 
 to 
 
 Person, 
 
 Crimes as 
 
 to 
 Property. 
 
 Personal 
 
 crimes to 
 
 Population 
 
 lin 
 
 Property 
 do. to Po- 
 pulation 
 1 in 
 
 Netherlands . 
 England. . . 
 France . . . 
 Spain .... 
 
 6,676,000 
 12,422,700 
 32,000,000 
 17,732,000 
 
 231 
 
 531 
 
 1,821 
 
 3,610 
 
 935 
 
 15,616 
 
 17,735 
 
 2,313 
 
 28,904 
 
 23,395 
 
 17,573 
 
 3,804 
 
 7,140 
 
 799 
 
 1,804 
 
 5,937 
 
CRIME. 257 
 
 In the language of the intelligent author from whose 
 pages the foregoing table is taken : — " Crimes against 
 property have regularly increased with the increase of 
 commerce and manufactures, and the consequent concen- 
 tration of the population into large towns. The above 
 table shows this too plainly to be misunderstood. Spain, 
 the most ignorant, degraded, and uncommercial of all 
 countries pretending to civilisation, is, in respect of 
 crime against property, three times less vicious than 
 France, and more than seven times less vicious than 
 England. 
 
 This fact is a fearful one, and speaks volumes. Eng- 
 land is more than twice as criminal as France, in this 
 department of offences. We also find a striking difference 
 between the north and south of France.* In the former, 
 according to Mr. Charles Dupin, the increase of manu- 
 factures and trade is attested by the mercenary nature of 
 the crimes there committed, as compared with the south- 
 ern districts of the same country ; where offences against 
 the person are substituted for offences against property, 
 and are perpetrated with a black and savage atrocity, 
 which almost baffles conception. -j- Ireland, again, espe- 
 cially the south, where manufactures have not penetrated, 
 '^exhibits much violence and bloodshed, but comparatively 
 little of dishonesty or larceny ; while our own country, 
 whose civilisation we are so apt to vaunt, far exceeds all 
 others in the career of mercenary crime, and has increased 
 many years back, and is still increasing rapidly, in this 
 painfuj pre-eminence in guilt."J 
 
 By a parliamentary paper, lately laid before the 
 House, it appears, that crime, during the last twenty 
 
 * " Forces Productives et Commerciales de la France." 
 t " Causes Criminelles Celdbres," &c, Paris, 1828. 
 X Enquiry y &c. p. 24. 
 
 S 
 
258 PAUPERISM. 
 
 years, has been progressing in much greater ratio than 
 the increase of population, hut that this progression has 
 equally characterized the agricultural and manufacturing 
 districts. Since the late distress has so widely spread 
 over many of the agriculturists, there is every reason to 
 suppose criminal acts are full as frequent as amongst 
 manufacturers. 
 
 The mass of crime which prevails amongst mill 
 artisans, originates from a variety of causes, totally 
 independent of manufactures ; and the author just 
 quoted has mistaken the reason of the dereliction which 
 he so correctly describes. The table which he gives 
 to illustrate his opinions will serve another purpose 
 just as well. The average amount of crime as to popu- 
 lation in eight manufacturing counties, is 1 to 840, — 
 in the eight agricultural counties, 1 to 1,043 ; a dis- 
 proportion much less than might have reasonably been 
 inferred, when it is remembered how differently the two 
 situations compared are circumstanced. 
 
 In the one, there is a thinly-scattered population — in 
 the other, densely populous districts, resembling, in fact, 
 a continued town. In the one, an abstraction from all 
 opportunities of committing petty crimes — in the other, a 
 thousand incitements offered for the commission of larce- 
 nies. An examination of all towns will show, that they 
 are placed in conditions equally as unfavourable as Man- 
 chester in this respect. Crime is no more common in 
 manufacturing towns and districts, than in other equally 
 populous localities ; and when the detail which has been 
 given, as to the general immorality pervading this popu- 
 lation, is considered, astonishment should rather be 
 excited, that crimes of greater enormity are not of more 
 frequent occurrence. That crimes are more numerous in 
 towns and great cities, is sufficiently well known ; but 
 
PAUPERISM. 259 
 
 with regard to England — when her agricultural divisions 
 are found having one criminal in every 1,044 of their 
 inhabitants, and when her manufacturers exhibit one in 
 840, the difference is much less than might have been 
 fairly presumed. 
 
 Pauperism in the class of manufacturers employed at 
 steam machinery, is far from being of very extensive 
 prevalence. These individuals, brought as they are into 
 close contact with each other, and leagued together 
 by combinations, have also, from the force of these cir- 
 cumstances, formed themselves into sick-clubs, having 
 funds for their support or assistance during illness. 
 
 Most of the large mills have a particular club or 
 union of their own ; and often the spinners, weavers, 
 &c., have each a separate one. These excellent institu- 
 tions deserve every encouragement and protection, as 
 they tend to do away with some of the evils attending 
 upon the general improvidence of this class. 
 
 That parochial relief is administered very largely in 
 manufacturing towns and districts, is certain ; but this 
 originates and depends upon the qjiaracter of the 
 movable population, congregated there * — not upon 
 the actual manufacturers themselves. The immigra- 
 tions which are continually taking place — the surplus 
 number of hands — and the little respect paid to parents 
 in their old age, and when they are unable to procure a 
 livelihood, are circumstances driving many to the poor- 
 rates. 
 
 An inspection of the past and present state of Man- 
 
 * Thus in Stockport the number of families receiving relief in 
 1833 was 651, and the amount distributed 2,447/. ; of these 65 
 families were connected with factories, and received 297/., the re- 
 mainder being divided amongst other poor not engaged in factory 
 employment. 
 
 s2 
 
260 PAUPERISM. 
 
 Chester, and a comparison of these with the condition 
 of other towns, as to the amount paid by the parish, will 
 show very distinctly, that the major part of the popula- 
 tion is supporting itself. Neither are the parties who 
 claim relief from this fund, those connected with manu- 
 facture particularly ; on the contrary, but very few who 
 depend upon these are burdensome. This arises from 
 their unvarying occupation ; a circumstance widely dis- 
 similar from the condition of other manual labourers, 
 who are, in many instances, necessitated to pass a consi- 
 derable portion of their time in idleness, and, of course, 
 in poverty, and who have no resource, but to seek their 
 subsistence from foreign aid. 
 
 The most decisive evidence on this point is to be 
 found in the Tables of Revenue and Commerce lately 
 published by Government. From these Tables it ap- 
 pears that the amount levied for the relief of the poor, 
 compared with the population, is less in Lancashire, the 
 great seat of manufactures, than in any other county in 
 the kingdom, being only 4*. 8^. per head. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Cumberland 5 8 per head. 
 
 Westmoreland 9 3 
 
 Oxfordshire 18 
 
 Sussex 20 11 
 
 Middlesex 10 1 ./ 
 
 Hyde, a township exclusively manufacturing, into 
 which machinery was introduced in 1801, when the 
 population amounted to 830, paid at that time in poor- 
 rate 533Z. ; whilst in 1830, when the population had in- 
 creased to 7000, the poor rate was only 550/. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 COMBINATIONS. 
 
 Labour the Poor Man's Capital — Considerations on this — Its fluc- 
 tuating Value — Its Rate of Exchange— Peculiar Nature of this 
 Capital Want of Confidence between Master and Men— Com- 
 bination, Evils of — Effects — Consequences to the Men, and to 
 particular Districts — Extent of Combinations — Their Tyranny — 
 Their Universality — Delegates — Their Character — Seeds of Dis- 
 union existing in Combination described — Effects of Turn-outs — 
 Evil to the Men — Master less injured — Stationary Nature of their 
 Property — Its Advantages — Union of Regulations — Considera- 
 tion as to the Fate of Cotton Manufacture, if entirely dependent 
 on Human Labour — Moral Influence of Combinations — Vitriol 
 throwing — Murder, &c. &c. — Conduct towards the Masters — 
 Combinations of Masters, &c. — Conduct of Delegates — Conduct 
 of Masters — Importance of Confidence — Consequences of exist- 
 ing state of things — Gluts — New Hands, &c. — Benefit of Mutual 
 Regulations — Steam Engine — Application and Extent of its 
 'Powers — Proper Conduct of Masters and Men — Morality of the 
 Operatives, exhibited in Combinations — Domestic Manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 It has been argued by those who are favourable to 
 combinations amongst workmen, that their labour is 
 their capital ; that it is the fund upon which they live ; 
 and that they have the same right to turn it to the utmost 
 advantage as any capitalist has to turn money to the best 
 account. Viewed abstractedly, this is true — a man's 
 labour is his capital; it is the fund from which he 
 
262 COMBINATIONS. 
 
 derives his means of sustenance ; and he has as much, 
 and as clear a right to dispose of it in the most advan- 
 tageous manner, as of capital of any other sort. 
 
 Labour, or the physical strength necessary for labour, 
 to be converted into capital, must have a rateable value 
 put upon it. It is the unrefined ore or cotton rag, the 
 respective values of which are entirely conventional. 
 And it is so with labour. Of itself it is nothing, by 
 itself it is nothing — it must be stamped or moulded to 
 bring it into a state fit for useful exchange. 
 
 Such is the mere physical capability of the working 
 man. It would not prevent him dying of inanition. 
 Its value is given to it by the demand, and the person 
 or community so calling it into demand, has, in the first 
 instance, an obvious right to rate it as 'may seem at the 
 particular juncture its fair equivalent. 
 
 So far, then, the labour of the artisan is not, per se, 
 of value, but its value is given to it by certain causes 
 independent of any voluntary act of his own. The 
 value once given, it becomes his fixed capital, and it is 
 here the comparison commences. 
 
 In making this acknowledgment, it must be borne in 
 mind, that if it be capital, it is of necessity liable to the 
 same fluctuations as affect other species of capital ; now, 
 from fortuitous circumstances, doubled or trebled in 
 value ; then reduced to a like amount, or so far lower, 
 that it ceases to be worth the possessor's while to 
 employ it. 
 
 Labour being the poor man's sole possession, his 
 property, deserves an equal portion of legislative protec- 
 tion with property of any other kind ; and in return, it 
 should be content to be placed under the same restraints 
 and regulations, which are placed for the benefit of all 
 parties upon other kinds of property. 
 
COMBINATIONS. 263 
 
 If in periods of great public distress, the monied men 
 of the kingdom were permitted, unrestrained by legal 
 shackles, to advance at will the rate of interest, they 
 would quickly absorb the greatest portion of the national 
 wealth; if, in times of manufacturing depression, the 
 workman was permitted to raise at will the price of his 
 labour, he would quickly absorb the wealth or means of 
 the manufacturer. In the one instance the few would 
 be enriched at the expense of the many ; in the other, 
 the many would be enriched at the expense of the few ; 
 but, in both instances, it is quite clear that the advan- 
 tages gained would be no compensation for the evils 
 which must necessarily disorganize society. 
 
 The exchangeable value of labour must at all times 
 depend upon many contingencies, just as the exchange- 
 able value of the manufactured article does. The middle 
 man, as the master manufacturer may be called, placed 
 between the labourer on the one hand, and the consumer 
 on the other, is necessitated to accommodate both 
 parties, and to regulate their mutual operations. If the 
 labourer take the arrangement into his own hands, he 
 will naturally enough keep up the price of his own 
 article — labour. To suppose that he will keep this 
 well balanced, so as to enable the master manufacturer 
 to make a profit on his capital — money ; and the con- 
 sumer to supply himself at a rate, advantageous, when 
 compared with other markets, is an absurdity. He 
 will do no such thing — he is selfish from his very cir- 
 cumstances and condition, and has besides that, none of 
 those general views and extended information which are 
 requisite for preserving a just equilibrium. He would, 
 in the first place, ruin his master by preventing him 
 fairly competing with his neighbours ; he would ruin 
 himself by thus lessening the immediate amount of 
 
264 COMBINATIONS. 
 
 manufacture ; and he would ruin his country as a 
 commercial one, by disabling it from carrying on its 
 manufacturing operations in a way to rival other 
 countries. 
 
 On the other hand the master-manufacturer, if per- 
 mitted to regulate the value of labour, would undoubt- 
 edly reduce it below its just level. It is asserted that 
 the minimum price of labour should be that which affords 
 to the labourer a comfortable subsistence. The value 
 of a man's labour, however, in many instances, is far 
 below what would support him. The proposition would 
 be more tenable, were it said, that every member of 
 a community who labours in his vocation, and is produc- 
 tive as far as circumstances will permit, has a claim for 
 support upon the community at large, which, in some 
 shape or other, derives benefit from him ; but to saddle 
 him upon a particular portion of the community, would 
 be alike unjust and partial. 
 
 Nothing should be expected from the master-manufac- 
 turer beyond this — that he should not enrich himself at 
 the expense of his labourers ; but after securing that 
 which he has a right to do — a proper return for his 
 outlay of capital, risk, and other contingencies, then 
 that the surplus should be considered due to the la- 
 bourers, and paid over to them in such a way as to 
 interfere the least with their independent use of it. 
 
 Experience has long ago taught one lesson, that 
 wherever power was possessed by man over man, it 
 was liable to abuse, and that some regulation was essen- 
 tially necessary to remedy a state of things apparently 
 natural to him, in whatever state of civilisation he is 
 placed. It is equally for the benefit of master and 
 men, that they should either make these regulations for 
 themselves, or should wisely submit to any legislative 
 
COMBINATIONS. 265 
 
 enactments intended to save them from each other, and 
 from their own partial and unjust opinions. 
 
 There is always a great difficulty in legislating for the 
 protection of particular interests, arising chiefly from 
 the impossibility of government acquiring correct in- 
 formation. Each party is alike strenuous for their sepa- 
 rate interests, and each alike interested in perverting or 
 distorting the facts of one another. Could they once 
 be convinced that their interests are mutual, they would 
 be by far the best legislators for themselves; but from 
 the various combinations which exist, and from the 
 exasperations of feeling which have grown up between 
 them in consequence of these, very little hope is left 
 that they will ever cordially unite in mitigating, on the 
 one hand, the condition of the labourer, and, on the 
 other, in upholding the just interests of the manu- 
 facturer. 
 
 The total want of confidence which at present marks 
 the relations of the master manufacturer and his hands, 
 have been brought about chiefly by unadvised com- 
 binations on both sides. 
 
 It may be truly stated, that they are in organized 
 opposition, in banded societies, for the purpose of in- 
 juring the interests of each other, from a mistaken and 
 groundless hope that such injury would benefit them- 
 selves. It could do no such thing ; and they only 
 heighten the unavoidable misfortunes incident upon 
 their separate states, by a course of proceeding at 
 variance with every thing just and charitable, and 
 which, by its demoralizing agency, is rapidly unfitting 
 them from ever regaining a position, with reference to 
 each other, which is alone compatible with their best 
 interests. 
 
 Combination is justifiable only when a disposition 
 
266 COMBINATIONS. 
 
 is plainly shown to take certain advantages which may 
 be more or less injurious to either party. On the one 
 hand, the master may wish and endeavour to exact 
 more work from his hands without increasing their 
 wages, and thus add to his profits at the expense of 
 their labour. Here he may find himself thwarted in 
 his purpose. His men scatter themselves amongst his 
 neighbours, or refuse to work, knowing that he cannot 
 afford to let his machinery and stock in trade remain 
 idle.* Under these circumstances, if his neighbours do 
 not embrace his cause, he is compelled to take back his 
 hands upon their own terms, having possibly to make 
 certain sacrifices, as to mill regulations, as a propitiation. 
 The passive combination of the men here gains them 
 their object ; and in this particular instance, perhaps, 
 the conduct of the individual master might be wrong. 
 But this triumph by no means leaves them in the same 
 relative situation which they held before. Their na- 
 tural order is to some extent reversed, and the men 
 have learnt a dangerous power. Farther still, the cha- 
 racter of the master is lowered in their estimation ; they 
 have no faith in him, and are eternally jangling and 
 disputing upon points of discipline. On the other hand, 
 this power having once been acknowledged, the men, in 
 their turn, become more unreasonable, and during a run 
 of trade, or seizing upon some other favourable juncture, 
 demand either a lessening of the period of labour, or an 
 increased rate of payment for that which they already go 
 through. The master demurs ; his hands strike, and he 
 finds himself on the very verge of ruin in consequence. 
 He holds out if he can ; and the men, having their own 
 
 * " There are many cotton mills in Manchester of which the 
 interest on sunk capital amounts to from 5,000/. to 10,000/.*' — 
 Philosophy of Manufactures ^ p. 281. 
 
COMBINATIONS. 267 
 
 sufferings to contend with, in the end return at their old 
 prices, or an increase so small, as to be a straw in the 
 balance compared to what they have lost during their 
 wilful idleness. 
 
 It is quite obvious, that occurrences of this nature, so 
 detrimental to the interests of the men on the one hand, 
 and the masters on the other, must lead to the adop- 
 tion of some measures having for their intention the 
 equalization or protection of both against caprice, ava- 
 riciousness, and unreasonable and untimely demands. 
 Unfortunately, each party made their own arrangements. 
 The men under the belief that they were all powerful, 
 and the masters in self-defence, with the farther under- 
 standing that they would assist each other. On both 
 sides funds were collected, delegates and secretaries 
 appointed, and labour and monied capital came into 
 direct collision. 
 
 A history of the privations borne by the workmen in 
 some of these insane contests would present an awful 
 picture of human suffering, and a picture, not the less 
 awful, of rapid demoralization. So far have these gone 
 sometimes, as to threaten the ruin of an entire and 
 flourishing town or district, and have involved in it not 
 only the interests of the two conflicting parties, but the 
 race of shopkeepers and others dependent upon them for 
 their support. The most extensive emigrations have 
 taken place, poor-rates have been doubled, and society 
 disorganized.* Of the truth of these remarks the silk 
 trade of Macclesfield affords a notable example. 
 
 * " The effects arising from combinations are almost always in- 
 jurious to the parties themselves. As the injury done to the men 
 and their families is almost always more serious than that which 
 affects their employers, it is of the utmost importance to the com- 
 fort and happiness of the former class that they should themselves 
 entertain sound views upon this question." — Babbaget p. 296. 
 
268 COMBINATIONS. 
 
 These struggles have uniformly heen most disastrous 
 to the men, and must ever be so. It is in vain that in 
 their rage, worked up into madness by heartless dema- 
 gogues, by hunger, by the sight of their famishing 
 children, they have taken the law into their own hands, 
 and dreadful proofs have they given how unfit were they 
 to wield it for their own benefit. Incendiarism, machine 
 breaking, assassination,* vitriol throwing,! acts of dia- 
 bolical outrage, all have been perpetrated for intimidation 
 or revenge ; but in all cases with the like result, or when 
 
 * The deliberate assassination of Thomas Ashton, son of Mr. 
 S. Ashton, one of the principal cotton manufacturers in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Manchester, during the strike in 1831-32, was an act 
 of the most atrocious villany. Returning from the mill early in 
 the evening through a bye- road, he was shot through the chest 
 within a very few yards both of the mill and his father's house. A 
 victim less deserving his untimely fate it would have been difficult 
 to have selected, for he was distinguished by his general kindness 
 to the men, and endeared by his amiable qualities to his friends. 
 The crime would seem to have been perpetrated by three people 
 in company, who had been seen lurking about during the early 
 part of the evening. The men lately tried and condemned as the 
 perpetrators of this heinous deed were accused under circum- 
 stances of an exceedingly suspicious character. 
 
 f The crime of vitriol throwing is a novel feature in the annals 
 of the country. It consists of putting into a wide-necked bottle a 
 quantity of sulphuric acid — oil of vitriol as it is commonly called — 
 and throwing this upon the person of the obnoxious individual, 
 being either directed to the face or dress merely, or of throwing a 
 quantity upon any work offensive to the party. The caustic 
 nature of this fluid renders it a formidable weapon i^hen it is 
 applied to any exposed part of the body, and in several instances 
 loss of sight has resulted from it, and in a vast number of others 
 very great suffering has resulted from its application. It is imme- 
 diately destructive to the texture of cloth from its corrosive qua- 
 lities. This demoniacal proceeding was exceedingly prevalent 
 during the turn out of 1830-1, many of the masters not daring to 
 stir out during the evening. 
 
COMBINATIONS. 269 
 
 partial success has attended them, it has been but tem- 
 porary. 
 
 The extent to which combinations exist amongst 
 workmen is only fully shewn when a general strike in , 
 a particular branch of trade takes place. Then they are 
 seen ramifying in every direction^ embracing all trades 
 alike, each having their separate rules and code of laws, 
 but all uniting in one point, to support the operative, 
 when he either voluntarily abstracts himself from employ, 
 or is driven out by some new demand on the part of his 
 master. Each trade has a sort of corporate board for 
 the management of its funds, the protection so called of 
 its particular interests, and this board is paid for its 
 services out of a specific allowance made by every 
 workman who is a member of the union or combination. 
 The sums thus abstracted from the pockets of the 
 deluded artisan have been very considerable, the regu- 
 lations being compulsory in the extreme. 
 
 *' I was not aware," says Mr. Stewart, in the first Re- 
 port of the Factory Commission, " until I was engaged 
 in the investigation at Glasgow, that the operatives there 
 have so completely organized their association, as not only 
 to prescribe the wages to be paid to the members of the 
 association, but to all other persons, from whatever 
 quarter they may come : that, further, no male worker not 
 entered with them is allowed to work at all without their 
 consent and the concurrence of the association, and never 
 without making a payment to them at the beginning, 
 and continuing a weekly payment at the same rate as 
 their own afterwards ; that females, however able, are not 
 allowed to become spinners, or to be engaged as such ; 
 and that it is hardly in the power of a piecer, that is, of 
 an assistant to a spinner, to learn the business of a spin- 
 ner, unless he is related to a spinner, who will bring him 
 
270 COMBINATIONS. ' 
 
 forward ; that, in short, the object of the Glasgow Asso- 
 ciation is to make their company a close corporation, 
 accessible onlyto those whom they choose to admit, and 
 not only to prevent all others from becoming spinners 
 by their regulations, but, by a system of intimidation, 
 which they successfully carry into execution, absolutely 
 by physical force." 
 
 No workman is allowed to act according to the dic- 
 tates of his own feelings — he is compelled to become a 
 member, or subject himself to a course of annoyances 
 and injuries which have repeatedly ended in death. 
 This arbitrary and tyrannical assumption of power is one 
 of the greatest evils attending upon the system of com- 
 binations amongst the operatives. How^ever well-dis- 
 posed the industrious and economical workman may be, 
 he is placed upon a level with the most profligate and 
 idle, who are in general the stirrers up of these strikes ; 
 he is condemned against his own judgment to abstain 
 from working ; to be satisfied with two or four shillings 
 per week from the union fund for the support of his 
 family, in the place of earning amongst them two or 
 three pounds — to remain in idleness for weeks in suc- 
 cession, to the utter ruin of his habits — and is deprived 
 of all stimulus to be a good and industrious citizen, by 
 the certainty that he is liable to be turned out of em- 
 ployment from, causes over which he has no control, 
 and which not unfrequently he cannot comprehend. 
 
 Mr Chappel, a manufacturer in Manchester, relates, 
 in the Report of the Factory Commission, a common 
 and illustrative case — '* I will relate the circumstances 
 of the last turn-out, which took place on the 16th of 
 October, 1830, and continued till the 17th of January, 
 1831. The whole of our spinners, whose average 
 weekly wages were 21. 1 3s. 6d,y turned out at the insti- 
 
COMBINATIONS. 271 
 
 gation, as they told at the time, of the delegates of 
 the Union. They said they had no fault to find with 
 their wages, their work, or their masters ; but the Union 
 obliged them to turn out. The same week, three dele- 
 gates from the Spinners' Union waited upon us at our 
 mill, and dictated certain advances in wages, and other 
 regulations ; to which, if we would not adhere, they said 
 neither our own spinners nor any other should work 
 for us again. Of course we declined, believing our 
 wages to be ample, and our regulations such as were 
 necessary for the proper conducting our establishment. 
 The consequences were, they set watches on every 
 avenue of the mill, day and night, to prevent any fresh 
 hands coming into the mill ; — an object which they efiec- 
 tually attained by intimidating some and promising 
 support to others (whom I got into the mill in a caravan,) 
 if they would leave their work. Under these circum- 
 stances I could not work the mill, and advertised it 
 for sale without any application, and I also tried in 
 vain to let it* At the end of twenty -three weeks, the 
 hands requested to be taken into the mill again on the 
 same terms they had left it, declaring, as they had done 
 at first, that the Union alone had forced them to turn 
 out." 
 
 When it is borne in mind how great a proportion of 
 the labourers employed in factories consists of females 
 and children, the evil presents itself in a still more 
 striking point of view. In nineteen cases out of twenty 
 these can have nothing to do with the originating the 
 turn-out, which is equally, however, operative upon 
 them, a regular complement and series of hands being 
 necessary for the working of a mill. They are thus 
 subjected to starvation and idleness, both exercising 
 a most powerful influence upon their moral and 
 
272 COMBINATIONS. 
 
 social character — an influence of the most debasing 
 quality. 
 
 The operations of manufacturing yarn from the raw 
 material, it is true, is distinct from the manufacturing it 
 into cloth — so far the spinner and the weaver are com- 
 pletely separated ; they are, however, often carried on 
 simultaneously in the same mill, the same steam-engine 
 serving for both purposes. Occasions have occurred 
 when the spinners have turned out, leaving the weavers 
 in employ ; and vice versa, the weavers have turned out, 
 leaving the spinners in employ, each supposing itself to 
 have separate causes for complaint or satisfaction. The 
 great turn outs have, however, involved both, or when 
 they have been partial, the injury, though less, has still 
 been felt by the whole — the members of the same family 
 or household being indiscriminately composed of spin- 
 ners, weavers, and their dependents. 
 
 It has repeatedly happened that the disputes which 
 have ended in a general turn out have had reference only 
 to a very small portion of the hands — spinners of a par- 
 ticular class for example, such as coarse or fine yarns, in 
 the demand for which some change has come on, which 
 may have necessitated the master to reduce the wages 
 paid for its manufacture ; but so complete and deter- 
 minate has been the organization amongst the whole 
 union, that thousands have deserted their occupation, 
 and submitted to every sort of suflfering incident to the 
 deepest poverty. 
 
 Many writers, at various times, when the public mind 
 has been disturbed by these disastrous divisions, have 
 stated that the funds of the unions have, to a very con- 
 siderable extent, shielded the turn-outs from sufferings. 
 When a turn-out is but partial — that is, when the hands 
 of a particular mill, or of a limited portion of one of the 
 
COMBINATIONS. 273 
 
 great division of labourers, from causes peculiar to them- 
 selves, have struck, this statement is to some degree 
 true ; but in the general, turn-outs, when from ten to 
 eighteen thousand men, women, and children, have to 
 receive assistance from these funds, they are but a drop 
 of water in the bucket, even though assisted in the most 
 extensive way by the shopkeepers, and by advances from 
 every other trade. 
 
 The appointment of delegates, individuals chosen from 
 amongst the workmen, and invested with power to 
 arrange disputes and to manage their funds, is a practice 
 deserving the severest reprobation. By withdrawing 
 the body of the workmen from confidential intercourse 
 with their masters, the interposition of these middlemen, 
 like the Tribunes of ancient Rome, increase the evil a 
 thousand-fold. Living as they do upon a liberal allow- 
 ance from the wages of the starving operative, their 
 motives are open to suspicion. of the most injurious ten- 
 dency, and the character of most of them does any thing 
 but remove these. Selected at moments of party excite- 
 ment, of rancorous feelings, of raised expectations — the 
 brawler, the factious man, the specious scoundrel, have 
 too often become the dictators of the misguided people, 
 and to maintain their own evil pre-eminence, they have 
 spared no pains to distort and garble facts, to blacken 
 and destroy the reputation of the masters, and to keep 
 open the breach from which they alone could derive 
 advantage. For a considerable period subsequent to the 
 first organization of the unions, the men were misled by 
 the numbers which formed them — and their calculations 
 based on numerical strength deluded them into the belief 
 that they were all powerful. 
 
 This hallucination, for it deserves no other term, 
 was carefully fostered by the delegates, who, finding 
 
274: COMBINATIONS. 
 
 themselves elevated into petty kings, wielded their au- 
 thority with as much complacency and despotism as other 
 potentates. For a time, it is possible, from the narrow 
 and selfish view they took of matters, they were 
 equally deceived by the universality of the combina- 
 tions, and indulged the hope that they should be able to 
 crush the masters, and make them subservient to their 
 dictates. 
 
 Combinations have, however, within themselves the 
 seeds of discord and disunion — the elements of dis- 
 solution. Could they be brought to conform to fixed 
 and general laws, and to act simultaneously, they would 
 indeed be irresistible. Great bodies of men, dependent 
 although they may be upon some one branch of national 
 industry, have nevertheless separate and well-defined 
 interests. During the first burst of enthusiasm, brought 
 about by what they think emancipation from thraldom, 
 these may be forgotten or thrown aside, and all may join 
 heart and hand in the promotion of what they suppose 
 the cause. If at this time any man of commanding 
 talents, and great energies, were to arise amongst them, 
 he might become the agent for prolonging this state of 
 things. Men gifted with the requisite talents and influ- 
 ence have, however, as yet, fortunately for the welfare and 
 commercial existence of the kingdom, never arisen. Trum- 
 pery demagogues have indeed pushed themselves into 
 short-lived authority and leading ; none have, however, 
 been found, who have not soon displayed their entire 
 inability to rule or direct the storm, which merely bore 
 them on its surface. No sooner were the efiects of the 
 vast drain upon their money resources felt — no sooner 
 the first excitement passed away — than the natural inte- 
 rests and importance of each separate town or body were 
 again brought into play, and want of general cordiality 
 
COMBINATIONS. 275 
 
 and unanimity of acting soon rendered the great com- 
 binations partially inoperative. 
 
 The scenes which were the result of these combina- 
 tions of labour against capital and due subordination, all 
 who have witnessed will join in condemning as tending 
 to the destruction of social order, and the security of life 
 and property ; and though the arm of the executive may 
 have fallen heavily and indiscriminately upon the dis- 
 turbers of the public peace, every man having a correct 
 knowledge of the results which would have necessarily 
 emanated from them, may deplore but cannot condemn it. 
 
 No estimate, at all approaching to accuracy, can be 
 made by persons living in districts or towns which have 
 never been visited by one of these turn-outs, of the 
 social disorganization which attends upon them. In 
 1805-6, when power-looms were introduced, the total 
 suspension of trade, and the turbulent and distracted 
 state of the hand-loom weavers, with the consequent 
 violations of rights of property, in the destruction 
 of machinery, are still well remembered. But this dis- 
 play of hostility by no means interfered with the rapid 
 spread of the power-loom ; on the contrary, it only 
 afforded a more decided stimulus to it. 
 
 The manifestation which had been made, previous to 
 this epoch, of the difficulty of keeping in due subordina- 
 tion human power, made steam doubly welcome to the 
 manufacturers, by placing under their control an agent, 
 which their sagacity clearly foresaw would, in the course 
 of time, render them to a very great degree independent 
 of it. And events have justified their prognostications : 
 but they failed then, and have since failed, in convincing 
 the men, that they were pursuing a line of conduct, which, 
 if permitted to proceed to extremities, must ruin them by 
 ruining the manufacturers ; and by driving away capital, 
 T 2 
 
276 COMBINATIONS. 
 
 for ever deprive themselves of the benefits invariably 
 resulting from its judicious employment : and in showing 
 also that their opposition to improvements in machinery, 
 which were gradually lowering their wages, only tended 
 still farther to accelerate their progress. 
 
 One great evil which has ever attended both partial 
 and general strikes that have continued for any length 
 of time — and some of these have extended over six 
 months — is, that the means of the turn-out have been 
 quite exhausted long before he again got to work. 
 The pittance he received from the Union did but little 
 towards his support, and hence he was necessitated to 
 get into debt, and pay a most extortionate price for the 
 common necessaries of life. These engagements were, 
 of course, to the retail dealers in provisions, who were 
 themselves not unfrequently ruined by a system of 
 credit, far too extensive for their limited capital. In all 
 cases, however, the long arrear had to be paid up when- 
 ever work was obtained, and this absorbed the greater 
 portion of his wages for many months, — thus pro- 
 longing the distress which had already well nigh over- 
 whelmed him. This has been one great cause of the 
 squalid wretchedness so generally found in the houses 
 of the operatives. 
 
 It is obvious, from the preceding details, that com- 
 binations of workmen against masters — of labour against 
 capital — have uniformly, in the manufacturing districts, 
 been injurious to the men to a much greater extent than 
 to the master.* His capital, it is true, was for the time 
 injured, but he had means of supporting himself during 
 
 • " I have seen a great many turn-outs, and have invariably 
 found that the result was the lowering the wages of the operative.'' 
 — Mr. Harter, Evidence on Silk Trade, Second Factory Commission 
 Report* 
 
COMBINATIONS. 277 
 
 these struggles. The nature of his investment prevented 
 him from carrying away his capital and enterprise to 
 other localities, and other ways of employing them ; and 
 in this has consisted one great cause of the stability of 
 manufacturers. Building and machinery could not be 
 removed nor converted into portable property, without a 
 ruinous sacrifice. Often, indeed, the manufacturer has 
 been heard to deplore this as his greatest hardship, which 
 was in point of fact his greatest advantage, for it pre- 
 vented his abstraction, and by forcing him to submit to 
 a temporary inconvenience, he was sure, in a short time, 
 to be right again. 
 
 The same fact — and it is one which strongly illustrates 
 the almost paradoxical proposition, that men rarely 
 know what is their real advantage — induced the 
 workmen to believe, that by thus having the property 
 of their master fast in its present position, they 
 could the more easily make him compromise himself. 
 It had, in point of fact, exactly the opposite effect in 
 both cases. On the side of the master he was chained 
 down, and thus compelled to wait for a revulsion in the 
 popular mind ; on that of the workmen, in spite of all 
 the precautions they could adopt, new hands were inva- 
 riably introduced, or means taken to secure their intro- 
 duction, when the storm was blown over; added to 
 which, the mill-owner, thus deserted by his men, turned 
 his attention and efforts to the improvement of his 
 machinery, and acquired a practical knowledge of its 
 operations, and capabilities for alteration, which, under 
 a different state of things, he might possibly never have 
 acquired.* 
 
 The general combinations, which include nearly the 
 whole of the manufacturing population, and which are 
 
 * Vide Babbage, p. 298 — Manufacture of Gun Barrels, &c. 
 
278 COMBINATIONS. 
 
 SO mischievous in their effects, have numerous minor 
 and subsidiary cooperative unions. The spinners, 
 weavers, piecers, finishers, &c. &c. each combine in 
 their own class, and have each distinct rules and regula- 
 tions for their direction ; subordinate, however, to the 
 general confederations into which their distinct interests 
 merge. The same evils in a minor degree attend upon 
 these ; the divisions amongst them being founded chiefly 
 with regard to the amount of wages received, and the 
 differences in the amounts of contributions paid into the 
 general fund. They are, however, quite distinct in their 
 separate corporate capacities, acting quite independently 
 of one another, and assimilating only in being parties in 
 the general combination. 
 
 Independently of associations for the fancied protec- 
 tion of the general and separate interests of the several 
 classes which compose the mill artisans, and which re- 
 late to general questions connected with their interests, 
 every mill has its peculiar arrangements. These are 
 regulations as to hours of work, fines for imperfect work, 
 regulations as to the engine, &c. &c., and are commonly 
 made in conjunction with the master, and are indeed 
 necessary for the interests of both, as they serve as 
 mutual checks, and as restrictions upon the conduct of 
 the overlookers, engine men, &c., and are thus found 
 mutually advantageous. 
 
 In looking back at the history of the cotton manufac- 
 ture, and in examining the rise and growth of combina- 
 tions amongst workmen, it may be asserted, that but for 
 the application of steam, it must either have been 
 destroyed by those who should most have fostered it, 
 or that it would have been so restricted in its operations, 
 and so burdened with expensive details, that it would 
 never have progressed so as to become the staple trade 
 
COMBINATIONS. 279 
 
 of the country, and this, too, quite independent of the 
 additional power gained by it. To what extent hand 
 manufacture might have gone, it is not easy even to 
 guess ; but it is quite certain that it might have gone 
 vastly farther than it has ever yet been pushed. If 
 the power now engaged in manufacture were derived 
 from hand labour, an immense amount of production 
 would be the result. There is no reason why double 
 the amount of hands should not be engaged in it, or 
 treble, or any amount that would be sufficient to throw 
 off as much work as would equal the present joint pro- 
 duction of steam and hand labour. 
 
 Such a mass of labourers, if brought into intimate 
 communion with each other, would, however, be utterly 
 unmanageable. Trade would be liable to fluctuations 
 which must ruin it, and its entire control would be 
 vested in the workmen. If combinations have been 
 ruinous to some masters, and injurious to trade at some 
 junctures, with the aid of steam, in some degree an 
 independent power, what would have been their effect if 
 it must have entirely submitted to their caprice ? 
 
 The moral influence of combinations upon the cha- 
 racter of the manufacturing population has been ex- 
 ceedingly pernicious. It has placed a barrier between 
 the master and the hands which can never be removed, 
 but with the utmost difficulty. Suspicion has usurped 
 the place of confidence ; with an utter alienation of all 
 friendly feelings — mutual fear — hatred, and a system of 
 espionage totally subversive of every thing honourable 
 in their intercourse. 
 
 Nothing can more strongly mark the demoralization 
 brought about by the agency of turn-outs, the result of 
 combination, than the acts which have been committed 
 by the men, and openly boasted of. Cutting away 
 
280 COMBINATIONS. 
 
 cloth from the looms of those better disposed individuals 
 who preferred working for the support of their families, 
 to starving in obedience to a fiat to strike — a system of 
 inquisitorial visitation ruinous to neighbourly kindness — 
 the darker crime of vitriol throwing, more cowardly and 
 treacherous than the stab of the Italian bravo — the 
 waylaying and abusing obnoxious individuals — and the 
 stain which must ever rest upon them, indelibly marked, 
 and branding them with infamy — that of murder.* 
 
 The demonstrations of vengeance, carried into effect 
 in some instances, have at times forced the masters to 
 arm themselves — to garrison their houses and mills, and 
 have placed a whole district in a state of siege, with all 
 the disorganization of social ties incident to civil warfare. 
 No man was safe — no family secure from midnight 
 disturbance ; shots were fired into the rooms where it 
 was believed the master had his resting-place. By day 
 he had to use every precaution to avoid falling into the 
 hands of an infuriated mob — his family reviled — loaded 
 with the most opprobrious epithets — hooted and hissed 
 wherever opportunity offered ; no wonder that feelings 
 of bitterness were roused against those who thus wan- 
 tonly violated all the forms of decency and justice. 
 
 Another moral evil of equal magnitude to the labourer, 
 resulting from combinations, is, that it renders himself 
 and family improvident, and this is the very bane of all 
 his comfort. Whatever the cause may be which renders 
 a man's labour of doubtful continuance, or which 
 
 • " They set watches in the streets, and abuse any body that 
 comes in the most shocking manner, even to taking their lives if 
 it were necessary. Some years ago, there were several people 
 almost destroyed by vitriol being thrown upon them by combined 
 men."—Wm. Graham, Esq. of Glasgow, in Report of Committee on 
 Manufactures, p. 335. 
 
COMBINATIONS. 281 
 
 occasionally, and at uncertain intervals, throws him out 
 of employ, it invariably injures his industrial character. 
 The same remark has been used before, when speaking 
 of the hand-loom weavers, whose occupation was irre- 
 gular and fluctuating. It was very truly observed by 
 Mr. Galloway, in his evidence, that " When employers 
 are competent to show their men that their business is 
 steady and certain, and that when men find that they 
 are likely to have permanent employment, they have 
 always better habits and more settled notions, which will 
 make them better men and better workmen, and will 
 produce great benefits to all who are interested in their 
 employment." In these respects the combinations and 
 " strikes" have been ruinous to a degree. A conscious- 
 ness that there is this uncertainty with regard to the 
 continuance of his work, removes from the labourer all 
 stimulus to work diligently, and earn for himself an 
 honest reputation. He feels that he is no free agent in 
 the matter, and loses, in consequence, much of that 
 personal respect for himself, without which he possesses 
 but half his moral stamina. 
 
 The repeated evils brought upon the masters by the 
 combinations of their hands, made it imperatively neces- 
 sary that they should be met in a similar way. No 
 master could cope single-handed with a combination of 
 his own men,* who were leagued together to prevent 
 any sufficient supply of new hands, and were liberally 
 supported by their co-mates. The interests of the 
 masters having become more generally understood, and 
 that of one identified with the rest, they in turn refused 
 to employ any operative who made himself conspicuous 
 
 * " We have, once or twice, ourselves attempted to stand out 
 against our men, but we have been obHged to take them in." — 
 Wm. Graham, Esq. in Committee's Report on Manufactures^ p. 335. 
 
282 COMBINATIONS. 
 
 in the combinations, and gradually feeling their own 
 strength, dismissed all those who could be detected as 
 belonging to the obnoxious unions. Not satisfied with 
 this, however, they refused to engage a workman who 
 had been dismissed or had voluntarily withdrawn himself 
 from the service of another master, provided he did not 
 bring with him a certificate as to character. This point 
 gained, the masters had the destiny of each operative in 
 their keeping. If he disbehaved himself he was straightway 
 dismissed, and found himself, unless under very peculiar 
 circumstances, utterly excluded from all chance of getting 
 occupation in that town or district, and had no little 
 difficulty in procuring it even if he removed. For a 
 time he received a pittance from the joint funds, which, 
 spite of all the vigilance exercised for its suppression, 
 still existed. 
 
 So long as masters confine themselves to the legiti- 
 mate objects which should govern their unions, viz. 
 protection against the unfounded and unreasonable 
 demands of their workmen — the cultivation of their 
 own undoubted authority, with the interior regulation of 
 their mills — their efforts will be hailed and cordially 
 seconded by every man who has a knowledge of the 
 miseries incident to the want of these, and who looks 
 forward to a regeneration in the moral and social condi- 
 tion of the operatives. It is much to be feared, how- 
 ever, that these combinations may not end here. The 
 terrible lessons which have been taught the masters will 
 lead them to exert every device, to strain every nerve, 
 in order to annihilate the influence of the men beyond 
 simple and subordinate agents to their tractable and 
 gigantic servant the 'steam-engine ; and in doing this, 
 both the interests of the men, and that of the public, 
 would inevitably suffer. 
 
COMBINATIONS. 283 
 
 If experience could have taught the men wisdom, they 
 would long ago have learnt that riot could serve no 
 good purpose ; and that now the masters are banded 
 together, and know their interests to depend upon the 
 exclusion of turbulence from their mills, it must be 
 fatal to any party who indulge in it. They cannot 
 prevent the introduction of new hands, they cannot 
 prevent improvements in machinery ; and though their 
 wages must suffer, and though their labour must go on 
 increasing to acquire even the wages they now earn, there 
 is no human power to interfere with or thwart it. 
 
 The moral effects of combinations amongst the mas- 
 ters are, the keeping alive those suspicions which have 
 so long been the bane both to the happiness of the 
 labourer and to their own. Ever disposed to view all 
 attempts at change as innovations upon what he erro- 
 neously conceives to be a matter under his own control, 
 the workman murmurs and finally rebels, if he finds 
 that these changes are tending to increase his hours of 
 labour without an adequate compensation. As he finds, 
 however, that his rebellion has ceased to be beneficial, 
 that his master assumes a higher tone, and, spite of all 
 his efforts, contrives to carry on the operations of his 
 mill, partly by the introduction of new hands, and 
 partly by improving his machinery, he will surely 
 discover that he had better, in place of becoming a 
 turn-out, endeavour, by exertion, by economy, by 
 domestic habits, by acquiring feelings of providence 
 and anxiety for something beyond to-day, remedy, as 
 far as is in his power, the change in his circumstances. 
 If masters will combine steadily, and aim at incul- 
 cating subordination, respect for proper authority, and 
 to these add their anxious endeavours to effect these 
 desirable alterations in the present characters of their 
 
284 COMBINATIONS. 
 
 workmen, which can alone render them permanently 
 quiet, they will deserve well of their country. If they 
 succeed in establishing their own power upon the wreck 
 of the labourer's independence and morality, they will 
 have nothing to congratulate themselves upon, and must 
 ever live on the surface of a volcano, which at any mo- 
 ment may be roused into destructive action. 
 
 Intellectual education, by partially expanding the 
 views of the operative, has as yet done little towards im- 
 proving his correct judgment, and enabling him to detect 
 the mischief that may lurk beneath the disguise of 
 apparent sympathy when painted in glowing colours. 
 Opportunity has been taken of this by their delegates, 
 &c. &c., and they still succeed to a certain extent in 
 some situations in keeping up their injurious influence, 
 driven as they have deservedly been from the mills of 
 those masters who are anxious to preserve order, and 
 establish a good understanding between themselves and 
 their men ; they have either been compelled to work for 
 the inferior employers at a less wage, or have sought 
 some other business ostensibly, but still trusting to 
 derive subsistence from the occasional ebullitions on the 
 part of the prejudiced and irritable workmen, and in 
 some instances they are successful. 
 
 The bad passions of the men are easily roused — they 
 have no faith in the justice of their masters; and though 
 a state of things is gradually encompassing them, which 
 must force them to succumb, or entirely ruin themselves, 
 no sooner does some improvement in machinery of exten- 
 sive operation lower the value of labour, and render cer- 
 tain changes necessary either in wages or hours of work, 
 than bickerings and heartburnings arise, which, however, 
 for some time, have subsided peaceably. The example 
 shown to the men during 1 830 and 1831, when the masters 
 
COMBINATIONS. 285 
 
 one and all stood out to resist certain demands, did much 
 towards breaking the spirit of insubordination ; and if 
 they remain firm and decided, and mutually assist each 
 other, they will eventually succeed in putting an end to 
 combinations and their concomitant evils. 
 
 The establishment of schools by the masters ; the 
 taking a personal and positive interest in the welfare of 
 those immediately under them ; the showing them that 
 they are sincerely anxious to assist ; and pointing out 
 the way in which their wages may be made amply suffi- 
 cient to cover all their wants ; will in time produce their 
 effects, in all out districts — in the towns the process of 
 regeneration must be slower. The men are much less 
 under the influence of the masters, their hands making 
 only a part of a great and demoralized population. 
 
 The improvement which has taken place in the great 
 body of masters within the last few years, is perhaps 
 the best guarantee for improvement amongst the men. 
 The immense amount of capital invested in manufac- 
 tures will prevent them unnecessarily doing any thing 
 which can involve in danger the returns for this 
 outlay. They are, too, fully aware that their locality 
 is determined, and that, however turn-outs may 
 plague and harass them, that they are fixed and sta- 
 tionary. A general turn-out, even for a limited period, 
 is attended with enormous pecuniary sacrifices, but fall- 
 ing as it does upon great masses of capital, or upon high 
 reputation and credit, it is comparatively harmless. Any 
 lengthened idleness, however, in this capital, is ruinous 
 in a high degree, both to the trade itself and to the 
 masters. This is one of the most powerful reasons for 
 inducing them to cultivate the confidence of their men, 
 and for joining in an union which will enable them to 
 protect themselves, by refusing to yield to clamour, and 
 
286 COMBINATIONS. 
 
 in arranging certain amounts of wages to be paid by 
 them as a fixed rule. 
 
 The higher the character of the master ascends, and 
 the greater his wealth, and the gradual clearing away 
 from amongst their body mere men of straw, who can 
 submit to no rules on account of their necessities, and 
 the approximation to one general standard, will enable 
 them in time to lay down such rates of wages as will 
 be universally applicable ;. some time must necessarily 
 elapse before this can take place. 
 
 The great manufacturers, who also invariably possess 
 the best machinery, can afford to make goods at a some- 
 thing less price than the secondary men. If a strict com- 
 bination were therefore to take place amongst them, and 
 they were determined to sell as low as possible, and keep 
 their wages down, they would speedily ruin the inferior 
 manufacturer, who having a limited capital, second rate 
 machinery, and an absolute necessity for quick returns, 
 could not meet them in the market. A tacit agreement 
 seems to exist, by which the operative and manufacturer 
 at present benefit at the expense of the public, and this 
 enables the inferior man to make a profit under all his 
 disadvantages. The outcry as to the ruin of the trade is 
 a positive absurdity — it may be confidently asserted that 
 those manufactories which are extensive, and upon the 
 most approved arrangement as to machinery, are making 
 fair returns, and the proprietors could afford to work 
 them, and sell their produce at a diminished price. 
 
 If the workmen could be brought to understand some 
 of these truths, a better chance would be given for a 
 union taking place between them and the masters, and 
 both would succeed in keeping up a remunerating price 
 for their separate capitals ; whereas the men, on the 
 one hand, by injuring the property of their masters. 
 
COMBINATIONS. 287 
 
 compel them to reduce their wages as a compensation, 
 or to demand such excellence of work, and to cut off so 
 much for fines, that it amounts to the same thing as 
 reduction ; whilst, on the other hand, the master, finding 
 his hands thus turbulent and unruly, turns all his 
 energies to improvements in his machinery, and endea- 
 vours, by throwing off an increased quantity of work, 
 to make amends for the incertitude in his labourers. 
 
 This state of things often produces gluts, which injure, 
 again, both masters and men. Another advantage would 
 be gained by a mutual understanding : during turn-outs 
 great numbers of new hands come into the town or district 
 where it exists, generally hand-loom weavers, or opera- 
 tives from other kinds of manufacture, or individuals 
 from the mining districts ; and, rather than have their 
 mills remaining totally idle, the masters engage these, 
 spite of the violence and resistance of the old hands : but 
 then they are ignorant of the details of spinning or weav- 
 ing, and of the particular kind of labour required ; much 
 has to be taught them ; a great deal of work is spoiled, 
 and much loss sustained for a time. The men, finding 
 their places partially occupied, and their obstinacy and 
 turbulence yielding before continued privations, gladly 
 return at the old prices : many of necessity cannot be 
 taken in, as it would be a manifest injustice to discharge 
 the hands they have, even though inferior in capability 
 for producing good work.* Thus they are compelled to 
 seek work somewhere else, or to lower their wages, and 
 have been instrumental in introducing a greater number 
 of hands than can find present employ, and hence the 
 
 ♦ " In the spring of the year, when the looms were full of goods, 
 the weavers thought they could do what they pleased, and struck 
 for higher wages ; but after remaining out of work for three or 
 four months, they came to terms. I had in the meantime got hands 
 from the cotton trade." — Factory Commission Report, Evidence of 
 Mr. Harter, 
 
288 COMBINATIONS. 
 
 foundation for other reductions of wages before any very- 
 long period. 
 
 The most important benefit which the men would 
 derive from coalescing with their masters, and agree- 
 ing to some certain rules for their mutual regula- 
 tion, is that they would very soon think each other 
 trustworthy, and those feelings of hostility and bitter- 
 ness which now exist between them, and which are 
 kept up by combinations — delegates — secretaries — 
 would be done away with. It will be in vain for the 
 men to expect to do this so long as they submit to the 
 dictates of parties interested in keeping up mischief 
 between them and their masters. 
 
 The moral revolution which this would at once pro- 
 duce would be an excellent basis on which to rear a 
 superstructure of social arrangements, which might 
 snatch the men and their families from their present 
 degradation. One thing is quite certain, that if they 
 do not adopt some plan of this nature, they will miss 
 the opportunity, and will condemn themselves to a 
 life of servitude to an iron master, who is already more 
 than threatening them.* Let them remember that 
 already the steam-engine, though applied to the same 
 purposes as human labour for so very few years, per- 
 forms as much work, in simple power, as many millions 
 of human beings ! Let them farther remember, that 
 each steam -loom is nearly four times as effective as the 
 hand-loom ; that improvements are hourly taking place 
 in its applicability of machinery — giving it endowments 
 — approximating it with the most delicate operations of 
 the human hand ; and let them remember, also, that the 
 moving power never tires ; that to it eight, ten, twelve, 
 
 * Fide Chapter on the Influence of Machinery on the Value of 
 Human Labour. 
 
COMBINATIONS. 289 
 
 fourteen, or twenty hours are alike ! To endeavour to 
 arrest its progress would be madness ; they cannot turn 
 back the stream of events — the onward current of me- 
 chanism — their efforts would be equally impotent and 
 ruinous. They may, however, compete with it on more 
 equal ground if they choose, and may prevent the acce- 
 lerations of its career by working steadily, orderly, and 
 systematically. Every effort which they have made to 
 retard or destroy the progress of machinery has only 
 hurried on the march of improvement ; and if they per- 
 severe in such a course of proceedings, they will become 
 its victims, bound hand and foot, and resembling, in 
 their condition, the serfs^ — the glebce ascripti of a former 
 period. Their attempts to break up the social con- 
 federacy by violence and outrage, and thus bring on 
 such internal disorder as would deprive the nation of its 
 manufacturing pre-eminence, would be not less fatal to 
 themselves than to their masters. 
 
 Let the masters, then, combine — let them elevate 
 their own character let them become great and wealthy ; 
 for greatness and wealth, when joined to correct know- 
 ledge of the wants of those around them, are the best 
 masters. Let them, by every means in their power, aid 
 the moral and social regeneration of their men ; and let 
 them be met frankly and fairly. Let the mill artisans 
 be assisted to shake off habits which destroy them phy- 
 sically and morally ; let them cultivate home ; let them 
 become good husbands and good wives ; and they will, 
 in a single generation, produce offspring who will, in 
 their turn, inherit their good qualities. Let them dis- 
 countenance agitation, combination, and political quacks. 
 Let them become a sober and orderly race : let them, if 
 they will, appeal to the legislature for enactments to 
 regulate their labour, if excessive — and by so doing 
 u 
 
290 COMBINATIONS. 
 
 they will be their own best friends. With economy and 
 foresight, the means they possess are sufficient to supply 
 their wants, and the requisites of their stations ; and 
 were these doubled, without economy, they would be no 
 real gainers. Let them bear in mind that all the mem- 
 bers of their family have a resource in the mill ; and 
 though the individual earnings may be in some instances 
 small, yet that collectively they are considerable. Let 
 families reunite : let them eschew the gin and the beer 
 shops, the political clubs and union rooms, and they 
 may yet be a happy and contented population. But, if 
 they do not, one thing is certain — that they will be, ere 
 long, ground down to the earth, and present the most 
 humiliating and miserable spectacle the world has ever 
 yet seen, save only the slave-gang and the Indian miners 
 under the deadly yoke of the early Spaniards. 
 
 The system of combination is one strongly character- 
 istic of automatic manufacture. For the economic use of 
 the steam-engine, certain local advantages are required, 
 and the same if water be made the moving power. 
 Hence it follows, as it has been already remarked, that 
 the manufacturing arts in the present day assemble the 
 operatives in condensed masses, and thus combination 
 assumes an importance far higher than is usually be- 
 stowed upon it. 
 
 This principle of union is a striking feature between 
 domestic and factory manufacture. The hand-loom 
 weavers, whether of silk, cotton, or worsted, com- 
 prising a far greater number of hands than the facto- 
 ries, have rarely combined. They are a far more moral 
 and conscientious body of people than the factory 
 labourers : even in the midst of the darkest and most 
 hopeless poverty, they have toiled on nearly in silence, 
 whilst the turbulent and demoralized town and country 
 
COMBINATIONS. 2D1 
 
 steam spinner, -whilst rolling in comparative wealth, has 
 been committing outrages of the most wanton and 
 vicious description. No evidence can be stronger than 
 this of the unhealthy moral condition of one vast section 
 of our population. 
 
 " Proud of the power of malefaction,*' says Dr. Ure, 
 ** many of the cotton-spinners, though better paid, as 
 we have shown, than any similar set of artisans in 
 the world, organized the machinery of strikes through 
 all the gradations of their people, terrifying or cajoling 
 the timid or the passive among them to join their 
 vindictive union. They boasted of possessing a dark 
 tribunal, by the mandates of which they could para- 
 lyse every mill whose master did not comply with 
 their wishes, and so bring ruin on the man who had 
 given them profitable employment for many a year. By 
 flattery or intimidation, they levied contributions from 
 their associates in the privileged mills, which they suffered 
 to proceed in order to furnish spare funds for the mainte- 
 nance of the idle during the decreed suspension of 
 labour. In this extraordinary state of things, when the 
 inventive head and the sustaining heart of trade were 
 held in bondage by the unruly lower members, a destruc- 
 tive spirit began to display itself among some partisans 
 of the Union. Acts of singular atrocity were committed, 
 sometimes with weapons fit only for demons to wield, 
 such as the corrosive oil of vitriol dashed in the faces of 
 the most meritorious individuals, with the effect of disfi- 
 guring their persons, and burning their eyes out of the 
 sockets with the most dreadful agony.*'* 
 
 This atrocious system of violence was exceedingly 
 
 common in Stockport, Manchester, Oldham, Hyde, 
 
 Stayley Bridge, and Duckenfield, some time ago. The 
 
 * Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 283, 
 
 u 2 
 
292 COMBINATIONS. 
 
 most vindictive and ignorant of savage nations have 
 never exhibited any cruelty or depravity more glaring 
 than this, and the simple fact tells more forcibly the 
 immoral and degraded state of the factory population 
 than the most graphic description or the most minute 
 detail. 
 
 It has been said that the vast body of hand-loom 
 weavers and domestic manufacturers have been hitherto 
 in a great measure free from combination. It is with 
 pain, but without surprise, that we find that of late their 
 unparalleled distress has given rise to many discus- 
 sions, and that the most strenuous efibrts are making to 
 unite them, scattered as they are over a wide extent of 
 territory, into one general and efficient community. 
 Committees have been already formed at Preston, Man- 
 chester, Wigan, Bradford, Warrington, and are likely to 
 extend to Scotland, and into the ribbon, stocking- 
 weaving, and bobbin-net district. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SUBJUGATION OF LABOURERS TRUCK AND COTTAGE 
 
 SYSTEMS. 
 
 The Feudal Barons and the Master Manufacturers — Nature of the 
 Truck System — Its injustice — The Cottage System — Its extent 
 — Advantages and Disadvantages — Moral Evils, &c.— Remarks 
 on the Proper Conduct of Masters and Men. 
 
 Two very important features of the concentration of 
 labourers in particular localities, brought about by the 
 application of steam and water power to the manufac- 
 turing arts, are the truck and the cottage systems. 
 The approximation which these show of the condition of 
 the labourer, under the factory system, to the times of 
 feudal tenure and vassalage in England is singular. 
 Then every baron had his set of dependents and retainers, 
 generally gathered around, or in the immediate neigh- 
 bourhood of, his castellated mansion, for the convenience 
 of mutual protection. There is likely to be a much more 
 rapid return to this state of things than a superficial 
 observer would discover amongst ourselves. 
 
 It has been said, and said truly, that the extremes of 
 civilisation meet. More than one proof of this remark 
 may be found in the foregoing pages, and the master 
 
294 SUBJUGATION OF THE LABOURER. 
 
 manufacturer and the old feudal baron, however diffe- 
 rent they may appear, occupy a similar social position. 
 
 Hitherto it has happened that the master has been, to 
 some considerable extent, governed by his retainers. 
 Concentration gave power ; but as the necessity for the 
 hands daily diminishes before automatic industry, the 
 governing power is reversing, and in many country 
 districts the change is already complete. 
 
 An inspection of Belper, Cromford, Hyde, Ducken- 
 iield, Stayley Bridge, the villages and hamlets around 
 Oldham, Bolton, Manchester, Stockport, Preston, 
 Glasgow, &c. &c., will show many magnificent factories 
 surrounded by ranges of cottages, often exhibiting signs 
 of comfort and cleanliness highly honourable to the 
 proprietor and the occupants. These cottages are gene- 
 rally the property of the mill owner, and the occupants 
 are universally his dependents. 
 
 This dependence is in many cases of the most abso- 
 lute kind ; no power ever enjoyed by the feudal lord 
 was so operative. It is true that the life of the depen- 
 dent no longer lies at the mercy of the superior : what 
 may be termed his social existence is however at his 
 disposal. Around many mills a fixed population has 
 arisen, which is as much a part and parcel of the 
 property of the master as his machinery. The rapid 
 improvement in this last has put an end to the necessity 
 for new labourers, and thus little colonies are formed 
 under the absolute government of the employer. 
 
 Combination amongst the great body of the operatives 
 has as yet checked, or rather overpowered, the growing 
 superiority of the master; and in towns where the 
 hands have no dependence upon the master beyond 
 working for him simply, this superiority is not strongly 
 marked. Every new machine, however, is a step in 
 
TRUCK SYSTEM. 295 
 
 advance, because every new machine renders him, as 
 far as it goes, independent of his labourer; whilst in 
 equal rate it increases the dependence of the latter. 
 
 This dependence has been at times very singularly 
 displayed in what is called the truck system, which the 
 legislature has more than once endeavoured to put 
 down, and always in vain. This system consists in the 
 payment of the wages of the labourer, not in money, 
 but in goods — the master being the seller, and engross- 
 ing the market for all the necessaries. 
 
 This is a species of traffic which is injurious alike 
 to the character of the master and his men, and one, the 
 abolition of which it would be very desirable to see for 
 both their sakes. It is unjust to the labourer in many 
 ways ; it assists in the ruin of his feelings of indepen- 
 dence and free agency, and keeps down his provident 
 wishes, inasmuch as he has no opportunity of being 
 provident. 
 
 It has been urged by some writers,* that the men 
 should unite and establish shops for their own supply of 
 the necessaries or comforts of life, such as tea, coffee, 
 
 • "When the number of workmen Hving upon the same spot is 
 large, it may be thought desirable that they should unite together, 
 and have an agent to purchase by wholesale those articles which 
 are in most demand, such as tea, sugar, bacon, &c. and to retail 
 them at prices which will just repay the wholesale cost, together 
 with the expense of the agent who conducts their sale. If this 
 be managed wholly by a committee of workmen, aided perhaps by 
 advice from the master, and if the agent is paid in such a manner 
 as to have himself an interest in procuring good and reasonable 
 articles, it may be a benefit to the workman." — Babbage, p. 308* 
 
 There are innumerable difficulties in the way of Mr. Babbage's 
 scheme, advantageous as it appears at first sight, and in practice 
 it would be found totally useless. It was fairly tried by Mr. 
 Strutt's work people, under the most favourable circumstances, 
 and failed signally. 
 
296 TRUCK SYSTEM. 
 
 sugar, soap, &c. &c. There is no question that the 
 retail dealer, the petty shopkeeper, gains a very large 
 profit by his sales, partly by overcharging, and partly 
 by adulterating his articles, and that so far the men 
 would improve their situation if they could do away 
 with this. A little acquaintance with their characters 
 and feelings would dissipate any notion of preconceived 
 advantages, which they would derive from an establish- 
 ment of a joint stock concern, in the majority of in- 
 stances, and besides it is impracticable from many 
 causes. They will suffer the least from an adherence to 
 the old plan, both in a pecuniary and in a moral point 
 of view, and the retail dealer will be by simple compe- 
 tition brought to something like a moderate demand for 
 the employment of his capital. 
 
 The case, however, is widely different with regard to 
 the masters. They have indeed urged that the men are 
 still free to purchase at their shop, or elsewhere, as best 
 suits their convenience. The statement is fallacious, 
 and unworthy consideration ; the men are not, cannot 
 be free agents in the matter. Abundant means are in 
 the hands of the master to compel them, by indirect 
 measures, to confine themselves to his shop ; and in very 
 numerous instances no such reserve is shewn, but the 
 men are presented with a ticket to nearly the full 
 amount of their wages, and this is alone negotiable at 
 these shops. It has happened repeatedly that the work- 
 man, wanting a few shillings for some other purpose, 
 has consented to take a sum considerably less than was 
 his right, rather than have articles which he either did 
 not want, or that he wanted something else more indis- 
 pensably and immediately — and this was his only mode 
 of procuring the needful sum at an immense sacrifice. 
 What more striking proof of utter dependence can be 
 
COTTAGE SYSTEM. 297 
 
 found than this on the part of the labourer? It is 
 carrying power a step beyond the oppression of the 
 warlike baron, or the Russian noble over his serfs. 
 
 If the master's object were the advantage of the la- 
 bourer, and if the labourer could be induceel to give him 
 credit that it were so ; and if the master employed a 
 portion of his capital in the purchase of wholesome 
 goods, and retailed them at a lower price than the com- 
 mon shopkeeper, which he could well afford to do, and 
 still have a fair return ; some of the objections against 
 the system would fall to the ground. But it is just the 
 reverse ; the price charged by the master is invariably as 
 high, and in many Instances much higher, than his hum- 
 ble neighbour, and his goods are very generally inferior, 
 and retailed out so arbitrarily as to increase the other 
 mischiefs. Many masters, in all branches of manufac- 
 tures, are in the habit of killing cows, sheep, pigs, &c., 
 very extensively, and distributing the meat amongst 
 their men, at a price universally above the market 
 average ; many are dealers in coal ; and, in short, every 
 commodity required by the operative, some or other of 
 these masters deal in.* 
 
 The evils of this system are so apparent, and its 
 injustice so gross and glaring, that nothing but a very- 
 low estimate of morality can be possessed by those 
 masters who are engaged in it. They drive all compe- 
 titors at once from the field, ruining numbers of decent 
 retailers, and forcing them a step downwards in the 
 
 ♦ " If the manufacturer kept this shop merely for the purpose 
 of securing good articles at fair prices to his workmen, and if he 
 offered no inducement to them to purchase at his shop, except the 
 superior cheapness of his articles, it would certainly be advanta- 
 geous to the men. But, unfortunately, this is not always the case." 
 —Babbage, p. 309. 
 
298 TRUCK SYSTEM. 
 
 social scale, by converting them into labourers, and 
 obliging their families, who were most probably living 
 at home in domestic privacy, and preparing themselves 
 for decent members of society, to take refuge in the mill, 
 — a situation certain to do away with many of those pro- 
 babilities. They thus prevent any middle class betwixt 
 themselves and their operatives from springing into 
 permanent existence — a class to which the industrious, 
 economical, and well-disposed workman might aspire — 
 they smother all disposition for social amendment, and 
 thus both directly and indirectly keep up and increase 
 the improvidence and indifference of the labourer. The 
 establishment of a middle class between them would be 
 exceedingly beneficial to the character of both : — to the 
 man, by shewing within his reach a condition in life 
 elevated above that which he now holds — to the master, 
 by establishing a barrier which would prevent him 
 troublesomely and vexatiously interfering with the de- 
 tails of his inferior,* 
 
 Another system rapidly progressing, and very much 
 resembling the truck system, of which in fact it may 
 be viewed as an off-set, is the cottage system. A mas- 
 ter having in his employ several hundred hands, whose 
 habitations are scattered at considerable distances from 
 each other and from the mill, erects ranges of cottages 
 in its immediate vicinity, forming a part, indeed, of itself. 
 These cottages are probably better built, more commo- 
 dious, in every respect more comfortable, than those 
 which the labourers previously inhabited. By bringing 
 them nearer their work, they escape exposure to the 
 
 * Dr. Ure was much struck at seeing one or more shopkeepers 
 doing very well in a few country mill villages. A little inquiry 
 would have developed that the connexions of these shopkeepers 
 could not fail to make them prosperous. 
 
COTTAGE SYSTEM. 299 
 
 weather in their progress to and from their work ; they 
 have also an opportunity of securing longer hours 
 of rest by the saving of time which was occupied by 
 these progresses : — and yet the system is a bad one, and 
 one decidedly injurious to the men. This system of 
 cottage building, it is true, is not universal : in towns 
 where masses of labourers are already collected, and 
 when considerable expense would attend upon it, it is 
 very little practised. It is chiefly in the out-districts ; 
 and it is a striking proof of the advantages to the 
 master, that the great manufacturers are gradually 
 creeping to the outskirts, or into localities a few miles 
 from the great towns. 
 
 The extension and influence of this system may be 
 very distinctly seen in the now populous township of 
 Hyde and Newton, Duckenfield, &c. about seven miles 
 from Manchester, and three from Ashton. 
 
 The population of these districts in 1801 scarcely 
 amounted to three thousand, whilst in 1830 it had in- 
 creased to twenty-six thousand nearly — a rate of increase 
 unequalled. The rapid growth of such a population in 
 this neighbourhood is of course owing to the concen- 
 tration of a number of manufactories, favoured, as their 
 position is, by an abundant supply of coal and excellent 
 means of transport. This population, which is the resi- 
 dent one, by no means indicates the number of hands 
 employed ; on the contrary, great numbers are furnished 
 by the surrounding townships. 
 
 An examination of the dwellings of this population 
 would show how very large a proportion is in the 
 hands of the manufacturers, either as owners, or gene- 
 ral tenants. 
 
 It may be urged, that the masters, in consequence of 
 the increase in the number of mills, and the consequent 
 
300 TRUCK SYSTEM. 
 
 difficulty of collecting hands from a distance, have heen 
 forced to build, nobody else, indeed, being found who 
 would speculate upon such property. This is very true, 
 and quite unanswerable. They have been forced to 
 build, and are still building ; but it does not lessen the 
 evils attendant upon the system. 
 
 The demoralizing effects of crowding together pro- 
 miscuously the labourers in factories, have in large towns 
 been materially aided by the nature of their habits, and 
 the vices which large towns afford facilities for pursuing. 
 So long as the operative, after having completed his day's 
 toil, was separated from his fellows, and had to seek his 
 isolated cottage, some of these evils were avoided. It 
 freed him for a time at least from bad example, removed 
 him from immediate contact with the gin-shop or tavern, 
 collected his family generally under one roof, and gave 
 him an opportunity for cultivating his social affections, 
 and keeping down the overwhelming force of demorali- 
 zation, which too often destroyed the town labourer. 
 By affording him the cheering influences of a pure at- 
 mosphere, the sights and sounds of natural objects, — the 
 out-district labourer presented for a time some moral 
 and physical traits, which made him superior to the 
 town operative. 
 
 The Beer Act has unhappily destroyed one of these 
 advantages. The race of keepers of public-houses in 
 the rural districts was, generally speaking, one something 
 superior to his immediate neighbours — a small farmer 
 or shopkeeper, and reputable householder. Since that 
 period, however, a great change has been working in the 
 licensed victuallers. The small sum required for a 
 license threw it open to a labourer, and the idle and 
 profligate took immediate advantage of it. Numbers of 
 beer-houses were speedily seen occupying sites where, as 
 
COTTAGE SYSTEM. 301 
 
 a matter of trade, very little advantage could be derived 
 from them. Every way-side, every clump of cottages, 
 showed, as it was termed here, its " Tom and Jerry 
 shop." It cannot be denied, that prior to the introduc- 
 tion of these, an organized system for evading the excise 
 laws was developing itself, in a very singular, and yet in 
 a very effective form. The public-house at this period, 
 (prior to the passing of the Beer Act) it has been said, 
 was a house of good report, where, though immorality 
 and drunkenness would at times show themselves, still 
 they were checked and kept in some sort of discipline. 
 The bringing together numbers of the young of both 
 sexes by the factory system, generated irregularities, 
 which had no adequate field for their display ; drinking 
 became more habitual, and the more it was indulged, 
 the more it required indulgence. To meet this demand 
 of demoralization a number of houses were opened in 
 the vicinity of the manufactories for the sale of beer, 
 which, however, as the parties were unlicensed, subjected 
 them to a penalty. To evade this, no beer was sold, bu 
 abundance was given. The mode in which this transfer 
 was managed, to the advantage and compensation of the 
 giver, was, that a straw was the matter in barter ; the 
 drinker bought a bit of straw for the price of a pint of 
 beer, and this pint was given in with the bargain. Odd 
 as this may seem, it was carried on very extensively, and 
 exists yet to some degree, though it has been displaced 
 partially by the opening of beer-houses, which cost little, 
 and free their owners or occupiers from the risk of punish- 
 ment. By lowering the value of public-house property, 
 and by lowering in an equal degree the character of the 
 holders of these houses, great moral injury has been 
 done, without one single advantage to the poor man 
 to compensate for it. It was a law based upon most 
 
302 TRUCK SYSTEM. 
 
 erroneous and mistaken principles — holding out to the 
 labourer an apparent addition to his comfort, but which 
 has signally and unhappily failed. 
 
 The masters, many of whom have 80, 100, 200, or 
 more of those cottages surrounding, or in the immediate 
 neighbourhood of their mills, are immense gainers by the 
 arrangement. The cost of building a range of houses 
 such as these, say 100, will not, upon the most liberal 
 average, be more than 5,000^. ; indeed it may be esti- 
 mated at vastly less, for the generality of them, taking 
 the very best, 50Z. per house will over and above cover 
 the outlay. Now for the outlay of 5,000/., the capitalist 
 draws an annual income of 800/,, or 13 J per cent., and 
 completely covers himself in little more than six years. 
 This profitable return is burdened with no drawback ; no 
 rent is lost, every pay-night it is deducted from the wages. 
 One cannot wonder, therefore, at the universal practice 
 of manufacturers building cottages, favourably placed as 
 they are. • 
 
 Besides this disproportionate rate of interest, he 
 derives other great advantages from thus congregating 
 his men under his immediate control. In the first place, 
 it enables him without difficulty to perpetuate the truck 
 system ; lor he invariably builds two or three shops, and 
 houses calculated for taverns or beer-houses ; and if he 
 has no direct dealing in them, he abstracts an equivalent 
 rent ; and his hands are expected, and do spend a consi- 
 derable portion of their earnings there, so that they 
 suffer precisely the same injury as if their master was the 
 retailer ; and they know it. Again, he derives benefit 
 in another way : it enables him to shorten the hours 
 allowed for meals — to begin earlier in the morning, to 
 continue later at night — and this too with the concur- 
 rence of the hands, who do not often understand the 
 
COTTACxE SYSTEM. 303 
 
 difference sufficiently between mill labour and walking 
 on the road in the open air ; and yield up an hour at 
 least per diem, which is added to the profits of the cottage 
 building. 
 
 It is argued by those who advocate the system, that 
 there are many circumstances favourable to the men in 
 it — that generally a school-house is built, and every 
 disposition shown by the master to forward the comfort 
 and domestic enjoyments of the men — that the houses 
 are commodious, clean, whitewashed, and in every 
 respect vastly superior to the habitations for a similar 
 class of labourers in the town. Any one who will take 
 tbe trouble to inspect them, will at once acknowledge 
 the truth of these assertions ; but, in opposition, it must 
 be borne in mind, that all these advantages in the do- 
 mestic condition of the hands are sources of large 
 pecuniary profit to the master, at their expense. It is 
 said the rent, 35. per week, is not more than the tenant 
 would have to pay for a cottage as near the mill, to any 
 other landlord. This is not denied — but the argument 
 is unfair. The landlord who has cottage property 
 charges probably the same per centage in towns and 
 populous neighbourhoods ; but he is liable to loss of 
 rent continually — to have his houses empty for weeks 
 and months together — to have his tenants leaving his 
 houses, almost in a state of dilapidation, &c. &c. so that, 
 although he has the same nominal rent, and is so far on 
 a par with the manufacturer, he seldom calculates upon 
 receiving, or ever does receive, on an average, more than 
 six per cent, at the utmost — rarely indeed so much. It 
 is, therefore, obviously and clearly a misnomer to say 
 that the one derives the same profit as the other ; whereas 
 the manufacturer receives without risk or trouble, or even 
 collecting, 13^ per cent., whilst the common capitalist 
 
304 TRUCK SYSTEM. 
 
 has very considerable difficulty in securing his ^ve 
 or six per cent. ; and that has to be waited for and got 
 together with incessant exertion. 
 
 It would be highly gratifying if the masters, in ex- 
 tending this system, which might have been the agent of 
 much good to the men, had not shown their rapacity so 
 plainly. Had they contented themselves with fair in- 
 terest, and accommodated their hands with these cottages, 
 it would have been well— it would have been gratifying 
 to every one desirous of seeing a change in the inter- 
 course between them. They might have, indeed, con- 
 tented themselves with even a less amount of interest 
 than that paid by building property in general, and still 
 have been gainers, by having the opportunity of length- 
 ening, in a very limited degree, the hours of labour, and 
 by many other incidental advantages which they gain, 
 by bringing the men in such immediate contact with the 
 mill. But when this system is made a source of great reve- 
 nue — and when to this it superadds the truck system, with 
 all its vices — it can neither improve the condition of the 
 labourer, nor add to the honourable name of the master. 
 
 The truck system and the cottage system are both 
 departures from the proper track and duties of the 
 master — both bring him into collision with his men 
 upon points with which he ought never to interfere. 
 His duties are so strongly marked that he should never 
 suffer a question which can, for a moment, in any way 
 make him diverge from their proper performance, to be 
 entertained. He has a large capital employed ; and for 
 the purpose of turning it to profitable account, he re- 
 quires the assistance of a certain number of labourers, 
 the expense of the hiring of which is added to the cost 
 of the peculiar manufacture he brings into the market. 
 This payment of labour should be of that extent, and no 
 
COTTAGE SYSTEM, 305 
 
 farther, as will enable him to compete with other traders ; 
 and should be greater and smaller as the article he pro- 
 duces sells at greater or less price than all the expenses 
 of its production, such as raw material, building, ma- 
 chinery, labourers, &:c. leaving to the speculator, or 
 producer, a fair profit for time and capital expended. 
 This constitutes the profit of the manufacturer ; and this 
 done, he is bound to pay his labourers in money their 
 part of the expense of production — namely, for their 
 labour. But the truck system and the cottage system 
 go beyond this. The master pays or gives an acknow- 
 ledgment to the men for their quota of profit, which he 
 declares to be that which the present state of the market 
 enables him to make ; but he is not content with taking 
 his share in the first instance, for he taxes their wages, 
 and though nominally not reducing them, subtracts 
 twelve per cent, at least from their gross amount. 
 
 One mode in which these systems are prejudicial to 
 the interests of the workmen is, that it gives the masters 
 an opportunity of lowering their wages in times of trade 
 depression, or at their own caprice, and that too in an 
 underhand way, which they can with difficulty resist. 
 Sixpence a week in addition to the rent of their houses, 
 and a halfpenny or farthing a pound or yard on the 
 articles of their consumption, are innovations not so 
 great as to arouse their attention or indignation ; but it 
 gives a large sum to the masters, and the temptation 
 thus held out is too great to be resisted. Hence a series 
 of frauds upon the men — for frauds they decidedly are, 
 of the most injurious tendency. 
 
 A manufacturer employs six hundred hands, the 
 entire sum of whose wages for six months, at an average 
 of ten shillings per head, is 7,800/. This he pays as 
 the value of their labour, after having allowed for every 
 
 X 
 
306 TRUCK SYSTEM. 
 
 other item, and his own profit. If his men are sub- 
 jected to the truck and cottage systems (and remember 
 the first amount which he declares, is one left to his own 
 conscience, and is not improbably much below its fair 
 value), he levies upon their capital a tax of nearly 500/., 
 and this over and above the customary profits made 
 upon the articles with which he supplies them, namely, 
 houses and goods, and all this without risk. 
 
 It has been previously urged that combinations of the 
 masters are needful and desirable when founded upon 
 justice and equity ; but this perversion of both cannot be 
 sufficiently condemned. 
 
 The capabilities which the labouring man has to 
 improve his condition, under the numerous evils to 
 which he is subjected, cannot receive a more striking 
 exemplification than from the fact, that the hands who, 
 in addition to their other disadvantages, are farther 
 exposed to these two systems, are in many respects 
 decidedly improved in their social and moral organi- 
 zation ; and nothing can show more clearly what might 
 be done by masters, than what interest based upon 
 injustice has led them to. 
 
 This injustice comes with double force upon the 
 operative, as it injures him indirectly, and in a way 
 which he does not understand, and in a way, too, that 
 he cannot resist. He perhaps does not feel its operation 
 so onerous as in reality it is, and struggles on, com- 
 plaining against a rate of wages, which is hardly adequate 
 for his wants and expectations, combining, too, against 
 them, paying a further sum on this account, while the 
 actual cause of his misfortunes lies shrouded and 
 covered by so specious a show, that he never dreams of 
 imputing them to it. 
 
 The moral evils of the truck and cottage systems ar» 
 
COTTAGE SYSTEM. 307 
 
 analogous. By reducing the labourer to a mere machine 
 — by destroying his personal independence — by cutting 
 off his claim to self-respect — they degrade him to a 
 condition of mere slavery, compared to which the West 
 Indian negro m^y indeed congratulate himself on his 
 good fortune, for his is a state in some respects to be 
 desired in preference. The name of slave is a bye-word 
 for conjuring up a frightful catalogue of miseries and 
 degradations ; but the slave has no master like the 
 steam-engine. He is not compelled by this inexorable 
 task master to work for twelve or fourteen hours unin- 
 terruptedly ; and be it remembered that the factory 
 labourer works in an atmosphere of equal temperature 
 with the slave — and shall a name make such mighty 
 difference, when the moral and physical conditions of 
 slavery are equally in force in both instances ? for so it 
 is when the master takes under his control the hard 
 won wages of his labourers, and again converts them to 
 his own use, leaving them to suffer any degree of hard- 
 ship which will not drive them to desperation. 
 
 Both systems necessarily render the men improvident 
 and reckless — destroy all forethought — paralyze every 
 better feeling within them, and thus brutalize and de- 
 grade them in exact ratio as they are made dependent 
 and hopeless of amelioration or amendment. 
 
 It is hardly possible that the masters will ever suffi- 
 ciently comprehend that to make money is an evil, or 
 that they will possess such honourable feelings as will 
 lead them to sacrifice a positive advantage over the 
 men, when it is entirely in their power. Even were 
 it so — even were masters disposed to consult these 
 things, it is not likely the world, or at all events their 
 men, would give them credit for it. Let them, there- 
 fore, wash their hands of all temptation ; let them show, 
 x2 
 
308 TRUCK SYSTEM. 
 
 by not having, that they do not wish to have unfair 
 advantages ; and though they may lose something for a 
 time, they will eventually be large gainers ; for it will 
 be the first great step towards improving the moral and 
 social condition of the mass of the labourers, — by 
 rendering them economical, introducing household 
 virtues, withdrawing them from unnatural stimuli, 
 and inducing them to seek their support from solid 
 and wholesome diet. All these things may be effected 
 at a rate of wages inferior to that which they now con- 
 trive to squander, and yet starve ; to labour inces- 
 santly, yet seem to labour for a pittance unequal to 
 supply their wants. It is indeed difficult to say what 
 is the minimum upon which a provident man and 
 his family can subsist : one thing is obvious to every 
 inquirer, that an amount of earning which appears to 
 one family totally inadequate to live upon even decently, 
 when all about is squalid beggary, and every thing 
 shows the extremity of want — yet that another family, 
 equally if not morenumerous,will, with the same amount 
 of wages, appear clean, well fed, well clothed, cheerful, 
 and happy. 
 
 It is not on the amount of a man's earning, simply, 
 but on his capability of turning this to the best account, 
 that his comfort depends. Great wealth is no safeguard 
 against occasional distress, if not properly economized and 
 managed ; neither are liberal wages any reason why those 
 earning them should not be pauperized. The same family, 
 to the present writer's positive knowledge, have at one 
 period earned 5/. per week. Trade has become de- 
 pressed — prices have fallen — and in a year or tw^o their 
 earnings have been reduced to 2L 10s. But were they 
 poorer ? By no means. Riches and poverty are merely 
 terms of comparison. Were they worse dressed ? No ! 
 
COTTAGE SYSTEM. 309 
 
 Worse fed ? No ! Did they become burdensome to 
 the parish ? No ! — How then ? They learnt to reduce 
 their superfluous expenditure ; to cut off all unnecessary 
 sources of outlay ; to live more regularly, and they were, 
 in every respect, as well to do in the latter period as in 
 the former. 
 
 Thus it will be, if the artisans engaged in factories 
 can be roused from their present habits — if they make 
 home what it should be ; if the earnings of families are 
 brought into a joint fund ; if domestic discipline is 
 re-established ; if they become good husbands, fathers, 
 brothers, and wives ; if they limit the demands of their 
 appetites to their means of supply ; throw aside ruinous 
 combinations ; become peaceable, orderly, and well- 
 behaved citizens ; devote their earnings to legitimate 
 purposes, and eschew alike evil and folly. They have 
 within their power, by so doing, means to be comfortable, 
 happy, and perfectly independent ; and to defer, or per- 
 haps do away with the frightful consummation of the 
 factory system which is so rapidly approaching. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY ON THE VALUE OF 
 
 HUMAN LABOUR — SUBSTITUTION OF AUTOMATA FOR 
 
 HUMAN AGENTS ITS EXTENT AND ULTIMATE CON- 
 SEQUENCES. 
 
 It has been observed by Mr. M*Calloch, " That the 
 operatives are in great measure the architects of 
 their own fortunes ; for what others can do for them is 
 trifling indeed compared with what they can do for 
 themselves. That they are infinitely more interested in 
 the preservation of public tranquillity than any other 
 class of society ; that mechanical inventions and discO' 
 veries are supremely advantageous to them; and that 
 their real interests can only be efficiently protected by 
 displaying greater prudence and forethought."* 
 
 The influence of machinery upon the value of human 
 labour is a subject of paramount importance. It has 
 hitherto been very partially examined, whilst the conse- 
 quences certain to attend upon it, should make its con- 
 sideration one of great and unprejudiced care. The 
 remark in the foregoing quotation from M*Culloch, 
 ** that mechanical inventions and discoveries are su- 
 premely advantageous to them," i, e. the manufacturing 
 I population, is far too general and sweeping ; and an 
 ' attentive examination of the subject would have sufficed 
 * Edinburgh Review, No. XCI. 
 
INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY. 311 
 
 to satisfy the author that he was suffering imperfect 
 data to mislead his judgment, and was hazarding an 
 assertion unsustained by facts, whether of observation 
 or reasoning. 
 
 " One very important inquiry,'* says Mr. Babbage, j 
 " which this subject presents, is the question. Whether/ 
 it is more for the interest of the working classes thati 
 improved machinery should be so perfect as to defy the ' 
 competition of hand-labour, and that they should thus at 
 once be driven out of the trade by it, or be gradually 
 forced to quit it, by the slow and successive advances of 
 the machine. The suffering (which arises from a quick 
 transition is undoubtedly more intense, but it is also much 
 less permanent than that which results from the slower 
 process ; and if the competition is perceived to be per- 
 fectly hopeless, the workman will at once set himself to 
 learn a new department of his art. On the other hand, | 
 although new machinery causes an increased demand f 
 for skill in those who make and repair it, and in thos^ 
 who first superintend its use, yet there are other cases \ 
 in which it enables children and infirm workmen to I 
 execute work that previously required greater skill. In 
 such circumstances, even though the increased demand 
 for the article, produced by its diminished price, should 
 speedily give occupation to all who were before un- 
 employed, yet this very diminution of skill required, 
 would open a wider field for competition amongst the 
 working classes themselves."* 
 
 This is a tolerably fair statement of the general bear- 
 ings of the question, but does not take into full account 
 either the condition of the workmen, or the history of 
 machinery, as applied to manufactures, when put into 
 motion by steam or water power. 
 
 * Babbage, Economy of Manufactures, p. 336. 
 
312 INFLUENCE ON MACHINERY 
 
 ^ In the first place, the object of every mechanical con- 
 i trivance is, to do away with the necessity for human 
 I labour, which is at once the most expensive and trou- 
 blesome agent in the production of manufactured arti- 
 cles. This point has not yet been fully attained : but 
 already facilities for increased production have been 
 given, which, from diminution in the first outlay, 
 from the use of steam power and machinery, and the 
 immense quantity produced lowering its market value, 
 have rendered it necessary that workmen should indivi- 
 dually turn off a vastly increased amount of work, to 
 keep them on a level with the state of things brought 
 about by the two former causes. Those who are em- 
 ployed, are at present enabled to do this; and their 
 earnings have kept on the whole more steady than 
 is generally imagined, notwithstanding the fact, as 
 stated by Mr. Marshall, that the same quantity of work 
 is now performed for I*. lOd. for which 16^. were paid 
 in 1814. 
 
 Again, from the simplification in the processes of 
 manufactures, and from whatever power is required 
 being given by steam, the family of the mill artisan, 
 from nine years of age and upwards, are able to earn 
 something; so that when all things are considered, it is 
 probable that, as far as pecuniary matters are con- 
 cerned, he is as favourably placed as at any former period 
 of his history. 
 
 It has been remarked by Mr. Babbage, that " if the 
 competition between machinery and human labour is 
 perceived to be perfectly hopeless, the workman will at 
 once set himself to learn a new department of his art.'* 
 Were this possible, the necessary consequences of 
 mechanical improvement would signify nothing ; but it 
 is impossible, and a reference to his own table on hand- 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 313 
 
 loom weavers will sufficiently show that there are at 
 present insurmountable difficulties in the way of the con- 
 version of a great body* of operatives from one indus- 
 trial condition to another. 
 
 Whoever is in the habit of visiting the workshops of 
 the machine-makers, and the mills of the great cotton 
 manufacturers, from time to time, cannot fail to be struck 
 with the incessant improvements in the application of 
 machinery. These improvements, though they may not 
 enable the master to dismiss any of his hands, prevent 
 the necessity for engaging fresh ones, though he doubles 
 the productive powers of his mill. 
 
 The rapid growth of the staple branch of manufacture 
 — the cotton trade, has caused vast immigrations into 
 those districts in which it is principally carried on . The 
 depression in the agricultural counties has pushed these 
 immigrations beyond the demand ; the repeated turn- 
 outs have brought sudden accessions of new hands in 
 great numbers — thousands of Irish have deserted their 
 native and miserable homes, in search of employment 
 at the loom ; these circumstances, one and all, have 
 brought into the trade a surplus quantity of men, and 
 that at a period when the necessity for them is daily 
 lessening. 
 
 The time, too, must come, though it cannot come very 
 quickly, when the trade will reach its maximum. Great \ 
 Britain will long retain her pre-eminence as a manufac- 
 turing country, in consequence of the progress she has 
 already made, which places her immeasurably in advance 
 of the whole world. Her wealth, the industry of her 
 
 * On this point the evidence given before the Select Committee 
 on Hand-loom Weavers, in 1834, has already been referred to. 
 Almost every page shows clearly that there is no hope of the arti- 
 san changing his trade. 
 
314 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 people, the enterprise of her merchants, the possession 
 of coal, the skill of her machinists — these will long 
 secure her the lead. In retaining this, however, the 
 population engaged in the manufacture will have to 
 suffer greatly. Other nations, in their turn, will devote 
 their energies to the same purpose ; and though their 
 present inferiority as to roads, canals, skill, and enter- 
 prise, combine to render their competition not very for- 
 midable, this will not long continue. 
 
 Already the United States, France, the Low Coun- 
 tries, and Switzerland, are striding in the same track, 
 and already do something to lessen the value of 
 English manufacture. They are as yet only in their 
 infancy. It is a trade, however, which can advance 
 with great rapidity, when energetically taken up ; 
 and the period is not very remote when powerful 
 rivals will dispute the ground with Great Britain, 
 I and compel her manufacturers to adopt measures, 
 I and to lower the value of human labour to a level, 
 so as to enable them to meet upon equal terms the 
 foreign trader. The surplus hands would readily enable 
 them to lessen the rate of wages ; but the certainty 
 that any considerable reduction would be followed by 
 immediate immense losses from turn-outs, extended 
 stoppages, and various other impediments which would 
 • be thrown in their way, makes them prefer the slower 
 process of mechanical improvement, by which, though 
 they may triple production, they require no new 
 men.* 
 
 But these improved applications of mechanism will 
 
 fnot end here. Whenever the pressure of foreign or 
 
 I domestic competition becomes more severe, the masters 
 
 1 will be necessitated to avail themselves to the utmost of 
 
 * Fide Appendix — Extent of Foreign Competition. 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 315 
 
 every thing which can assist in lowering the price of 
 their products, and human labour must and will be 
 pusljed to the wall. Many great changes will, of course, 
 take place before this inevitable result is gained, and 
 reductions in wages for quantity will be constantly pro- 
 gressing ; but the ultimatum is less remote than those 
 interested in it are aware of; for let it be remembered 
 that all mechanical applications, and the moving power 
 derived from the expansive nature of steam, have as yet 
 but arrived at one point in their career, and this point 
 says nothing as to what may be done. There can be no 
 question whatever that many processes, for which the 
 human hand is at present indispensable, will very shortly 
 have machines adapted to them ; these, if they will not 
 quite displace the workman, will render one man capable 
 of producing, or rather of superintending, the production 
 of quantity now requiring ten or twenty labourers. This 
 is no theoretical opinion — the whole history of the cotton 
 manufacture attests its truth, and collateral proofs are 
 abundant in other branches of manufacture. 
 
 It does not follow that improvements in existing 
 machinery, or every new machine, should at once throw 
 out a number of hands. Those, however, who argue 
 that machinery never has that effect, and never will have 
 it, either wilfully delude themselves, or take a very 
 limited and imperfect view of the subject. It must have 
 one of two effects, — the objects of every change, improve- 
 ment, and addition, being to lessen the amount of labour 
 required for production ; — these effects must be either 
 to render fewer workmen necessary to produce a given 
 quantity of manufacture, or so far lower the price of the 
 manufactured article as at once to increase the demand 
 for it so considerably, as to absorb the same number of 
 men as are already engaged in it. In many instances, 
 
316 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 in fact generally, the latter has been the case hitherto, 
 and would, perhaps, continue to be so, were Great Britain 
 entirely to monopolize manufactures. But this cannot 
 be ; and, as it has been before stated, the maximum must 
 be attained. All these improvements having therefore 
 one end, all tending to the same point, namely, the 
 cheapening of labour, the time must come when its value 
 will be so small as to make it nearly worthless to the 
 possessor. 
 
 The triumphant appeal made by those who consider 
 the acquisition of wealth to be the sole end of national and 
 commercial policy, to the rise and progress of the cotton 
 trade, overlooks the history of the manufacture in con- 
 nexion with the labourers. No man can be so blind as 
 not to see that physico-mechanical science has increased 
 enormously the wealth of Great Britain, and has placed 
 her in a commercial position far in advance of all other 
 countries. Of this every man who has considered the 
 subject for a moment must be aware ; and every English- 
 man may well be proud of the magnificent inventions 
 which have contributed to raise the importance of his 
 country. " Machines have been invented which enable 
 one man to produce as much yarn as two hundred and 
 fifty, or three hundred even, could have produced 
 seventy years ago — which enable one man and one boy 
 to print as many goods as a hundred men and a hundred 
 boys could have printed formerly. * * * The 150,000 
 workmen in the spinning mills produce as much yarn as 
 could have been produced by 40,000,000 with the one- 
 thread wheel ; and yet there are those who look on it as 
 a calamity, that human labour has been rendered so 
 productive." * 
 
 " When this new career (adaptation of mechanism) 
 * History of the Cotton Manufacture, p. 302. 
 
- ON HUMAN LABOUR. 317 
 
 commenced, about the year 1770, the annual consump- 
 tion of cotton in British manufactures was under four 
 millions of pounds' weight, and that of the whole of 
 Christendom was probably not more than ten millions. 
 Last year the consumption in great Britain and Ireland 
 was about two hundred and seventy million pounds ; 
 and that of Europe and the United States together, 
 four hundred and eighty millions. This prodigious 
 increase is, without doubt, almost entirely due to the 
 factory system, founded and upreared by the intrepid 
 native of Preston (Arkwright). If, then, this system be 
 not merely an inevitable step in the social progression of 
 the world, but the one which gives a commanding station 
 and influence to the people who most resolutely take it, 
 does it become any man, far less a denizen of this 
 favoured land, to vilify* the author of a benefaction 
 which, wisely administered, may become the best tem- 
 poral gift of Providence to the poor — a blessing destined ^ 
 to mitigate, and in some measure to repeal the primeval \ 
 curse pronounced on the labour of man — * in the sweat ■ 
 of thy face shalt thou eat bread.' Arkwright well | 
 deserves to live in honoured remembrance among those I 
 ancient master-spirits who persuaded their roaming com- I 
 panions to exchange the precarious toils of the chase for 
 the settled comforts of agriculture.'^ 
 
 " In my recent tour, I have seen tens of thousands of 
 old, young, and middle aged, of both sexes, many of them 
 too feeble to get their daily bread by any former modes of 
 industry, earning abundant food, raiment, and domestic ac- 
 commodation,without perspiring at a single pore, screened 
 
 * We are not aware of any individuals who have vilified this 
 extraordinary man, except his contemporary brother manufactu- 
 rers, who did all in their power to injure him — more especially the 
 Lancastrians. 
 
318 INFLUENCE ON MACHINERY 
 
 meanwhile from the summer's sun, and the winter's 
 frost, in apartments more airy and salubrious than those 
 of the metropolis in which our legislative and fashion- 
 able aristocracies assemble. In those spacious halls the 
 benignant power of steam summons around him his 
 myriads of willing menials, and assigns to each the 
 regulated task, substituting for painful muscular efforts 
 on their part the energies of his own gigantic arm, and 
 demanding in return only attention and dexterity to 
 connect such little aberrations as casually occur in his 
 workmanship. The gentle docility'^ of this moving 
 force qualifies it for impelling the tiny bobbins of the 
 lace machine with a speed inimitable by the most 
 dexterous hands directed by the quickest eyes. Hence, 
 under its auspices, and in obedience to Arkwright's 
 policy, magnificent edifices, surpassing far in number, 
 value, usefulness, and ingenuity of construction, the 
 boasted monuments of Asiatic, Egyptian, and Roman 
 despotism, have, within the short period of fifty years, 
 risen up in this kingdom, to show to what extent 
 capital, industry, and science, may augment the resources 
 of a state, while they ameliorate the condition of its 
 citizens. Such is the factory system, replete with pro- 
 digies in mechanics and political economy, which promises 
 in its future growth to become the great minister of civi- 
 lisation to the terraqueous globe, enabling this country, 
 as its heart, to diffuse along with its commerce the life- 
 blood of science and religion to myriads of people still 
 lying * in the region and shadow of death.' "* 
 
 Mr. Baines remarks, that the history of cotton spin- 
 
 • Like other potent genii, steam occasionally puts off its gentle 
 docility, blowing up factories, steam-boats, &c. &c. We presume 
 the author whom we are quoting is ignorant of this. 
 
 t Dr. Ure*s Philosophy of Manufactures, pp. 17, 18. 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 319 
 
 ning is almost romantic ; and Dr. Ure, taking the hint, 
 has exhibited in the foregoing extract that mingling of 
 truth, exaggeration, and poetical description, usually 
 forming a romance. Dr. Darwin, in his " Botanic 
 Garden," has preceded Dr. Ure — the former speaking 
 of a "watery god," and the latter of the " benignant 
 power of steam ;" the substance, however, is the same in 
 both cases. Dr. Darwin alludes to the Cromford Mills, 
 on the Derwent.* 
 
 " An extensive cotton mill is a striking instance of 
 the application of the greatest powers to perform a 
 prodigious quantity of light and easy work. A steam 
 engine of 100 horse power, which has the strength of 
 880 men, gives a rapid motion to 50,000 spindles, for 
 spinning fine cotton threads : each spindle forms a sepa- 
 rate thread, and the whole number ;work together in an 
 immense building erected on purpose, and so adapted to 
 receive the machines that no room is lost. Seven hun- 
 dred and fifty people are sufficient to attend all the ope- 
 rations of such a cotton mill ; and by the assistance of 
 
 Where Derwent guides his dusky floods 
 
 Through vaulted mountains and a night of woods, 
 
 The nymph Gossypia treads the velvet sod, 
 
 And warms with rosy smiles the wat*ry god; 
 
 His ponderous oars to slender spindles turns, 
 
 And pours o'er massy wheels his foaming urns ; 
 
 With playful charms her hoary lover wins, 
 
 And wields his trident whilst the monarch spins. ' 
 
 First, with nice eye, emerging naiads cull 
 
 From leathery pods the vegetable wool : 
 
 With wiry teeth, revolving cards release 
 
 The tangled knots, and smoothe the ravelPd fleece : 
 
 Next moves with iron hands the fingers fine ; 
 
 Combs the wide card, and forms the eternal line. 
 
 Now with soft lips the whirling can acquires 
 
 The tender skeins, and wraps in rising spires." 
 
320 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 the steam engine, they will be enabled to spin as much 
 thread as 200,000 persons could do without machinery, 
 or one 'person can do as much as 266." * 
 
 ** Watt," says M. Charles Dupin, in his address to 
 the Parisian operatives, ** improves the steam engine, — 
 and this single improvement causes the industry of 
 England to make an immense stride. This machine 
 represents at the present time the power of 300,000 
 horses, or of 2,000,000 of men, strong and well-fitted 
 for labour, who should work day and night without 
 repose to augment the riches of a country not two-thirds 
 the extent of France. A hairdresser invents, or at least 
 brings into action, a machine for spinning cotton — this 
 alone gives to British industry an immense superiority. 
 Fifty years only after this discovery more than 1,000,000 
 of the inhabitants of FiUgland are employed in those 
 operations which depend directly or indirectly on the 
 action of this machine. Lastly, England exports cotton, 
 spun and woven by an admirable system of machinery, 
 to the value of 400,000,000 of francs yearly. The 
 Indies — so long superior to Europe — the Indies, which 
 inundated the west with her products, and exhausted 
 the riches of Europe— the Indies are conquered in their 
 turn. The British navigator travels in quest of the 
 cotton of India ; brings it from a distance of 4,000 
 leagues ; commits it to an operation of the machine of 
 Arkwright, and of those that are attached to it ; carries 
 back their products to the east, making them again 
 travel 4,000 leagues ; and in spite of loss of time, in 
 spite of the enormous expense incurred by this voyage 
 of 8,000 leagues, the cotton manufactured by the ma- 
 chinery of England becomes less costly than the cotton 
 of India spun and woven by the hand, near the field _ 
 * Vide Farey's Treatise on the Steam Engine. 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 321 
 
 that produced it, and sold at the nearest market. So 
 great is the power of the progress of machinery ! " 
 
 To all in the foregoing quotations relating to the in- 
 genuity of the contrivers, the increase of trade, and the 
 additions made to our commercial resources, we fully 
 subscribe — and dull indeed must be that mind that does 
 not glory in the fact, that British science and British 
 skill have made his country the manufacturer of the 
 world. This is one view of the adaptation of machinery 
 to the arts ; but it is an exceedingly partial view : it 
 sees magnificent mills — prodigies of science — millions 
 of exports, — a vast accumulation of private wealth, and 
 a prospect teeming with the wonderful results of auto- 
 matic industry. We clothe a great part of mankind 
 with cottons ; and a similar series of improvements 
 which have enabled us to do this with one fabric, will 
 enable us to do it with woollen, silk, flax, and linen 
 trades, to some very considerable extent. 
 
 With this knowledge before us — with an intimate 
 acquaintance with the history of manufacture — we do 
 not hesitate to affirm, that these vast resources have 
 been gained at too costly a price, and that we are in 
 danger of losing them, not by force or competition from 
 without, but by the pressure from within. 
 
 Writers who have hitherto examined the bearings of 
 machinery on human labour, have failed to take an 
 enlarged and general survey of the past and present 
 condition of the operatives. Satisfied by observing that 
 every improvement in mechanism bearing upon the arts 
 has freed the human labourer from toil, and, in many 
 cases, increased the wages earned by him, they have 
 not looked beyond that. " It is, in fact, the constant 
 aim and tendency of every improvement in machinery to 
 supersede human labour altogether, or to diminish its cost. 
 
322 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 hy substituting the industry of women and children for 
 that of men, or that of ordinary labourers for trained 
 artisans,^'* Add to this Mr. Poulett Scrope's remark — 
 that ^^every means of economising human labour and 
 facilitating production is a benefit and a blessing to man- 
 kind ;^^f and we have before us the essential principles 
 of those political economists who advocate mechanical 
 contrivance. They amount to this, — that the end and 
 aim of mechanism is to do away with the necessity 
 for human labour, and that this is to be a benefit and 
 a blessing to mankind. " The blessings which physico- 
 mechanical science has bestowed^ on society, and the 
 means it has still in store for ameliorating the lot of 
 mankind, have been too little dwelt upon ; while, on 
 the other hand, it has been accused of lending itself to 
 the rich capitalists as an instrument for harassing the 
 poor, and exacting from the operative an accelerated 
 rate of work. "J The abuse of science has nothing to do 
 with the argument ; as far as the capitalist is concerned, 
 he finds a productive power of boundless capabilities at 
 his command, and he uses it as a matter of course. 
 
 It is not a little singular that Mr. Scrope should, 
 
 as an illustration of his remark, repeatedly assert that 
 
 " Great Britain offers no choice (to the labourer) but 
 
 j starvation or the workhouse, because the wages of all 
 
 I are, by excessive competition, reduced below the level 
 
 I of comfort ;" and that Dr. Ure should constantly point 
 
 I out the fact — that machinery must drive away adult 
 
 \ labour ; and even quote triumphantly examples of the 
 
 j where and the how this has been effected. From this, 
 
 it would appear that Mr. Scrope's economising of human 
 
 * Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 23. 
 
 f Letter II. to the Hand Loom Weavers, p. 22. 
 
 X Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 7. 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 323 
 
 labour has, according to his own showing, ruined the 
 human labourer, and in place of " being a benefit and a 
 blessing " to him, it has left him no resource but star- 
 vation — the workhouse — or Canada ; whilst, according to 
 Dr. Ure, the ** blessings" of physico-mechanical science 
 to the operatives are to throw the adult population into 
 idleness. 
 
 The value of the opinions of the gentlemen quoted ; 
 above, as to the benefits of automatic industry upon the 
 labouring population, admit of an easy and unquestion- 
 able test — namely, the condition of that population 
 whilst automatic industry has been developing itself. 
 
 The first fact which meets us is — that the poor rates 
 of the kingdom have risen, during the progress of m.e- 
 chanical adaptation to processes hitherto demanding • 
 human labour, to the enormous sum of nearly 8,000,000/. 1 
 sterling per annum. The second fact is — that a tide of ' 
 demoralization has swept over the land, displaying itself 
 in the agricultural districts by incendiarism and other , 
 forms, the details of which have been rendered familiar | 
 to the public by the Report of the Poor Law Commis- j 
 sion,* and in the manufacturing districts, in the shapes 
 we have already spoken of. The third fact is — that 
 from the impossibility of finding adequate remuneration 
 for labour, no less than 351,056 persons have left our 
 shores for Canada between 1812 and 1832; and that 
 from the 7th of May, 1833, to the 24th of September, 
 1834, upwards of 30,000 emigrants departed from the 
 port of Liverpool alone. The fourth fact is — that there * 
 are one million of human beings dependent on hand- 
 manufacture, who are literally starving in the midst of 
 the magnificent edifices housing the steam engine and 
 its workers, without the slightest hope or chance of 
 * Vide Report, passim, 
 Y 2 
 
324 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 improving their industrial condition.* The fifth fact is 
 — that two millions of hand-loom weavers in Hindostan 
 have heen driven from their labour by machinery here, 
 multitudes of whom have perished by famine.-f- The 
 sixth fact is — that there are hundreds of thousands of 
 domestic manufacturers connected v/ith the bobbin-net, 
 woollen, silk, flax, linen, and iron trades, now suffering 
 extreme privations, and who will shortly be driven from 
 their peculiar province of industry by competition with 
 steam-production. The seventh fact is — that the ab- 
 sorption of the household manufacture of the kingdom 
 j into factories has completely deranged the social system 
 I ^ of our labouring community. The eighth fact is — that 
 I the breaking up of the industrial occupations of the 
 \ people has led to so much idleness and dissoluteness, 
 I that the legislature (overlooking the cause) has deter- 
 \ mined to cover the country with workhouses, a measure 
 j which takes us back two centuries in the career of 
 \ civilisation. J The ninth fact is — that crime has pro- 
 ceeded at a fearful pace ; the commitments in 1811 
 (as early as data are in existence)§ being 5,337, and in 
 1832, 20,829. The tenth fact is — that discontent, 
 violence, and organized unions, threatening the very 
 safety of manufactures, universally characterize the 
 artisans of the present day. The eleventh fact is — 
 that drunkenness || and irreligion have made fearful 
 advances amongst the depressed operatives.** 
 
 ♦ Vide History of the Cotton Manufacture, p. 239. 
 
 f Minutes of Evidence. Select Committee on Hand-loom 
 Weavers, p. 311. 
 
 X Poor Law Amendment Act. 
 , j§ Vide Table, Progress of Crime, in Appendix. 
 
 II Vide Table of Spirits consumed in Great Britain, in Appendix. 
 ' ** Vide Minutes of Evidence before Committee on Hand-loom 
 Weavers, passim. 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 325 
 
 These are truths too notorious to be questioned, and 
 they do not depend upon the opinion of this man or that 
 man. Those who maintain that the economising of 
 human labour — the end and aim of mechanical con- 
 trivances — is a blessing to the operative, overlook the 
 simple fact that if he cannot dispose of his labour he 
 must perish ; and, consequently, that every improve- 
 ment in machines lessens the value of hi§ ' fund of 
 subsistence.* It needs no declamation as to the evils 
 of Poor Laws, Taxation, or Currency, to lead us to the 
 cause of the depressed condition of the labouring popu- 
 lation — a depression which all admit ; it arises from 
 there being no market for their labour in Great Britain. 
 Already steam power is at work more than equivalent 
 to the entire adult labour of the kingdom ; and the 
 numbers engaged in various manufactories as aids to 
 automatic machinery produce more than could be pro- 
 duced by the united labour of the whole of the inha- 
 bitants of the British empire. 
 
 When speaking of steam power, the attention of the 
 reader must not be confined to the operation of that 
 power as exhibited before him in connexion with textile 
 manufactories. It is at work in every branch of indus- 
 try, pushing aside the human agent, and causing that 
 overplus of hands which has by competition so rapidly 
 reduced wages. Mr, Gordon, an eminent engineer, 
 thus enumerates some of the applications of this plastic 
 power, when treating of the substitution of inanimate 
 for animate power in locomotion. 
 
 " Considered in its application to husbandry, the 
 
 * The advantage to the poor man, according to Mr. Baines, 
 is, that his wife can purchase a printed calico gown for 2s, 6d, 
 This IS a fact he repeatedly insists upon. It seems to us a very 
 poor compensation for poverty, expatriation, or the workhouse. 
 
326 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 cottager looks forth upon the neat paling which fences 
 his dwelling ; it was sawed hy steam. The spade with 
 which he digs his garden, the rake, the hoe, the pickaxe, 
 the scythe, the sickle, every implement of rural toil 
 which ministers to his necessities, are produced by steam. 
 Steam bruises the oil-cake which feeds the farmer's 
 cattle ; moulds the ploughshare which overturns his 
 fields ; forms the shears which clip his flock ; and cards, 
 spins, and weaves the produce. 
 
 " Applied to architecture, we find the Briarean arms 
 of the steam engine every where at work. Stone is cut 
 by it, marble polished, cement ground, mortar mixed, 
 floors sawed, doors planed, chimney-pieces carved, lead 
 rolled for roofs and drawn for gutters, rails formed, 
 gratings and bolts forged, paint ground and mixed, 
 paper made and stained, worsted dyed, and carpet 
 wove ; mahogany veneered, door-locks ornamented, 
 curtains and furniture made, printed, and measured ; 
 fringes, tassels, and bell-ropes, chair-covers and chair- 
 nails, bell-wires, linens and blankets, — china and earth- 
 enware turned ; glass cut, and pier-glass formed; the 
 drawing-room, dining-room, kitchen, pantry, closets, &c. 
 — all owe to steam their most essential requisites. 
 
 " Should the question be asked, What has enabled 
 the inferior proprietors to wear two hats a year instead 
 of going bare-headed, or sporting the bonnet which their 
 fathers jv^ore ; what has clothed them in suits of excel- 
 lent broad cloth, and given them to ruffle it with the 
 first-born of the land ; which has donned for their 
 wives, ladies' apparel ; made their boys rejoice in a 
 plurality of suits ; and, in the bridal hour, busked their 
 daughters in robes, delicate in texture as the spider's 
 web, beautiful in colour as the rainbow's hues, and for 
 elegance such as never in her grandame's younger days, 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 327 
 
 even Duchesses wore : which plaited her bonnet, tam- 
 boured her net, wove her laces, knitted her stockings, 
 veneered her comb, flowered her ribands, gilded her 
 buttons, sewed her shoes, and even fashioned the rosette 
 that ornamented their ties ? The answer is — Steam," 
 
 It is urged by those who maintain that physico- i 
 mechanical science blesses the labouring classes, that | 
 the cheapness 6f the product has a necessary and con- \ 
 stant tendency to increase the consumption of the article I 
 produced, and so to employ an increased number of | 
 operatives, — and the cotton trade is appealed to. ThCx * 
 extraordinary growth of this trade, now become the 
 staple of the country, is indeed one of the most wonder- 
 ful events recorded in history. The wages earned are, 
 as we have seen, even yet good ; and it is contended 
 that this trade is an undeniable evidence of the sound- 
 ness of the opinions of those who applaud every advance 
 in the arts. To the commercial part of these opinions we 
 have already assented : were we disposed, however, to , 
 assent to the whole, looking no further than the cotton 
 trade, the past and present state of that trade would at 
 once assure us, that the mass of human labourers must, 
 at no distant date, be utterly ruined. 
 
 But we should not look on the body of workmen 
 connected with textile manufactures now, as aiFord- 
 ing an index to the operation of mechanical con- 
 trivances, upon human industry. The number of 
 hands engaged in the cotton, wool, silk, and flax trades, 
 has been stated by Dr. Ure to amount to 314,625. 
 Granting that the wages of these workers are moderately 
 good, we must set against them the wretched penury in ^ 
 which a million of human beings, now dependent on | 
 hand-loom weaving, are placed, together with an equal J 
 number at least connected with other handicrafts whose I 
 
328 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 labour has been partially displaced by automatic in- 
 dustry. 
 
 It has been remarked, that the rapid extension of 
 particular branches of trade, although carried on by new- 
 agents, will nevertheless still find employment for the 
 human labourers ; and Mr. Baines has endeavoured to 
 illustrate this position by making a guess at the number 
 supported by the cotton manufacture in 1760 : these he 
 states to have amounted to 40,000. There are no data, 
 however, on which to found the estimate ; it is conse- 
 ^quently purely conjectural. Basing his observations on 
 this calculation, he proceeds to show how vastly popu- 
 lation and the persons employed in cotton manufacture 
 have increased since that period. Of the increase of 
 population in the manufacturing districts we have already 
 spoken, as well as of the number of individuals con- 
 nected with the cotton trade. This statement should be 
 accompanied by other details ; and then, in place of 
 Mr. Baines charging authors and members of parliament 
 with stupid ignorance for thinking that any evil has 
 attended the progress of machinery, he would be aware of 
 his own assumption and the narrow views expressed by 
 himself. 
 
 It might seem that, if 40»000 only were connected 
 with this branch of industry in 1760, and that now not 
 less than 220,000 are employed in cotton factories, 
 the assertion as to the absorption of labourers was sup- 
 ported by facts ; but it must be borne in mind, that the 
 manufacture of cotton yarn and calicoes, whilst it re- 
 quired a great number of hands, completely destroyed 
 the coarse and heavy linen, cotton, woollen, and flax 
 fabrics, which had been carried on as a part of the 
 domestic economy of the great bulk of the cottage popu- 
 lation of Great Britain. Against the increase in the 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 329 
 
 number of hands engaged in the cotton trade, is to be 
 placed the multitudes of domestic manufacturers who 
 were deprived of their household labour by a new pro- 
 ducing power, and, thus viewed, the increase dwindles 
 down into insignificance. One spinner produces as 
 much in one day now as would have required a year's 
 time to produce a century ago ; and hence spinning, once 
 an universal cottage labour, has become completely en- 
 grossed by factories. The mechanists will say, — very 
 true, we have abolished cottage spinning, but we 
 have increased the manufacture of cotton alone from 
 3,000,000 lbs. in 1760, to 303,656,8371bs. in 1833, and 
 we have made the great staple trade of the country. 
 The answer is — undouftedly : but how many cottage 
 hearths have been quenched, how many industrious 
 families have sunk into pauperism, during this trans- 
 ition ? So far as the extended commerce of the nation 
 is concerned, there is no dispute ; but whilst we ac- 
 knowledge the magnificent results of machinery, we 
 contend, that the state of our labouring population has 
 been in a great measure overlooked. 
 
 In the weaving department the consequence of me- 
 chanical adaptation is now beginning to be felt in its full 
 force. Hitherto the depression which has crept over this 
 department has resulted from competition with steam- 
 looms, from cheap yarn, from this yarn being exported, 
 and hence compelling the English merchant, in order to 
 compete with the foreign manufacturer, to bring down 
 the price of cotton cloth below his ; and from the amazing 
 productiveness of spinning machinery constantly choking 
 the market, whilst human labour being driven from 
 this department, and having no other resource, has been 
 forced to keep itself on the loom. Hence it is that the 
 hand cotton manufacturers have kept on the increase— 
 
330 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 the number actually employed far exceeding the factory 
 labourers — and that the former are in a far greater pro- 
 portion adults than the latter ; yet the hand labourers 
 are charged with being the authors and perpetrators of 
 their own ruin ! — for ruined every man who has inquired 
 into their condition acknowledges them to be. 
 
 But the time is near at hand when this resource for 
 industry, dreadful as it is, will be withdrawn from the 
 operatives. During the last three years the power loom 
 has been rapidly on the increase, and every new mill 
 which is built contains them, and additions to old mills 
 of weaving rooms are going on in every direction.* 
 ** The power-loom factories now generally weave only 
 their own yarn, spun to suit their peculiar fabric ; and 
 hence they generally command a better profit on their 
 capital than establishments in which the same capital 
 is expended in either the mere spinning of power-loom 
 yarn, or the weaving of what is purchased."'}' This is 
 a very sufficient reason for the rapid spread of power- 
 looms — it economises both capital and labour ; and an 
 examination of the mills at Stockport will exhibit the 
 perfection at which this system of conjoined spinning 
 and weaving has arrived. 
 
 There cannot be a question, therefore, that the multi- 
 tudes of adults now dependent on hand-weaving must be 
 pushed from the market ; no extension in this depart- 
 ' ment can absorb the operatives, because the power-loom 
 
 * " The number of power looms had very materially increased of 
 late years in and about Bury, Stockport, Bolton, Ashton, and in 
 Cheshire. Did not know any person who was now building a 
 spinning- mill without addition of a power-loom mill. — Evidence of 
 Mr. Greg (a very eminent manufacturer) before the Select Committee 
 of the House of Commons on Manufactures, Commerce^ S^c. Report, 
 p. 677. 
 
 f Vide Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 331. 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 331 
 
 does not require adult labour ; whilst it is so greatly more j 
 productive, that the very cheapness of its produce must, 
 when itis in general use,completely supersede hand-manu- 
 facture in the home and foreign market. The wage of 
 this class of labourers cannot be lowered^ — it has reached 
 its limit ; and the next step must be famine or outrage. 
 
 " The throstle on which the warp is usually spun may 
 be considered to be a complete automaton, capable, on a 
 good construction, of furnishing a very uniform yarn ; 
 but the mule on which the weft is always spun has been, 
 till recently, only half- automatic, and has partaken, 
 therefore, in a certain degree, of the irregularity of 
 hand-work, varying with the skill and steadiness of 
 the workman. The improved self-actors of Messrs. 
 Sharp, Roberts, and Smith, are likely to remove the 
 above cause of irregularity in calico and fustian wefts, and 
 therefore they place a weaving factory, which works in 
 train with them, in a condition to produce fabrics of inva- 
 riable excellence. This new mechanical union of auto- 
 matic spinning and weaving promises to have two 
 admirable results : it will, in the first place, put an end 
 to the folly of trades unions, so ruinous to the men, and 
 so vexatious to the masters ; and, in the second place, it 
 will secure, for a long period to come, the monopoly of 
 coarse cotton fabrics to Great Britain."* 
 
 According to this statement, which is quite correct in 
 its mechanical details, arrangements are in progress to 
 enable automatic industry to produce coarse cotton 
 fabrics, which have been the chief production of the 
 hand-loom, and which have supplied the foreign market, 
 this quality of fabric being chiefly manufactured for ex- 
 portation. There can be no question but that machinery 
 will speedijy reach this point, and then we shall find that 
 ♦ Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 331. 
 
332 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 automata have done away with the necessity for adult 
 workmen. Girls tend the throstle which produce the 
 warp ; boys tend the mule which produce the weft ; 
 girls tend the looms which produce the cloth ; — me- 
 chanism dresses it, and mechanism dyes it. This point 
 reached, according to Dr. Ure, Mr. Baines, Mr.M*Cul- 
 loch, Mr. Scrope, and others, the very perfection of 
 manufacture has been attained. A vast series of auto- 
 matic machines will be seen revolving in palaces, pour- 
 ing out produce in endless profusion ; but the question 
 deserves being asked — Where is the adult labourer? 
 Even now we find him toiling in damp, unwholesome 
 cellars, perishing of want ; or, if better paid, leagued 
 with his fellows, and holding machinery at bay, wdth the 
 deadly resolve of not yielding one step further. 
 
 '* This combination of weaving and spinning in one 
 establishment has lately given a fresh- impulsion to our 
 cotton trade, and is likely to render it paramount over 
 all competition, enabling it to furnish supplies of cheap 
 clothing to many millions of new customers in every 
 region of the globe. New factories will hence arise, 
 requiring multitudes of new hands, presenting prizes in 
 the lottery of life to the skilful and steady operatives, 
 and enabling them to become managers or masters."* 
 
 A knowledge of the actual condition and prospects of 
 the cotton trade would convince Dr. Ure that his imagi- 
 nation had overleaped every thing like truth and proba- 
 bility in the latter part of the above paragraph. That 
 new factories will spring up it is true, but that they will 
 require multitudes of new hands every page of his own 
 book shows to be false, abundant proofs of which will 
 be given shortly. If the 150,000 spinners of the present 
 day superintend the production of as much yarn aa 
 * Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 332. 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 333 
 
 would have required the labour of 40,000,000' men a 
 century ago, what is to prevent 1000 doing that which 
 is now done by 150,000? Not only is there nothing to 
 prevent it, but it will actually be done, if no great 
 convulsion overturn the present system. If one power- 
 loom is six times as effective as a hand-loom, why should 
 not the power-loom be doubled in capability in ten years? 
 These things are yet in their infancy. The introduction 
 of steam-power, of automatic labour, of power-looms, 
 are events of the present generation ; and there is not a 
 fabric but will shortly be transplanted from the hand to 
 steam.* 
 
 ** The prizes in the lottery of life," which, Dr. Ures 
 remarks, automatic manufacture present to the operative, ^ 
 are degradation and poverty. A familiar acquaintance} 
 with the growth and progress of the cotton manufacture! 
 would have shown him, that so far is there a likelihoodf 
 of the steady workman becoming a master, that the trad^ 
 is rapidly assuming the character of a great monopoly ;? 
 and that the next important change in the commercial 
 condition .of those connected with it will be a combi- 
 nation of large proprietors, and the ruin of the small 
 manufacturers. 
 
 The correctness of our opinions is attested by every 
 page in the history of mechanism. The increasing 
 powers of the steam-loom are shown in the following 
 statement, furnished by a manufacturer, as the advance 
 which has already been made. 
 
 • The progress of steam-looms will appear from the following 
 
 statement : — 
 
 1820. 1833. 
 
 In England .... 12,150 . . . 85,000 
 
 In Scotland .... 2,000 . . . 15,000 
 
 14,150 100,000 
 
334 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 ** A very good hand-weaver, twenty-five or thirty 
 years of age, will weave tioo pieces of 9-8ths shirting 
 per week. 
 
 *V In 1823 a steam-loom weaver, about fifteen years 
 of age, attending two looms, could weave seven similar 
 pieces in a week. 
 
 *' In 1826, a steam-loom weaver, about fifteen years 
 of age, attending two looms, could weave twelve similar 
 pieces in a week —some could wesiYe ffteen pieces. 
 
 " In 1833, a steam-loom weaver, from fifteen to 
 twenty years of age, assisted by a girl about twelve 
 years of age, attending four looms, can weave eighteen 
 similar pieces in a we^ek — some can weave twenty 
 pieces."* 
 
 From this document, it appears that in 1823 an 
 adult hand-loom weaver could produce, at the utmost, 
 not one-third as much as a girl at steam-loom ; that in 
 1826 he could not produce one-sixth as much ; and that in 
 1833 he could not iprodxice. one-ninth as much. This plain 
 and simple fact is sufl[icient to show the nature of the 
 contest between human and automatic industry ; the one 
 stationary, as to capability, the other doubling or trebling 
 its productive powers almost yearly. 
 
 We have said that one cause of the lowness of wages 
 earned by the hand-weaver was the export of yarn. 
 They themselves have attributed their poverty to ruinous 
 competition amongst the masters : to some extent they 
 are right, and as this particularly illustrates the conse- 
 quence of mechanical production, we shall devote a short 
 space to it. 
 
 In the sketch of the progressive change marking 
 manufacture, forming the first chapter of this work, it 
 was shown that the increased production of yarn or 
 * Vide History of the Cotton Manufacture, p. 340. 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. . 335 
 
 twist was the beginning of the great series of mechanical 
 inventions, which the splendid genius and perseverance 
 of Arkwright made operative. " In the year 1770, the 
 cottagers in our township were entirely employed in 
 spinning and weaving woollen, linen, or cotton, except 
 a few weeks in harvest. The father of a family would 
 earn eight shillings or half a guinea at his loom, and his 
 sons, if he had one, two, or three, alongside of him, six 
 or eight shillings each per week ; but the great sheet- 
 anchor of all cottages and small farms was the labour 
 attached to the hand-wheel : and when it is considered 
 that it required six or eight hands to prepare and spin 
 yarn of all of the three materials, I have mentioned 
 sufficient foi; the consumption of one weaver. This 
 shows clearly the inexhaustible source there was for the 
 labour, of every person from the age of seven to eighty 
 years (who retained their sight, and could move their 
 handy, to earn their bread, say 1^. to 35. per week, 
 without going to the parish.* 
 
 " From 1770 to 1778 a complete change had gra- 
 dually been effected in the spinning of yarns, — that of 
 wool had disappeared altogether, and that of linen was 
 also nearly gone : — cotton, cotton, cotton, was become . ^ 
 the almost universal material for employment, — the "4^ 
 hand-wheels were all thrown into lumber-rooms, — the 
 yarn was all spun on common jennies, — the carding for 
 all numbers up to forty hanks in the pound was done 
 on carding engines." 
 
 The invention of the jenny and the mule, and the 
 erection of spinning factories, aided by water-power, 
 
 * How different a picture is this from that of the cottager's con- 
 dition of the present day ! These descriptions are particularly 
 valuable, as coming from one of the very body the author is speak- 
 ing of. — Fi^e Appendix. 
 
336 
 
 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 speedily destroyed cottage- spinning, whilst it bene- 
 fited the cottage weaver ; — spinning was therefore 
 abandoned without reluctance or alarm. As these 
 machines multiplied, they very soon overstocked the 
 home market with yarn, notwithstanding the number of 
 weavers which flocked to a profitable employment. 
 The patent of Arkwright, which had restricted the use 
 of the best spinning machine, was set aside in 1785, 
 after a trial in the Court of King's Bench ; and the 
 immediate result was a most extraordinary extension of 
 machine spinning. Factories sprung up in Lancashire 
 and other counties, and the home market could not 
 work the yarn up, nor make any return for its production. 
 Capital had rushed into the trade, which had made 
 Arkwright and others princely fortunes ; and the conse- 
 quence of over production was a fall of profits, and a 
 necessity for seeking out foreign markets* 
 
 The impulse given to the cotton trade whilst these 
 mechanical improvements were proceeding, may be 
 clearly seen in the following Table : — 
 
 COTTON IMPORTED FROM 1701 to 1800. 
 
 Years. lbs. 
 
 Years. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 1701 .... 1,985,861 
 
 1764 . . . 
 
 3,870,392 
 
 1701 to 1705 1 1^^7,331 
 (average; . ) 
 
 1771 to 17761 
 
 (average) . j 
 
 4,764,589 
 
 1710. . . . 715,000 
 
 1776 to 1780 1 
 (average) . ) 
 
 6,766,613 
 
 1720 .... 1,972,805 
 
 1730 .... 1,645,472 
 
 1790 . . . . 
 
 31,447,605 
 
 1741 .... 1,645,031 
 
 1800 . , . . 
 
 56,010,732 
 
 1751 .... 2,976,610 
 
 
 
 From this Table we learn that from 1780 to 1790 
 the quantity of cotton consumed in this country in- 
 creased nearly five-fold, and not far from one-half in 
 the next succeeding decade. 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 
 
 337 
 
 BRITISH COTTON EXPORTED FROM 1701 to 1800. 
 
 OFFICIAL VALUE. 
 
 Years. 
 
 £ 
 
 Years. 
 
 £ 
 
 1701 . . 
 
 . 23,253 
 
 1764 . . 
 
 . . 200,354 
 
 1710 . . 
 
 . . 5,69S 
 
 1766 . . 
 
 . . 220,759 
 
 1720 . . 
 
 . 16,200 
 
 1780 . . 
 
 . . 355,060 
 
 1730 . . 
 
 . 13,524 
 
 1787 . . 
 
 . . 1,101,457 
 
 1741 . . 
 
 . 20,709 
 
 1790 . . 
 
 . . 1,662,369 
 
 1751 . . 
 
 . 45,986 
 
 1800 . . 
 
 . . 5,406,501 
 
 " Within the first fifty years of the century, the quan- 
 tity of cotton wool imported seems to have little more 
 than doubled ; within the last twenty years it multiplied 
 more than eight-fold. The rate of progression, therefore, 
 was ten times as great in the latter period as the former. 
 
 ** Within the first fifty years the value of the cotton 
 exports nearly doubled ; within the last twenty it multi- 
 plied fifteen and a half fold. The rate of progression, 
 therefore, was nearly twenty times as great in the latter 
 period as in the former." * 
 
 These are two instructive Tables. They show that, 
 whilst the imports increased with great rapidity, the ex- 
 ports had far more than kept pace with them, the former 
 having multiplied from a period a little before the disso- 
 lution of Arkwright's patent eight-fold, and the latter 
 fifteen and a half fold. 
 
 Ey this foreign export, the manufacturer, in freeing 
 himself from a dead stock of yarns, and in laying the 
 foundation for an enormous trade, ruined the home 
 weaver. The yarn was bought by foreign nations to 
 convert into cloth, and it was soon found that we should 
 become the spinners of the world. But it was over- 
 looked, that although the British spinner got a tolerably 
 fair return for his exported goods, the British weaver, 
 if his produce should ever become superabundant, and 
 
 * Fide History of the Cotton Manufacture, pp. 215, 216. 
 z 
 
338 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 give rise to the necessity for opening a foreign market, 
 would have to meet his customers on their own ground, 
 and that the price of his labour must therefore depend 
 on the price paid for labour in other countries. Now 
 this is precisely what has happened, and this it is that 
 has perpetually been crushing the hand-weaver. Yarn 
 is produced in such immense quantities, that the makers 
 have always a full market, and it is shipped abroad, till 
 it has become one of the most important items of our 
 export trade, and till our home workers have to compete 
 with the natives of other countries lightly taxed and 
 cheaply fed. 
 
 The extent to which the exportation of cotton goods 
 has been carried will be seen from the following Table, 
 extracted from Burn's " Commercial Glance" for 1833, 
 a work of standard authority : — 
 
 lbs. lbs. 
 
 Number of lbs. consumed 282,675,200 
 
 Allowed for loss in spinning .... 30,917,600 
 
 Total quantity of yarn spun in Eng- ) 251 757 60O 
 
 land, &c . . . ) ' 
 
 Total quantity of yarn spun in Scotland 24,474,931 
 
 Total yarn spun in England ......... 227,282,669 
 
 HOW DISPOSED OF. 
 
 Exported in yarn during the year . . 67,760,822 
 
 thread 1,187,601 
 
 manufactured goods . . 76,246,339 
 
 Estimated quantity of yarn sent to "> ^ _ __ _ _ _ _ 
 
 Scotland and Ireland . . . .f 5,500,000 
 
 Exported in mixed manufactures . . 12,000,000 
 
 Balance left for home consumption • . 64,587,907 227,282,669 
 
 Out of the 227,282,669 lbs. of cotton spun during the 
 year 1833, above 145,000,000 lbs. were absolutely sent 
 to the foreign market, and 64,587,907 lbs. retained only 
 for home consumption and stock. 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 339 
 
 Of the 145,000,000 lbs. of yarn, specified as being 
 sent out of the country, 76,246,339 lbs. were in a 
 manufactured state — and here we find the truth of the 
 foregoing observations, that by exporting twist we 
 condemn the English hand -manufacturer to contend 
 with the foreign weaver on his own ground ; and hence 
 the wages paid to the British weaver must assimilate 
 themselves to those paid to the foreigner, although there 
 is no ground of comparison between the cost of living 
 in different countries ; a man in Russia, or Germany* 
 supporting himself in comfort, and even affluence, on a 
 sum which will hardly procure the most ordinary neces- 
 saries of life in Great Britain. 
 
 In the following Table the kinds of exported manu- 
 factured goods are marked, as well as the producing 
 agent : — 
 
 Manufactured Goods exported from England in 1833, 
 showing the Kinds, and producing Agent ; the first par- 
 ticulars taken from Burn^s " Commercial Glance ;^^ the 
 second from Baines' ''^History of the Cotton Manufac- 
 ture,^* 
 
 Descriptions. Yards. How produced. 
 
 Dimities 150,599 . . Hand 
 
 Quiltings and ribs . . . . 256,127 . . Hand 
 
 Lawns and Lenos .... 7,843 . . Hand 
 
 Calicoes, printed .... 143,573,899 . . Hand chiefly 
 
 Calicoes, plain 172,082,093 . . Hand chiefly 
 
 Cambrics and Muslins . . 12,754,365 . . Hand 
 
 Cotton and Linen mixed . 2,840,687 . . Hand 
 
 Ginghams 2,079,896 . . Hand 
 
 Imitation Shawls .... 329,836 . . Hand 
 
 Nankeens 17,935,523 . . Hand 
 
 Velveteens 8,162,991 . . Hand chiefly 
 
 Lace, &c 79,193,574 . . Hand 
 
 Ticks, &c 431,672 . . Hand 
 
 z 2 
 
340 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 Descriptions. Yards. How produced. 
 
 Damasks 32,701 . . Hand 
 
 Counterpanes 54,886 • . Hand 
 
 Shawls, &c 690,514 . . Hand and power 
 
 Tapes, &c 116,413 . . Hand and power 
 
 Hosiery 468,602 . . Hand 
 
 Unenumerated 137,709 
 
 The yarn consumed in these manufactures, spun en- 
 tirely by power, we repeat, amounts to 76,246,339 lbs. 
 whilst, at the same time, we send abroad with these 
 manufactures 67,760,822 lbs. of unmanufactured yarn. 
 Thus we perceive that machinery, in the first place, 
 J destroyed domestic spinning ; in the second, it has 
 j^ opened up an immense export trade in yarn ; and, in 
 I the third, it condemns the domestic weaver to clothe the 
 I whole world, whilst he himself is working fourteen hours 
 \ a day in rags and poverty. " Nonfactory processes of 
 *' art," says Dr. Ure, " which can be condensed into a 
 single frame, or machine movable by hand, come 
 within the reach of operatives in every adjacent country, 
 and will have their profits reduced ere long to the 
 minimum consistent with the emiployment of capital in it, 
 and their wages brought down to the scale of those in 
 the cheapest or meanest living country. The stocking- 
 trade affords a painful illustration of this fact. No 
 manufacturer in this country can afford to make stock- 
 ings unless he can get labour at as low a rate as in 
 Germany ; because a German stockinger may easily 
 have as good a stocking-frame, and work it as well, as 
 an English frame-knitter. In the market of the world) " 
 therefore. Great Britain has here no advantage by its 
 machinery and capital over other countries, where the 
 materials of the fabrics can be purchased at nearly the 
 same price. The same reasoning may be applied to the 
 bobbin-net trade^ in so far as it is carried on by hand- 
 
ON HUMAN LABOURr^**4£2£Jilii^41 
 
 machines. The wages now made for this most ingenious 
 fabric are deplorably low, in consequence of the compe- 
 tition of the continental handicraftsmen, who are content 
 to live in the poorest manner. Thus, also, the profit on 
 lace, made by power-machines, has been reduced, for a 
 time at least, below its natural level, in consequence of 
 the possessors of hand-machines continuing to work 
 them,* in the vain hope of redeeming their first great 
 cost in some degree, though the wages of their labour 
 meanwhile can hardly keep them alive." "f 
 
 The commercial part of these observations is strictly 
 true, and applies with equal force to the cotton hand- 
 loom weavers, as to the parties mentioned by the writer. 
 The British manufacturer, to dispose of his productions, 
 must sell at a lower price than the native workman of other 
 countries can produce them ; and he does this even whilst 
 he supplies the foreign manufacturer with the basis of 
 his cloth — namely, yarn ; but to enable him to do this, he 
 has to bring down the washes of the producers to some- 
 thing like a level with the wages earned in other coun- 
 tries, and then his capital and his skill make him a 
 profit, though now a small one. ** The sale of our 
 goods depends, in a great measure, on the lowness of 
 their prices .... The more remote the market, the more 
 necessary is it to keep the price low, to guard against 
 contingencies, as the good may otherwise be under- 
 sold by the product of the rudest machinery cheaply 
 worked," is the language held in the " Philosophy of 
 Manufactures."-]" For this purpose, therefore, the opera- 
 tive here is condemned to suffer the extremest privation, 
 
 * The real fact of the case is, that the impoverished operatives 
 have sunk under competition, and cannot change their condition. 
 + Vide Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 333, 
 I Fide ipages m, 3H. 
 
342 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 and macliinery is urged on at a rapid pace in order to 
 keep up some profit, whilst goods, both yarn and cloth, 
 are perpetually cheapening. 
 
 The rate of profit, it has just been said, is small : the 
 following evidence was given by Mr. Kirkman Finlay, of 
 Glasgow, an intelligent man, and a very competent 
 witness, before the select Committee of the House of 
 Commons, on Manufactures, Commerce, and Shipping, 
 in 1833.* — '* I attribute the low state of profit not 
 to any want of demand — if we compare the demand 
 now with the demand of any former period — but to an 
 exU'emely extensive 'production, with reference to the de- 
 mand arising out of great competition . . , , A practice has 
 greatly prevailed, of late years, of the manufacturer 
 making large consignments of his productions to foreign 
 countries." Many corroborative facts and striking ex- 
 amples of thus pushing away produce upon any terms, 
 may be examined by referring to the Minutes of Evidence, 
 taken before the Select Committee on Hand-loom 
 Weavers, in 1834. 
 
 The weight of this perpetual reduction of price falls 
 chiefly upon the hand-producer, and we shall show pre- 
 [ sently how it will, before long, act upon the power- 
 \ worker. The fall in the value of goods, and the small 
 I profit of the manufacturer, are exhibited in the following 
 I Table, which will at once explain the absolute need 
 '■ under which the capitalist lies to turn out an immense 
 quantity with great rapidity. 
 
 * Fide Report, p. 45. 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 
 
 343 
 
 Years. 
 
 Price of 
 one Piece 
 in Warp. 
 
 Price of 
 One Piece 
 in Weft. 
 
 Expense 
 
 of 
 
 sising. 
 
 Cost Price. 
 
 Selling Price. 
 
 
 s. d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 d. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 £ s. 
 
 d. 
 
 1814 
 
 9 5 
 
 7 5i 
 
 6 
 
 I 3 10^ 
 
 1 4 
 
 7 
 
 1815 
 
 7 10^ 
 
 6 3 
 
 — 
 
 18 10^ 
 
 19 
 
 8f 
 
 1816 
 
 7 Oi 
 
 5 5i 
 
 — 
 
 16 4| 
 
 16 
 
 8^ 
 
 1817 
 
 6 6f 
 
 5 41: 
 
 — 
 
 16 2i 
 
 16 
 
 H 
 
 1818 
 
 6 9i 
 
 4 2 
 
 — 
 
 13 0^ 
 
 13 
 
 9 
 
 1819 
 
 5 3i 
 
 3 6 
 
 — 
 
 11 H 
 
 12 
 
 n 
 
 1820 
 
 4 2^ 
 
 2 6 
 
 — 
 
 9 10^ ~ 
 
 9 
 
 H 
 
 1821 
 
 3 9f 
 
 2 3 
 
 5 
 
 8 11 
 
 9 
 
 H 
 
 1822 
 
 3 8i 
 
 2 21 
 
 -- 
 
 8 8i 
 
 8 
 
 m 
 
 1823 
 
 3 8| 
 
 2 2^ 
 
 — 
 
 8 5i 
 
 8 
 
 5| 
 
 1824 
 
 3 8^ 
 
 2 2 
 
 — 
 
 8 Oi 
 
 8 
 
 51 
 
 1825 
 
 3 4 
 
 1 10 
 
 — 
 
 e» 2| 
 
 6 
 
 H 
 
 1826 
 
 2 8 
 
 1 H 
 
 — 
 
 6 3i 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 1827 
 
 2 6^ 
 
 1 9 
 
 — 
 
 6 4^ 
 
 6 
 
 5i 
 
 1828 
 
 2 8 
 
 1 9 
 
 — 
 
 5 11 
 
 5 
 
 8 
 
 1829 
 
 2 8 
 
 1 10^ 
 
 — 
 
 6 5i 
 
 6 
 
 3f 
 
 1830 
 
 2 9 
 
 1 9h 
 
 — 
 
 6 Of 
 
 6 
 
 H 
 
 1831 
 
 2 3i 
 
 1 9 
 
 — 
 
 5 8f 
 
 5 
 
 8 
 
 1832 
 
 2 4 
 
 1 9 
 
 — 
 
 5 lOf 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 1833 
 
 2 5 
 
 1 9f 
 
 — 
 
 5 10 
 
 6 
 
 
 
344 
 
 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 PRICE OF COTTON YARN, No. 100, FROM 1786 to 1832. 
 
 
 Yarn, No. 100, . 
 
 
 
 Yarn, No. 100 
 
 In the Year 
 
 sold for 
 
 In the Year sold for 
 
 
 s. d. 
 
 .?. d. 
 
 1786 . . 
 
 . . 38 
 
 1798 .... 9 10 
 
 1787 . . 
 
 . 38 
 
 1799 . 
 
 
 
 10 11 
 
 1788 . . 
 
 . 35 
 
 1800 . 
 
 
 
 9 5 
 
 1789 . . 
 
 . 34 
 
 1801 . 
 
 
 
 8 9 
 
 1790 . . 
 
 . 30 
 
 1802 . 
 
 
 
 8 4 
 
 1791 . . 
 
 . 29 9 
 
 1803 . 
 
 
 
 8 4 
 
 1792 . . 
 
 . 16 1 
 
 1804 . 
 
 
 
 7 10 
 
 1793 . . 
 
 . 15 1 
 
 1805 . 
 
 
 
 7 10 
 
 1794 . . 
 
 . 15 1 
 
 1806 . 
 
 
 
 7 2 
 
 1795 . . . 
 
 . 19 
 
 1807 . 
 
 
 
 6 9 
 
 1796 . . , 
 
 . 19 
 
 1829* . 
 
 
 
 3 2 
 
 1797 . . 
 
 . 19 
 
 1832 . 
 
 
 
 2 11 
 
 In addition to these Tables, showing the rapid decline 
 of prices, the following statement exhibits the same fact in 
 still more striking colours, because applied to the mass. 
 The enormous export trade which has grown up has filled 
 the minds of many people with the most extraordinary- 
 delusions. Let us, however, see how and upon what 
 terms it has grown to its present magnitude. 
 
 The terms official and declared value must be ex- 
 plained before we can make ourselves understood. 
 Official value indicates quantity only : it is the quantity 
 of any given export, reduced to money by a fixed and 
 unvarying scale, adopted by the Custom House many 
 years ago. Thus, in speaking of the official value of an 
 exported article, we say, in 1800 it was 1,000,000Z. ; in 
 1835, 10,000,000/. ; that is, a certain number of yards 
 were valued in 1800 at one million, and another cer- 
 tain number of yards at ten millions in 18?5, both upon 
 the same scale ; and this advance points out at once 
 
 * After many fluctuations. 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 345 
 
 that ten times more yards were exported at the last 
 period than the first. 
 
 Declared value, on the contrary, is the real price of 
 the exported article, according to the declaration of the 
 exporter. This signifies, therefore, the absolute worth 
 of the article ; and hence, the official value and the 
 declared value, when compared, show at a glance the 
 increase or decrease in the worth of the article. If the 
 official value rises, whilst the declared remains stationary 
 or declines, it is obvious that a greater quantity of goods 
 are disposed of, without any correspondent return in 
 money. 
 
 The condition of the export trade connected with our 
 cotton manufactures is singularly instructive as to the 
 effects of machinery upon production and value. In 
 1814, the official value of the cotton exports was 
 17,655,378/.; the declared value, 20,033,132/. In 
 1833, the official value of cotton exports was 46,337,210/. 
 the declared value, 18,459,000/. 
 
 It is worth while to pause a moment, and reflect on 
 this extraordinary statement, founded as it is on Parlia- 
 mentary Papers and Finance Accounts. The clearest 
 way of showing the depreciation in value to the non- 
 commercial reader, is to call the 11., in official value, 
 yards, when it will stand thus — 
 
 1814, sold 17,655,378 yards for 20,033,132/. 
 1833, sold 46,337,210 yards for 18,459,000/. 
 
 so that, notwithstanding we have almost trebled our 
 export trade since 1814, its absolute return is nearly 
 2,000,000/. less in 1833 than 1814. 
 
 Well may profits be small, well may the productive 
 powers of automatic industry be eagerly urged forward, 
 and well may human labour be crushed by a system 
 
346 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 like this. Steam and mechanism produce yam, and 
 man hitherto has, in a great measure, produced cloth ; 
 but it will require both steam and mechanism to produce 
 cloth, if this enormous trade is to be sustaiued, — and this 
 they have begun doing to a vast amount. 
 
 In twenty years hence we may find, if the system should 
 proceed unchecked, an export trade, — 100,000,000/. 
 official value, and 10,000,000/. declared value. Auto- 
 matic industry will enable us to do this ; — with human 
 labourers it cannot be done ; and yet it must be done, if 
 our foreign trade is to be continued on the present 
 system. Any serious interference with it, such as a 
 rise in the value of labour, carried so far as to influence 
 the price of manufactured goods, would lose us a great 
 proportion of our trade, and would give such a spur to 
 foreign production as would for ever deprive us of our 
 markets. 
 
 Automatic industry, we again repeat, will enable us 
 to carry on the present system, and to keep in advance 
 of manufacturing nations, where food is cheap, and the 
 necessaries of life untaxed. How far such a system is 
 just to our own labouring community is another ques- 
 tion ; but we hold the opinion, that the industrious ope- 
 rative, willing and anxious to labour for his sustenance, 
 is subjected to great wrong by this state of things. 
 
 It has been said that any serious interference with the 
 price of goods would overthrow a great part of our 
 foreign trade'; that, in fact, we undersell other producers, 
 and thus keep our markets. One great cause, there- 
 fore, of the perpetual cheapening of production is to be 
 found in foreign as well as in home competition. The 
 United States of America have spinning machinery, 
 energy, and industry, equal to our own, and already 
 the manufacture has acquired a large extent. From a 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 347 
 
 report made to Congress in 1832, it appears that 57,466 
 hands are employed in spinning, weaving, &c., and that 
 the amount paid for wages was 2,144,780/. The growth 
 of this manufacture has been as rapid in America as in 
 England — the number of factories being only fifteen in 
 1807, producing 300,000 lbs. of yarn. In 1831, there 
 were 795 mills working, which produced 67,862,665 lbs. 
 of yarn. The cotton goods of the United States, chiefly 
 of a coarse quality, are displacing, to some extent, those 
 of Great Britain, in the Mexican, South American, and 
 some of the eastern markets, and have also been intro- 
 duced into Europe, besides supplying, as far as they go, 
 the wants of her citizens. 
 
 The cotton trade in France has also thriven rapidly, 
 and employs a great number of hands, perhaps not 
 fewer than 700,000, and the gross annual produce has 
 been estimated at 24,000,000/. This has risen since 
 Napoleon enforced his continental system, and in 1810 
 the quantity of cotton w^ool consumed was 25,000,000 lbs. ; 
 in 1832, it had risen to 80,000,000 lbs. The interests 
 of this manufacture have been guarded by duties to keep 
 us from the French markets, but the smuggling of yarn 
 is carried on to a large extent. 
 
 Switzerland, Prussia, Austria, Saxony, Lombardy, 
 and Belgium, manufacture cottons : the manufacture, 
 however, is upon a small scale compared to our own. 
 Still the seeds are sown ; and any interference with the 
 present cheapness of British produce, would at once bring 
 them into close competition with us. We overpower 
 them by machinery — and by machinery alone ; hand- 
 labour being cheaper than with us — having a price in- 
 deed nearly the same as that paid to the domestic manu- 
 facturer of Britain. 
 
 Our immense export trade, therefore, has been 
 
348 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 generated by abundant production, cheapened by the 
 substitution of automatic for human labour ; and if it is 
 to continue, it must be continued by the same means. 
 The human labour now expended upon it, as being the 
 dearest and the least manageable agent, must of necessity 
 give way ; and as we have been chiefly met by woven 
 cloths in other countries, and as we were enabling them 
 to weave plentifully by exporting machinery and yarn, 
 the great trial has been to beat down the wages of the 
 hand-weaver. Now, however, he is on the point of 
 being quite superseded. " The usual rate of profit in 
 England is lower than in any of the countries whose 
 competition has been feared ; and on this account 
 English manufactures can be sold cheaper than those of 
 other countries, especially owing to the extensive 
 employment of machinery, which causes the price of the 
 goods to be regulated more according to the wages of 
 labour. Since the introduction of the power-loom the 
 maintenance of English superiority is rendered much 
 more secure. This country excels every other in the 
 making of machines, and in the means of working them 
 advantageously ; and besides this, for the reason just 
 mentioned, our manufacturers are interested in having 
 their goods produced as much as possible by machinery. 
 The power-loom changes the mode of manufacture, 
 from that in which we labour under a considerable 
 advantage, to that in which we possess the greatest 
 superiority." 
 
 We have thus seen, — that since the year 1786, when 
 cotton yarn was sold for 385. per lb. and when the hand- 
 weaver earned liberal and sufficient wages, yarn has fallen 
 to 2s, lid. per lb. and the wages of the hand-weaver to 
 4*. per week ; that whilst the quantity of manufactured 
 goods has increased enormously in amount, it has in 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 349 
 
 equal ratio decreased in value, the capitalist making 
 his profit from rapidity of production, and diminution 
 in the price paid for labour, till in the end a state of 
 things has resulted which renders human labour, even 
 at the miserable price paid for it, too expensive ; and 
 consequently, that an immense body of operatives are 
 being stranded without any hope or prospect of saving 
 themselves. 
 
 Whilst this has been going on, the factory operative 
 has earned a tolerably steady rate of wages, which is 
 still kept up chiefly because those engaged in mills have 
 bound themselves in close and operative unions to keep 
 up their value. So operative are these unions that the 
 masters dare not reduce wages below a certain fixed 
 price ; and the men, rather than suffer their own surplus 
 body to interfere with wages, ship them off to America * 
 These unions, which have ramified throughout the entir^l 
 factory labourers, are sources of great embarrassment to 
 the master, whose energy, activity, and capital, are more- 
 or less at their mercy. He cannot, however, dissolve 
 them by force ; and the knowledge which the men have 
 of the cheapening power of machinery keeps them 
 together. If the master cannot overcome them by force, 
 he has another and a sure, though gradual agent of 
 destruction in the workshop of the machinist ; and it 
 is this that he is wielding with silent but irresistible 
 force, which will free him from his adult and combined 
 labourers. 
 
 It is impossible to deny that the men have accelerated \ 
 the advance of the mighty agent which is to destroy 
 them. We have expressed our opinion freely and 
 dispassionately on the subject of combinations, and yet 
 no man can wonder that a body of artisans, placed as 
 ♦ Vide Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 327. 
 
350 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 these have been, should combine. That combinations, 
 justified in many cases by grasping and tyrannous 
 measures on the part of the masters, have degenerated 
 into violence and assumption on the part of the men, is 
 quite certain. If the present rapid advances of mecha- 
 : nical adaptation are permitted to proceed, the struggle 
 will soon cease between the opposing powers — men on 
 : the one side, and masters on the other. 
 V ** The masters finding, after many struggles renewed 
 from time to time, that a reduction of wages commen- 
 surate with the fall in the price of the goods in the 
 general market could not be effected, had recourse to an 
 expedient which the workmen could not decently 
 oppose, because its direct tendency was to raise or to 
 uphold, at least, the wages of each spinner, but to dimi- 
 \ nish the numbers necessary for the same quantity of 
 \ work. * * * This necessity of enlarging the spinning- 
 I frames created by the union decrees, has recently given 
 ] an extraordinary stimulus to mechanical science. It is 
 delightful to see from eight hundred to one thousand 
 spindles of polished steel, advancing and receding in a 
 mathematical line, each of them whirling all the time 
 upon its axis with equal velocity and truth, and forming 
 threads of surprising tenuity, uniformity, and strength. 
 In doubling the size of his mule, the owner is enabled 
 to get rid of indifferent or restive spinners, and to 
 become once more master of his mill, which is no small 
 advantage. I am well assured that but for the extra- 
 vagant pretensions of the ruling committee, this cata- 
 strophe would not have happened for many a day to 
 come. * * * * By this marvellous elongation, one spin- 
 ner comes to manage a pair of mules containing from 
 
 * Assuredly not ; but it would have come from causes we have 
 • already detailed. 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 351 
 
 fifteen hundred to two thousand spindles, and to super- 
 sede the labour of one or two companion spinners.; 
 The men so displaced might easily find employment 
 upon the power-looms at 15*. per week,* but generally! 
 speaking they will not condescend to this inferior task| 
 but loiter about in idleness, consuming the funds of 
 their society, and teaching a lesson of moderation; 
 Meantime mill-owners possess an abundant choice of 
 good hands, and the power of ensuring their best ser- 
 vices, since they can replace them by others in case of 
 negligence or incapacity." 
 
 ** During a disastrous (union) turmoil at Hyde, Staley 
 Bridge, and the adjoining factory townships, several of 
 the capitalists, afraid of their business, being driven to 
 France, Belgium, and the United States, had recourse to 
 the celebrated machinists, Messrs. Sharp, Roberts, and 
 Co. of Manchester, requesting them to direct the in- 
 ventive talents of their partner, Mr. Roberts, to the 
 construction of a self-acting mule. * * * To the delight 
 of the mill-owners, who ceased not to stimulate his 
 exertions by frequent visitations, he produced, in the 
 course of a few months, a machine apparently instinct 
 with the thought, feeling, and tact of the experienced 
 workman, which, even in its infancy, displayed a new 
 principle of regulation, ready in its mature state to fulfil 
 the functions of a finished spinner. Thus the IronMan^ I 
 as the operatives fitly call it, sprung out of the hands of | 
 our modern Prometheus at the bidding of Minerva — a l 
 creation destined to restore order 'f* among the indus- | 
 trious classes, and to confirm to Great Britain the empire ' 
 
 * This is opposed to the fact. 
 
 \ " This expression of Dr. Ure's strongly reminds us of the 
 celebrated expression of the Russian Emperor — * Order reigns in 
 Warsaw.' " 
 
352 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 of art. * * * Several months ago (December, 1834,) the 
 machine was in operation in upwards of sixty mills, 
 working between 300,000 and 400,000 spindles." * 
 
 Since this time, the self-actor — the Iron Man — has 
 been rapidly introducing into general use, as it is 
 essentially necessary from the closeness of competition 
 amongst manufacturers, that they should stand on equal 
 terms in point of productiveness: hence any improvement 
 of great capabilities must be generally adopted, otherwise 
 those working with self-actors would undersell those 
 working with the common mules. 
 
 In this single instance we have exhibited the natural 
 and inevitable tendency of mechanical improvement to 
 destroy human labour. Spinning machines, when first 
 introduced by Highs, Kay, and Arkwright, at once de- 
 stroyed domestic spinning : the Iron Man of Roberts 
 will as surely destroy the factory spinner. It is utterly 
 ridiculous to say that the extension of the trade will or 
 can absorb the discharged hands — it is impossible. 
 Whether they will consent to be expatriated by such of 
 their brethren as continue to be employed we know not, 
 but we conceive the progress of automata will cause them 
 to be dismissed too rapidly ; for, be it remembered, it is 
 not in this department only that these wonderful mecha- 
 nical adaptations are taking place, — every process is alike 
 passing from the hand to machines. Two-thirds, at 
 least, of the spinners employed will be dismissed by the 
 improvements we have just spoken of; and these im- 
 provements, striking as they are, are but the germs of 
 others still more perfectly automatic. 
 
 The same series of improvements are in operation in 
 the other branches of textile manufactures with precisely 
 the same results ; and were it possible to find data, it 
 * Philosophy of Manufactures, pp. 364— 36G. 
 
ON HUMANL ABOUR. 353 
 
 would unquestionably appear that, notwithstanding the 
 extension of these, a diminution is rapidly taking place 
 in the number of hands employed. '* The Factories 
 Regulation Act of 1833 has had the effect of causing 
 thousands of young children to be dismissed, whose place 
 it has in many cases been found unnecessary to supply, 
 as their work can he done by new contrivances with the 
 operatives that are left,^** This remarkable illustration 
 might be greatly multiplied ; as Mr. Baines observes, 
 " that improvements in machinery are constantly altering 
 the number of workmen employed in each department." 
 
 Dr. Ure remarks, that '* the factory system, instead 
 of being detrimental to the comfort of the labouring 
 population, is its grand palladium." -j- ' He however 
 entirely overlooks his own statements. Had he said that 
 the factory system will gradually throw out of employ- 
 ment the greater portion of the hands now employed in 
 it, but that to those it did retain it would secure liberal 
 wages, he would have spoken the truth, and shown that 
 he was acquainted with the bearing and inevitable ten- 
 dency of the system. 
 
 The time is not remote when a coalition will take place 
 between the masters and such hands as they are obliged to 
 retain, and the unions will fall to pieces, or at all events 
 will cease to be supported by the earnings of the employed 
 labourers. Self-interest will overpower the esprit de 
 corpSf which now binds the employed to the unem- 
 ployed, a revolution which is already effecting in more 
 than one mill. The question is, will the mass of factory 
 hands sink thus into a condition of absolute destitution 
 without a struggle ? They are on the road to this. All 
 the operations in their peculiar branch of industry are 
 
 • History of the Cotton Manufacture, p. 375. 
 t Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 329. 
 A A 
 
354 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 being withdrawn from them. ** The cotton is brought 
 to the mill in bags just as it is received from America, 
 Egypt, or India, and is then stowed in warehouses, 
 being arranged according to the countries from which it 
 may have come. It is passed through the willow, the 
 scutching machine, and the spreading machine, in order 
 to be opened, cleaned, and evenly spread. By the 
 carding engine the fibres are combed out, and laid 
 parallel to each other, and the piece is compressed into 
 a sliver. The sliver is repeatedly drawn and doubled 
 in the drawing -frames more perfectly to straighten the 
 fibres to equalize the grist. The roving-frame, by rollers 
 and spindles, produces a coarse and loose thread, 
 which the mule, or throstle^ spins into yarn. To 
 make the warp, the twist is transferred from cops to 
 bobbins by the winding -machine, and from the bobbins 
 at the warping-mill to a cylindrical beam. This beam 
 being taken to the dressing-machine, the warp is sised, 
 dressed, and wound upon the weaving beam. The latter 
 is then placed in the power-loom, by which machine the 
 shuttle being supplied with cops of weft, the cloth is 
 woven. 
 
 " Such, without entering into minutiae, are the pro- 
 cesses by which the vegetable wool is converted into a 
 woven fabric of great beauty and delicacy ; and it will 
 be perceived that the operations are numerous, and 
 every one of them is performed by machinery, with- 
 out the help of human hands, except merely in trans- 
 ferring the material from one machine to another. It is 
 by iron fingers, teeth and wheels, moving with exhaust- 
 less energy and devouring speed, that the cotton is 
 opened, cleaned, spread, carded, roved, spun, wound, 
 warped, dressed, and woven. The various machines are 
 proportioned to each other, in regard to their capability 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. ' 355 
 
 of work, and they are so placed in the mill as to allow 
 the materials to be carried from stage to stage with the 
 least possible loss of time. All are moving at once — 
 the operations chasing each other — and all derive their 
 motion from the mighty engine, which, firmly seated in 
 the lower part of the building, and constantly fed with 
 water and fuel, toils through the day with the strength of 
 a hundred horses. Men, in the meanwhile, have merely 
 to attend on this wonderful series of mechanism, to 
 supply it with work, to oil its joints, to check its slight 
 and infrequent irregularities ; each workman performing, 
 or rather superintending, as much work as could have 
 been done by two or three hundred men sixty years 
 since."* 
 
 The effects of mechanical production, as far as we have 
 traced them, are, in the first place, to lower the value of 
 human labour, and, in the next, to destroy it altogether, 
 except in so far as the hands engaged in machine making 
 are concerned : and even these are being encroached 
 upon — machines making machines, llie intermediate 
 step between the two just mentioned, is its effects 
 upon the higher qualities of the operative, namely, 
 his skill, emulative pride, and respect for his own posi- 
 tion. 
 
 It is singular to observe how widely apart are the 
 opinions of those who contend that every mechanical 
 improvement must of necessity benefit the workman ; 
 and in nothing more is this discrepancy visible than 
 on this point. In a paper on the cotton manufac- 
 ture, in the Edinburgh Review, No. 91, written by 
 Mr. M'Culloch, the following words occur. To the 
 
 * History of the Cotton Manufacture, pp. 342, 343. 
 A A 2 
 
356 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 truth of some of these we have borne ample testimony ; 
 from others we entirely dissent. 
 
 " Our master manufacturers, engineers and artisans, 
 are more intelligent, skilful, and enterprising, than those 
 of other countries, and the extraordinary inventions they 
 have already made, and their familiarity with all the prin- 
 ciples and details of the business, will not only enable 
 them to perfect the processes already in use, but can 
 hardly fail to lead to the discovery of others. Our esta- 
 blishments for spinning, weaving, printing, bleaching, 
 &c., are infinitely more complete and perfect than any 
 that exist elsewhere, the division of labour in them is 
 carried to an incomparably greater extent^ the workmen 
 are trained from infancy to industrious habits, and have 
 attained that peculiar dexterity and sleight of hand in the 
 performance of their separate tasks, that can only be 
 acquired by long and unremitting application to the 
 same employment." 
 
 This is the language of Mr. M'Culloch, a leading 
 authority in that particular school of political economy 
 to which he belongs. Its variance with the fact is 
 extraordinary ; and here Dr. Ure, in his *' Philosophy of 
 Manufactures," being a skilful mechanician^ sets right the 
 abstractions of the theorist. 
 
 " It is in fact the constant aim and tendency of every 
 improvement in machinery to supersede human labour 
 altogether, or to diminish its cost, by substituting the 
 industry of women and children for that of men, or that 
 of ordinary labourers for trained artisans,*^ — P. 23. 
 
 ** This tendency to employ merely children with 
 watchful eyes and nimble fingers, instead of journeymen 
 of long experience, shows how the scholastic dogma of 
 the division of labour into degrees of skill has been ex- 
 ploded by our enlightened manufacturers." — Ibid. 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 357 
 
 ** Improvements in machinery effect a substitution of 
 labour comparatively unskilled, for that which is more 
 skilful."*— P. 30. 
 
 ** The principle of the factory system is, to substitute 
 mechanical science for hand-skill, and the partition of a 
 process into its essential constituents, for the division or 
 gradation of labour among artisans. On the handicraft 
 plan, labour, more or less skilled, was usually the most 
 expensive element of production ; but on the automatic 
 plan, skilled labour gets progressively superseded, and 
 will eventually be replaced hy mere overlookers of ma- 
 chines:'— V. 20. 
 
 '* Mr. Anthony Strutt, who conducts the mechanical 
 department of the great cotton factories of Belper and 
 Milford, has so thoroughly departed from the old routine 
 of the schools, that he will employ no man who has learned 
 his craft hy regular apprenticeship:^ — P. 21. 
 
 " An eminent mechanician of Manchester told me, 
 that he does not choose to make any steam-engines at 
 present, because, with his existing means, he would be 
 obliged to resort to the old principle of the division of 
 labour, so fruitful of jealousies and strikes among work^ 
 men ; but he intends to prosecute that branch of busi- 
 ness whenever he has prepared suitable arrangements on 
 the equalisation of labour, or automatic plan." — P. 21. 
 
 We might multiply these extracts ; but they are suflfi-^ 
 cient to show what is the truth. It is, as Dr. Ure justly 
 remarks, the great aim of machinery to make skill or 
 strength on the part of the workman valueless, and to 
 reduce him to a mere watcher of, and waiter upon, 
 
 * The singular discrepancies which characterise Dr. Ure's 
 work — here asserting and there denying pcsitions— may be re- 
 marked in comparing these extracts with some observations at 
 p. 311. 
 
358 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 automata. The term artisan will shortly be a misnomer 
 as applied to the operative ; he will no longer be a man 
 proud of his skill and ingenuity, and conscious that he is 
 a valuable member of society ; he will have lost all free 
 agency, and will be as much a part of the machines 
 around him as the wheels or cranks which communicate 
 motion. 
 
 f This, we repeat, is the intermediate stage between the 
 diminution in the value of human labour, and the entire 
 I destruction of it. Already this is far advanced, and the 
 • adult operatives are being rapidly ejected by the facto- 
 ^ries.* These have been principally engaged in the 
 spinning and dressing departments. " The effect of 
 substituting the self-acting mule for the common mule, 
 is to discharge the greater part of the men spinners." 
 The dressers, who have hitherto been the best paid 
 factory labourers, are llearly superseded by a machine.'!' 
 The same remarks apply to every process of manufac- 
 ture, whether of cotton, wool, linen, or flax ; mechanical 
 adaptations are at work in them all, and in all dis- 
 charging the skilled and adult workman,^ and gradually, 
 but steadily, lessening the number of human agents em- 
 ployed. It is the policy of the masters to pay those 
 hands which they retain well, because by so doing, as we 
 have already said, self-interest will lead them to detach 
 themselves from the mass of unemployed and malcontent 
 labourers. 
 
 A crisis has, therefore, partly arisen, and it behoves 
 every man, interested in the welfare of his country, to 
 examine into the present means for lessening its in- 
 evitable evils. An ingenious and eloquent writer in the 
 
 * Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 23. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 40, 370. % Vide Ibid, passim. 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR, 359 
 
 Quarterly Review has said, " So far are we from 
 regarding the increased use of machinery as an evil 
 which requires to be checked, that we hail every such 
 application of the discoveries of science as another step 
 in the steady course by which the Author of Nature 
 pushes forward the improvement of the human race. 
 In our opinion, instead of being an evil to be deprecated, 
 and if possible counteracted and repressed, the applica- 
 tion of machinery, as a substitute for labour, serves to 
 disengage a large number of human beings from manu- 
 facturing toil, in order that they may be employed in 
 perfecting and extending our tillage, thereby at once 
 increasing their own happiness and the resources of the 
 empire." 
 
 He goes on to say, ** We have arrived at a great and 
 most important crisis of social arrangement. We are 
 embarrassed with a superfluity of human labour, of 
 animal machines, which cannot be absorbed in manufac- 
 turing operations. What is, to be done with this super- / 
 fiuous, or rather disposable fund of human physical ' 
 power ? shall these men be compelled to eke out a 
 miserable existence, with half employment and scanty 
 wages ? or shall they be thrown upon their respective 
 parishes for eleemosynary relief?" 
 
 In speaking of the crisis which led to the introduc-j 
 tion of poor laws, and laid the foundation for the\ 
 extension of manufactures, and which had resulted from 
 an excess of agricultural labourers, and the breaking up 
 of the monastic institutions, he remarks : — 
 
 ** The extent to which the employment of machinery 
 has been pushed, as a substitute for human labour, has 
 at length brought on a new crisis : it is one essentially 
 different from that which presented itself to the states- 
 men of the sixteenth century, and which appears to 
 
360 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY 
 
 demand a different remedy. Then the agricultural 
 population had become too numerous, whilst a large pro- 
 portion of the surplus produce of the English land was 
 exported in exchange for wrought commodities; — now, 
 the difficulty is of a totally different origin and kind. 
 So far are our manufactures from requiring an increased 
 supply of hands, that they overflow with workmen, for 
 whose industry there is no profitable demand. The 
 employment of machinery not only stops up the gap 
 through which the surplus of our agricultural population 
 had been used to make its way into manufactories, but 
 it has likewise thrown out of employment a considerable 
 portion of the hands, which had been previously occu- 
 pied in the fabrication of wrought commodities. From 
 both these sources, a number of unemployed hands 
 accumulate ; the gradual increase of population produces 
 a surplus of labourers, who cannot find profitable em- 
 ployment in the tillage of our old lands ; and to this 
 surplus is daily added a crowd of workmen, whom the 
 extension and improvement of machinery disengages 
 from manufactories." 
 
 But these do not constitute all the elements of the 
 crisis which is developing itself. Agriculture is under- 
 going a transition as great, and almost as remarkable as 
 manufacture — and these are progressing, step by step, to 
 one and to the same end. Mechanical contrivances for 
 lessening human labour are sought for with as great 
 avidity in the one case as in the other ; and in a single 
 instance, — that of the use of a peculiarly constructed 
 plough for hoeing up potatoes, — one man and one horse 
 get through as much work, as would, a few years ago, 
 have required at least thirty labourers, and perform the 
 task much more completely and efficiently : and this is 
 only one solitary example. The current of prejudice 
 
ON HUMAN LABOUR. 361 
 
 has hitherto run strongly against the use of machines 
 for farming purposes, and has been kept up by the 
 limited intelligence existing amongst farmers as a class. 
 
 The depression which has been gradually but steadily 
 creeping over them, has at length succeeded in breaking 
 up the cottier and small farm system, and has thrown agri- 
 culture into a new shape and into new hands ; which has 
 brought all the force of this epoch of mechanism to bear 
 upon it. The same causes are at work, therefore, upon the 
 two great divisions of national industry, and their effects 
 have even been more severely felt by the agricultural than 
 the manufacturing labourer ; and they have, in a great 
 measure, already pauperized the whole body, and nearly 
 extinguished the peasantry, as a moral and independent 
 class of the community. The present crisis involves 
 not one particular portion of labourers, or one particular 
 branch of trade, but the interests and future welfare of 
 all are intimately connected with it. 
 
 The time, indeed, appears rapidly approaching, when 
 the people, emphatically so called, and which have 
 hitherto been considered the sinews of a nation's 
 strength, will be even worse than useless ; when the 
 manufactories will be filled with machinery, impelled 
 by steam, so admirably constructed as to perform nearly 
 all the processes required in them ; and when land will 
 be tilled by the same means. Neither are these 
 visionary anticipations ; and these include but a frac- 
 tion of the mighty alterations to which the next cen- 
 tury will give birth. . Well, then, may the question be 
 asked— -What is to be done ? Great calamities must be 
 suffered. No extensive transition of this nature can be 
 operated without immense present sacrifices ; but upon 
 what class, or what division of property or industry, 
 these must be more especially inflicted, it is impossible 
 
362 INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY, &:C. 
 
 clearly to indicate. Much should be done— and done 
 vigorously and resolutely. Like other great revolutions 
 in the social arrangement of kingdoms, it is to be feared 
 that an explosion will be permitted to take place, un- 
 directed by the guiding hand of any patriotic and 
 sagacious spirit, that its fragments will be again huddled 
 together in hurry and confusion, and finally have to 
 undergo a series of painful gradations, before society 
 can regain a healthy and permanent tone. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Note referred to in Preface. 
 
 Analysis of the Evidence taken before the Factory Commis- 
 sioners, as far as it relates to the Population of Manchester, 
 and the Vicinity , engaged in the Cotton Trade. Read before 
 the Statistical Society of Manchester, March, 1834. Abridged. 
 
 [The contradictory nature of this evidence should be constantly 
 looked at.] 
 
 The Evidence may be conveniently arranged under the 
 following heads : — 
 
 I. The Health of the Factory Population. 
 
 II. Alleged Fatigue arising from the long hours of labour. 
 
 III. Alleged Cruelty towards the Factory Children. 
 
 IV. State of Education. 
 
 V. State of Morality, 
 
 VI. Wages and Poor Rates. 
 
 I. — Health. 
 
 The evidence regarding the state of health among those 
 employed in factories, and the effect of their occupation on 
 the constitution, is various and conflicting, but very full The 
 Medical Commissioner, Dr. Hawkins, on whose examinations 
 we should naturally be most disposed to rely, gives but very 
 
364 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 few ; and the report which he prefixes to them is too vague 
 and general to siipply this deficiency. He states that he 
 examined eight hundred children at two Sunday schools in 
 Manchester, and gives the result as follows : — 
 
 Of 400 in factories — Of 400, not in factories — 
 86 had bad health, 22 had had health, 
 
 153 — middling health, i06 — middling health, 
 
 161 — good health. 272 — good health. 
 
 400 400 
 
 This table would have been more satisfactory, if Dr. H. had 
 stated on what he founded his classification, and whether or 
 not the pale appearance of the children entered into his esti- 
 mate. In the same page he gives a similar table, which leads 
 to a very different conclusion. Of 1190 adolescents examined 
 in thirteen factories, 787 had good health, 311 had middling 
 health, and 92 only had had health. Hence it appears, by the 
 first table, that one-fifth of the factory children had bad health, 
 and by the second only one-twelfth. Dr. Hawkins imagines 
 the reason of this discrepancy to be, that several of these 
 thirteen factories were situated in the country districts, and 
 not in Manchester. 
 
 In the third, or supplementary report. Dr. Hawkins for- 
 tunately gives a tabular view of the state of health in several 
 cotton factories he examined, which we have analyzed, and the 
 result is as follows : — 
 
 males; females. 
 
 122 had good health, 162 had good health, 
 
 94 — middling health, 82 — middling health, 
 
 29 — had health. 27 — had health. 
 
 245 271 
 
 Thus, only one-eighth of the males and one-tenth of the females 
 enjoyed bad health in the cotton factories examined by 
 Dr. Hawkins. The examination of these tables presents us 
 with two important results, — Firsts they show that the health 
 of females employed in cotton-mills is better than that of 
 
APPENDIX. 365 
 
 males ; and secondly^ that the proportion of healthy workpeople 
 is always greatest in the largest factories. 
 
 Dr. Hawkins seems to have been a good deal struck with 
 the pale and delicate appearance of those engaged in factories. 
 That this impression arose from a want of comparison with 
 other inhabitants of large and dirty towns, appears from the 
 following remark of on.e of his fellow-commissioners : — ** In 
 Bennet-street Sunday School I made a comparison of the 
 factory and nonfactory children, by separating each at dif- 
 ferent sides of the school-room, and contrasting in this way 
 more than one thousand children ; but neither myself, nor 
 my colleagues, could detect the smallest difference in their 
 personal appearance. I also made tlie same comparison, with 
 the same results, in two other schools." 
 
 It appears, from Dr. Hawkins's report, (which is confirmed 
 by the other commissioners from all parts of the country,) that 
 those employed in factories enjoyed a singular exemption from 
 the cholera ; and it appears, from the evidence of other medical 
 men, that the same exemption extends to the influenza, and 
 to infectious disorders generally. 
 
 Dr. Hawkins also states, on the authority of Mr. Roberton, 
 that in Manchester fifty-four out of every hundred die under 
 five years of age, while in country places the proportion is 
 only thirty -two per cent. This, however, is contradicted by 
 two surgeons at Bolton, and partially by a physician at Stayley 
 Bridge. 
 
 In concluding his report, Dr. Hawkins seems to state that 
 the defective health which, he conceives, does exist amongst 
 the factory population generally, is not a necessary result of 
 their occupation ; for he states, that in some factories he could 
 see no desire nor necessity for legislation, and no dark shades 
 in the condition of the people. 
 
 Thus far the report, though not so definite as could be 
 wished, tends to prove that the population employed in fac- 
 tories is, from some cause or other, inferior in health to that 
 which follows other occupations ; but when we come to the 
 evidence of the operatives themselves, and of resident medical 
 practitioners, the statements become more conflicting, and the 
 preponderance is decidedly the other way. Almost all, how- 
 
*S66 APPENDIX. 
 
 ever, agree that, in general, children employed in facton'es are 
 paler and less healthy looking than others. This is nothing 
 more than was to have been expected, paleness of complexion 
 being an almost invariable concomitant of in-door occupation 
 in a warm atmosphere. 
 
 One question frequently put to the witnesses by different 
 examiners was, " Whether the factory population were dege- 
 nerated in appearance, and stunted in growth ?" The answers 
 to this question are somewhat remarkable. Of six operative 
 witnesses examined, three declare that they can perceive a 
 very distinct deterioration in size and appearance, while three 
 others declare positively the contrary. Of eight others ex- 
 amined, three state that the growth of factory children is 
 greatly stunted by their occupation, and Dr. Hawkins evidently 
 leans to this opinion ; but the remaining ^ve assert this to be a 
 total mistake, and declare that factory children are as well 
 grown as any others living in large towns. This last opinion is 
 confirmed by some tables given by Mr. Cowell, who had the 
 patience to try a large and laborious experiment to decide this 
 controverted point. This gentleman actually measured upwards 
 of one thousand children, under eighteen years of age, and 
 carried his calculation to three places of decimals to insure 
 finding some result, and the result was this : — 
 
 Inches. Inches. 
 Boys in factories measured 55*28 Girls in factories 54*951 
 wo^ in factories . . 55 56 not . . 54*976 
 
 •28 -028 
 
 Thus it appears that the difference in stature between the 
 factory and the nonfactory population is appreciable only by 
 a species of micrometrical measurement, being in the case of 
 boys jJJ, and in that of girls ^^ of an inch. One of the. wit- 
 nesses above quoted, declared that the race was degenerating 
 so fast, that in a short time the people *' would be absolute 
 dwarfs*." 
 
 * These remarks, it must be remembered, refer to toum la- 
 bourers. 
 
APPENDIX. 367 
 
 In weighty however, the difference between the two classes 
 is more decided, being, in the case of boys, 3"5 lbs. and in that 
 of girls, 0'31bs. On this one of the Commissioners remarks : — 
 " This result is just what might be expected, inasmuch as 
 factory labour requires no muscular exertion whatever, conse- 
 quently, many of the muscles are never fully developed, and 
 the additional weight which their development would give to 
 the body is lost. If their employment was more laborious than 
 it is, they would doubtless weigh heavier." 
 
 One of the most important questions to be decided was — 
 " Whether the factory population had worse health than those 
 engaged in other occupations?" this being, in fact, the real 
 gist of the whole inquiry. Twenty-six witnesses were ques- 
 tioned on this point, and the analysis of their evidence is as 
 follows : — Fifteen declare that, to the best of their knowledge 
 and observation, the factory population are as healthy as those 
 engaged in other occupations. One says, *' There are other 
 occupations that are better, and some that are worse for the 
 health, thaaJactory labour;" and two qualify their statements, 
 by saying, "factory labour is as healthy as any other occupa- 
 tion in a large town.'' Of these Jif teen witnesses, ten are ope- 
 ratives, three are surgeons, and two are resident ministers. 
 
 Six witnesses, on the other hand, declare that '* factory 
 people are not generally so healthy as others." Two of these 
 are i-ecruiting officers, the rest are operatives. 
 
 The replies to questions, respecting the alleged deformity 
 induced by factory labour, are contradictory and perplexing. 
 Thirteen witnesses speak to this point, of whom seven declare, 
 that they have seen others crippled, or been so themselves, in 
 consequence of working in mills ; while six others, chiefly 
 operatives, affirm that they do not know of any instances of 
 deformity so caused, and cannot perceive that factory labour 
 has any such tendency. The truth most probably is, that 
 instances of deformity have formerly been caused when a child 
 has entered, with a weak frame, or at too early an age, into 
 an ill-regulated factory. Mr. Tuffnell remarks, " All the 
 seriously deformed persons sent to me were adults^ nor did a 
 single instance of a child badly deformed by its work, come 
 under my notice. The reason is this ; many years ago it was 
 
 I 
 
368 APPENDIX. 
 
 the practice to work much longer hours than at present, and 
 several persons who were injured by over work, at that time^ 
 are to be met with." 
 
 II. — Fatigue. 
 
 Considerable difficulty appears to have been experienced, in 
 ascertaining whether or not the children feel much fatigued in 
 the evening, after twelve hours' work, in factories, a question 
 which at first sight appears to involve no difficulty whatever. 
 Almost all who have been superficially acquainted with factories, 
 or who have heard them described, agree in their opinion that 
 children must be greatly fatigued with so many hours' standing 
 and exertion ; but the operatives themselves are by no means 
 so unanimous in their statements of the fact. Dr. Hawkins 
 states in his report, that a large number, both of boys and 
 girls, *' declared that they had no desire to play about on the 
 Saturday and Sunday, but preferred remaining quiet," in con- 
 sequence, (we presume him to mean from the context,) of the 
 fatigue of the previous week. Among forty-three witnesses, 
 however, who were examined on this point, only nine affirm 
 the children to be much fatigued at night; and one of this 
 number, after declaring that the children feel little inclination 
 to attend evening school, owing to having been so long on 
 their legs, qualifies his statement by the remark, *' that they 
 are like wild Irish when they come out of the mill." 
 
 The natural conclusion from all appears to be, that weakly 
 children are fatigued by twelve hours' labour, but that healthy 
 ones are not. 
 
 III. — Alleged Cruelty to Children. 
 
 On this point, we are glad to say, the evidence is clear, 
 uniform, and explicit; for while all the witnesses, with four 
 exceptions, declare that ill-treatment of children in mills is a 
 thing unheard of and unknown, a large majority allow that 
 spinners do not unfrequently beat their piecers ; they also 
 declare that this corporal punishment is not more severe — 
 perhaps less so, than what is received at home, and at school 
 that it is never allowed by the master ; and that if a spinner is 
 detected in its infliction, he is generally severely reprimanded, 
 
APPENDIX. 369 
 
 or dismissed. Two of the exceptions, we have noticed, are 
 from the same mill ; they affirm that they have been beaten 
 " as hard as the spinner could lay it on," one says for five, 
 and the other for ten minutes together, so that they were con- 
 fined at home in consequence. There is, however, a tone of 
 careless exaggeration which pervades the evidence of both 
 these witnesses, which inclines us to receive it with the 
 greatest caution ; and one of them, John Wilson, meets with 
 positive contradiction from three of his fellow- workmen. 
 
 In conclusion, we will only give the statements of another 
 Commissioner on this subject. — " To the accusation of cruelty 
 1 can give the most decided and unqualified denial. It is not 
 only not true, but cannot generally be true." How so ? 
 
 IV. — On the Alleged Immorality of those Employed 
 IN Factories. 
 
 The witnesses whose evidence bears upon this point are 
 the following : — forty-eight operatives, three clergymen, one 
 Unitarian minister, two overseers of the poor, and one clerk « 
 to the Manchester bench of magii^trates ; in all, fifty-six 
 witnesses. 
 
 The substance of the evidence of forty-five of the opera- 
 tives is this : — 
 
 That some of them have heard much improper language 
 among the boys and girls, in the factories in which they have 
 worked, but only two say that they have ever seen any gross 
 improprieties of conduct; and agree that such conduct, when 
 observed, is always checked by the other hands. That dif- 
 rent factories, however, differ much in the character, language, 
 and conduct of those engaged in them ; that the natural 
 tendency of the boys and girls, working together during the 
 whole day, is much checked by the presence of fathers, 
 brothers, or near relations, and, on the other hand, is vastly 
 aggravated by the practice of night-work in the mills. 
 
 Of fifty-three witnesses who are asked their opinion as to 
 the comparative morality of those engaged in factories, with 
 those otherwise employed, forty-six affirm their belief that the 
 
370 APPENDIX. 
 
 character of the factory population is equally good with that of 
 other trades ; and seven, that it is worse than others. 
 
 With respect to another question that is put to several of 
 the witnesses, — viz. What sort of wives the factory girls 
 make ? there is considerable diversity of evidence ; some 
 stating that they make very bad wives, can neithei: sew nor 
 wash, and are entirely ignorant of all domestic duties ; while 
 others, and these the greatest number, say that they have time 
 enough to learn these duties, if they are so inclined; that many 
 make up the linen of their fathers and brothers, as well as the 
 whole of their own clothing ; and that they are more active 
 and diligent than girls otherwise brought up. The inference 
 from the whole evidence appears to be, that they are too often 
 ignorant of domestic economy, but that otherwise they make 
 very good wives, and that men engaged in mills generally 
 prefer them. 
 
 V. — Education. 
 
 Much has been said, in and out of Parliament, about the 
 defective education and consequent ignorance of the children 
 employed in cotton factories. It was therefore very desirable 
 that this point should have been thoroughly examined, and 
 the results founded on extensive inquiries laid before the 
 public. We are sorry, however, Ihat the evidence on this 
 point is very scanty, and we are surprised that it should be 
 so, as there could not have been any^ difficulty in obtaining 
 abundant information upon the subject in every part of the 
 Lancashire district. The evidence that has been taken, how- 
 ever, as far as it goes, is very favourable on this point. 
 
 Three witnesses are examined who are connected with 
 Sunday schools. One witness states, that in the schools under 
 his care there are about one thousand children, of whom 
 seven-tenths are factory children. Another states, that out of 
 one thousand children in the schools he superintends, nine- 
 tenths work in factories. A third, that out of four tliousand 
 children in his schools, seven-tenths of those who are employed 
 at all work in factories. In the Sunday schools of Stockport 
 
APPENDIX. 371 
 
 there are 4932 children ; of these 584 are too young to be em- 
 ployed any where ; of the remaining 4348, 2668 are factory 
 children. 
 
 In Mr. Ashton's mill, at Hyde, there are 1175 hands 
 employed. Of these 87 cannot read ; 512 can read only ; and 
 576 can read and write. 
 
 In Mr. Ashworth's mills, at Turton, there are 532 persons 
 employed, of whom 525 can read, 247 can read and write, 
 and seven, who have been recently engaged from other em- 
 ployments, cannot yet read. 
 
 VI. — Poor Rates. 
 
 We think that important evidence, upon the state of comfort 
 and general respectability among the population engaged in 
 factory labour, may be afforded by ascertaining how far they 
 are accustomed to depend upon parochial relief. On this 
 point the evidence is short, but most decisive. Two overseers 
 of the poor are examined, one from Salford, another from 
 Gorton, a township near Manchester, containing 2600 inhabi- 
 tants. Both these witnesses agree that the factory people 
 require less aid from the parish than others, and that they are 
 in all respects in a more comfortable condition. In Gorton, 
 where about seven hundred people are employed in factory 
 labour, only one has applied for relief during three years. 
 The factory that employs these people pays one-fourth of the 
 whole rates, which generally amount to upwards of 800/. 
 
 In the township of Hyde, in the year 1801, when machinery 
 was first introduced into it, the population was 830; the 
 estimated value of the property assessable to the poor rate, 
 693/. ; and the sum levied for the relief of the poor was 533/. 
 
 In 1830 the population was about seven thousand, the 
 assessable value of property 2727/. and the poor rate 550/. 
 
 In Stockport, in the year ending March 1833, the number 
 of families who received parish relief was 651 ; and the 
 amount distributed among them was 2447/. Of these, sixty- 
 five families were connected with factories, and the sum distri- 
 bb2 
 
372 APPENDIX. 
 
 buted among them was 297/.; leaving 2150Z. to be divided 
 among 586 families, who had no connexion with factories; and 
 this too in Stockport, which is one of the most exclusively 
 manufacturing towns in the cotton district. 
 
 VII.— Wages. 
 
 In the last report, returns are given from 151 mills in 
 diiFerent parts of the Lancashire district, in answer to a list 
 of questions sent down by the Central Committee in London, 
 about a year ago, and now first collected and laid before the 
 public ; from which it appears that the total number of persons 
 employed in the above mills is 48,645 : of this number, 
 10,541 are children under fourteen years of age. The average 
 weekly wages of the whole number employed is IO5. 5d., and 
 the wages of the children, under fourteen, is Ss. lOd. The 
 total number of persons employed in cotton factories is stated 
 to be 212,800, whose whole yearly wages will amount to 
 5,777,434/. 
 
 This then is the evidence given before the Commxissioners 
 for the manufacturing district of Lancashire. We believe 
 that those who have received their impressions of the injurious 
 tendency of the factory system, from the reports that were so 
 industriously circulated upon the subject some months ago, 
 M'ill be not a little surprised by the results which this evidence 
 establishes. We confess that we are so ourselves. The in- 
 applicability of the Factory Bill to such a state of things must 
 be evident to all who will compare the two; and can only^be 
 accounted for by the fact, that the Central Committee in 
 London drew up their first report, and framed the present 
 Bill, in accordance with the statements therein contained, when 
 only a small portion of the evidence had become known to 
 them ; that the second volume of evidence appeared several 
 weeks subsequent to this period ; and that the third supple- 
 mentary volume, which contains much important information 
 materially affecting the merits of the whole question, made its 
 appearance at the end of March 1834, seven months after the 
 Bill had passed into a law. 
 
APPENDIX, 373 
 
 It must he obvious that individuals without any previous knotv- 
 ledge of the habits, characters , and conditions of the parties 
 giving the above evidence, which is so contradictory and anoma- 
 lous, must have been exposed to have their judgment warped by 
 causes totally foreign to the important subject of factory labour. 
 In fact, the Bill, founded upon the Reports of the Commissioners, 
 is in accordance with the first part of the Reports, and at direct 
 variance with the concluding portions. 
 
 Note A. Page 24. 
 
 Changes in the Industrial Condition of the Domestic 
 Manufacturers. 
 
 In the year 1770 the land in our township (Mellor, 
 fourteen miles from Manchester,) was occupied by between 
 fifty and sixty farmers ; rent, to the best of my recollection, 
 did not exceed lO*. per statute acre ; and out of these fifty or 
 sixty farmers there were only six or seven who raised their 
 rents directly from the produce of their farms, all the rest got 
 their rent partly in some branch of trade, such as spinning 
 and weaving woollen, linen, or cotton. The cottagers were 
 employed entirely in this manner, except for a few weeks in 
 the harvest. Being one of those cottagers, and intimately 
 acquainted with all the rest, as well as the farmers, I am 
 better able to relate particularly how the change from the 
 old system of hand-labour to the new one of machinery 
 operated in the raising the price of land. Cottage rents, at 
 that time, with convenient loom-shop, and a small garden 
 attached, were from one and a half to two guineas per annun. 
 The father of a family would earn from eight shillings to half 
 a guinea at his loom, and his sons, if he had one or two, or 
 three alongside him, six or eight shillings per week each ; but 
 tjie great sheet-anchor of all cottages and small farms was the 
 
374 APPENDIX. 
 
 labour attached to the hand -wheel'; and when it is consi- 
 dered that it required six or eight hands to prepare and spin 
 yarn of any of the three materials I have mentioned, suffi- 
 cient for the consumption of one weaver, this shows clearly the 
 inexhaustible source there was for labour for every person, 
 from the age of seven to eighty years (who retained their 
 sight and could move their hands,) to earn their bread, say 
 one to three shillings per weehy without going to the parish. 
 
 From the year 1770 to 1778 a complete change had 
 gradually been effected in the spinning of yarns ; that of wool 
 had disappeared altogether, and that of linen was nearly gone; 
 cotton, cotton, cotton, had become the universal material for 
 employment ; the hand-wheels were all thrown into lumber- 
 rooms ; the yarn was all spun on common jennies ; the carding 
 -for all numbers, up to forty hanks in the pound, was done on 
 carding engines, but the finer numbers, of sixty to eighty, were 
 still carded by the hand, it being a general opinion, at that 
 time, that machine carding would never answer for fine 
 numbers. In weaving, no great alteration had taken place 
 during these eighteen years, save the introduction of the fly- 
 shuttle, a change in the woollen looms to fustians and calico, 
 and the linen nearly gone, except the few fabrics in which 
 there was a mixture of cotton. To the best of my recollection, 
 there was no increase of looms during this period, but rather a 
 decrease. 
 
 The next fifteen years, viz. from 1778 to 1803, I will 
 call the golden age of this great trade. Water twist and 
 common jenny yarns had been freely used in Bolton, &c. for 
 some years prior to 1 788 ; but it was the introduction of the 
 mule yarns about this time, along with the other yarns, all 
 assimilating together, and producing every description of 
 clothing from the finest book muslin, lace, stocking, &c., to 
 the heaviest fustian, that gave such a preponderance to the 
 loom. 
 
 The families I have been speaking of, whether as cottagers 
 or small farmers, had supported themselves by the different 
 occupations I have mentioned, in spinning and manufacturing, 
 as their progenitors, from the earliest institutions of society, 
 had done before them. But the mule twist now coming into 
 
APPENDIX. '67) 
 
 Note C. Page 41. 
 Present State of Hand-loom Weavers. 
 
 EVIDENCE OF JAMES BRENNAN, TAKEN BEFORE THE SELECT 
 COMMITTEE ON HAND-LOOM WEAVERS, JULY 22, 1834. 
 
 Where do you reside? No. 15, Fawcett-street, Hancote- 
 street, Manchester. 
 
 You are a weaver? Yes. 
 
 In what branch of manufacture are you employed ? Mar- 
 seilles toilet covers. 
 
 What is the rate of wages given in that branch ? Ten 
 shillings a-week they earn generally, with deductions of 
 2s. 6d. from it, leaving 7s. 6d. 
 
 Is yours the worst paid branch of weaving in Manchester ? 
 The best, owing to several inventions that have been usually 
 put to it, such as the machine they call Jacquard. 
 
 Have you been long a weaver ? Twenty-three years. 
 
 What did you get when you commenced weaver ? I was 
 but a boy then ; I could earn 125. per week then. 
 
 Clear profit ? No : three shillings taken from it for expenses ; 
 but I could do much more work now than I could do then, 
 when a boy. 
 
 What is the effect of the fall of wages upon persons in your 
 situation? It deprives me of all the comforts of life entirely : 
 I can get nothing but the coarsest of food, and less in quantity 
 than I used to do. 
 
 What do you do for clothing ? As well as I can ; sometimes 
 I have some, and sometimes very little. 
 
 When did you last purchase clothes? It is twelve months 
 since I bought the trousers I have on, and I never had them 
 on before. 
 
 How do you for shoes ? Ever since I was a boy I have 
 dealt with one man for shoes, and whether I have money or 
 
378 APPENDIX. 
 
 no he trusts me, and I owe him some trifle for shoes ; I always 
 strive to give him something as often as I can. 
 
 What do you do for furniture in the house ? I have never 
 bought any in my hfe. 
 
 How does your wife do for clothes ? Just as I do — quite as bad. 
 
 Have your children any stock of clothes ? No, they have 
 just enough to shift to put on clean on Sunday : they have one 
 dress on and one off. 
 
 What do you do for cooking utensils ? I have never bought 
 any since I was born, only pots. I live in the same place where 
 my father and mother occasionally lived; they are dead, and 
 the apparatus they had, when I was young, I have still. I 
 never had it in my power to buy any since I have been 
 married. 
 
 Do you belong to any friendly society ? No, I do not, I 
 could not pay it ; I have all my children, my wife and myself, 
 in a penny club for burial. 
 
 How do you pay the doctor when you are ill ? I have to 
 work myself well again. 
 
 What do you do when your wife lies in ? It costs very little 
 when my wife lies in ; we get a midwife from the Lying-in- 
 hospital ; she has only a little gruel, and perhaps a gill of ale. 
 
 What do you pay for your church-seat ? I am not prepared 
 to go ; I would, if I had got decent clothing. When I was 
 a young man I did get more wages ; I had three suits of 
 clothes, and a good watch in my pocket, and two or three 
 pair of shoes, and one or two good hats. 
 
 You were better off then ? Yes, those were the happiest 
 days of my life. 
 
 What does your wife earn ? About 5s. per week. 
 
 Does she go to a cotton factory ? Yes. 
 
 Is it not painful to you to have to send your wife to a fac- 
 tory ? Yes, it causes great grief to me. 
 
 Do you not think that a weaver must regret having his wife 
 taken away from his family, and mixed up with people not of 
 the best character ? Yes, it is very hurtful. 
 
 If you were not residing in Manchester, or a great town 
 where your wife had access to that employment, should yon 
 have to live upon that bare 75. Qd. 1 Nothing more. 
 
APPENDIX. 379 
 
 Richard Needham, examined, {July 18, 1834.) 
 
 You have given in a statement of the earnings of journey- 
 men weavers that work at sixty cambric cut per week, that he 
 performs as much labour as any man in the cotton trade per 
 w^eek, and you make his earnings 5s. Qd, ; and you have given 
 a statement of the cost of lodging and food, such as is barely 
 sufficient to keep him in existence ? Yes. 
 
 You make his'earnings, when^the reductions have been taken 
 from the gross, to be 4*. lie?, a week? Yes. 
 
 And the cost of his lodging and food to be 55. 5i<?. leaving 
 him minus Is. 4c?. to supply himself with those lodgings and 
 proper food ; you believe this to be a true statement 1 I am 
 sure it is true. 
 
 The following letter from a teacher, formerly a hand-loom 
 weaver, powerfully illustrates the condition of these artisans : — 
 
 ** Woodside, near HolytowUf \Qth Jprilt 1833, 
 
 " Sir, — In reply to your letter of the 13th inst., I beg leave 
 to inform you that tea, coffee, sugar, soap, ham, and cheese, 
 are articles, which, although formerly deemed essentials, are 
 seldom seen upon a weaver's table. Indeed, how can they be 
 procured by a family whose allowance for food and clothing is 
 so scanty as I described in my last letter to you ? That I did 
 not exaggerate the statement of the severe penury the weavers 
 endure, is apparent from the fact, that the weavers* agents in 
 Airdrie deponed last week, before the provost there, that the 
 weavers in that town had not earned more than 3s. 9d. a week 
 for the last twelve months on an average, the expense of 
 carriage and starching the web being deducted. I formerly 
 stated to you that the maximum of the best weavers' earnings, 
 after the necessary expenses of rent, fire, light, &c. were de- 
 ducted, was only 2s. 5hd. per week ; without these deductions, 
 
380 APPENDIX. 
 
 carriage and starching excepted, it appears that the average 
 are only Ss. 9d., leaving, after the deductions which I enume- 
 rated in my last, only 1^. to support the weaver for four weeks 
 in food and clothing ! But as every weaver has not an house 
 of his own, it may be necessary to state that the deductions of 
 house rent, or lodging, only affects householders or journey- 
 men, and not apprentices, or such of the weaver's own family as 
 may follow the same occupation : consequently, when such exist 
 in a family the average deductions will be less, and thus only 
 is the existence of the vital spark accounted for among the 
 weaving population. 
 
 "But this will be best illustrated from the following statements 
 of the earnings of a weaver, of the name of Wm. Russell, and 
 his family, in Airdrie, with whom I conversed the other day 
 minutely upon the subject. William has two of his boys on 
 the loom, the one is seven and a half, and the other nearly nine 
 years of age ! He has a wife and other three children. The 
 three looms are employed weaving twelve hundred pullicates 
 at 2d. per ell. The boys earn about 6d. a day each, and the 
 father can do no more, as his attention and time is taken up 
 with the boys. The wife contrives to wind a loom's peims, 
 which yields about 2d. per day, making about L^. Sd. a day as 
 the earnings of the whole family ; but as one of the boys and 
 the father are necessarily off work a day every new web, 
 which among the three occurs almost every week, the average 
 earnings are somewhat less. The family can have thereof no 
 more than 9s. per week of income, from which we must make 
 the following unavoidable weekly deductions : — 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 For wear of material and rent of shop for 
 
 three looms 
 
 Fire for house and shop 
 
 House rent for one apartment .... 
 
 Oil for house and shop 
 
 Starching, twisting, and carriage ... 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Amount of deductions 7 
 
APPENDIX. 381 
 
 Leaving only 25. to feed and clothe seven human beings for 
 seven days! * How in the name of all that's wonderful,' I 
 exclaimed to the individual who told me, * can you subsist on 
 such a pittance?' *I dinna ken,' said he, * if ye call it 
 subsistence, but its a we hae.' * But what do you get to eat?* 
 *Parritch in the morning, and potatoes and salt to dinner, 
 and the same to supper, or sometimes a wee drap brose!' 
 You see, therefore, that to talk about the use of tea, coffee, 
 sugar, soap, ham, and bread, in such a case, is out of the ques- 
 tion. When a cup of tea is enjoyed, it is only on Sabbath 
 morning. Where extraordinary industry is exerted, the man 
 and his apprentices toiling sixteen or eighteen hours a day, 
 tea, &c. may be seen more frequently, but their price is a 
 sickening anxiety of mind and emaciation of body. 
 
 " I consider the labour of every artisan ought to afford him 
 and his family three substantial meals a day, and comfortable 
 clothing. I shall now state what is necessary to afford these 
 to a man with a wife and four children, under eight years, at 
 the present rate of the markets, and thus show how wofuUy 
 deficient the earnings of the weaver are to meet the demands of 
 the common necessities of life, for I shall exclude all luxuries. 
 In such a family I shall suppose the children breakfast and sup 
 on parritch and milk, that the whole family dine on broth 
 (Scotch kale), beef, and potatoes, that the husband and wife 
 take what is called a tea or coffee breakfast, and a cup of 
 tea in the afternoon. This is the way weavers lived when 
 I was one, and trade was good. 
 
 Proper Weekly Expenditure of a Man, Wife, and Four 
 Children. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 One peck of Oatmeal for bread ..-010 
 Two pecks of oatmeal for breakfast and 
 
 supper to children 2 
 
 Two oz. of tea for breakfast 9 
 
 One lb. of butter 13 
 
 Carried forward 5 
 
382 APPENDIX. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Brought forward ... 5 
 
 Loaf bread 1 
 
 One lb. sugar 7 
 
 Ham, fish, or cheese 12 
 
 Milk 010 
 
 Butcher's meat, 8 lb 3 4 
 
 Barley 008 
 
 Potatoes and other vegetables .... 1 
 
 House rent, room, and kitchen .... 1 6 
 
 Loom rent ...010 
 
 Fire 008 
 
 Candle or oil 006 
 
 Soap, 1 lb 8 
 
 Church-seats, taxes, police money ... 4 
 
 Shoes 013 
 
 Clothing, including shirts, stockings, 
 
 &c. &c 3 3 
 
 Total . . 1 2 11 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 "John Craig.' 
 
 Result of a Survey made in January, 1833, of the Condition of 
 the Poor in thirty-five Manufacturing Townships (hand- 
 weaving,) in Lancashire and Yorkshire. 
 
 The population of these townships amounted to 203,349 ; 
 the families visited were 8362 ; the persons in these families, 
 49,294 ; the number out of work was 2287 ; the number unfit 
 for work, 23,060 ; the number of workers, 23,947 ; the weekly 
 wages earned by the families visited was 4447/. 1 85. : this sum 
 gave for each of the workers a weekly average of 3*. 8c?., and 
 for each of the whole number visited a weekly average of 
 1*. 9|d The rent paid by these families was, per annum. 
 
APPENDIX. 383 
 
 32,693/. 17*. bd. ; this sum gave an average of ^d. per week 
 to each individual. Fuel, light, and wear of implements, will 
 average at least Z\d. per week for each individual ; this and 
 the rent being deducted from the weekly income of each 
 person, leaves for food and clothing 1*. Z\d. a week. 
 
 The whole parish relief given weekly to the families 
 visited was 139/. 7*. 6^?., or for each, of a penny. The 
 average income of each individual per day, including relief, 
 was 2\d. This was the entire fund for their subsistence. 
 
 Note D. Page 45. 
 
 The Report and Resolutions of a Meeting of Deputies from the 
 Hand-Loom Worsted Weavers, residiQig in and near Brad- 
 ford, Leeds, Halifax, <Jc. Yorkshire. 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS. 
 
 The difficulty of making a very accurate report arises from 
 the following causes among others : — 
 
 1st. There are always a considerable number of employers 
 who are endeavouring to screw down wages without any 
 reasonable cause, for their own profit ; and there are, on the 
 other hand, others who resist as long as they can these reduc- 
 tions ; but as all go to one market, the generous are at last 
 forced to follow the selfish. 
 
 2d. There are some employers, in the worsted trade especially 
 (which trade has many peculiar advantages at present in the 
 manufacturing market), which are enabled from their connex- 
 ions, or from their abundant capital, or from local advantages, 
 to afford better wages than others. But the power-loom is the 
 great " Screw" both to hand-loom employers and weavers. 
 The power-loom masters can undersell the hand-loom mas- 
 ters three or four shillings in a piece. How can they stand 
 against this ? 
 
384 APPENDIX. 
 
 3d. The difference of the work is very great. The same 
 nominal sets are sometimes from five to ten per cent, better 
 or worse to the weaver, by reason of tender material or short 
 wool, which occasions the warp to require constantly piecing, 
 and hinders the work. Sometimes the lessening of the width 
 of the pieces is no gain, but a loss to the weaver, who has so 
 many more picks to put in. At other times the distance from 
 the place of putting out work is very considerable, and is not 
 only harassing, but also expensive, and wastes much time and 
 strength. 
 
 4th. The very fine quality of the yarn, which improved spin- 
 ning machinery produces from a comparatively coarse and 
 short kind of wool, occasions much more labour than sounder 
 or longer wool would do. The object of many spinners is, 
 not to manufacture a good article, but *' to make something 
 out of nothing." 
 
 5th. Much caution is necessary in those who wish to arrive 
 at truth as to the earnings of weavers. Employers may give 
 (not necessarily with intention) a false statement. The taker 
 in is desired to make an extract from his book of the sums 
 paid per week, or per fortnight, to individuals, and it will thus 
 appear that A. B. receives (say 30*. per week.) Upon inquiry, 
 however, it would probably be found, that three or four per- 
 sons are working for this sum, and that they are arrived, or 
 part of them, at an age which entitles them to dispose of their 
 own earnings; or, it may often happen, that a family often or 
 twelve persons have to subsist upon the sum thus earned ; or it 
 might be found that one or two of the parties was accustomed to 
 work for an unusual length of time (for instance at rent-days.) 
 It is therefore quite certain that no safe conclusions can be 
 drawn from statements thus furnished, unless the number of 
 workers who produce, the hours they work, and the number of 
 consumers dependent on the wages, are clearly specified. 
 
 6th. Those who are not intimately acquainted with the 
 weaver's aflfairs, may easily be deceived by statements of his 
 gross wages, and by neglecting to take into account his 
 out-goings for the following particulars : — 1. Sizing, &c. ; 
 2. Looming in the warp or twirling; 3. Winding the weft; 
 4. Wear and tear — repairs; 5. Lights, the year round. When 
 / 
 
APPENDIX. 385 
 
 these are reckoned off, and house rent, fire, and washing, are 
 added, the remainder applicable for food, clothing, furniture 
 and education, will be ascertained, and if fairly averaged and 
 stated, it will be seen that industry has to struggle with great 
 discouragements and gradually increasing depreciation. 
 
 Having made these general remarks, we now come to a 
 statement of the progressive depreciation of worsted weaving 
 during the last seven years. By thus commencing with 1828, 
 we pass over the distressing years of the panic, 1826 and 1827, 
 but we would have it borne in mind, that the effects of those 
 years were felt by the working classes for several years after- 
 wards. 
 
 By tables of prices which have been prepared, it appears 
 that in 1828 there was Is. 5d. (average) generally given for 
 vresi\mg twenty hanks. In 1830, the price per score hanks was 
 lowered to an average of Is. per score. In 1832 it remained 
 stationary. In 1833 it advanced on most sets to Is. od. per 
 score. In 1 834, power looms having greatly increased, prices 
 fell to Is. O^d. per score. In 1835, (at present) they are 
 reduced to 10^. per score on average. Comparing the different 
 sets of six-quarter pieces, there will be found a general reduc- 
 tion qf 40 per cent, in the actual wages. 
 
 The three-quarter pieces will exhibit a somewhat greater 
 deduction from Is. 6^d. to Is., and from Is. Sd, to 9 id. That 
 which is now 1*. a score is a sort very small in quality. 
 
 The tables are not now given, but will be ready for presen- 
 tation when a fuller account of the whole worsted district has 
 been obtained. When that is done, it is apprehended that 
 prices of more remote parts will exhibit a worse picture. To 
 the 40 per cent, reduction it is only right to add a further 
 depreciation of from 5 to 10 per cent, for worse work, more 
 tender warp, and worse (that is, more slender) spinning. In 
 many cases, the increased number of picks will be one in every 
 twelve or fourteen, by reason of the narrowing of the piece, 
 and will reduce the profit of the weaver (or increase his labour) 
 5 per cent. more. But wishing to put the best face upon matters 
 we pass this over, and will take the actual depreciation to be 
 45 per cent since 1828, 
 
 It may also be here noticed, that in many cases a great 
 c c 
 
386 APPENDIX. 
 
 disparity of wages is given in the same township or immediate 
 neighbourhood. In Bradford, the prices of broad weaving 
 (six quarters) varies from sixpence to two shillings and six- 
 pence per piece : three-quarters, sixpence to ninepence : and 
 yards, or four-quarters, sixpence to one shilling. Such a dis- 
 proportion clearly shows the necessity of some authoritative 
 regulations for honesty's sake. It should also be remarked 
 that by this long hour system, a scarcity of work' is occasioned 
 in a part of every year (in some years more than others), which 
 averages under two- thirds employment during three months 
 in winter, whilst the power looms are all nearly, if not fully 
 employed. 
 
 The steam loom will produce, as far as can be learned, two 
 pieces and a half a week (six days) of that sort which takes 
 an able weaver six days to do one piece, working twelve hours ; 
 thus throwing at least three weavers out of employment for 
 every two steam looms, and giving not more than a man's 
 wages, and in some cases not more than half, to the tenter 
 of the power loom. The impossibility of fair competition by 
 hand labour is thus manifest. Add to this, that all the best 
 work, and all the new patterns, which used to be an encou- 
 ragement to good hands, are now taken to the power looms, and 
 thus proficiency in "the mystery of weaving" is discouraged, 
 though the hand loom could perform it equally well. 
 
 We may here remark, that worsted weavers are subject to 
 many impositions, viz. in some cases a false set is given to 
 weave, forty-six is given for forty-four, and yet, if done by a 
 good hand, is sold for forty-eight. Again, the weaver is some- 
 times told—*' you must put in a few more hanks this time^ it's 
 too thin." Remonstrance would be vain. Had there been a 
 board of trade, all these cases would have been referred. Many 
 other impositions might be mentioned. There is, however, 
 one harassing system adopted by [some employers which 
 requires notice, viz. keeping a weaver on the run several hours 
 in every week, in slack-time, for his material. 
 
 A part of the tenderness of the work already noticed, may 
 also be fairly attributed to the increased quantity and undue 
 length of the work of the factory children. If they were 
 not worked so long, their attention to the piecing would 
 
APPENDIX. 387 
 
 be more vigorous, and it would be much better for the 
 weaver. 
 
 We have now to notice the weaver's expenditure. It will 
 be seen that six-quarters have considerably lowered in price, 
 during twelve months past. Blame has been laid upon the high 
 price of wool ; but the power loom and over production have 
 been the chief causes. Taking the average earnings of broad 
 and narrow weavers, six-quarters, three-quarters, and eighteen 
 to twenty-one inches, we shall find about nine shillings and 
 sixpence a week, gross wages, or, to be at the fullest average, 
 ten shillings, gross wages. 
 
 The outlays from the work are, per week :— 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Sizing 4 
 
 Looming, or twirling 3 
 
 Winding the weft 9^ 
 
 Light, year round 3| 
 
 Wear and tear, repair outlay of loom, 
 
 or loom stand 4 
 
 Outgoings on the work 2 ; 
 
 Rent, average 19 
 
 Fire and washing 16 
 
 5 3 
 
 Leaving but 4 9 
 
 applicable to food, clothing, furniture, education, &c. Let 
 this be considered as the very frequently occurring case of a 
 man with from three to five children. If the woman, in this 
 case, employs herself at the loom, it is generally to a loss, and 
 not to any advantage, whilst the family wardrobe is neg- 
 lected. The utmost she can do profitably is to earn the nine- 
 pence halfpenny for winding, which will make five shillings 
 and sixpence to fill the stomachs, and clothe the backs, and 
 furnish the beds, of six persons, or perhaps seven, — tenpence 
 or eleven pence per head per week. 
 
 C G 2 
 
388 APPENDIX. 
 
 Then take the case of a family of eight persons, and three 
 workers. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 1 st worker's wages 10 
 
 2d ditto 70 
 
 3d ditto 3 
 
 20 
 
 Deductions for outgoings of work, and for rent, fire, and 
 washing : — 
 
 s. d. 
 
 For 1st weaver 5 3 
 
 2d ditto 16 
 
 3 ditto 10 
 
 7 9 
 
 12 3 
 
 This sum, 125. 3^. is but a poor provision for food, clothes, 
 furniture, and education, for eight persons — 1^. 6d. per head 
 per week. We have not mentioned work in slack times — we 
 never suppose them to be ill — we allow no holidays — nothing 
 for the wedding ring, nor the day of sickness, nor the funeral 
 day. What a struggle for a bare subsistence! And yet Mr. 
 Baring is reported to say that this case ought not to be con- 
 sidered, and that there is no hope even for the amendment 
 of a worse case than this ! Surely if it be so, Britain's death- 
 knell will soon be heard. 
 
 As to this branch there has been a great expense in alter- 
 ing the three-quarters looms for six-quarters during three or 
 four years past, which all have some difficulty to pay, and 
 some have never paid to this day. 
 
 Thus, we have given the very best account of the hand-loom 
 weavers which truth and honesty will allow. We wish well to 
 our masters — we rejoice to see th^ir prosperity, hy fair meansj 
 but we do not relish to labour in vain, and spend our own 
 strength for nought. 
 
 The lowness of wa5;es, as common sense teaches, is a cau&e 
 
APPENDIX. 389 
 
 of increased production to make up the deficiency, and this 
 again reacts to glut the market and lower the wages ; so that 
 the longer a man works, the worse it is for him, and yet his 
 mouth craves it of him, and the mouths of his children, and he 
 cannot forbear. 
 
 If the worsted weavers have been overlooked in the esti- 
 mated 890,000 hand-loom men, we are sure they ought not to 
 be left out, and we hope they will have their case considered 
 this time. 
 
 Our wish is, to see men and their masters inspired with 
 mutual confidence and good will, and both of them delivered 
 from that degrading system of competition^ which may, for a 
 time, enrich a few, but which is sure ultimately to prove a 
 great and bitter national curse. Wealth is the accumulation of 
 labour, and the very life's blood of our idolized " capital," and 
 those who expect to eat the honey, should be the last to pine 
 the bees. 
 
 Resolutions adopted unanimously at a Meeting of Deputies from 
 the Hand-Loom Worsted Weavers of Bradford, Leeds, and 
 Palifax, and of several Townships in those Parishes and 
 others adjoining, at Bradford, mi Saturday, March 2\st, 
 1835. 
 
 The Report having been discussed and adopted, it was — 
 Resolved, I. That it is desirable to form a Central Committee 
 of five persons, to keep up communications between John 
 Maxwell, Esq. M.P., Chairman of the Hand-Loom Weavers* 
 Committee, and the Worsted Weavers, to furnish him with 
 information, and to communicate with the weavers. (Five 
 persons were accordingly appointed.) That in case any of the 
 five shall be absent, a worsted weaver shall be called in to re- 
 present the absent party, or each of them, for the transaction 
 of business. 
 
 Resolved, II. That each township He requested to contri- 
 bute to the expenses of obtaining and circulating information 
 
t390 APPENDIX. 
 
 in the manner above proposed. That the sums thus raised 
 shall be disbursed by the Central Committee, and accounted 
 for to a Deputies' meeting, when the proceedings are closed. 
 
 Resolved, III. That this meeting is actuated by no unkind 
 feeling towards the employers in general, and that its proceed- 
 ings and resolutions shall be made public, excepting as to the 
 names of individuals who may not be willing to be known, for 
 fear of losing their employment. 
 
 Resolved, IV. That a Public Meeting is desirable, to bring 
 forward the subject of the unequal competition between steam - 
 looms and hand-looms, and for devising and recommending 
 some legislative and effective protection for the hand-loom 
 weavers and their employers (who do not use steam-looms), 
 from the steam-looms and their proprietors; and that both 
 parties, and especially the employers, be respectfully invited to 
 attend, and that the arrangement of such a meeting be left to 
 the Central Committee. 
 
 Resolved, V. That this Meeting attributes the depressed state 
 of the working classes in general, and of the worsted and other 
 hand-loom weavers in particular, to the following general causes 
 among others : — 
 
 1st. To home competition and over production, beyond the 
 profitable demands of the market. 
 
 2d. To a ruinous foreign trade. i 
 
 3d. To the unrestricted use (or rather abuse) of improved 
 and continually improving machinery, especially of steam or 
 power-looms, as well as combing machines. 
 
 4th. To the inequality of taxation, which lies most unfairly 
 upon the working classes. To its unjust amount, inasmuch as 
 the public creditor is receiving more than his due ; and many 
 unprofitable salaries, pensions, and retiring salaries, ought to be 
 abolished. 
 
 5th. The neglect of providing for the employment and main- 
 tenance of the Irish poor, who are compelled to crowd the 
 English labour market for a piece of bread. 
 
 6th. The adaptation of machines, in every improvement, to 
 children, and youth, aiid women, to the exclusion of those who 
 ought to labour — the men. 
 
 Resolved, VI. That to fill a country with inanimate and 
 
APPENDIX. 391 
 
 nonconsuming machines, and to drive away the cultivators of 
 the soil, and the consumers of produce, to foreign climes, when 
 there are seventeen millions of acres of uncultivated land in 
 Great Britain and Ireland, for the most part capable of being 
 made productive, is a species of combined political folly and 
 cruelty — of folly, which a worsted weaver ought to be ashamed 
 of— and of cruelty, which barbarians would not, and Christians 
 ought not to practise. 
 
 Resolved, VII. That this meeting is convinced that no re- 
 mission of taxes, no reduction of provisions, and no enlarge- 
 ment of political privileges, however desirable, will suffice to 
 uphold the just interests of the labouring classes, in manufac- 
 turing parts especially, unless a due and wholesome legislative 
 restraint be placed upon the time of working machinery, so as 
 to prevent the ruinous glutting of home and foreign markets, 
 and so as to keep the human machines in profitable employ- 
 ment. And also, that many of our masters require this 
 
 PROTECTION AS MUCH AS OURSELVES, 
 
 Answer of the Hand-loom Weavers to Mr. Scrope, as to 
 Emigration. 
 
 " And now. Sir, we come to your magnificent ' cure all,' 
 for all our many woes — emigration. Some of us have a 
 mortal hatred of this emigration, and such an invincible an- 
 tipathy, that we have all but sworn that we will die at the 
 cannon's mouth before we will go : perhaps it's all disease. 
 We have read of the poor Africans who, when on the * middle 
 passage ' from their native coast to a country, as the slave 
 merchants said, far superior to their own, often sought oppor- 
 tunity to jump overboard into the sea rather than encounter 
 the horrors of that European mercy which awaited them in 
 the "West Indian plantations. And we have heard that the 
 French physicians and physiologists (who are very knowing), 
 discovered that this was all disease, and they actually coined 
 
392 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 a new name for it, which being interpreted is, ' A strong 
 passion to return to one's own country,' the nearest way to which 
 the poor blacks supposed to be by water. Now, Sir, be it 
 known unto you, and to the Emigration Committee, that we 
 are afflicted with a malady somewhat similar in effect, though 
 rather different in its symptoms; we will not leave our 
 country — we resolve to die on its shores. * The land we live 
 in ' is our motto ; and whilst there are seventeen millions of 
 reclaimable and uncultivated land, and whilst the land now 
 under the plough is not half so productive as a good demand 
 and remunerating price for corn and meat would render it, 
 we will stay by it, and on no condition but one will we con- 
 sent to emigration, 
 
 " Really, Sir, you do write with marvellous coolness of 
 transporting * every distressed labourer,' now * a burden and 
 discredit ' to society ; and about the * transfer of indigent 
 labourers from the British islands to the British colonies,' and 
 yet labour without capital is declared to be worth nothing ! 
 We are to sail, — we, the 'indigent, distressed,'— we that are 
 the ' burden and discredit ' of our country, (and pray who 
 made us so ?) and when we get over the great salt pond, what 
 are we to have ? * Abundance of rich land to be had for asking 
 there !' In other words, ' live, horse, and thou shalt eat grass.' 
 We are to sit down beside an impenetrable forest, to teach the 
 art of emigration to its present four-footed possessors, to fell 
 its firs and pines, and to ' tear from the soil ' those magnifi- 
 cent stumps which now encumber it : and when all this is 
 done (ah ! * when * indeed,) we are to have four shillings a day, 
 if — if wages do not drop fifteen per cent, several times over 
 before then, by reason of competition and increased * immi- 
 gration!' as they recently did in Van Dieman's Land. — See 
 Governor Arthur s Dispatch, dated January, 1834. 
 
 " And for a share in this lottery we are to go down upon 
 our knees to parliament, and most humbly crave their cle- 
 mency and charity, to grant to us, out of those taxes which 
 have been wrung from our very sinews and bones, and which 
 have been paid from an ' excise ' of almost every morsel we 
 have eaten; we are to implore that the 'Atlantic may be 
 bridged over,' ' a free passage' in some of his Majesty's 
 
APPENDIX. 393 
 
 * rotting frigates* to the delightful regions of the * outlying 
 counties!' 
 
 " Build the * bridge/ if you like, we will not go — we'll die 
 here where we were born. You may twitch the Amended 
 Poor Laws tighter, if you can, round the throats and bellies of 
 the poor ; and you may send your grenadiers to * dragoon' the 
 conscripts for emigration ; but our native shores we leave not, 
 though bullets fly, and bayonets bristle all around us. Here 
 we will die, here we will live." 
 
 The Extent of Foreign Competition in the Cotton Trade at 
 present, is shown by the following Data. 
 
 It appears that in 1821 the exportation of raw cotton from 
 the United States of America to France, and the European 
 continent, was somewhat more than one-sixth of the quantity 
 sent to Great Britain. In 1832 it amounted to more than 
 one-half. 
 
 In 1831 France produced 63,000,000 lbs. of cotton yarn, 
 which will have required a consumption of nearly 80,000,000 lbs. 
 of the raw material. In the same year the export of cotton 
 goods from that country amounted to 2,192,240 francs. 
 
 In Switzerland the consumption of cotton in 1831 amounted 
 to 19,000,000 lbs. Only a few years have elapsed since that 
 country received the greatest part of her supplies of yarn from 
 England ; she now not only receives very little below seventy 
 'shillings, but she has herself become an exporter to other 
 countries. 
 
 The manufacture of cotton is rapidly increasing in Prussia, 
 throughout the Rhenish provinces, in Silesia, in Saxony, and 
 in both the German and Italian provinces belonging to the 
 crown of Austria. 
 
 From information obtained on the spot, or replies to ques- 
 tions which were sent to manufacturers on the continent, it 
 appears that they can compete successfully with England in 
 coarse numbers, some say as high as 405., others as high as 
 
394 APPENDIX. 
 
 705. and 80s. It must be kept in mind, the quantity of yarn 
 spun in England above 8O5. is very small, about the propor- 
 tion of 100 or 120 lbs. of coarse for one pound of fine. 
 
 The wages paid per week in England and the continent are 
 as follows : — 
 
 
 England. 
 
 Continent. 
 
 For spinners . . 
 
 2O5. to 355. . 
 
 . 85. to IO5. 
 
 Piecers . . . . 
 
 45. 85. . 
 
 . 25. 35. 
 
 Card-room hands . 
 
 6s. Us. . 
 
 . 45. 55. 
 
 Reelers . . . . 
 
 7 s. 135. . 
 
 . 45. 65. 
 
 There is no cotton twist of low numbers now exported from 
 England to France or Switzerland. Last year there were 
 several orders came for yarns from Germany, restricted to a 
 certain price, but stating that this fixed price was what it 
 could be spun for in that country; these prices were Id. per 
 pound lower than they could possibly be produced here. 
 
 In America the official report of the Committee of the 
 New York Convention shows a consumption in 1831 of 
 77,516,316lbs. of cotton, which equals the quantity consumed 
 in Great Britain twenty years ago. American fabrics are 
 rapidly superseding those of this country in Mexico, the 
 Brazils, and, in fact, throughout all the markets of the South 
 American continent, and have been brought of late in much 
 larger quantities than heretofore into the ports of the Mediter- 
 ranean, which can only be accounted for by the success which 
 has attended their previous transactions. 
 
 It will also be kept in mind that two very important items, 
 in the cost of a piece of cotton cloth, are raw cotton and food. 
 How much greater, therefore, must be the advantages of these 
 rivals, who obtain both these articles free from taxation, pay 
 no poor rates, and negotiate for manufacturing labour free 
 from time bills, &c. 
 
 The superiority of machinery and trade details, possessed 
 by Great Britain, are abundantly obvious from the above 
 data. They enable her to compete with manufacturers who 
 have the opportunity of paying one-fourth the price for the 
 raw material, although she pays her workmen a fourfold price 
 for their labour. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 395 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 oo';orj<oeociCiiO'MO t^^. 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 "rt 
 
 O^COC^l-O-^CiOO^CC out) 
 
 'rf* 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 ecoo^co'^t^C^-OoOTrO <Ji r-, 
 
 *o^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 Off^ CicTc^" c^-^^tC r-T^jT 
 
 CO 
 
 1^ 
 
 ►> 
 
 P4 
 
 •^ 1:0 CO (M r-H 
 
 cs 
 
 < 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 •— ' 
 
 H 
 
 -«! 
 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 a. 
 O 
 
 
 00<O^«ClCiOC<l--(Mlr^ <M^ 
 
 CJ 
 
 
 0) 
 
 i-i-ot^aiCi':o«0'^C50 -^^t^ 
 
 t^ 
 
 
 2 
 
 00 CN^ 10 t-. '.J^^ C^ Tj^ 00 Oi (M <^ 30 
 
 0^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 »o 
 
 
 
 aj 
 
 c<:)r^iocc>«ocooo<?ot>-co»oc^io 
 
 (M 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 r-?o — ^t>.^u:)*>c — — ocoo 
 
 
 
 
 .-H^^rH OC^lO^Tfl (»;© »000 0^ 
 
 00 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 00 
 
 4> 
 
 cT i-T tC (r>r c>f c^ 00 "*" r-T cf 
 
 Os 
 
 
 0) 
 
 Pm 
 
 »-l CO ^ ^ 
 
 
 
 
 <5 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■^lOCCOiOiOiOiO — ^t^?oo 
 
 Ci 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 OOCOOO^Tf«iOO^-Slt^^iOt^ 
 
 >o 
 
 
 
 *« 
 
 Cli:O(Mt^-^C0^<M00iOC^Oi— lOi 
 
 00 
 
 
 
 § 
 
 
 
 
 
 QO «o CO ^ c4" co' 'O -^ 
 
 00 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 CO ,-i ^ 
 
 QO 
 
 
 4J 
 
 Cvj^^^^00~l>-»O — OJC^OO 
 
 C<J 
 
 < 
 
 w 
 
 ■3 
 
 OC^^Oil^-COOi-^aOCS^-tlOCOOO 
 
 <M 
 
 d 
 
 
 
 OiO-— '<M<©^<MC^^O:iOCOC 
 
 00 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 ^ CO — 
 
 00 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Oi(M^COO-H^*(MOOOOOCOCOCO 
 
 '>o 
 
 
 0} 
 
 c^j-<^Tj*05c»eoocor^'^3'«tiooc^ 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 13 
 
 «OiO^OOOi»0(MOiCOCb;OTj»00 
 
 c^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 ;^ 
 
 «r ic^tc c^^co 
 
 tc 
 
 <J 
 
 
 
 «M l-H 
 
 "nO 
 
 
 ■si 
 
 cO'^co«5<r»oo ooo^aco^co 
 
 OC 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 -^-COC^OOtOO <NC0<©05r-l»-i 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 S 
 
 CO *-^°o ® •"■ '^'~' 
 
 co^ 
 
 
 
 J" 
 
 
 irT 
 
 
 1 
 
 i:^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 c 
 
 
 wsoit^Oicooi 00 — »0'-<cooo 
 
 
 
 t3 
 
 ^ 
 
 OOCO(MOCM>. (MO'OOO 
 
 
 
 
 03 
 
 C^ «-H 0^ 00 i-( 0^ F-l 
 
 00 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^^ ^ 
 
 -'J^'^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 OS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 • .ns . . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 a> 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 
 
 • -W -0, • 
 
 • . . . ^ . , . 
 
 'a 
 
 
 
 
 
 .S -^ 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 England . 
 eland, includ 
 re . . . 
 ling of Yorks 
 
 Derbyshire . . . 
 Statfordsliire . . . 
 Leicestershire, &c. . 
 West of Kngland and 
 South of Ireland , . 
 North of Ditto . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 Scotland 
 North of 
 Westmor 
 Lancashi 
 West Rid 
 Cheshire 
 Flintshin 
 
 
396 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Amount of Irish Population as indicated by the 
 Poor Rate. 
 
 Parochial Relief administered in eight months of the year 1831, 
 in the Township of Manchester. 
 
 NUMBER OF CASES. 
 
 1831 
 
 Newtown. 
 
 Ancoats. 
 
 Central. 
 
 Portland- 
 street. 
 
 March . . . 
 
 English . . 2,037 
 
 1,943 
 
 2,430 
 
 1,764 
 
 
 Irish .... 1,099 
 
 804 
 
 226 
 
 236 
 
 April. . . . 
 
 English . . 2,022 
 
 1,917 
 
 2,879 
 
 1,769 
 
 
 Irish .... 984 
 
 806 
 
 202 
 
 230 
 
 May .... 
 
 English. . . 1,931 
 
 1,961 
 
 2,285 
 
 1,735 
 
 
 Irish . . . 902 
 
 841 
 
 180 
 
 214 
 
 June .... 
 
 English . . 1,968 
 
 1,980 
 
 2,:;80 
 
 1,782 
 
 July .... 
 
 Irish. ... 911 
 
 882 
 
 207 
 
 217 
 
 11,854 
 
 11,134 
 
 10,789 
 
 7,947 
 
 English . . 1,986 
 
 1,969 
 
 2,378 
 
 1,730 
 
 
 Irish .... 888 
 
 856 
 
 199 
 
 220 
 
 August . . . 
 
 English . . 1,987 
 
 2,024 
 
 2,324 
 
 1,687 
 
 
 Irish .... 856 
 
 813 
 
 . 175 
 
 227 
 
 September . 
 
 English . . 2,086 
 
 2,023 
 
 2,284 
 
 1,754 
 
 
 Irish .... 856 
 
 823 
 
 152 
 
 205 
 
 October . . 
 
 English . . 1,937 
 
 2,091 
 
 2,301 
 
 1,732 
 
 
 Irish .... 809 
 
 788 
 
 169 
 
 211 
 
 11,405 
 
 11,387 
 
 9,982 
 
 7,766 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 897 
 
 < 
 
 o <=> 
 
 I 
 
 " I 
 
 Pt, §■ 
 
 1/3 ^-^ 
 
 W 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 Highway 
 Robbery, 
 
 Breaking into 
 a Dwelling- 
 house. 
 
 
 rti— ii-Hi-icqc^c^jcjc^eotMecc^i-ieoececcvieokOW 
 
 1 •- ^ I 
 
 i I ^ ^ 
 
 •3 S g a 
 
 
 0000000«0»COO«OT 
 
 «.00<Ot^Ci»O«O00'^?O'O«O 
 
 I— O -V O_Q0t>^ O Oi ' "^ 
 
 ec eo -"l^Tfr-^iO oi~oo oi" oToo oo oo pj O — c^ 
 
 , . . ec ^ >o O *^ 
 
 ^ OOCONOOeo-*! 
 
 CCt^C^tN'fOi©iOt>«C>'JQ000O> 
 
 W3i«Jfit^f00t*<MW^©'^00-H00t*©«O — t^C^© 
 
 o) ■«*< ■* CO ;o 00 «o «o «5,''5^"^*^'^'o,*^^'^'~;>'^'^*^*^ 
 
 0J'-SSSrt«X-05 — 00005OiO«O«5t^Oi'»0000 © © 
 
 t^©'*©(» — c^«^'*©«-^woo*^-*"-;^»o«:~»>oj 
 ec»o — ecoooo?io(M t^^^_(M_^c^^o^'>r —^ "l "I '^. '^^ ^ * 
 ko ^o^«^«o*«^o^eo e<3 •'j^eo errc><"w « Tf<' yftCto oo oo 05 © 
 
 «WM«Soooooooooa3cooooooocooooo«22S2 
 
398 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 GIN AND WHISKEY 
 
 Consumed in England^ Scotland, and Ireland, on two Periods of 
 Three Years Each. 
 
 
 FIRST PERIOD. 
 
 
 Years. 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 First Period. 
 
 England. 
 
 ■ 
 Scotland. 
 
 Ireland. 
 
 
 Gallons. 
 
 Gallons. 
 
 Gallons. 
 
 Gallons. 
 
 1821 
 
 3,820,050 
 
 2,229,435 
 
 2,649,170 
 
 8,798,655 
 
 1822 
 
 4,346,348 
 
 2,079,556 
 
 2,328,387 
 
 8,754,281 
 
 1823 
 
 3,521,586 
 
 2,232,728 
 
 3,348,505 
 
 9,102,819 
 
 Total.. 
 
 11,687,984 
 
 6,541,719 
 
 8,326,062 
 
 26,655,755 
 
 
 SE 
 
 COND PERIO 
 
 D. 
 
 
 Years. 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 Second Pferiod. 
 
 England. 
 
 Scotland. 
 
 Ireland. 
 
 
 Gallons. 
 
 Gallons. 
 
 Gallons. 
 
 Gallons. 
 
 1831 
 
 7,434,047 
 
 5,700,689 
 
 8,710,672 
 
 21,845,309 
 
 1832 
 
 7,259,287 
 
 4,861,515 
 
 8,657,756 
 
 21,778,559 
 
 1833 
 
 7,717,303 
 
 5,988,556 
 
 8,168,596 
 
 21,874,458 
 
 Total.. 
 
 22,410,637 
 
 16,550,760 
 
 25,537,024 
 
 65,498,326 
 
 
 
 
 Gallons. 
 
 Tc 
 
 tal First Peri 
 
 od . . . 
 
 . . . 26,655.755 " 1 
 
 Di 
 
 tto Second di 
 
 to . . . 
 
 . . . 65,4 
 
 98.326 
 
 
 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 399 
 
 < 
 
 CB 
 
 
 TJ 
 
 G 
 
 ;3 
 
 bJO 
 
 o 
 
 >. 
 ■^ 
 
 O ^ 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 (3 
 
 s 
 
 
 CB 
 
 
 aj 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 00 
 
 Jl^ 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 
 13 
 
 >o 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 r^ 
 
 H 
 
 Pi 
 
 > 
 
 
 QO 
 
 Oi 
 
 Ci 
 CM 
 
 00 
 
 CO 
 
 o 
 
 1 
 
 CO 
 
 O^ 
 
 
 CO 
 
 Ph 
 
 <© 
 
 CO 
 
 j>r 
 
 t^ 
 
 <u 
 
 
 
 
 
 1^ 
 
 « 
 
 
 
 
 
 w 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 tf 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 E-i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 OS 
 
 »o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 i^ 
 
 
 o 
 
 U3 
 
 O 
 
 [?■ 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 TjH 
 
 !>. 
 
 g 
 
 K> 
 
 
 
 CM 
 
 O 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 OC 
 
 CO 
 
 
 vo 
 
 ^o 
 
 CO 
 
 o^ 
 
 Q 
 
 u 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 C^" 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 i>. 
 
 
 (N 
 
 <N 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 M ^• 
 
 
 
 
 
 cc £ 
 
 
 
 
 
 § 1 
 
 lO 
 
 
 Oi 
 
 Oi 
 
 . ^ 
 
 00 
 
 o 
 
 »o 
 
 to to 
 
 CM 
 
 CO 
 
 UO^ 
 
 C 
 
 
 
 
 O 00 
 
 ^" 
 
 lo 
 
 00 
 
 fc^ o 
 
 ^ Oi 
 
 »o 
 
 rf* 
 
 !>. 
 
 ,s t- 
 
 !>. 
 
 00 
 
 i>- 
 
 12; i2 
 
 5 :3 
 
 o »« 
 
 
 
 
 00 
 
 00 
 
 
 
 
 
 CM 
 
 c>< 
 
 Pi p. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Q ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 02 2 
 
 00 
 
 CO 
 
 OO 
 
 »o 
 
 CO 
 
 >-o 
 
 o 
 
 
 W Pi 
 
 05 
 
 CM 
 
 CO 
 
 oT 
 
 CO 
 
 Oh m 
 
 !>. 
 
 o 
 
 CM 
 
 lO 
 
 t^ § 
 
 «o 
 
 
 Oi 
 
 CM 
 
 
 
 
 
 < ^ 
 
 <» 
 
 CO 
 
 1>- 
 
 00 
 
 Ph 
 
 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 »o 
 
 (M 
 
 t^ 
 
 Oi 
 
 »o 
 
 -i* 
 
 Tj" 
 
 CM 
 
 - 1 
 
 co" 
 
 CM 
 CM 
 
 «o^ 
 
 Oi 
 
 00 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 CM 
 
 "^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 pi 
 
 
 <N 
 
 
 CM 
 
 -< 
 
 (M 
 
 CM 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 
 00 
 
 oo 
 
 00 
 
 30 
 
 
 *"* 
 
 
 l-H 
 
LONDON : 
 CLAY, PRINTER, BRE AD-STREET-H I LL, 
 DOCTOUS' COMMOBS. 
 
BOOKS 
 
 PRINTED FOR 
 
 JOHN W. PARKER, WEST STRAND, 
 LONDON. 
 
 List No. I. 
 
 Price Is., 
 
 lyrEWTGN and FLAMSTEED.— REMARKS on 
 
 ■^^ an Article in No. CIX. of the Quarterly Review. 
 
 By the Rev. W. WHEWELL, M.A.. 
 
 Fellow and Tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge. 
 
 I shall conclude, leaving it to the reader 
 to decide, whether the blame of intem- 
 perate virulence of feeling, and irrational 
 violence of conduct, does not rest solely 
 with Flamsteed; whether Newton's phi- 
 losophical and moral character do not 
 come out from this examination blame- 
 less, and admirable as they have always 
 
 been esteemed by thinking men ; and 
 whether the Reviewer has not shown ex- 
 traordinary ignorance of that part of 
 scientific history which he has attempted 
 to elucidate, and unaccountable blind- 
 ness and perverseness in his use even of 
 the ex parte evidence which he had before 
 him. 
 
 In the Press. Two Volumes Post Octavo, with Maps, 
 
 SKETCHES of the COASTS and ISLANDS of 
 ^ SCOTLAND, and of the ISLE of MAN. 
 
 By LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 
 
 Preparing for Publication, in One Volume, Octavo, 
 
 AN ANALYSIS of the ROMAN CIVIL LAW, 
 
 •^-^ in which a Comparison is occasionally made hetween the 
 
 Roman Laws and those of England. By the late Samuel 
 
 Hallifax, LL.D., Lord Bishop of St. Asaph. 
 
 A New Edition, with Additions, in the Text and Notes. 
 
 By JAMES WILLIAM GELDART, D.C.L., 
 
 And Regius Professor of Civil Law in the University of Cambridge 
 
 Nearly Ready. One Volume. 
 
 CONVERSATIONS AT CAMBRIDGE; 
 
 including, among others, the following : 
 
 
 S. T. CoLERiDOE at Trinity, with unpub- 
 lished Specimens of his Table-Talk. 
 The Poet Wordsworth and Professor 
 Smyth. 
 KiRKE White and the Johnians. 
 One Hour with Henry Martyn, the 
 
 Missionary. 
 
 The History of a Lost Student, taken 
 
 down from his own lips. 
 
 The Poet Cowper and his Brother, 
 
 of Beuet. 
 Gray and Mason — a Day with the 
 
 Muses. 
 Cowley and his Friend William 
 
 Hervey. 
 
 Milton, More, and Henry Howe. 
 
 The Destructives in 1642 ; 
 
 Oliver Cromwell at Cambridge. 
 
T 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS WORKS, 
 
 Demy Octavo, 10s. 6rf., 
 
 HE PROPHETICAL CHARACTER and IN- 
 SPIRATION of the APOCALYPSE considered. 
 
 By GEORGE PEARSON, B.D., 
 
 Christian Advocate in the University of Cambridge. 
 
 There is no portion of Holy Scripture 
 which has either been more violently 
 assailed by Infidels, or has suffered more 
 from the attempts of injudicious exposi- 
 tors, than the Apocalypse. This has, in a 
 frreat measure, arisen from persons not 
 duly considering the character and object 
 of the revelations which are contained in 
 this mysterious book; and, consequently, 
 the principles of interpretation which are 
 applicable to it. It is the intention of the 
 present work to inquire, Jirst, what was 
 
 the great object of prophecy from the 
 beginning; and, secondly, what are the 
 principles on which the Apocalypse is to 
 be explained, considered as a portion of 
 the great scheme of prophecy. -These 
 principles are then applied to the exposi- 
 tion of the prophecies of the Apocalypse; 
 and, lastly, it is attempted to consider the 
 argument for the inspiration of this book, 
 which is derived from the consideration 
 of its prophetical character, and of the 
 doctrines which are contained in it. 
 
 Demy Octavo, price 5^. 6rf., 
 
 TNFIDEL and DEISTICAL WRITERS; the 
 
 -*- Character and Tendency of their Principles and Opinions 
 
 considered, with reference to Revealed Religion. 
 By GEORGE PEARSON, B.D., Christian Advocate, Camh. 
 
 This work touches on some of the most 
 important points of the Arian and So- 
 einian controversy, and particularly with 
 reference to the peculiar character of the 
 
 reasonings, by which these opinions are 
 supported, and the tendency of the opi- 
 nions themselves to Infidelity. 
 
 In a Pocket Volume, bs., 
 
 pALEY'S EVIDENCES of CHRISTIANITY 
 -*- EPITOMISED; and his Argument exhibited in a small com- 
 pass, without omitting or weakening any of its component points. 
 
 BY A MEMBER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 It is highly desirable that the Evidences 
 bf Christianity should be comprised in as 
 condensed a form as is compatible with 
 the clear and precise exhibition thereof, 
 in order that they may" be more extensively 
 read and more easily remembered. Dr. 
 Paley's work was doubtless written under 
 
 this impression. Under the same im- 
 pression, the present Epitome was com- 
 piled, with the design of presenting his 
 argument in as small a compass as pos- 
 sible, without omitting, rendering indis- 
 tinct, or weakening any of its component 
 points. 
 
 Price \s. 6d., 
 
 PROPHECY AND ITS FULFILMENT ; with 
 an INTRODUCTORY ESSAY, by the Rev. BARTON 
 BOUCHIER, M.A. 
 
 In the course of professional study, the 
 Editor found it necessary to bring to- 
 gether some of the more prominent pre- 
 dictions respecting our blessed Saviour, 
 with their fulfilment as detailed in the 
 New Testament. Having them thus 
 placed in juxta-position with each other, 
 he was so struck with the irresistible 
 testimony they bore to Him of whom 
 
 Moses and the Prophets did write, that 
 he was led on to accumulate the various 
 passages of agreement, in which the Old 
 is verified by the New Testament. It 
 became, then, a necessary consequence, 
 that an earnest desire would arise to place 
 before others, in the same simultaneous 
 view, the spirit of prophecy, all termi- 
 nating in the testimony of Jesus. 
 
PUBLISHED BY JOHN W. PARKER. 
 
 Price 7s., 
 
 OSTHUMOUS RECORDS of a LONDON 
 CLERGYMAN. 
 Edited by the Rev. J.HOBART GAUNTER, B.D., 
 
 Author of the Oriental Annual. 
 
 guilt, — Reward, of innocence. Trace how 
 we may the course of human events, the 
 tendency of human actions, the same re- 
 sults follow, — they all operate to the same 
 end; the former to promote virtue and 
 discourage vice ; the latter to produce 
 happiness and ensure misery, according 
 as men incline to the one or to the other. 
 
 The object of this work is to enforce some 
 of the sublime truths of Christianity, by 
 showing, in the way of practical illustra- 
 tion, the issues of moral good and of moral 
 evil. Punishment in this world, in some 
 shape or other, sooner or later, hidden or 
 overt, positive or indirect, bodily or men- 
 tal, is the never-failing consequence of 
 
 Price 3s. 6d, 
 
 X IGHT in DARKNESS ; or the RECORDS of a 
 VILLAGE RECTORY. 
 
 Happy the man that sees a God employed 
 
 In all the good and ill that chequer life. — Cowper. 
 
 
 The Village. 
 
 The Retired Tradesman. 
 
 The Good Aunt. 
 
 The Family at the Hall. 
 
 The Village Schoolmaster. 
 The Village Apothecary. 
 The Deserted Wife. 
 
 Price 7^. Gd., 
 
 MUSICAL HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, and 
 CRITICISM; being a General Survey of Music from the 
 earliest period to the present time. By GEORGE HOGARTH. 
 
 At a period when Music is more and more 
 extensively cultivated as a branch of polite 
 knowledge, as a powerful aid in the exer- 
 cises of devotion, and as a rational and 
 elegant recreation in social and domestic 
 life, a work like the present appears to be 
 called for. The Author's object is, to give 
 in an original and attractive form, that 
 .nformation respecting the progress of 
 
 Music, the personal history of the most 
 eminent Musicians, and the present state 
 of the art in this and other countries, 
 which is now looked upon as indispensa- 
 ble to every person of liberal attainments ; 
 he has accordingly treated Music, not as 
 an intricate science, but as one of the 
 most beautiful of the Fine Arts. 
 
 In Two Pocket Volumes, price 9s., The 
 
 BRITISH MONTHS, a Poem, in Twelve Parts. 
 By RICHARD MANT, D.D., M.R.I.A., Lord Bishop 
 OF Down and Connor. 
 
 It has been the Author's endeavour, to 
 give in this Poem a pleasing representa- 
 tion of the principal natural appearances, 
 especially with respect to our native 
 
 plants and birds, which invite attention in 
 their monthly succession ; with such re_ 
 flections as those appearances are calcu 
 lated to suggest to a contemplative mind 
 
 D 
 
 Demy Octavo, price 9*. 6d., 
 
 ISSERTATIONS on the EUMENIDES of 
 iESCHYLUS, with the Greek Text, and Critical Remarks. 
 Translated from the German of C O. MULLER. 
 
 Muller's Work on the Eumenides has 
 deservedly obtained the approbation of 
 some of the first scholars of the day ; it is 
 an admirable specimen of the Author's 
 searching and comprehensive spirit of 
 inquiry, and claims the attention of every 
 
 person who would fully understand the 
 Dramas of ^schylus in general, as well 
 as have a thorough perception of the pecu- 
 liar beauties and train of ideas which cha- 
 racterize the Tragedy of the Eumenidet . 
 
MISCELLANEOUS WORKS, 
 
 A New and much Improved Edition, price 7s 6d. 
 
 rpHE PRINCIPLES and PRACTICE of ARITH- 
 
 -*- METIC, comprising the NATURE and USE of LOGA- 
 RITHMS, with the Computations employed by Artificers, Gangers, 
 and Land-Surveyors. 
 By JOHN HIND, M.A., late Fellow and Tutor of Sidney- 
 Sussex College, Cambridge. 
 
 The present Treatise is a new Edition of 
 one which was presented to the notice of 
 the Public a short time ago ; it is now 
 
 hort time ago , 
 printed in a form which, it is presumed, 
 will be better adapted to the purposes of 
 Elementary Education. The whole work 
 has been condensed, corrected, and im- 
 
 proved, in so many of its particulars, that 
 it may, without much impropriety, be con- 
 sidered a new work. It has been the 
 Author's endeavour to combine what is 
 necessary of the Philosophy of the Science 
 of Arithmetic with the practice of the Art 
 of Numbers. 
 
 Demy Octavo, 12s 6rf.> bound, 
 
 A N ELEMENTARY TREATISE on the DIF- 
 -^^ FERENTIAL and INTEGRAL CALCULUS. 
 By the Rev. T. G. HALL, M.A., 
 
 Professor of Mathematics at King's College, London, and late Fellow and 
 Tutor of Magdalen College, Cambridge. 
 
 A KNOWLEDOE of the principles of this 
 branch of the pure Mathematics is abso- 
 lutely necessary, before any one can suc- 
 cessfully undertake the perusal of works 
 on Natural Philosophy, in which the 
 effects of the observed laws that govern 
 the material world are reduced to calcu- 
 lation. 
 For Students deficient in this know- 
 
 ledge, yet anxious to obtain as much in- 
 formation as may enable them to master 
 the chief analytical difficulties incident 
 to the study of elementary treatises on 
 the mixed mathematics, this book has 
 been written : with the hope, too, that 
 by its means a subject of high interest 
 may be rendered accessible to an increased 
 number of readers. 
 
 Demy Octavo, price 9s., 
 
 THE PRINCIPLES of HYDROSTATICS, with 
 the Instruments, and Dal ton's Theory of Elastic Fluids and 
 Evaporation, &c. &c. 
 By THOMAS WEBSTER, M.A., of Trinity College, Camb. 
 
 I HAVE endeavoured to develop the prin- 
 ciples of the Science with the use of none 
 but the most elementary mathematics ; so 
 that the student, who now, either partially 
 or wholly, neglects this beautiful branch 
 of Natural Philosophy, from the uninviting 
 
 character which analysis presents to those 
 who are not familiar with it, may at once 
 proceed to its study, if he is only ac- 
 quainted with the first principles of Al- 
 gebra and Mechanics, 
 
 M 
 
 With numerous Engravings, price 6s. 6d., 
 
 ECHANICS APPLIED TO THE ARTS. 
 By the Rev. H. MOSELEY, M. A., 
 
 Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy, King's Coll. Lond. 
 
 This work contains treatises on the sci- 
 ences of Statics and Hydrostatics, com- 
 F rising the whole theory of Equilibrium, 
 t is the first volume of a course of 
 Natural Philosophy, intended for the use 
 of those who have no knowledge of Ma- 
 thematics, or who have made but little 
 progress in their mathematical reading. 
 
 Throughout the whole, an attempt has 
 been made to bring the principles of exact 
 science to bear upon questions of practical 
 application in the arts, and to place the 
 discussion of them within the reach of 
 the more intelligent of that useful class 
 of men who are connected with the 
 manufactures of the country. 
 
PUBLISHED BY JOHN W. PARKER. 
 
 Complete in Five Volumes, at 6s. 6d. each, or in Parts at Is. each, 
 
 ORIGINAL FAMILY SERMONS; 
 
 ^"^ comprising upwards of One Hundred and Sixty Discourses, 
 By contemporary Divines of the Established Church. 
 
 in Thirty Numbers, forming Five Vo- 
 
 These Sermons are printed from the Ma- 
 nuscripts of the respective Authors, 
 among whom are many of the dignitaries 
 of the Church, contributed exclusively to 
 this collection. The series is completed 
 
 lumes, either of which may be had sepa- 
 rately. In the Fifth Volume is given a 
 Genkkal Index of the Contributors, and 
 of the subjects of the various Discourses. 
 
 Price 2s. 6c?. 
 
 THE IMAGERY and POETICAL ORNA- 
 MENTS of the BOOK of PSALMS; its Prophetic Lan- 
 guage, and Apocalyptic Character, and the Modes of using the 
 Psalter, from the earliest to the present Time. 
 By the Rev. GEORGE HENRY STODDART, A.M., 
 Of Queen's College, Oxford. 
 
 topics. I have advanced no remarks but 
 such as appeared to me to rest on most 
 substantial grounds, and to be fully 
 accordant to Gospel principles; and I 
 have used much diligence in the effort to 
 arrange and simplify the stores of erudition 
 of the above distinguished critics, and to 
 commend, in a popular form, the informa- 
 tion thence derived for general readers. 
 
 I HAVE rather compiled from the researches 
 of others, than depended on my own 
 powers; and the principal observations 
 are selected from the writings of Bishops 
 Horsley, Lowth, Patrick, Home, and 
 Jebb; Dr. Lightfoot, Dr. Allix, and Mr. 
 Boys. I still claim, however, the credit 
 of having most carefully examined their 
 conflicting opinions on many important 
 
 Fine Paper, Gilt Edges, 2*. ; Cheap Edition, Is. 
 
 pSALMSand HYMNS, for PUBLIC WORSHIP; 
 ^ Selected and Revised by the Rev. J. E. RIDDLE, M.A., 
 
 Assistant Minister of Brunswick Chapel, Upper Berkeley Street. 
 
 present uniform simplicity and gracefulness 
 of style, together with the purity and fer- 
 vour of Christian devotion. The Psalms 
 and Hymns amount to about a hundred 
 and fifty, including every variety: and it 
 [is hoped that both sweetness and fulness 
 of tone, will be found in this harp of Zion. 
 
 Great care has been bestowed on this 
 selection, in order to make it, in evei^ 
 respect, a valuable manual of Congrega- 
 tional Psalmody The Psalms have been 
 adopted from various versions, and the 
 Hymns from numerous writers : — all the 
 best, but the best only, have been taken : 
 — and the compiler has endeavoured to 
 
 Complete in Two Handsome Folio Volumes, price £2. 2s., Half-bound, or in 
 Nos., I. to XXIV.. at Is. 6rf.«each, 
 
 SACRED MINSTRELSY ; a COLLECTION of 
 the FINEST SACRED MUSIC, by the best Masters, 
 arranged as Solos, Duets, Trios, &c., and Choruses ; and with 
 Accompaniments for the Piano-Forte or Organ. 
 
 The exclusive namre of nearly all ex- 1 
 is ting collections of sacred music, and | 
 the high price at which novelties are in I 
 general produced, renders this work par- 
 ticularly desirable. Many fine produc- 
 tions, at present comparatively unknown, 
 would be hailed with delight as additions 
 to the stores of Sacred Harmony, could 
 they be procured in a familiar form and on 
 reasonable terms. 
 
 The design of the present work, there- 
 fore, is to place within the reach of fami- 
 lies, and of persons unaccustomed to play- 
 ing from score, really good practical music ; 
 classical, yet not laboriously and uselessly 
 learned ; and thus to attract towards Sacred 
 Music a portion of that patronage which 
 is too generally bestowed, in so dispro- 
 portionate a degree, upon works of a 
 secular kind. 
 
 5 
 
MISCELLANEOUS WORKS, 
 
 Two Volumes, with Portraits, price 10s. 6d., 
 
 npHE LIFE of SIR WILLIAM JONES, by the 
 
 -■- late LORD TEIGNMOUTH ; with Notes, Selections from 
 
 his Works, and a Memoir of his Noble Bio<jrapher, 
 
 By the Rev. SAMUEL CHARLES WILKS, M.A. 
 
 Sir William Jones was not only the most its lately-deceased author; who, though 
 
 highly respected as an Oriental scholar, 
 and raised to the peerage for his meri- 
 torious services as Governor-general of 
 India, was yet better known for the Chris- 
 tian virtues which adorned his character, 
 and rendered him a public benefactor to 
 maukiud. 
 
 eminent linguist, but in many respects one 
 of the most remarkable men of the last 
 ceutury; and Lord Teionmouths Me- 
 moir of him has been justly accounted 
 one of the most interesting, instructive, 
 and entertaining pieces of modern bio- 
 graphy. To the present edition of this 
 popular Memoir is prefixed a notice of 
 
 Two Volumes, with Portraits, 9s., 
 
 T IVES of EMINENT CHRISTIANS; containing 
 
 -*-* the Lives of Bishop Wilson; Archbishop Usher; Dr. 
 
 Hammond; John Evelyn; Bernard Gilpin; Philip de 
 
 Mornay; Bishop Bedell; and Dr. Horneck. 
 
 By the Rev. R. B. HONE, M.A. 
 
 The paths of good men are commonly more pleasing or successful ways of recom- 
 
 so fuU of peace, and the sorrows which mending the fear and love of God have 
 
 befall them, so mercifully softened and been found, than the publication of reli- 
 
 blessed by a sacred influence, that few gious biography. 
 
 Foolscap Octavo, with Portraits by Engleheart, price 4s. 6d. 
 
 IVES of SACKED POETS. Containing 
 
 ■^ Introductory Sketch of Sacred Poetry. 
 George Wither, Francis Quarles, Giles Fletcher, 
 George Herbert, Richard Crashaw. 
 By R. A. WILLMOTT, Esq., Trin, Coll. Camb. 
 
 The writer of these Lives has endea- 
 voured to present as ample a view as the 
 limits of a volume would permit, of the 
 state of Sacred Poetry in the reigns of 
 Elizabeth, James the First, and Charles 
 the First. Among the poets and distin- 
 guished individuals, of whom Biogra- 
 phical and Critical Sketches are given, 
 may be enumerated R. Southwell ; H. 
 Constable ; B. Barnes ; Francis Davison, 
 the author of some exquisite Versions 
 from the Psalms ; Donne ; W. Browne, 
 the sweetest disciple of Spenser's Pastoral 
 
 School; Sir John Deuham; Heywood, the 
 author of the Hierarchie of the Blessed 
 Angels ; G. Sandys ; Lord Bacon, the 
 friend of Herbert ; Hobbes, the philoso- 
 pher, and Ben Jouson, his associate in 
 the translation of the Advancement of 
 Learning; the celebrated Lord Herbert, of 
 Cherbui-y ; the accomplished and learned 
 Selden ; Archbishops Williams and Laud : 
 Lord Pembroke, the lover and loved < f 
 poets ; Cowley, the affectionate friend of 
 Crashaw, &c. 
 
 T 
 
 Foolscap Octavo, with Engravings, 5s. 6d., cloth, lettered, 
 
 HE HISTORY of MOHAMMEDANISM, and 
 
 the principal MOHAMMEDAN SECTS. 
 By W. C.TAYLOR, LL.D., T.C.D. 
 
 med's life, mainly derived from his own 
 autobiogi-aphical notices in the Koran ; 
 an original Mohammedan Creed ; and the 
 fullest particulars that have yet appeared 
 in English, of the leading sects that divide 
 the Mussulmans. 
 
 6 
 
 This work contains a full account of 
 the Mohammedan traditions respecting 
 the origin of their faith; an account of the 
 political, religious, and social state of the 
 East, when first the doctrines of Islamism 
 were promulgated ; a hisloiy of Moham- 
 
PUBLISHED BY JOHN W. PARKER. 
 
 Price 5$. 6d„ bound. 
 
 ^E MILITARY PASTOR ; a Series of PRAC- 
 TICAL DISCOURSES, addressed to SOLDIERS ; with 
 PRAYERS for Patients in Military Hospitals. 
 
 By the Rev. JOHN PARKER LAWSON, M.A., 
 
 Author of the Life and Times of Archbishop Laud. 
 
 As no manual of this description has 
 been published, the Author trusts that 
 it will not be unacceptable to those of 
 his brethren among the clergy, who, either 
 by express official appointment, or from 
 local situatioij, act as chaplains to the 
 army. But his object has chiefly been to 
 produce a Manual which may find its way 
 
 into barracks and other military esta- 
 blishments, not only for private perusal, 
 but for the use of those officers who, in 
 the absence of chaplains, are necessitated 
 by authority to read prayers and a ser- 
 mon to the troops under their com- 
 mand. 
 
 Second Edition, price Is. 6d. in Black Cloth, lettered, 
 
 . DAILY PRAYER BOOK, for the Use of 
 
 ^ Families and Schools. 
 
 By J. T. BARRETT, D.D., Rector of Beauchamp, Essex. 
 
 This Book of Family Devotion is not 
 only drawn up in the language of the 
 (yhurch, but agreeably to her Form and 
 Order for Morning and Evening Service , 
 
 throughout the year ; and hence is cal- 
 culated to lead and confirm her members 
 in her edifying mode of worship at Com- 
 mon Prayer. 
 
 O 
 
 Price Is. 6d., 
 
 FFICE for the VISITATION of the SICK 
 
 with Notes and Explanations. 
 By WILLIAM COXE, M.A., Archdeacon of Wilts. 
 
 This little work contains the office for 
 the Sick, with Notes and Explanations 
 founded on the Doctrine and Discipline 
 qf the Church of England. It avoids all 
 points unsuited to a season of bodily af- 
 fliction, and whilst it suppresses the pre- 
 sumption of enthusiasm on the one hand. 
 
 and the forebodings of despondency on 
 the other, and goes only to plain and 
 practical questions of primary and vital 
 interest, it will, it is hoped, both facilitate 
 the labours of those who visit the Sick, 
 and be conducive to the best spiritual 
 benefit of those who are visited. 
 
 Price 45 
 
 A DISCOURSE on DEATH; with APPLICA- 
 -^^ TIONS of CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 
 
 By the Rev. HENRY STEBBING, M.A. 
 
 No man will deny that whatever can be 
 said ot death is applicable to himself. 
 The bell which he hears tolled may never 
 toll for him ; there may be no friend or 
 children left to lament him ; he may not 
 have to lie through long and anxious days, 
 looking for the coming of the expected 
 terror : but he knows he must die : he 
 knows that in whatever quarter of the 
 world he abides — whatever may be his 
 circumstances — however- strong hid p.e- 
 
 sent hold of life — however unlike the 
 prey of death he looks — that it is his 
 doom, beyond reverse, to die But if it 
 be thus certain that death is the common 
 lot of all — the great result of life — it 
 must surely be the part of a rational 
 creature like man to inquire, what is 
 death? and having answered this ques- 
 tion, to consider what kind of prepara- 
 tion should be made for its approach. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS WORKS, 
 
 Nearly Ready, One Volume, Foolscap Octavo, 
 
 ARTISANS AND MACHINERY; the Moral, 
 
 ■^^^ Social, and Physical Condition of the Industrious Classes 
 
 of Great Britain, connected with Manufactures, considered, with 
 
 reference to Mechanical Substitutes for Human Labour. 
 
 The absence of a work devoted to an ex- 
 amination of the Moral, Social, and Phy- 
 sical condition of more than three mil- 
 lions of our fellow subjects, men, women, 
 and children, engaged in the arts, manu- 
 factures, and trade of the country, has 
 been long deemed a serious evil. The 
 vast importance of the subject, and the 
 numerous interests connected with it, ren- 
 der a dispassionate inquiry not only highly 
 
 desirable, but, with a view to its influence 
 upon the community at large, absolutely 
 necessary. No apology, therefore, it is 
 thought, will be required, for bringing 
 the matter before the public, in a work 
 wliich is the result of practical obser- 
 vation, made in the course of long pro- 
 fessional attendance among the class of 
 persons to whom it particularly re- 
 lates. 
 
 Price Sixpence, 
 
 rpHE OLD and NEW POOR LAW: Who Gains? 
 
 ■*■ and Who Loses ? Explained by Conversations on Facts of 
 
 Daily Occurrence. 
 
 This little work is addressed to the mind, — namely, that the late alterations 
 
 Working Classes, and to their Friends. 
 Among the latter, the writer would rank 
 lumself ; and he feels assured that he can- 
 not prove his title to the name better than 
 by endeavouring to make that clear to 
 others, which is established in his own 
 
 in the Poor Law are founded in wisdom 
 and benevolence, and that the honest and 
 industrious labourer will be the very first 
 who will feel the advantages resulting from 
 the change. 
 
 Price Is., 
 
 N 
 
 ATIONAL EDUCATION, and the MEANS of 
 IMPROVING IT. 
 
 By the Rev. T. V. SHORT, B.D., Rector of Bloomsbm^y. 
 
 as well as general Education. Christian 
 principles will teach the rich that they 
 are benefiting themselves while they 
 ameliorate the condition of the poor, and 
 convince the poor that their own interests 
 are best consulted, when the well-being 
 of the rich is advanced ; and how can 
 these objects be more effectually ad- 
 vanced, than when the upper orders pro- 
 vide for the education of the children of 
 the lower. 
 
 The question of National Education, is 
 one of vital importance to all who feel 
 concerned for the temporal interests of 
 England. The degree of power which 
 has, of late years, been distributed to the 
 people, cannot be safely intrusted to all 
 orders in the state, unless principles of 
 religion and justice influence their minds ; 
 and it is in vain to hope lor the diffusion 
 of these principles, except through the 
 blessing of God, bestowed on Religious 
 
 PostSvo., 5s. 6d., 
 
 THE INFLUENCES of DEMOCRACY on 
 Liberty, Property, and the Happiness of Society, considered ; 
 By an AMERICAN, formerly Member of Congress : 
 With an INTRODUCTION, by HENRY EWBANK, Esq. 
 
 pause before they sacrifice themselves to 
 the Juggernaut of self-government, or give 
 way to the specious, but false opinion, 
 that the transfer of political power to the 
 people is necessarily attended by an 
 increase of liberty. 
 
 8 
 
 I BRING before my reader a living picture 
 of Democracy by the hand of a master. 
 And if the testimony of an eye-witness — 
 an American Republican — and a most 
 ardent lover of liberty — is entitled to any 
 attention, thinking men will perhaps 
 
PUBLISHED BY JOHN W. PARKER. 
 
 One Volume, Demy 8vo., price 10s. 6d., 
 
 nPHE ANGLO-SAXON CHURCH ; its History, 
 
 Revenues, and General Character. 
 
 By the Rev. HENRY SOAMES, M.A., 
 
 Author of the History of the Reformation, 
 
 I N this work will be found an introductory 
 sketch of the state of Christianity in 
 Britain, previously to the Saxon conver- 
 sion. The subsequent historical portioHs 
 supply those details which are necessary 
 for completing the information, relating 
 to the transactions of the Ante-Norman 
 England, contained in modern publica- 
 tions. They detail also the rise of our 
 
 Church Establishment, and of the various 
 payments levied for its support. In com- 
 piling the miscellaneous particulars, in- 
 formation has been sought from various 
 unpublished sources; and the whole work 
 will be found to comprise a more complete 
 view of the state of religion in England, 
 before the Conquest, than has hitherto 
 appeared. i 
 
 In the Press, One Volume, Octavo, 
 
 THE ENGLISH EPISCOPACY, from the Period 
 of the LONG PARLIAMENT, to the ACT of UNI- 
 FORMITY, and the RELIGIOUS PARTIES OF THE 
 
 TIME ; with a Preliminary Review of Ecclesiastical Affairs in 
 England from the Reformation. 
 
 By the Rev. THOMAS LATHBURY, M.A., 
 
 Curate of Dov^'nend. 
 
 Price 2s. 6c?. sewed. 
 
 T 
 
 HE NATIONAL CHURCH a NATIONAL 
 BLESSING. 
 By the Rev. W. DEALTRY, D. D., F. R. S., 
 
 Chancellor of the Diocese of Winchester. 
 
 Anxious as we are to live peaceably with 
 all men, yet to be silent under the impu- 
 tations which are, from many quarters, 
 brought against the Church of England, 
 
 would not fail to be construed into an 
 abandonment of her cause, and might be 
 seriously prejudicial to the interests of 
 Religion. 
 
 Foolscap Octavo, price ls„ 
 
 ^E EPISCOPAL FORM of CHURCH GO- 
 VERNMENT : its Antiquity, its Expediency, and its Con- 
 formity to the Word of Grod. 
 
 By the Rev. JOHN MEDLEY. M.A. 
 
 The problem which we have to solve is 
 this : From which line of conduct may the 
 greatest amount of practical good be 
 expected; from our maintaining and 
 upholding an authority in the Church, 
 to say the least of it, venerable from its 
 age, respectable from its dignity, in- 
 vested with power to check the disorders 
 and preserve the tranquillity of the whole 
 
 body, and which may be shown, by solid 
 and Scriptural arguments, to be most 
 agreeable to the word of God; or from 
 our letting loose the reins of all Church- 
 government, and allowing every one to 
 set up a sect for himself, according to 
 some wild fancy of his own, or narrow 
 interpretation of a single text of the word 
 of God ? 
 
 9 
 
MISCELLANEOUS WORKS, 
 
 nHURCH 
 
 Foolscap Octavo, price 6rf. 
 
 AND STATE INSEPARABLE. 
 
 By A LAYMAN. 
 
 AssiTMiNG it established by the opinions 
 and practice of ages, that some general 
 principles of Religion, per^- ading the public 
 councils, and influencing the public con- 
 duct, are inseparable from the well-being 
 of every community, let us inquire whether 
 
 the connexion which has so long ' sub- 
 sisted between the Church of England 
 and the Civil Government of these Realms, 
 is in reality essential to our prosperity as 
 a people. 
 
 In a large Octavo Volume, price 13s. 6d., 
 
 ARCHBISHOP USHER'S ANSWER to a JE- 
 ■^^ SUIT; with other Tracts on Popery. 
 
 The principal treatise in this volume is 
 the learned Archbishop's Answer to a Je- 
 suit's Challenge, in which all the augmen- 
 tations and emendations of the early 
 editions have been adopted, and the gross 
 errors of the edition printed after the 
 author's death corrected. The volume 
 
 further contains— TAe Discourse of the 
 
 Religion anciently professed hy the Irish 
 and British; the Speech on the Oath of 
 Supremacy ; the Sermon bpfore the House 
 of Commons ; and The Declaration of the 
 Universality of the Church of Christ. Co- 
 pious Indices of Texts, of Authorities, and 
 of Subjects, are appended to this edition. 
 
 D 
 
 Fourth Edition, Post Octavo, price 4s. in cloth, lettered, A 
 
 ISCOURSE on the STUDIES of the UNIVER- 
 
 SITY of CAMBRIDGE. 
 By PROFESSOR SEDGWICK, M.A., F.R.S., &c. 
 
 The recent attacks on physical science, 
 and the gross misapprehension of its 
 moral tendency, have been singularly 
 wanton and ill-timed. * * * A sceptic 
 may, indeed, think that the whole system 
 of things, moral and physical, has no 
 principle of continued rest, — that it has 
 only been jostled into a condition of un- 
 
 stable equilibrium, which may be de- 
 stroyed by the first movement of any of 
 the component elements. Such a one 
 may reasonably fear the progress of dis- 
 covery, for his] system wants the essen- 
 tial principles of cohesion ; but a sincere 
 believer in the word of God has no fear of 
 this kind. 
 
 Second Edition, in Post Octavo, price 9s., cloth, lettered, 
 
 (^ATHS; their Origix, Nature, and History; 
 ^^ By JAMES ENDELL TYLER, B.D., 
 
 Rector of St. Giles' in the Fields, and late Fellow of Oriel College. 
 
 Royal Quarto, with Forty-Eight Plates, price 1/. lis. 6d., 
 
 •p^SS AY on the ARCHITECTURE of the HINDUS. 
 
 By RAM RAZ, Native Judge and Magistrate at Bangalore; 
 Cor. Mem. of the Royal Asiatic Society. 
 
 This work is published from the original I 
 manuscript and drawings of the Author, j 
 
 under the direction of the Royal Asiatic 
 Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 
 10 
 
PUBLISHED BY JOHN W. PARKER. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY EDITIONS OF 
 "DIBLES AND COMMON PRAYER 
 ^ BOOKS, 
 
 In Sheets, and in Plain and Elegant Binding, Wholesale and Retail. 
 
 In a Pocket Volume, bound in cloth, lettered, 8s. 6d., The 
 
 pAMBRIDGE GREEK and ENGLISH NEW 
 
 ^^ TESTAMENT. The Greek, (from the Third Edition of 
 
 Stephens,) 1550, and the English, from the Authorised Version, 
 
 being given in Parallel Columns on the same Page. 
 
 Second Edition, Corrected and Enlarged, 3s. 6d., 
 
 nnHE TEXT of the ENGLISH BIBLE, as now printed 
 
 -*- by the Universities, considered with reference to a Report by a 
 
 Sub-Committee of Dissenting Ministers. 
 
 By THOMAS TURTON, D.D., 
 
 Regius Professor of Divinity, Cambridge, and Dean of Peterborough. 
 
 Octavo, 4^., 
 
 A REVIEW of the PRINCIPAL DISSENTING COL- 
 
 -^^ LEGES in ENGLAND during the last Century; being a Second 
 
 and enlarged Edition of the Author's Work on the ADMISSION of 
 
 PERSONS, without regard to their Religious Opinions, to certain 
 
 Degrees in the UNIVERSITIES of ENGLAND. 
 
 By THOMAS TURTON, D.D. 
 
 Royal Quarto, 25a-., 
 
 AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT of the THIRTY-NINE 
 ARTICLES, from the First Promulgation of them in 1553, to their 
 Final Establishment, 1571, with exact copies of the Latin and English 
 MSS., and Fac-similes of the Signatures of the Archbishops and 
 
 Bishops, &c. 
 By JOHN LAMB, D.D., Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. 
 
 Octavo, 8s. 6d., 
 
 XTEBREW CHARACTERS derived from Hierogly- 
 
 -■--^ PHics. The original Pictures applied to the Interpretation of 
 
 various Words and Passages in the Sacred Writings. 
 By JOHN LAMB, D.D., Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. 
 
 Quarto, price 255., 
 
 ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS, for the Year 
 MDCCCXXXIV., made at the Observatory at Cambridge. 
 By GEORGE BIDDELL AIRY, Esq., M.A., 
 Late Fellow of Trin, Col. and Plumian Prof, of Astron. and Ex. Phil, 
 in the University of Cambridge. 
 
 11 
 
PERIODICAL WORKS. 
 
 On the 1st of Febrwary, (and continued Monthly,) price Is. Qd., THE 
 
 "iVTAGAZINE OF POPULAR SCIENCE, and 
 
 
 JOURNAL OF THE USEFUL ARTS. 
 
 Edited under the Direction of the Society for the Illustration and Encou^ 
 
 ragement of Practical Science ^ at the Adelaide-Street 
 
 Gallery, London. 
 
 The respective Numbers will in general comprise more or less of the 
 following subjects. 
 
 3. Natural History, Botany, Physiology, 
 Comparative Anatomy, Conchology, 
 &c. 
 
 4. Manufactures ; Processes in the Arts ; 
 Civil Engineerinj? ; Practical Mecha- 
 nics ; Domestic Economy, &c. 
 
 III. Review. — Notices of New Works 
 on Science, English and Foreign. 
 
 IV. Miscellaneous Intelligence. — 
 Proceedings of Societies. Obituary 
 Novelties in the Gallery of Practical 
 Science. 
 
 I. Leading Article. — General Re- 
 marks on the Claims, Objects, and Re- 
 sults of Science; Popajar Sketches of its 
 present condition, recent progress, &c. 
 
 II. Intelligence. — New Discoveries, 
 Experiments, Inventions and Improve- 
 ments in 
 
 1. Mathematical and Physical Science ; 
 Mechanics, Optics. Hydrostatics, As- 
 tronomy ,'Magnetism, Meteorology, &c. 
 
 2. Chemistry, Galvanism, Electricity, 
 Heat, Mineralogy, Geology, &c. 
 
 Numbers I. to IV., continued Quarterly, price 6s., 
 
 TOURNAL of the ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY 
 
 ^ of GREAT BRITAIN and IRELAND ; 
 
 Containing original Papers, relative to the History, Manners and Customs, 
 Laws, Religion, IS'atural History, Arts, Commerce, Manufactures, and 
 Productions of THE ORIENTAL WORLD. 
 
 Contributed by Membfrs and Correspondents of the Society at 
 Home and Abroad. 
 
 In Weekly Nuftbers, price One Penny ; and in Monthly Parts, 
 price Sixpence each. 
 
 HE SATURDAY MAGAZINE. 
 
 Printed under the Direction of the Committee of General Literature 
 and Education, appointed hy the Society for Promoting 
 Christian Knowledge. 
 
 and a Christian Character and tendency 
 is given to Popular Knowledye. It is 
 most extensively illustrated by Engra- 
 vings on Wood, which comprise Por- 
 traits, Views, remarkable Objects, in An- 
 tiquities, Science, and Manufactures, the 
 various branches of Natural History, 
 and -indeed whatever is curious and in- 
 teresting in Nature and in Art. 
 
 GuKAT care and attention are bestowed 
 ■in adapting this cheap and popular 
 Magazine to all classes of Readers, so 
 that ii may with propriety be introduced 
 into Families and Schools, and among 
 Young People in general. Its contents 
 are at once instructive and entertaining. 
 Religious, Moral, and Social Piinciples, 
 are combined with Useful Information ; 
 
 The Saturday Magazine is also published in Hai.f-Yearly Volumes, at As. 6d., 
 and in Annual Volumes, at "s. 6d. 
 
 LoKDON : JOHN W. PARKER, West Stkand. 
 
14 DAY USE 
 
 RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED 
 
 LOAN DEPT. 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, 
 or on the date to which renewed. Renewals only: 
 
 Tel. No. 642-3405 
 Renewals may be made 4 days prior to date due. 
 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
 Due end of SPRING Quarter ~~ ~^ 
 
 subject to recall after- MAY 3^ *' 4P' 
 
 
 INTERLIBRARY LOAN 
 
 — NOV 3 1977 — '— 
 
 :G. CIR-uV 2''' 
 
 AUTQDISCCIRC APR 2 2 '93 
 
 AUG 23 1987 
 
 ^' ■ >'0. DISC. 
 
 AUG 1 7 1QQ7 » 
 
 ^:>'TS^t) 9.1991 
 
 T noi A Ka^ o '71 General Library 
 
V/Pi I «^ ^ _ 
 
 U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES 
 
 iliilill 
 
 BQ03QlB3aM 
 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY