<=/vCi* ettttt eA to. te&cn Stoat aff yo.velnimn.t& ette e to to. create atio. t6*m t* 44t4a>e, an*/ f nd. n co.llt< dt t uned vnan= to. lic/i men ta matte &t^HN WESLEY'S Remedies for Sickness Opinions of the Demo- jvJ cratic Review Jefferson Priessnitz Bulwer Havelock Volney The Early Christians St. Chrysostom Tertullian The Moravians.241 CHAPTER XII. FARMERS AND MECHANICS. fHE Farmer's Burdens are too Heavy It is his duty to mak them Lighter How to Educate his Children To Fertilize the Soil How the Mechanic may Shorten his Labor How to Obtain a Home 265 CHAPTER XIII. THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT. fHE American Government has not Ameliorated the Condition of the Working People It Should be Changed It Benefits the Rich, not the Poor Opinions of Brissot de Warville Marquis de Chastellux...289 CHAPTER XIV. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. fTS Causes, Cruelties, and Benefits A Contest between Nobles and People The Number of its Victims The Edict of Nantes The Profligacy of the Kings of France Death of Louis the Fourteenth...^ 13 xii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XV. STATESMEN AND POLITICAL ECONOMISTS. f KETCHES of Washington Livingston Morris Hamilton Sedg- wick Ames Wollcott Burr Adams Jefferson Opinions of the Economists Potter More Smith Malthus Say Paley 337 CHAPTER XVI. SOCIAL AND MORAL INNOVATORS. PINIONS of Volney Franklin Fenelon Carey Fourier Har- riet Martineau Joseph Kay Dr. Price Jacques Turgot Fortes- que William Godwin John Wesley 361 CHAPTER XVII. REASONS FOR REFORMS. . PALEY on Society A Presidential Candidate's Home Cost of Intemperance The Fool's Pence Theory of Governments What we Pay for Being Governed John Adams on the Constitutions. ...38 5 CHAPTER XVIII. CONCLUSION. t WASHINGTON letter The Pacific Railroad a Means of acquir- L ing Territory without War How the King of Prussia obtained Rev- enue from a Canal General Dearborn's Testimony on Merchants..4O9 NOTE. > AGE twenty-four, line nineteen, and page two-hundred and ninety, line two, the writer quotes from memory. The proper books can not at this time be obtained. THE LABORER, CHAPTER I. REFORMS ARE NECESSARY. HUMAN SOCIETY is FULL OF MISERY THERE is A COMPLETE REMEDY THI HOURS OF TOIL CAN BE SHORTENEDOPINIONS OF GOOD MEN. " The history of the past is to enlighten men."--SwiFT. |HE minds of the good and benevolent are continu- ally pained by the sight of human sorrow, caused by want. This comes from man's ignorance ; from one man oppressing another, and blinding his reason. The Creator of the Universe has done his part well ; noth- ing is lacking to complete man's happiness. If a poor man spends his time sculpturing a stone, and calls it Apollo or Diana, he will want bread. If the man parts with his statue, some one else suffers want. The peasant of Ire- land, for the use of the soil, which ought to be his own, is compelled to give three-fourths of his food to another. If the landlord gives this food to painters and sculptors, their 2 THE LABORER; concentrated labor is at the expense of the peasant's com- forts. How abject and mean are the inhabitants of Bava- ria. Its ruler is guilty of the madness of impoverishing his subjects. He has built two large and costly temples-, of the finest style of architecture. These temples are filled with paintings and statuary. The Bavarians are poor; if the labor on these temples, statues, and paintings had been put on the homes of the Bavarians, they would be happy. "The introduction of the fine arts into America may be re- garded as a national calamity."* Men work on luxuries, and want necessaries. Men work on stone carvings for a mansion front, and go to a home destitute of comfort, or even ornament. f Nature designed that men should work more for themselves and less for others. The poverty of many of the Americans arises from keeping many doing nothing. Their Legislators, in trying to put down evil, do a great deal of wrong ; while doing it they consume large quantites of labor. If the laborers lived in the palaces they build and adorn, it would be more rational. History is silent how those who built the Pyramids lived; their labor made them wretched: much of modern labor does the same. We need earnest- hearted men to turn labor into other channels. It is the duty of the good to do something for those who suffer. These cases call for a reform. The "Methodist Book Concern" has a book called "Aunt Effie." Her husband was killed while making a fine cornice ; the scaffold fell. Her nice home passed away. At No. 6 Court street she put out this sign : "Washing done * BRISSOT DE WARVILLE'S Travels in North America, in 1787. j- The writer knows a good, temperate, marble cutter, who sleeps in an al- ley. Others work on tombstones worth forty thousand dollars, they have no homes. These men do themselves and society an injustice. It is a wrong. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 3 here :" none came to give her work, and she was reduced to her last crust. After trying to beg she returned to her home to die ! Her thoughts were that she would fill a pau- per's grave. She was thirty-six hours without food. Some benevolent ladies, at last, found her out, when ready to faint with hunger. Near Louisville two women lived in a hollow tree ; their bed was corn shucks, which they sold in the market ; they did washing. They were found by a hunter, who saw their tracks in the snow. The Cincinnati Commercial tells us of Stewart, the New York merchant, living in a man- sion worth $2,000,000, and of news boys sleeping in boxes and barrels. It also tells us of a steam plow, that plow- ed in England four hundred acres of land. Another para- graph, by way of contrast, tells us of a dozen persons found frozen in the streets of London ; besides those who were fro- zen in their dens. Monarchy and Republicanism are the same. They both divide into two classes ; one to create labor, the other to destroy ; into rich idlers and poor workers, one part possess- ing all, the other nothing. A life of toil and labor is bind- ing on us all ; from it there is no escape. If a man escapes toil, it is at the expense of some one else. When a man will not work, he does an injustice to those who will work. It is the duty of those who work to throw off this burden. There have in every age and clime of the world, appear- ed men who could see clearly into the social ills of life. The ancient philosophers, as soon as symbolical writing had passed away, and letters were used, then taught that agriculture and pastoral pursuits, were for the happiness of men. Among the greatest who have tried to banish po- verty, is Jesus. He would not allow his followers to possess riches. His command was sell all that thou hast, and give 4 THE LABORER; it to the poor. Excessive riches are made by speculation. Many will buy a piece of ground, suitable for a home, for $100 and sell it for $200. Does not this seller do an injus- tice to the buyer? If the seller makes many such sales, he lives without laboring. He is guilty of a breach of this command, "Thou shalt not covet or desire other men's goods." Jesus saw that riches gave birth to idleness, and that they impoverished the industrious and increased their toils. Even Paul said "If any man will not work neither shall he eat." He was a true reformer, and a rule for us all. For three centuries the early Christians despised riches and lived together doing good. St. Basil, who died A. P. 378, perceiving that many Christians were in trouble from the wars, advised them to unite in colleges. He taught them that the Scriptural doctrines led to the reformation of life, and men had some- thing to practice. St. Basil had seen religious societies in Egypt. He built a house large enough for his friends, to share his retirement. The place had near it a river, that rolled over a rock, and it was full of fish, the woods contained deer and wild goats. They were constantly employed at such labors, as gave them occupation without anxiety. Those arts were preferred which combined cheap- ness and simplicity, not requiring costly materials, or min- istering to vanity. Their pursuits were building, weaving, and shoe making. Others attended the flocks and soil. Their house was a school for orphans, whom they clothed and fed. Pious people have not always lived this natural life, a life of labor and self denial. The followers of John Huss became Moravians, Tun- kers, and Mennonists. Count Zinzendorf helped the Mo- ravians to lands, which they worked with ingenuity, indus- try, and economy. The Tunkers and Mennonists were A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 5 sects of Christians, who settled in Pennsylvania last cen- tury, having sprung from the Hussites; their principles were not to go to law, fight, or take interest for the loan of their money. They subsisted by attending lands, flour, oil, and paper mills, and other useful pursuits. John Wesley paid a visit to Hernhutt, and Count Zin- zendorf set him to work in his garden.* He did not like this, though he inculcated a life of plainness to his follow- ers, and forbid ornaments in dress, houses, or equipages. His mind saw that luxury deprived some of the comforts of life. It may not appear very clear to some, as it does to Christians, how luxury is productive of evil ; take this ex- ample : three girls in England each worked sixteen weeks on a scarf, for Queen Victoria ; it was flowers worked on thin cloth with a needle. These girls ought to have been making flannels and stockings for themselves. There is no difficulty in proving, that those who do this work are poor. The pay of these girls was taken from others, by taxation. Nature designed that queens and ladies should make their own scarfs. Archbishop Fenelon, in his Telemachus, plainly shews the causes of human misery, and the virtues of useful in- dustry. Sir Thomas More, in his Utopia, where he de- scribes the happy islanders, gives us plain, good advice, and how useful labors make men happy. The satires of these men on human society are very keen. Lord Bolingbroke, in the time of Queen Anne, said, if every man would work one year, it would maintain him twenty years. Franklin tells us " If every one would labor four hours a day, at something useful, poverty and want would be unknown." Robert Owen spun the first bale of * Chambers' Miscellany The Moravians. 6 THE LABORER; Sea Island cotton that was sent to England, into thread of very fine, even, and smooth texture. His earnings at nineteen were three thousand dollars a year. At twenty seven he purchased a factory worth $400,000. He saw a boy of sixteen years in chains, to be sent to a penal colony for his faults. This scene led Owen to reflect that, if other circumstances had been thrown around this boy, he would have been a better member of society. It led him to devote his wealth to improve his fellow-men. His workmen rented his cottages at the lowest price. He got for them the necessaries of life at first cost; and distributed them for the same. He introduced infant schools among the working people. Robert Dale Owen says, in his writings: "My father had access to documents that others had not. His exten- sive experience as a manufacturer convinced him that Eng- land's labor-saving machinery, was equal to 400,000,000 of working men. Nineteen-twentieths of this power has been created in the last century. In the making of cotton goods, 3,000,000 of persons do the labor of 36,000,000. The labor-saving machinery of Great Britain, is the same as if every workman had forty slaves working for him, from morn to night without food or clothing. One-fortieth part of the present wealth of England, formerly afforded her pop- ulation subsistence and comfort. A great number of these laborers, have not at this moment sufficient to subsist on in comfort. Great Britain has learned to produce wealth, and she does produce it most abundantly ; but she has not learned to distribute it, to help her present distress. Now it is self-evident that if every person produced for himself every article of wealth that he required, no possible injus- tice could happen in its distribution; for each producer would retain and consume his own produce. It is also A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 7 evident that if such a state of things could exist, labor-sav- ing machinery must necessarily increase man's comforts, or diminish the hours of labor ; for instance, if a man's pow- ers of production increased forty-fold, and he was still con- tent with the same quantity of wealth that satisfied his wants before the increase, he would only have to labor eighteen minutes a day instead of twelve hours, or he ought to have forty times as much wealth. *' Lord Brougham has, in his writings on the nature of la- bor-saving machinery, declared : u That after the most careful investigation of the subject in England, with its present advantages in labor-saving machinery, but twenty minutes daily toil, by each individual would be required to furnish all with abundance. " Richard Cobden, in his political writings, says: "The effects of labor-saving machinery must ultimately reduce the hours of labor, as it already has mitigated its severity. The work of day will be crowded into a smaller space, so soon as our good people can learn that gold is not the highest good, and that man is something better than a beast of burden. We shall throw off the shackles which now make our callings our masters, and which reduce our life to one long unmitigated bondage to work. There is abun- dant evidence of approaching emancipation to the tillers of the soil, the artisan and operative." If human labor is so productive, why are the feelings of good men pained, "with every day's report, of wrongs and outrages." These have appeared. "William Feidler, who killed himself in St. Louis, on account of poverty, and lack of employment, was the son of a wealthy merchant in Leipsic, Saxony."* "Last December, a mother and two * Cincinnati Com. of Jan. 9th, 1868. 8 THE LABORER; children perished with severe cold."* The same night, in Brooklyn, John Durant died with cold and hunger. On the first of Jan. 1866, a man died with hunger in Chicago, where there is food enough to support a province, and men often get smothered in wheat. Many will say intemper- ance causes much of this ; it is not the cause of all the misery, which may be inferred from these two cases. A girl, of the name of Cooley, came to Covington from the country to work; and failed to get it. She was soon with- out money to get a night's lodging. After wandering about in a state of mind bordering on to distraction, the poor girl went on the Main Street ferry boat, and asked if the water was deep enough to drown. Upon being answered that it was, and before any one was aware, she jumped over board. The swift current swept her down the stream. She was saved and cared for.f Mary Wheeler was found sleeping out of doors. She was a woman of about fifty years, poor- ly clothed, but respectable in appearance, with a counten- ance indicative of honesty, and pinched with want. She said she had no home, no place to sleep, nothing to eat. She was alone in the world and friendless. A paralytic stroke had deprived her of the use of her right arm. The husband of this woman, twenty-five years ago, was one of the wealthiest in Chicago. He was a sober and industrious builder, and the father of an interesting family, and the owner of ten acres of land, on the north side of Kenzie Street. The husband was drowned, the widow married again. In a few years she was deserted and robbed of her posses- sions. Her family died, except a daughter, who married unfortunately, and cannot give her mother a home. The ^Cincinnati Times, Dec. 1865. f Cincinnati Times of July, 1866. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 9 poor, friendless, homeless and heart-broken woman is left to depend on public charity. TIMES." At the present time [winter of 1868] 50,000 mechanics are out of employment in the city of New York. If these persons go to work at toy-making, street-cleaning, and sew- er-building their wants are relieved at some others' ex- pense. Franklin says : " If the women will go behind the counter, and the men go to the workshop and the plow, the hardness of the times will cease." Sir Morton Peto, in his Resources of America, says: "The annual value of the products of the farmers and me- chanics are 2,000,000,000. And when the great Pacific Railroad is completed, the amount of gold added to the country will be yearly $150,000,000." If this amount is divided into the products of labor the product will be thir- teen. These gold seekers destroy a thirteenth of the hats, shoes, clothes, and houses that are created. The man who earns a $1,000 in a year contributes $75 to the support of the gold seekers. The meaning of this language is this, the labor that is spent seeking for gold, would, in ten years' give every ten persons a home worth $500. We should think it a great hardship if a conqueror was to come and carry away annually one-thirteenth of our labor. The gold find- ers do this. We can not see the injury they do us. If the laborer would relieve himself of care and anxiety, he must believe and act in a different manner from what he does. Human society may be likened to a column, the base is the farmers and mechanics, who have resting on them lawyers, doctors, soldiers, custom-house officers, merchants, bankers, landlords, and those who govern us. These get two-thirds of the laborer's toil. Many of these can be dispensed with. These classes have arisen through the corruptions of ages, and were necessary to eat up the io THE LABORER; subsistence of the people to make them poor. This pov- erty quickens the inventions of men. It is necessary. It was poverty that made Watt improve the steam-engine and Arkwright invent spinning machinery. Mankind, some time or other, will have a sufficiency of machinery and these unproductive classes will be swept away. Says Bishop Clark: "In how many homes does poverty, care-consuming, pinching poverty make its permanent abode ! Daily toil scarcely suffices to provide for daily wants. The humblest and coarsest fare is all that is craved, and fhat, alas ! is often craved in vain. How often does the very image of poverty, thinly clad, shivering in the winter's cold, with hasty step and averted eye, glide past us upon all our streets ! Go to the desolate, cheerless home of want ; mark its nakedness of all that is essential to home comfort ; think how hard these parents toil, and how little they earn ; how much these children need, and how little they have. And as you stand there, amid that scene of poverty and want, as you feel the pressure of their necessities, and your heart yearns towards them, ask thyself who hath made us to differ." How painful is this description of sorrow. Many of these were once in affluence; childhood to them was full of toys, sunshine and flowers ; they entered the learned profes- sions and became briefless lawyers, doctors without patients, and ministers with thread-bare coats. Many of these did not think with Douglas Jerrold, that "The dignity of human life consisted in knowing how to handle a spade, and if we cultivate mother earth it will never cheat us, and we need not tell thumping lies, as they do on 'Change.*' A young man in Indiana, said : He had cultivated six- ty acres of corn, with machinery, and that he had 2,700 bu- shels of corn. One bushel of corn fattens twelve pounds A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. n % of pork. This farmer raised also 500 bushels of wheat. This quantity lasts eighty years, allowing soldiers' rations. One bushel of wheat makes fifty pounds of flour. A pound of flour is a soldier's daily ration, with three-fourths of a pound of pork. The farmer had six barrels of molasses. This is the calculation: 60 acresX45 bu. =2,700 bu. of corn. 2,700 bu.X 12 Ibs. =32, 400 Ibs. of pork. 500 bu. of wheatXS Ibs. 25,000 Ibs. of flour. 32,400 lbs.-j-273 lbs.=H9 years, time to consume the pork. 25,000 Ibs. of flour-^365 days=6o years, time to consume the flotlT. 60-7-2=89 years, the average time to consume this food. This is a paper demonstration and not very easily proved. This one is : A city laborer earns $500 in a year, working ten hours a day ; he spends out of this sum $100 for tobac- co, drinks and trifles ; and $100 for house rent. By cutting off the trifles, in five years, this laborer will have saved suf- ficient for a country home, with a large garden. This la- borer can now live with six hours labor in a day. Much of the laborer's earnings go to the market for vegetables, bacon, butter, eggs, and fruit. A country home cuts off all this expense. This life will reduce the hours of toil to four. In the days of Franklin there was a large commons, for the use of all ; where cattle and hogs could graze. De Warville tells us in 1787 : "The people on the banks of the Ohio did not labor more than two hours in a day." The people were not divided into hair-dressers, boot-blacks, ci- gar-makers, and milliners. There were no merchants to take away the food, and bring baok silks and satins, silver and gold. The clothing of this period was home-spun and durable, not shoddy, which is old, filthy, woollen rags, ground into dust, one-third of which is mixed with long wool. This cloth is soon worn out. 12 THE LABORER; There is nothing that makes the laborer so sick at heart, as being repulsed when begging work; and living in fear of being turned away for one who can work faster. There is misery among the higher classes. Many a father has spent his money, to put his son among the learned, or trad- ing classes and failed. It often happens that he who was raised in affluence, descends to the lowest walks of human life ; to be the drudge of others ; to spend a life in wretch- edness, penury, and want. There is a remedy. Men are misled by writers on Political Science. This is an extract from M. Say, a Frenchman, whose book was used in American colleges for many years : " What is necessary subsistence, depends, therefore, partly on the habits of the nation, to which the laborer belongs. In pro- portion to the value he consumes his wages may be small, and the product of his labor cheap. If his condition be improved, and his wages raised, either his product becomes dearer to the consumer, or the share of his fellow-produc- ers is diminished. The disadvantages of their position are an effectual barrier against any great extension of the con- sumption of the laboring classes. Humanity, indeed, would rejoice to see them and their families dressed in warm clothing suitable to the climate and season ; with houses roomy, warm, airy, in healthy situations, and fed with wholesome and plenti- ful diet, with an occasional delicacy . But there are few countries where wants, apparently so moderate, are not consi- dered beyond the limits of strict necessity, and therefore not to be gratified by the customary wages of the working classes." The books of Wayland and Say have been the text* books of the American Colleges for nearly half a century, and they have never given the laborer a champion. These books have not prevented want which is constantly growing A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 13 in our large cities. Political Economists do not favor the humble classes ; Mills and Carey are exceptions. From their teachings, and the practices of governments, come many of the inequalities of life. Their teachings are of the same nature as Dame Lobkins* advice to Paul Clifford, a stealer in one of Bulwer's novels; which reads thus: " Mind thy kittychism, child, and reverence old age. Never steal, 'specially when any body be in the way. Never go snacks with them as be older than you, 'causey why ? The older a cove be, the more he cares for hisself, and less for his partner. Read your Bible, and talk like a pious 'un. People goes more by your words, than your actions. If you wants what is not your own, try and do without it ; and, if you can't do without it, take it by in- sinivation, not bluster. 'Cause they as only swindles, does more and risks less than those who rob outright . Now go and play ; but here, take some money in your pocket, and don't play for nothing ; it's loss of time ; but mind, always play with them as be less than yourself, and then, if they says you go for to cheat, you go for to beat 'em." In the city of New York, there, is one person worth $60,000,000. A laborer would have to toil 120,000 years to get this amount, at the rate of $500 a year. A person to count this at the rate of $20,000 a day will be six years doing it. The annual income of this person is $6,000,000. A sum equal to the average yearly earnings of 10,000 me- chanics. This yearly income will purchase 5,000,000 of acres of wild lands. This will make a province eighty miles square; and capable of supporting 1,500,000 persons, whose offspring can support twenty families in splendor for ages to come. For this man of wealth, seas must be crossed, dangers endured ; the whole world must be ran- sacked, for costly food and clothing. Dozens of cringing o 14 THE LABORER; idle servants wait to do his bidding, and spend more time to prepare and ornament his food, than it does the farmer to create it. Often this man of money has no appetite, his food, which ought to nourish useful laborers, is often wast- ed. From his mansion comes the sounds of revelry and mirth, which mingles with the plaintive cry of the news- boy, whose voice may be heard sixteen hours in a day, his appetite is sharp, and he has often no food ; then his gnaw- ing stomach tells him to steal ! This needs reform. In the city of New York 100 persons possess $200,000, ooo ; this would give to every five persons in that city a home worth $1,000. Three-fourths of its people have no homes. Such a state of things makes these scenes. This is told by Solon Robinson, how a widow and four children lived on a dime a day. She got two cents' worth of coke, three cents' worth of salt pork, four cents' worth of white beans, and one cent's worth of corn-meal. This was boil- ed two hours ; the soup was divided into three parts for the day. The next day's food was four cents' worth of oat- meal, one cents' worth of potatoes, and same amount of pork. The next day's food was five cents' worth of beef, with meal and potatoes. This woman could only make two pair of drawers in a day, at five cents a pair. She could not beg. This is taken from " Economy of Food." Says Wm. Godwin: "There is no real wealth but the la- bor of man. Were the mountains of gold and the valleys of silver, the world would not be one grain of corn the richer; not one comfort would be added to the human race. In consequence of our consideration for the precious me- tals, one man is enabled to heap to himself luxuries at the expense of the necessaries of his neighborhood ; a system admirably fitted to produce all the varieties of disease and crime, which never fail to characterize the two extremes of A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 15 opulence and penury. A speculator takes pride to himself as the promoter of his country's prosperity, who employs a number of hands in the manufacture of articles avowedly destitute of use, or subservient only to the unhallowed cravings of luxury and ostentation. The nobleman who employs the peasants of his neighborhood in building his palaces, flatters himself that he has gained the title of a pa- triot by yielding to the impulses of vanity. The show and pomp of courts adduces the same apology for its continu- ance; and many a fete has been given, many a woman has eclipsed her beauty by her dress, to benefit the laboring poor and to encourage trade. Who does not see that this is a remedy which aggravates, whilst it palliates, the count- less diseases of society ? The poor are set to labor, for what ? Not the food for which they famish ; not the blan- kets for want of which their babes are frozen by the cold of their miserable hovels ; not those comforts of civilization without which civilized man is far more miserable than the meanest savage ; oppressed as he is by all its insidious evils, within the daily and taunting prospect of its innumerable benefits assiduously exhibited before him : no ; for the pride of power, for the miserable isolation of pride, for the false pleasures of the hundredth part of society. No greater evidence is afforded of the wide extended and radical mis- takes of civilized man than this fact; those arts which are essential to his very being are held in the greatest contempt ; employments are lucrative in an inverse ratio to their use- fulness : the jeweler, the toyman, the actor gains fame and wealth by the exericse of his useless and ridiculous art ; whilst the cultivator of the earth, he without whom society must cease to exist, struggles through contempt and penury, and perishes by that famine which, but for his unceasing exertions, would annihilate the rest of mankind. 1 6 THE LABORER "I will not insult common sense by insisting on the doc- trine of the natural equality of man. The question is not concerning its desirableness, but its practicability ; so far as it is practicable, it is desirable. That state of human society which approaches nearer to an equal partition of its benefits. should be preferred ; but so long as we conceive that a wanton expenditure of human labor, not for necessi- ties, not even for the luxuries of the mass of society, but for the egotism and ostentation of a few of its members, is defensible, on the ground of public justice, so long we neglect to approximate to the redemption of the human race. u Labor is required for physical, and leisure for moral im- provement : from the former of these advantages the rich, and from the latter the poor, by the inevitable conditions of their respective situations, are precluded. A state which should combine the advantages of both, would be subject- ed to the evils of neither. He that is deficient in firm health, or vigorous intellect is but half a man ; hence it fol- lows, that, to subject the laboring classes to unnecessary labor, is wantonly depriving them of any opportunities of intellectual improvement ; and that the rich are heaping up for their own mischief the disease, lassitude, and ennui, by which their existence is rendered an intolerable burden. " Wealth is a power usurped by the few, to compel the many to labor for their benefit. The laws which support this system derive their force from the ignorance of its victims: they are the result of a conspiracy of the few against the many, who are obliged to purchase this pre-emi- nence by the loss of all real comfort. "The commodities that substantially contribute to the subsistence of the human species form a very short cata- logue ; they demand from us a very slender portion of our indus- A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 17 try. If these only were produced, and sufficiently produced, the species of man would be continued. If the labor nec- essarily required to produce them were equitably divided among the poor, and, still more, if it were equitably divided among all, each man's share of labor would be light, and his portion of leisure would be ample. There was a time when this leisure would have been of small comparative value, and it is to be hoped the time will come, when it will be applied to the most important purposes. Those hours which are not required for the production of the necessa- ries of life, may be devoted to the cultivation of the under- standing, the enlarging of our knowledge. ***** It was, perhaps, necessary that a period of monopoly and oppression should subsist, before a period of cultivated equality could exist. Savages perhaps would never have been excited to the discovery of truth and the invention of art, but by the narrow motives which such a period affords. But, surely, after the savage state has ceased, and men have set out in the glorious career of discovery and inven- tion, monopoly and oppression can not be necessary to pre- vent them from returning to a state of barbarism." God- win's Enquirer, Essay II. Pol. Jus., book viii, chap. u. It is a calculation of this admirable author, that all the conveniences of civilized life might be produced if society would divide the labor equally among its members, by each individual being employed in labor two hours during the day. Gov. Hammond, of South Carolina, in the House of Representatives, in 1858, says : "In all social systems there must be a class to do the mean duties, to perform the drudg- ery of life a class requiring but a low order of intellect and but little skill. Such a class you must have, or you would not have that other class which leads to progress, 1 8 THE LABORER; refinement, and civilization. It constitutes the very mud- sills of society. The man who lives by daily labor, and scarcely lives at that, and who has to put his labor in the market, and take the best he can get for it in short, your whole class of manual laborers and operatives, as you call them, are slaves. They are hired by the day, not cared for, and scantily compensated ; which may be proved, in the most deplorable manner, at any hour, in any street in any of your large towns. Your slaves are white, of your own race you are brothers of one blood ; they are equals in natural endowment, and they feel galled by their degrada- tion ; your slaves vote, and, being in the majority, are the depositories of all your political power. If they knew the tremendous secret that the ballot-box is stronger than an army with bayonets, and could combine where would you be ? Your society and government would be reconstructed by the quiet process of the ballot-box. How would you like us to send lecturers or agitators North to teach the people this, to aid and assist in combining and leading them ? " When this language was known among the monarchs of Europe what feelings they must have had. The great Re- public had existed three-fourths of a century and no free- dom for its laborers. Can this be true ? The New York Tribune gives us this : " Last week a single soup-house gave out a ton of meal, 2,000 loaves of bread, 1,400 pints of soup; supplying daily 2,500 persons. Twenty cellars are near, where, for a penny a head, all colors lie down pro- miscuously, in bunks at night. Two pennies will get some straw. When morning breaks, though it be cold,and snow is on the pavement, they are driven out sick and shiver- ing, hungry and unrefreshed, into the dreary streets to obtain, by beggary and theft subsistence for the day. " A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 19 Intemperance has much to do with this, it can be Lettered. Men are not wicked before they are born. Make society better and this vice will cease. Drunkenness is often caused by sorrow. Bulwer puts this language into the mouth of the sorrow stricken woman, "Drink! drink! drink! there's nothing like drink for the poor, for then we fancy oursels what we wish." Her husband was the giant of his tribe, a soldier once, he died with hunger " from frequent famines that are the scourge of Ireland." It is this scene that makes Bulwer exclaim: "When will those hideous dispari- ties be banished from the world ? How many noble na- tures how many glorious hopes how much of the ser- aph's intellect, have been crushed into the mire, and blasted into guilt by the mere force of physical want ! What are the temptations of the rich to those of the poor? Yet how lenient we are to the crimes of the one how relent- less to those of the other ! It is a bad world ; it makes a man's heart sick to look around him. The consciousness of how little genius can do to relieve the mass, grinds out as with a stone, all that is generous in ambition ; and to as- pire above the level of life is to be more graspingly selfish ? " " Can legislators, or the moralists that instruct legislators, do so little toward universal good ?" said Lester, doubtingly. "Why, what can they do but forward civilization? And what is civilization but an increase of human dispar- ities ? The more the luxury of the few, the more startling the wants and the more galling the sense of poverty. Even the dreams of the philanthropist only tend toward equality; and where is equality to be found but in the state of the sav- age? No; I thought otherwise once; but I now regard the vast Lazar-house around us without any hope of relief: Death is the sole physician ! " The remedy for this is universal labor. Intemperance is 2O THE LABORER ; caused much of it by extremes of wealth and poverty. The sons of the rich, by having no occupation, learn vice. The poor in cities with their small, cheerless homes, with no at- tainments in learning, are many of them ensnared in the de- corated saloons. A remedy for intemperance is rural life. Land-speculators put a check on this. This class are the bane of society ; they, with whisky makers and sellers, poi- son human society. Many a family has been pushed among the Indians,and fallen a sacrifice to those human parasites. These make many parts of this land neither savage nor civilized a wilderness. A concentrated people have better roads, school-houses, and churches. Why should a labor- er give $400 for forty acres of wild land, that only cost fifty; and has no labor on it. Land speculators have no moral right to lands they can not cultivate ; they have no benevolence, or moral feelings ! Why should laborers go without comforts that others may have luxuries ? If lands held for speculation were ordered to be cultivated, popula- tion would increase to pay a nation's debts. National lands: Improved lands 163,210,720 acres. Unimproved lands inclosed 244,101,808 " Uncultivated territory 1,466,969,862 " 25,500 farms exceed 500 " One-fifth of the farms only exceed 100 " The quantity of improved land for each inhabitant is fifty acres, and also 600 acres of wild land. Eighty years must pass away before this will come into cultivation. It would be a great benefit to this country if wild lands were pot sold to any one. The Cin. Gazette, of Jan. a8th, 1868, says: "Somebody has introduced a bill, to grant a million of acres, to the District of Columbia, for educational pur- poses. No one thinks the public lands of any use but to squander. This has been transferred into the hands of A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 21 speculators, to the injury of settlers, until it will fetch, per- haps, twenty times the cost. This is the most costly way Congress can devise for school purposes. The system, of granting public lands to corporations, is the worst system of internal improvements that was ever invented.' 7 This same paper tells us Congress has given to railroads lands to the amount of 305,000,000 of acres. Words can not tell how wicked is this gift, to the present and to future gen- erations. Capital has been defined an accumulation of labor. A laborer wants a house, he creates food and clothes to con- sume while building it. This builder says to another, if you will help me, I will give you half of the food and clothes. The builder has a right to his home, he paid for it with toil. Those who fed and clothed the workmen, of the Illinois Central Railroad, ought to possess it. It is said the Roths- childs have built this road, at a cost of $20,000,000. Did these men and their partners make clothes and food with their own hands? No, they have got others to do it. The printing of $20,000,000 costs $40,000, this is all the cost put forth to get this road. It takes 34,000 laborers one year to build the road. It will take a printer two years to print this amount. This company had from government 3,500,000 acres of land. What has been sold has brought nearly $30,000,000. The State authorities could have is- sued $20,000,000, and would have had yearly $2,000,000 for school purposes. These lands, towns, and road will in twenty years give an annual income of $10,000,000; when this amount is squandered, its recipients will smile at the simplicity of the common people. This company has seventy towns that give revenues from lots. We are often told that wars with England have been the means of introducing manufactures among us, to our ad- 22 THE LABORER; vantage. The $30,000,000, that has been spent in 111 nois for railroads, would have put linen and woolen factories all over the State. A people who send their wool 1,000 miles to be spun, wear costly clothing. Greeley says " Why should 500 men be the carriers between 500 farmers and 500 mechanics." A plea is made that giving away lands to railroads promotes public good ; it is not so. Franklin, in 1739, printed paper money for the authorities of the colony of Pennsylvania. By means of five loan commissioners this colony paid nearly all the public expenses. This money lasted till 1774; it was always good, and uniform in amount. The colony of South Carolina loaned paper money on silver plate and lands in 1750. The interest was used for fighting Indians. Franklin's money was loaned on lands. This money rendered bankers, carriers, and railroad builders not necessary; these eat up food, and have the most luxuries. What the colonies did with paper money, could have been done in Illinois ; had the State printed the money, hired the laborers, the people would have a circulating me- dium and a revenue. This tells how happy were the colo- nies : tc The economy which is so particularly attended to in -Pennsylvania does not prevent both sexes from being well clothed ; there is a constant plenty, and a universal ap- pearance of easy circumstances. The pleasing view of this abundance is never disturbed by the melancholy appearance of poverty. There are no poor in all Pennsylvania. A trav- eler is welcome to stop in any place, without uneasy sensa- tions, except regret at departure."* The giving away of the wild lands should be to those who will cultivate them. Toussaint Breda, a slave, in the island of St. Domingo, in the latter part of last century, was taught to read by a slave who had learned of the Jesuits. Toussaint got from his *Abbe Raynal's E. and W. Indies, vol. 6th, page 17. Strahan, London, 1798 A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 23 overseer the writings of Abbe Raynal, he read these words: " What stiall be done to overthrow slavery. Self-interest alone governs nations and kings. We must look elsewhere. These are so many indications of the impending storm, and the negroes only want a courageous chief to lead them on to vengeance and slaughter. "Where is the great man whom nature owes to her vexed, oppressed, and tormented children ? Where is he ? He will undoubtedly appear, he will show himself, he will lift up the sacred standard of liberty. This venerable signal will collect around him the companions of his misfortunes. They will rush on with more impetuosity than torrents; they will leave behind them traces of their resentment. " In 1787, the island contained 30,000 whites, 20,000 free mulattoes, the children of planters, and 500,000 slaves. The Assembly of the French, at the beginning of the Rev- olution proclaimed, that slavery should cease. The free blacks sent deputies to the Assembly, with $1,000,000 and offered to mortgage a fifth of their property for the debts of France, for the privilege of being equal with the whites in law. This led to fighting between the two classes. The English invaded the island under Gen. Maitland. Tous- saint and his fellow slaves drove them out of the island. Slavery was ended through the teachings of a slave, who had been taught to read ; he remembered the teachings of the good Abbe Raynal. Will some one deliver us. We have misery around us which may be seen. "A la- borer has to put forth incessant toil to keep his head above the rising waters of indigence ; at the first trifling accident these close around and overwhelm him. For the thousand casualties of life there is not the scantiest provision. The indisposition of a day curtails the amount of food that is dealt out the next day. A week's sickness threatens with starva 24 THE LABORER; tion his wife and little ones."* Strange confession is this. Relief will come, it is to be inferred from this : "Doubtless, there are great statesmen ; wizards in bullion and bank- paper ; thinkers profound in cotton, and every turn and va- riation of the markets abroad and at home. But there are statesmen yet to come ; statesmen of nobler aims of more heroic action ; teachers of the people ; vindicators of the universal dignity of man ; apostles of the great social truth that knowl- edge, which is the spiritual light of God, like his material light was made to bless and comfort all men. And when these men arise and it is worse than weak, it is sinful, to despair of them the youngling poor will not be bound upon the very threshold of human life, and made, by want and ignorance, life's shame and curse. There is not a babe ly- ing in the public street on its mother's lap the unconscious mendicant to ripen into the criminal that is not a reproach to the state ; a scandal and a crying shame upon men who study all politics, save the politics of the human heart. "f The reader can learn from " The Rights of Man," some of the causes of human woe: u There is a^ family of five per- sons, the farmer becomes king, the family have no food ; the weaver becomes a gold seeker, the family have no clothes ; the hatter becomes a custom-house officer, the family have no hats ; the shoemaker becomes a banker, the family have no shoes. Society is a large family, and they must be useful." * Speech before Cin. Mercantile Library, 1848, by R. D. Owen, f D. Jerrold. CHAPTER II. ANCIENT AND MODERN SLAVERY. SLAVERY IN GREECE AND ROME IN NORTHERN AFRICA IN AMERICA SLAVERY NECESSARY TO IMPROVE THE CONDITION OF MEN SLAVERY NOT NECESSARY WHEN NATIONS ARE IMPROVED. "Mankind is always consuming men for luxury and civilization." COUNTESS IDA. (ISTORY is a long record of wars and slavery. How painful is the contemplation of slavery ! the separation of its victims from friends and home, to spend a life in unmitigated toil ; without reward, kindness, or sympathy ; to be treated in life and death like brutes. We might inquire, why does the Father of us all permit a part of his helpless creatures to be thus tormented ? None to defend or vindicate them ! We can not answer. When man was first placed on this earth, it was in a part where the climate was warm ; where the fruits were perpetual, and only needed gathering. In a country like this invention would not be very rapid, or have no exist- ence. As men increased they would have to migrate to climates that changed, from heat to cold ; where the fruits perished, and only prevailed a part of the year. This would quicken invention, and improve the intellect. Trees or caves would not do for habitations. Clothing has to be comfortable, the houses durable. The people of the new colony are superior to those they left. The flesh of ani- mals would be used as food. This would call for instru- (25) 26 THE LABORER; ments to bring down the game, and which can be used for the destruction of men. When this colony increased migration again took place, either to ruder climes or back to the starting point. If these were not received kindly force can be used with effect. This invaded people fall an easy prey to the ferocious hunters. Failure of crops pro- duces a war. Hunger makes men savage and fearless, and they go where there is food. From war comes the sparing of the lives of prisoners, on condition of becoming slaves. It was no doubt hunger that compelled the Northmen to conquer Normandy and Britain. England was barbarous before the advent of the Romans. The various conquests she has undergone has given refinement, learning, and abundance to a few ; which sometime or other will belong to the many. These painful facts will throw some light on the motives for conquest : " The failure of crops for seven successive years in Swedish Nordland, has brought some 300,000 persons to starvation, and many of them to death, and now their miserable bread, made of bark and straw, has given out. They sit in their cheerless huts and die."* This suffering described here is calculated to make men ingenious and frugal. " Indeed it is a fortunate thing that the people are not more numerous, for bad harvests are very frequent in this rude climate ; it is impossible to pro- vide against occasional scarcity of food, and one would not wish there should be a greater number of poor to suffer from it. A large population is commonly considered a sign "of prosperity, but it is only where they are certain of having bread to eat. The earth will not complain, if she is left un- cultivated, but man will complain bitterly if he must suffer the cravings of hunger. When population once begins to *W. W. Thomas representative to Sweden. Cin. Com. of Mar. 6th, 1868. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 27 advance, it increases rapidly, in a ratio far exceeding that in which the earth's fertility can be increased, so that in a very short time all equality ceases between the demand and sup- ply. Then want begins and advances with the increasing population, offering this strange problem : ' The less bread the more children.' * As for the poor old earth, I hope she is quite insensible to a great deal that passes upon her, or her emotions must be of a most painful kind. Oh God ! her hardest rocks might be softened by the torrents of tears, blood, and sweat, which have poured on her in an increased shower. No, no ! the earth is hard and firm, and sympa- thizes neither with our sorrow or our joys. Mankind is al- ways consuming men for its own luxury and civilization, sometimes by war, maufactures, hunger, sorrow, and care. Why should we give it any more to consume ? When a man is born we would wish him to have a little happiness. Yet it is upon the classes that are the most numerous the hard-working, industrious classes, that misery is sure to fall. It is in a strange world we live in. God mend it ! But it seems to me so much warped on one side, that it will by and by turn itself quite over on the other. "f The spirit of conquest is not ended. The occupation of India will in time fill it with steam engines, and clear its jungles of tigers. Many parts of Algiers abound with lions; that take a fourth of the cattle. The French will destroy these, as they have conquered this land. One hundred and fifty years ago, some voyagers visited Patagonia ; they tell us the natives wore no clothing, and the snow beat on their bodies, and they eat snails, and shell fish. The deer were in the distance, and they had no power *This lady has feelings for working people. She has not learned that three- fourths of the earth is a wilderness, and it is the duty of the rich to work. [Travels in Sweden, by Bahn Bahn COUNTESS IDA. 28 THE LABORER; to strike them down. A nation too full some will have to leave. If the country of these savages will sustain more, it is the duty of the poor Northmen to go there, and use kindness to the natives. Persuading them to learn better ways may have no effect. It will not be wrong to use force to make them improve. " The punishment of nature, hun- ger and want/' is not any more severe than slavery. In- dian slavery can only be accomplished if there are no means of escape. England after it was left by the Romans, from whom many arts were obtained, was invaded from Scotland. The Britons wrote to Rome for help, saying: "The barba- rians are driving us into the sea." No help came the in- habitants submitted, and learned the ways of the conquerors. For civilization the Indian has no wish; there he sees the laborer have no homes, living in cellars and garrets, going about begging work, often used with contumely. The In- dian burns trees down for want of an ax ; his hut is made of peeled bark. In 1621, two of the Pilgrims visited the Indians, they could give them nothing to eat ; two small fish were divided among forty, the visitors came away while they had strength. Savage life is precarious in subsistence, so is civilization, we need something better. * These extracts will show what changes and cruelties, have been used to make man what he is. Slavery existed in Greece from her earliest history ; it prevailed in the days of Homer ; in all the Grecian states a majority were slaves. In Athens there were three slaves to one freeman; in Sparta the proportion was greater. The Spartans treated slaves with humanity, the Athenians were the opposite. The in- troduction of agriculture led to the sparing of the lives of prisoners to cultivate the earth. The commerce of the * THOMAS RABOLD, a tailor hanged himself eight miles from Louisville. Poverty and failure to obtain employment the cause. Com. Mar 25th, 1868. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 29 Chians, the early Greeks, led them to visit parts of Asia Minor, and the Southern coasts of the Black Sea, where they purchased slaves. The yoke of bondage was galling ; the slaves took refuge in the mountains. These bondmen chose a leader. The Chians could not conquer them, but suffered defeat. The bondmen made these terms, if their necessities required it, they should be supplied out of the Chian stores in an orderly manner. The ruler of the slaves punished the unruly, and would not allow them to waste the country. In process of time the Chians were subjugated by Mithridates,who gave them to their own slaves, to be car- ried into captivity. The Athenians considered this a just punishment, for introducing the slave-trade into Greece. In Athens slaves could indict their masters for assault. The temples were to them places of refuge for safety. In times of war the Grecians were good to their slaves, as flogged slaves go over to the enemy. Slaves were sold at auc- tion, on tables. Owners hired them out. In Athens slaves were public and private; clerks and messengers of pub- lic works ; they were educated, and accompanied the gen- erals and treasurers of the army, and kept an account of the expenditures. Slaves, in the dwellings of the wealthy and luxurious, fanned their masters and mistresses, and drove away the flies. Slave bakers had gloves on while making bread, and wore gauze over their mouths, so as they could not eat what they made. They turned mills, carried water, and cut wood. The Helots were named from the town Helos, from it they were taken 1,000 B. C. They were the property of the state, who had the disposal of their freedom and servi- tude, and gave them to different masters. Lycurgus pro- hibited the Spartans from laboring. If these Helots increas- ed too fast, the young Spartans, it is said, were sent out to 4 30 THE LABORER ; assassinate them. Their number was estimated at 500,000. They several times rose against their masters, but without any success. Plutarch tells us, " Youths distinguished for ability were sent forth, armed with daggers and furnished with provisions, to scour the country at night, to slaughter all the Helots found abroad. Sometimes they fell on them while they were at their labors in the fields." Sometimes they were offered the gift of freedom, crowned with gar- lands, conducted to the temples then they disappeared ; their fate was unknown. The Helots were a source of terror ; they revolted when they could, and joined an enemy when he appeared. Sparta often stipulated for aid from foreign states. The serfs of the Syracusans were so exceeding numerous, that it gave them courage, and they drove out their masters, and re- tained Syracuse. The Sicilians treated their slaves with rigor, branded them like cattle, and gave them incessant toil. Ennius ex- cited them to a revolution. Houses were pillaged, the in- habitants slaughtered, and infants dashed on the ground. At one time 60,000 insurgents were armed with axes and clubs, and they defeated several armies. The people of Rome were nobles, plebeians, and slaves. As Rome extended her domfnions, the nobles acquired large estates, which were cultivated with the labor of slaves. Their numbers were so great, that the poor freeman were unemployed. It was to remedy this evil that some of the Roman rulers, were for limiting the quantity of land. The elder Gracchus saw that slavery impoverished the people and that the nation needed little farms nursing an indepen- dent race, and the plow in their hands, and not in the hands of slaves. Some of the nobles possessed 10,000 slaves, some 20,000. The constant wars of Rome increased slaves. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 31 Spartacus was compelled to serve in the Roman army, he was a Thracian by birth, he deserted and at the head of his companions carried on a partisan war. He was taken pris- oner and sold as a slave, to be reserved as a gladiator. He formed a conspiracy among the slaves and escaped. He was joined by 10,000 slaves. Spartacus plundered several of the cities in Italy. He had 60,000 followers, and de- feated the legions many times that were sent against him. The various classes of slaves of this period, became the serfs of the middle ages. Slaves trained to be gladiators show how wicked is man. These had to fight each other with short swords, and sometimes engage with wild beasts. At other times a gladiator would throw a net over another, if he failed he retreated, the other pursued to kill him. A hook was fastened into those who were slain, and they were dragged out of the arena. These scenes were forbidden by Christian emperors. Accounts of the wealth and splendor of the first classes, in Rome, almost exceed belief. A writer of this period, de- scribing the state of Rome under Honorius, relates that several of the senators received from their estates an annual sum of $800,000. Provisions of corn and wine, which, if sold would have realized one-third of that sum. The estates of these patricians spread over distant provinces, and, as early as the time of Seneca, " Rivers which had divided hos- tile nations flowed through lands of private citizens." With such resources at their command, there were no bounds to their extravagances. " Many of their mansions might ex- cuse the exaggeration of the poet, that Rome contained a multitude of palaces, and that each palace was equal to a city; since it included within its precincts every thing which could be subservient to the use of luxury markets, hippo- dromes, temples, fountains, baths, porticoes, groves, and 32 THE LABORER; aviaries/'* The house of Scaurus was valued at the sum $3,603,000. The lower apartments were occupied by at- tendants. The upper apartments were filled with tables and couches, and adorned with curtains. Garlands en- twined with ivy divided the walls into compartments, which were bordered by fanciful ornaments. Bronze lamps sus- pended from the ceiling shed a brilliant light. The tables were of citron-wood more precious than gold, and rested on ivory feet. The couches were overlaid with silver, gold, and tortoise shell ; the mattresses were of Gallic wool, dyed purple ; the cushions of silk embroidered with gold, cost $150,000. The pavement was mosaic and represented the fragments of a feast not swept away. Young slaves strew- ed over the pavement saw-dust dyed with vermillion. In the fourth century the Roman nobility carried out lux- ury to the greatest excess. They adorned their houses with magnificent statues of themselves, their robes were of the most costly kind, and became a burden to the wearer on account of the weight of embroidery. When they travel- ed any distance, so large was their retinue that it was like the march of an army. Their tables were covered with the rarest delicacies, and the pleasures of the feast occupied much of the time. Concerts, visiting, baths, theaters, and other amusements took the rest of the time. Roman sim- plicity had been succeeded by oriental magnificence. Ser- vices of plate set with precious stones, furniture of costly materials and most elaborate workmanship, banqueting halls of florid architecture, baths of marble, and villas surrounded with enchanting gardens, were now signs of greatness in- stead of valor in the field, or wisdom in the cabinet. Many of the plebeians forsook all industrious employ- ments, lived upon the public distribution of bread, bacon, * Gibbon, vol. iv. page 94. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 33 oil, and wine, which, from the time of Augustus, had been made for the relief of the indigent. These idlers spent some of their time in baths and taverns, which great men with the emperor provided, so as to be popular. " Some passed the nights in taverns, and under the awnings of the theaters, they played dice, and went to the circus, and discussed the merits of the horses and charioteers. " * Slaves formed a large portion of the population of Rome. They were artisans and devoted to the professions. They were physicians, librarians, and secretaries. At one time the possessors of slaves scourged and put them to death at pleasure. Under the emperors Adrian and the Antonines, the shield of legal protection was thrown over this oppress- ed portion of society. Some amelioration was secured, no doubt, during the last age of the empire ; but the wrongs inseparable from slavery were still endured, and a disposi- tion to be avenged on their oppressors was still nourished ; for amid the scenes of violence which marked the taking of Rome by Alaric, when 40,000 slaves joined the Goths in shedding Roman blood, and in trampling into dust the re- mains of Roman greatness. That the servile part of the Roman population, ministering as they did to the luxury, the extravagance, and the vices of their masters, partook of .the prevalent moral corruption of the times is certain, f It was self-interest that induced the rulers of Europe to put an end to the sale of men with estates. Slavery was to those who used it troublesome and painful. The owners of lands knew that rents would give the same results that slavery did, splendor and magnificence, without whipping or feigned sickness, or the care of feeble childhood and help- less age. The lords of Britain knew that, being surround- ed with water, the laborers could not escape, and that they *Ammiunu3 Marcellinus, lib., xiv. c. 25. f See Gibbon's Roman Empire. 34 THE LABORER; would still contribute to their idleness and luxury. The nicety of legislation, wherever used, is to give the laborer sufficient to keep him alive, and not enough to make him independent. How much has the laborer gained ? Splen- dor and magnificence meet the eye every-where ! The la- borer lives in a humble manner, under the fear of want, and others having more ability are unceasingly, and unobserved, consuming his labor. Religion and learning are often used to favor the rich man. Light and knowledge sometime or other will descend on the humble man, and this home will be a model of his. A ROTHSCHILD'S HOME. You go up a flight of marble steps, a vestibule opens on one of the most spacious halls in Europe furnished as a reception room, and lighted from the roof which is muffled glass. At night an arrangement of gas illuminates the vast space. A gallery runs around the upper part of the hall, into which party rooms open. The lower floor contains the family apartments. Purple velvet portiers have an admirable effect at each end of the salle, which has been constructed on the most per- fect accoustic principles. The effect of music here is mar- velous. Ordinary paper hangings are banished, and each room is hung with tapestry, velvet or silk. Every visitor has a splendid drawing-room, boudoir, bedroom, and dress- ing-room. In every dressing-room is a gorgeous dressing- case ivory brushes surmounted with the Baron's coronet ; silver boxes containing c osmetique poudre de r/V, exquisite hand mirrors, mounted in sculptured ivory, silver, and sandal wood. A scent bottle of costly workmanship contained a jeweled watch, a fair lady using the perfume was informed of the time of the day. Hot and cold water supply each dressing-room. To describe the thrones taken from the summer palace at Pekin, the jeweled cup from Cellina's A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 35 chisel, the crystal beakers from Venice, the hangings of green-broidered satin, in the Baron's own bedroom, is be- yond description. Menemo's queen would be puzzled to tell what are the half of all the treasures of art in each room. It is a positive relief to go on the grounds, where the power of attention has fewer calls. These grounds are reached through a series of conservatories and hot-houses, filled with Flora's choicest gifts, and the rarest specimens of the sculptor's art, and enlivened by the brightest-winged birds of the tropics. The grounds are diversified by sheets of water, on which are fairy boats. A number of gazelles, elands, and all the foreign animals, of the harmless species, enjoy this Eden. In the Baron's absence the visitors get princely food ; the cellar contributes to their enjoyment the finest Madeira in Europe. This description should awaken a feeling of indignation. Hundreds must be employed to beautify and adorn this place, at the expense of the most deserving part of the com- munity. Many say this gives employment. Men should do work only for themselves, they will have more. The robber takes your money in disguise. Does it atone for his crime to purchase your goods, or set you to work? No! The sophisms men of wealth have started are the same as the robber's plea. The means put forth to get this ex- treme wealth is, "interest," "rent," and "profit." The time is coming when toilers will be more intelligent, and not so selfish as they are now, and will keep the fruits of labor. "It is said there are in the city of New York, not less than a dozen houses, that cost $1,000,000 to $1,500,000, each rivaling the royal palaces of Europe, only inferior in point of magnitude. The most elegant residence in the city cost $250,000. Another residence has fitted up five rooms at a cost of $54,000. A single room has been fitted 36 THE LABORER; up at a cost of $30,000. Side by side with these palaces is misery worthy of the old world."* Servants are only removed a few degrees from the slave. Many of them by frugality may rise above their condition. It is not their duty to invest their earnings, so as to get the earnings of others, or be the dupes of those who are wiser. The Romans called their slaves servi^ from servare, to "keep or save," those who were not killed in battle, and made to yield money by sale or work. Slaves were taken from Britain and sold in the market-place at Rome. The word slave comes from Sclavus, the name of a Sythian people, whom Charlemagne condemmed to imprisonment. The Italians and Germans used to buy those Sclavonians to make drudges of them. The proper name of a nation in time became the name of a condition of life. A long strip of land, on the northern coast of Africa, the Mediterranean washing its shores, was to be the scene of great events. To the Greeks it was the land of mystery and fable, filled with giants and monsters. The Phoenicians founded Carthage, which became a ruler of the seas, and a founder of trading depots as far as the Niger and the Bal- tic. The Carthaginians became the rivals of Rome and were conquered by them. The spoils of Carthage adorned the proud city of Rome. After the decay of the Roman power, the Vandals ruled for one hundred years. The Greeks then took this land, to be followed by an irruption of Saracens. Swarms of Arabs came out of Egypt till it was ruled by the Caliphs. These were driven out by Musa. These new conquerors crossed over the narrow straits, and laid the foundation of Arabian dominion in Spain. These conquerors of Spain, enriched by a fertile soil and prosper- ous commerce, have blended intellectual culture with * N. Y. Journal. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 37 Arabian luxury and magnificence. The palaces of their princes were splendid, their colleges famous for learning, their libraries were filled with books, their agriculture and manufactures produced abundance, when all the rest of Eu- rope was buried in darkness. These enjoyed peace for three centuries ; then arose conflicts between the Moors and Spaniards for four centuries. The Moor was com- pelled to abandon Spain. After the fall of Grenada, in 1492, about 100,000 Spanish Moors crossed over to Africa, and took possession of some deserted Roman towns. They spoke the same language as the people to whom they went. These new emigrants taught navigation, and turned their attention to naval affairs*. These Moors built row boats, and crossed the channel, and plundered the Spaniards at night, and made them slaves. From this sprung a system of piracy, that compelled the na- tions of Europe to pay tribute and buy the freedom of the captives. The order of the Redemption Brothers was, in 1 1 88, founded by Jean Matha. These went begging over Europe for money to redeem captives ; they took a proces- sion of redeemed captives, wearing red Moorish caps, white bornouces, and chains. Banners, wax-candles, music, and silver covered angels were in the procession. These, on approaching a place, were met by the chief men, who col- lected for them. In 1551, Brother Sebastian established a hospital, and it became the residence of the Brothers, who were the mediums of exchanges. These Christian slaves became carpenters, blacksmiths, masons, rope-makers, and ship-builders. They received one-third of their earnings for their own use. Says a narrative of 1720, the Redemptionists offered for a surgeon, a father, and son $3,000, the Dey added a Luth- eran for $3,500, the reluctant Fathers were compelled to 5 38 THE LABORER; take him. The British Parliament appropriated money, in 1646, to buy 750 captives at an average of $190 each. In 1631, from the town of Baltimore, Ireland, 237 persons were taken by these pirates. England, in 1621, made an attempt to release the captives by force, but failed. In 1682, the French tried to stop the piracies by sending a fleet with a newly invented mortar, it proved as destructive to the French as to their enemies. A French fleet, in 1688, threw 10,000 bombs into the city of Algiers and burnt it. Piracy was resumed in a few years. In i8i6,Lord Exmouth, with a fleet, destroyed the city, re- leased 3,000 captives, and destroyed Christian slavery for- ever. The Tripolitans declared war against the United States. Gen. Eaton, the American commander, went to an exiled bashaw, and got his assistance to take Tripoli. This chief, with his wild tribes, attacked the city in the rear, and Gen. Eaton in the front with warships, which resulted in a treaty, to make no more slaves of American seamen. The Americans also paid tribute. Thos. Jefferson writes from Paris to John Jay, in 1786. He says : " It will take to make peace, with the Barbary States, 250,000." These States have been conquered by the Turks. The Viceroys sent there have usurped the government into their own hands. Algiers has, by conquest, become a colony of France. It is to be hoped that justice and natural kindness will prevail after so many conquests. The ancients called that part of Africa, lying along the Mediterranean, Libya ; the interior, Ethiopia. It has been a land from which slaves have been taken in all ages. The Briton and the African have been fellow-slaves at Rome. The first were easily obtained, the latter were kept as nov- elties. The Portuguese were the first to steal negroes, and become acquainted with Africa. No part of Africa was A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 39 known except the countries on the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. In the year 1412, the Portuguese began to sail south, along the western coast. Each navigator got bolder and went farther. Vasco de Gama, in 1497, rounded the great cape, and sailed through the Mozambique Channel, into the open ocean for India. In 1434, Antonia Gon- zales carried away some Guinea coast blacks, and sold them to some Moorish families in the south of Spain. It be- came customary for captains to take from Guinea a few young blacks of both sexes. Their labor was found valu- able on the ships and ports at home. These blacks were sold to others. From this it became a regular traffic, and thousands were carried away annually. The villages along the African coast obtained them, and exchanged them for beads, cloths, and knives. America was discovered in 1492. The islands, between the north and south part, were first colonized by the Span- iards, who made the Indians dig for gold, and carry bur- dens; they soon died. Labor, ill usage, and sickness car- ried them off by thousands. In 1508, the natives numbered in St. Domingo 60,000. In 1515, the number was 14,000. The Dominicans denied the right of the Spaniards to make slaves of Indians. As early as 1503, negroes were carried across the Atlantic. In 1510, the king of Spain sent fifty slaves to work gold mines. Charles V gave one of his fa- vorites a right to ship 4,000 blacks. His monopoly was sold for 25,000 ducats, to some Genoese rilerchants, who, when they got started, carried more than that number. In Venezuela there was an insurrection so numerous were the slaves in which six Spaniards were killed. In 1562, Elizabeth legalized the slave-trade. In 1620, a Dutch ship let some Virginia planters have some negroes. On trial they proved good, and it led the English to engage 40 THE LABORER; in the traffic of slaves. In the middle of the seventeenth century all Europe was engaged in buying and selling men. Companies of men would build forts, on some part of the coast, and mount them with cannon, to protect from the natives within, and Europeans without. Sojdiers, gunners, factors, clerks, and mechanics, resided in the fort. The stores had all kinds of fancy goods, to supply the traders. Factors would go into the interior, and set the tribes against each other. A looking glass, a string of beads, or a few yards of red cloth, to possess these was the motive of an African for setting fire to the villages of joining tribes, and pursuing the fleeing inhabitants, to be carried into bondage. Black slave-merchants tied the hands of the captives to a long rope. Ivory and other merchandise is fastened on the slave to be carried hundreds of miles to the ships. Beaten, famished, sick, and feeble, many lay down to die. On the coast many died broken-hearted. Life in these forts was ease, indolence, and licentiousness. Smoking and gambling passed away the time, of those who engaged in this shameful traffic. On the arrival of traders with gold dust and ivory, they were supplied with wine and brandy ; under its influence these products did not sell for much. "These slaves were obtained partly by the sword and other means, and exchanged in Hispaniola for hides, ginger, and sugar. Prosperous were the voyages, and brought great profit to the adventurers." * The middle passage of the African was horrible. Be- tween the decks of a vessel were ten feet : a scaffold was between the two floors. Slaves could not stand upright; and were compelled to lie as close as if they were in their coffins. Revolts were prevented by chaining them together. It often happened that a living and dead person were chained *HAKLUYT, historian of SIR JOHN HAWKINS' slave voyage. 1562. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 41 together, death taking one away. At times they were taken on the decks, and made to dance with a whip. Some were lost by suffocation. The acting of the slaves was often like that of animals, when put into an exhausted air receiver ; they gasped for breath, exclaiming/ 1 We are dying." The slaves took every method to commit suicide. Often half of them died during the passage. The brutality that was shown to slaves, was often felt by the seamen. In parts of the West Indies might be seen emaciated and starving seamen, without hope or comfort, fearful examples of wrong doing. If a cabin boy broke a glass, or a seaman was untidy, lashes, blows, and kicks were applied. Sailors have often destroyed themselves. The beautiful islands, that stretch along the joining parts of North and South America, have been the scenes of great cruelty. Human pen can not describe the miseries that Africans have endured for two centuries. Acclimation, melancholy, fevers, and cruelty took them away. They were divided into mechanics, house, field, and dock hands. If the task was not done the slaves were flogged. Sugar boiling caused the slave to work eighteen hours out of twenty four. Slaves had land given them to work Sundays and Saturday afternoons. This labor was to give them food for the week. The whip was applied to the bare skin, which made scars and pools of blood. How cruel is man ! This system of cruelty, by means of the printer's skill was made known over England. Rev. Morgan Godwin was the first to write against slavery. Richard Baxter protested against the trade, and denounced as pirates those who sold men. Dr. Primate wrote on the "Duty of Mercy, and the Sin of Cruelty/' In 1735, Atkins, in a voyage to Bra- zil and Guinea, exposes the cruelty of slavery. In 1750, Rev. Griffith Hughes, of Barbadoes, showed the wickedness 42 THE LABORER, of slavery. In 1787, Adam Smith wrote his "Theory of Moral Sentiments." Said he : " Fortune never exerted more cru-elly her empire over mankind, than when she subjected those nations of heroes to the refuse of the jails of Europe, to wretches who possess the virtues neither of the countries they came from, nor of those they go to, and whose levity, brutality, and baseness so justly expose them to the con- tempt of the vanquished." In 1774, John Wesley wrote his " Thoughts on Slavery." Planters, last century, were in the habit of taking their slaves to England. These ran away, were baptized, think- ing that baptism made them free. In. 1729, some masters went to the Solicitor-General for his opinion. He said : " Baptism did not change the condition of slaves." At this period the papers began to advertise the sale of slaves, and offer rewards for their arrest when they ran away. In 1765, David Lyle brought over Jonathan Strong from Barbadoes, as his servant. His master struck him on the head with a pistol, which caused fever, lameness, and par- tial blindness. This slave applied to Wm. Sharp, a surgeon, who healed the poor gratuitously, for relief and was healed. Granville Sharp, a brother of the surgeon, gave the slave some money, and got him a place as a messenger to a drug- gist. The master determined to possess again his now ro- bust slave. He was sent for to a public house, here he was seized upon, and two officers took him to prison. He was there sold for thirty pounds. Mr. Sharp caused the Mayor of London to liberate Strong, as he was in prison with- out a warrant. Captain Laird took hold of Strong to take him to his ship. Mr Sharp said : " I charge you with an assault on the person of Jonathan Strong." This fright- ened the Captain, and he let his slave go free. Mr. Sharp was affected by this case, and thought it time A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 43 something should be done for slaves. This slave would have died ; he was saved by a benevolent man. To return him to slavery again, was abhorrent to the feelings of Gran- ville Sharp. Mr. Sharp devoted three years to the study of English law, so that he could advocate the cause of this unhappy people. In 1769, he gave the world this book, "The Injustice and Dangerous Tendency of Tolerating Slavery in England." James Somerset, a slave, was brought to England, in 1769. He left his master, who recovered him, and sent him to Jamaica to be sold. This question was carried to a court : " Whether a slave, by coming to England, became free." This question was debated for three months. The eloquence displayed in it by those who were engaged on the side of liberty was, perhaps, never exceeded on any occasion. The decision was, as soon as ever any slave set his foot on English territory, he was free. In 1772, this trial occurred. Dr. Peckard, of Cambridge University, in 1785, gave to Mr. Thomas Clarkson the prize for the best essay on this theme : " Is it right to make any one a slave against their will ? " Mr. Clarkson, in the twenty-fourth year of his age, resolved to try and put an end to slavery. He lived to the 2gth of August, 1833. On that day slavery was abolished throughout the British Colonies. He spent his time getting knowledge and writing books ; these he gave to the mem- bers of Parliament, to show them the evils of slavery. Mr. Clarkson called on Wm. Pitt, and showed him how the slave-trade destroyed the seamen. In the year 1787, 3170 sailors left Liverpool to engage in the slave-trade ; only 1428 returned. Mr. Clarkson showed the muster-roll of every ship and the names of seamen who had died. African cot- ton cloth, leather, and iron were also shewn. Mr. Pitt pro- mised to do something for the African slaves. On the gth 44 THE LABORER; of May, 1 788, in the House of Commons, Mr Pitt said : "He intended to move a resolution of more importance than any which had ever been agitated in the house." The amiable poet, Cowper, wrote fifty-six lines, called the " Negro's Complaint." This did much good. " Forced from home and all its pleasures, Africa's coast I left forlorn, To increase a stranger's treasures, O'er the raging billows borne j Why did all-creating Nature Make the plant, for which we toil ? Sighs must fan it, tears must water, Sweat of ours must dress the soil. Think, ye masters, iron hearted, Lolling at your jovial boards, Think, how many backs have smarted For the sweets your cane affords." This plaintive song was printed on hot-pressed paper, [a new invention at that time,] and sent in letters to the no- bility and others. It was set to music. Street ballad sing- ers sung and sold it all over England. Appropriate notes were attached, to arouse the popular mind against slavery. Mr. Wedgewood, the great improver of earthen ware, made a cameo of delicate white. In the center was a negro, in relief and in his own color. He was in an imploring attitude, saying : "Am I not a man and a brother?" These were sent all over England, and were inserted into snuff boxes, bracelets, and hair-pins, to serve humanity's cause. For seven years Mr. Clarkson corresponded with 400 persons, and traveled in that time 35,000 miles. In Penn- sylvania, the Quakers became the opponents of slavery as early as 1688. Anthony Benezet, in 1762, wrote against slavery. He became a school-teacher, so that he could serve the cause of humanity. In 1772, the House of Burgesses, of Virginia, presented a petition to the king to A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 45 remove restraints on his governors of that colony, which in- hibited their assent to such laws as might check the slave- trade. It was, afterward, made a reason for separating from the mother country. Dr. Benjamin Rush, in 1772, wrote against slavery. His publications were written in a polished style, and showed learning and benevolence. In 1787, a society was formed for abolishing slavery. Dr. Franklin was the President. The Revolution opened the eyes of the American people to the evil effects of slavery. David Ramsey wrote the history of this country, from 1776 to 1812. He says: " Among the many circumstances which induced the rulers of Great Britain to count on an easy conquest of America, the great number of slaves had a considerable weight. On the sea-coast of the five more southern provinces, the num- ber of slaves exceeded those of the freemen. It was sup- posed that the offer of freedom would detach them from their masters' interests, and bind them by strong ties to sup- port the royal standard. " The mischievous effects of slavery in facilitating the conquest of the country, now became apparent. As the slaves had no interest at stake, the subjugation of the State was of no consequence to them. Instead of aiding in its defense, they, by a variety of means, threw the weight of their little influence into the opposite scale. "Slavery was particularly hostile to the education of youth. Slavery also led to the monopoly of lands in the hands of the few. It impeded the introduction of laboring freemen , and at the same time endangered internal tranquil- lity, by multiplying a kind of inhabitants who had no interest in the soil. The sea-coast, which, from necessity, could only be cultivated by the labor of black men, was deficient in many of the enjoyments of life, and lay at the mercy of 46 THE LABORER; every bold invader. The western country, where cultiva- tion was more generally carried on by freemen, sooner at- tained the means of self-defense and the comforts of life. "They were not ignorant that their slaves might be work- ed on, by the insidious offers of freedom to slay their masters in the peaceful hour of domestic security. The hopeless Africans, allured with the hopes of freedom, forsook their owners and repaired in great numbers to the royal army. They endeavored to recommend themselves to their new masters, by discovering where their owners had concealed their property, and assisted to carry it away." * Gen. P. Horry, in his life of Marion, says : " Now it is generally believed the British, after the loss of Burgoyne and their fine northern army, would soon have given up the contest, had it not been for the foothold they got in Caro- lina, which protracted the war at least two years. " When the war broke out you heard of no division in New England ; no toryism, nor any of its horrid effects ; no houses in flames kindled by the hands of fellow-citizens; no neighbors way-laying their neighbors and shooting them and carrying off their stock, and in aiding the British in their work of American murder and subjugation." Hildreth, the historian, says : u The policy of Dunmore, at the beginning of the contest, of arming slaves against their masters, had not been persevered in by the British. Neither in Virginia nor the Carolinas had the negro been regarded in any other light than as property and plunder. The slaves carried off, from Virginia alone, were estimated at 30,000. Had they been treated, not as property, but as men, and the king's subjects, and converted into soldiers, the conquest of the Southern States would almost have been inevitable." South Carolina was not able to furnish * See RAMSEY'S Transactions in Virginia, and History of South Carolina. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 47 her share of men for public defense, "by reason of the great number of citizens necessary to remain at ho?ne, to pre- vent insurrection among the negroes, and their desertion to the enemy." Virginia had 105,000 slaves during the Rev- olution ; 25,000 were seduced from their masters. South Carolina lost the same number, and Georgia 4,000. Lord Dunmore, with slave soldiers that he trained, burned Nor- folk in Virginia, to ashes, Jan. 13^1776. Arnold was sent by the British against Richmond, in Virginia, which he took with 900 men, and destroyed the public stores. 200,000 people in Virginia were made helpless by slaves. The Governor could only get 200 persons to attack this bold in- vader. The excuse was, slaves had to be watched. Slaves fortified Savannah, and made it impregnable against the at- tacks of Count D'Estaing and Gen. Lincoln. Hundreds of Americans were slain in ditches dug by slaves.* An article in Harper's Magazine, 1864, "The burning of Washington, in 1814," says: "The 5,000 men that burned the city were composed of infantry, marines, and negroes^ who were bribed by promises, and forced by threats, to enter the British army." The "great Democratic party" has ever been the bul- wark of slavery ; the advocate of a system of cruelty that has made this government the derision of the world. Had there been no slaves, the United States would have had no wars. It was 500,000 slaves, in 1776, that invited a for- eign army to these shores. It was to enable the South to sell cotton, rice, tobacco, and sugar in Europe, that caused the war of 1812. It was to recover 1,500 runaway slaves that the Florida Indians were fought. The Florida war cost this nation $40,000,000, and the lives of 4,500 soldiers. The Mexican war was to favor slavery, and took thousands *See "History of Slavery " p. 333. By W. O. BLAKE, Columbus, O. 1857. 48 THE LABORER; of lives and cost $60,000,000. This war, and the repeal of the "Missouri Compromise/' has led to the late unhappy war, the evil effects of which will be felt for a generation. If this country had been without wars, there would have been twice as many cities, houses, and farms. There can be no apology for African slavery. The importation of African slaves degenerates the people who receive them, their manners become like those of the slave. Slavery, bru- talizes master and slaves, makes a people feeble in intellect and resources, and incapable of self-defense from internal and foreign invasion. Look at the condition of the savage ; he is always on the verge of famine. In civilized society there is an abundance ; it is very unequally distributed. Slavery may have been a cause of this abundance. Queen Anne, in N. Y. State gave Van Rensselaer, the right to take a piece of land containing 5,000 square miles, and has now more than 300,000 persons on it. Fulton had a conception of a steamboat, and was too poor to build it. Had he asked any of the farmers who inhabit this wide domain, for assistance he would have got none. He asked for help of one of the u lords of a manor," and with it gave the world a steamboat. The sight of wealth is a stimulant to invention and toil. As slavery has passed away, the laborer should try and get more of earth's comforts. There is nothing in nature why the laborer, who does quadruple work, should only get single pay. CHAPTER III. HISTORY OF THE LABORING CLASSES. SOCIETY AFTER THE CONQUEST TRAFFIC IN SLAVES INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIAN- ITY INCREASE OF TOWNS AND MANUFACTURES CORPORATE IMMUNITIES ABSURD LEGISLATION OCCUPATION AND WAGES OF LABORERS. " Man is born free, yet he is everywhere in fetters." ROUSSEAU. IT must be self-evident to those who will reason human society needs reconstructing. This can be proved by the many scenes of suffering around us. A poor mother was found in the railroad station, at Day- ton, with a dead child in her arms ; it had died with hunger. The parents and other children were in a starving con- dition for want of food. In London a woman went in the street to sell flowers ; her child died in her arms for want of nourishment. It is true there is public relief, but doled out in small quantities, and grudgingly given; those who ap- ply for it are often rudely repulsed. In a state of nature all things are common. The Australian native does not suffer like those who live in ruder climes. The bill of fare to these natives is not very scanty. The whale, when cast on the shore, opens in the heart of the discoverer feelings of hospitality; he kindles a fire on the beach, which is the signal for his companions to come and have a feast. Pieces of whale are toasted on sticks before the fire. Eating and sleeping, singing and dancing, for days now take place. A hunter in civilized countries i$ often a gentleman, and cares 49 50 THE LABORER; nothing for what he kills ; it is the sport, the appetite to eat up other's food that is wanted. It is with an Australian a more serious affair . Hunting quickens his sight and hear- ing. With skill and patience he throws a spear at an ani- mal, whose hind legs are twice as long as his fore ones. If killed, wife and children prepare and cook it. A hole is heated in the sand. When hot the animal with his skin on, is put in. A fire on the top cooks it. The women dig and bake roots for this feast. Seals are sometimes sur- prised. The wife and children witness the skill and activ- ity of the father ; he plays and romps with his children till the seal is cooked. The Australian is very dextrous in feeling with his toes for turtles in the ponds, and he is skillful at fishing ; these are wrapped in grass and baked in hot sand. The civilized man is often in want of food. Those who possess the soil can make all others obedient to their will. The Commercial inquires, "Why are there bread riots in England ? The country is filled with gold, and the nation has an abundant harvest.*' The reason is plain, the coun- try is filled with machines, that do the labor; the living laborer is not wanted. The abundance that is made, feeds men abroad seeking for diamonds, pearls, silver, and gold. The twentieth annual report of the Board of Directors of Girard College, says: "That 500 pupils were educated. Dif- ficulty is experienced in binding out pupils in accordance with Mr. Girard's will, in consequence of the breaking up of the old system of apprenticeship, and the introduction of machinery into trades. It is apprehended that in the future permanent situations can only be for a few." Sad news to be told there are no places for boys to work in. It is sadder still to know that 2,000,000 of persons in this land, have soil sufficient to keep 200,000,000 in food. Much of this land is for speculation v to the injury of poor boys A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 51 who want homes. These boys, to get this land,will have to toil very hard. Blackstone says : U A few words on parch- ment does not give the dominion of land." It seems to be the will of Providence that a few should monopolize the soil, to improve the rest. The wide domains that Queen Anne gave to her favorites did not belong to her. The rich men will pass away when the laborer is intelligent. For a long time after the conquest, the Anglo-Saxon di- visions of society were maintained, and the inhabitants of England were divided into freemen and slaves. Except the great baronial proprietors and their free tenants, the rest of the nation was depressed in servitude, which was uniform in its principle. Those who had fallen into bondage could not acquire any right to any species of property. One class of villains, or villagers, though bound to the most servile offices of rural industry, were permitted to oc- cupy small portions of land to sustain themselves and fam- ilies. Other ranks of men, equally servile, are noticed in the ancient records, particularly the bordars and the cottars. The former, in consideration of being allowed a small cot- tage, were required to provide poultry, eggs, and other arti- cles of diet for the lord's table. The latter were employed as smiths, carpenters, and other handicrafts, in which they had been instructed, at the expense of the lord. Inferior to these were the thralls, or servi, employed in menial services around the mansion. Their lives were protected by law. With the consent of their owners these cottars could pur- chase their manumission. In other respects they were in the lowest degradation ; and were to be considered as mere chattels and regular articles of commerce. Giraldus says: "That so great was the number ex- ported into Ireland, for sale, in the reign of Henry II, that the market was overstocked. From William I to the time 52 THE LABORER; of John, scarcely a cottage in Scotland but what possessed an English slave." In the details of the border wars, men- tion is frequently made of the number of slaves taken pris- oners as forming a principal part of the booty. It is not easy to ascertain from writers, the difference in the condition of the bondmen. It arose, probably,* from the utility of their occupations. The servi, or serfs, were less valuable than cottars or bordars, who had been trained to useful arts. All, however, alike have been denied the attributes of freemen. The law recognised in none the uncontrolled right to property, or change of place, without the consent of the superior. The lord had the absolute disposal of their persons, they might be attached to the soil, or transferred from one owner to another ; in short, they were slaves, in the strictest sense of the word men under perpetual servitude, which the master only could dissolve. Sharon Turner says : "The population of England, after the desolation of the Normans, amounted to 1,700,000, or near that number. It is supposed that 100,000 persons were swept away by the Conqueror, in laying waste the country betwixt the Humber and the Tees. Attempts have been made to class the population, at the close of the the Anglo-Saxon period, into -the several proportions of no- bles, freemen, and those of servile condition, but with no pretensions to accuracy. In thirty-four counties the citi- zens are made to amount to 17,100, the villains to 102,700 ; the bordars to 74,800 ; the cottars to 5,900 ; the thralls or serfs to 26,500. The remaining population consisted of freemen, ecclesiastics, knights, thanes, and land-owners." Of the domestic comforts enjoyed by this class we know but little. It may be presumed that from motives of inter- est, the lord would supply his villain in infancy and manhood, with the essential necessaries of life. It creates in the This full-fed man offers this little outcast, a street sweeper, some money to buy a new broom. It is to test his honesty, so that he can assist him to gain wealth and ease. Such objects would never pain our minds, in this wintry scene, if the chil- dren of the poor were sent to a school of industry, and taught to plant, build, spin, and weave, so that they can cultivate the earth, and produce their food and fleece*. The managers of " Girard College ," in their report, say it is difficult for them to find places for their orphans to learn trades; and the cause of this is, labor is done by machinery. This fact proves that society should do something to promote the happiness of those poor and abject boys, whose labor is of no utility to any person. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 53 master the same motives for rearing and preserving his thralls as his cattle a tie dissolved by the laborer becom- ing independent, and left to his own prudence to make a provision for the vicissitudes of health and employment. The work of mitigation and final extinction of English slavery, was a gradual and lengthened operation. The first blow the system received was the disuse of the practice of converting war prisoners into bondmen. The diffusion of Christianity, by teaching mankind that they were equal, early awakened men to a sense of the injustice of making one man the property of another. Frequently at the interces- sion of confessors, the feudal lords were induced to enfran- chise their slaves. In the eleventh century, the Pope for- mally issued a bull for the emancipation of slaves. It was declared at the great council, in 1 102, held at Westminster, unlawful to sell slaves in the open market. . It would be a mistake to suppose that slavery ceased in the land with this decree. In the Magna Charta, and the charter of Henry III, obtained in 1225, a class of men are mentioned, who appear to have been treated as chattel property. The prohibition to guardians from wasting the men or cattle, on the estates of minors, is a clear proof that villains were held by servile tenures.* Long after this pe- riod they were considered a salable commodity. Sir F.Eden cites these instances from ancient authorities: "In 1283, a slave and his family were sold by the abbot of Dunstable, for 135. id. In 1333, a lord granted to a chantry several messuages, together with the bodies of eight natives dwell- ing there, with all their chattels and offspring. In 1339,15 an instance of a gift of a nief[a female slave,] with all her family, and all that she might possess, and did then own. It was not till the reign of Charles II, that slavery was *VILLAINS- those who lived in villages. BORDARS cultivators of bordage lands. 54 THE LABORER; wholly abolished by statute." So late even as 1775, the colliers in Scotland were bondmen. If they left the ground to which they belonged, and as pertaining to which their services were bought and sold, they were liable to be brought back by summary procedure before a magistrate. This slavery was ended by Act 15, Geo. Ill cap. 28. Wm. Howitt, in his "Rural Life in England," says: U A person is struck, when he enters Durham, with the sight of bands of women working in fields, under the surveillance of a man. You inquire why such regular bands of female la- borers. The answer is : ' Oh, they are the bondagers.' Bon- dagers ? that is an odd sound in England. What ! have we a rural serfdom still existing in England ? Even so. It is a fact. As I cast my eyes on these female bands, I was reminded of the slave-gangs of the West Indies." Wm. Cobbett says: "The single laborers are kept in this manner: about four of them are put in a shed; which shed, Dr. Jameson, in his Dictionary, calls a 'boothie' a place where laboring servants are lodged. A boothie is a little booth ; and here these men live and sleep, having an allowance of oat, barley, and peameal, upon which they live, mixing it with milk or water. They are allowed some little matter of money to buy clothes with. They hire for the year, under very severe punishment in case of misbeha- vior or quitting service. A new place can not be had without a character from the last master, and also from the minister. Upon a steam-engine farm are the married laborers. These live in a long shed, with stone walls, and divided into boo- thies. Each boothie is twenty feet square. In this a man, his wife and family have to live. To make the most of the room, berths are erected, which they get up into when they go to bed ; and here they are, a man, his wife, and a parcel of children, squeezed up in a miserable hole, with their A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 55 meal and washing-tackle, and other things. It is a shame that they are permitted to enjoy so small a portion of the fruits of all their labors. Their dwelling place is bad, their food is worse, that upon which horses and hogs are fed. "The married man receives about four pounds a year. He also has sixty bushels of oats, thirty of barley, twelve of peas, and three of potatoes, and also pasture for a cow. The oatmeal is made into porridge. The barley-meal and pea-meal are mixed and baked into cakes. These cultiva- tors get no wheaten bread, beef, or mutton, though the land is covered with wheat and cattle. The laborer is wholly at the mercy of the master, who, if he will not keep him beyond the year, can totally ruin him, by refusing him a character. The necessity of a character from the last em- ployer makes the man a real slave, worse off than the negro by many degrees. The master has no motive to attend to his health or preserve his life. From daylight to dark these people work. The cattle, sheep, and wheat are sold. The farmer gets a little of the money, almost the whole of it is squandered, by the lord at London, Paris, and Rome, to whom the laborers are slaves, and the farmers slave-drivers. Farm-yards are factories for making corn and meat." In the reign of Edward I the condition of the villains was so far ameliorated, that they were not obliged to per- form every mean and servile office that the will of the lord required. Tenures were acquired on lands on condition of rendering certain services, such as reaping the lord's corn, or cleaning his fish-ponds, harrowing lands for two days in the year, or carting the lord's timber. As early as 1257, a ser- vile tenant, if employed before midsummer, received wages, and he was permitted, instead of working himself, to pro- vide a laborer for the lord ; from which it is evident he pos- sessed the means of hiring one. At this period a class of la- 56 THE LABORER ; borers began to exist, who were at liberty to barter their services to the best bidder. These were important trans- actions, indicating the rise of a middle class and indepen- dent race of workers. By granting to the vassals a right to property, they received a stimulus to acquire more ; and by giving to them a part of the immunities of freemen, they were raised one step in the social scale, and put in a state to contend and treat with their oppressors for the remainder. While the people were in a state of slavery, it may be conjectured that their diet would be the mere offal and re- fuse of their master ; and no more than necessary, to en- able them to support their toil. At this period, the food of the laborer was principally fish, bread, and beer. Mutton and cheese were considered articles of luxury, which formed the harvest-home feast. Wages were a penny a day at harvest, and a half-penny at other times. Their habitations were without chimneys, and their principal furniture consisted of a brass pot, valued at three shillings ; and a bed at six shillings. The variations in the prices of commodities were great, owing to the absence of middlemen. The trade of a corn- dealer was unknown ; except at the Abbey-Granges. The natural consequence must have been, that the farmers had no capital, and disposed of their crops at moderate prices soon after the harvest. Purchasers who only looked to im- mediate use, and having corn cheap, were usually improvi- dent. As the year advanced, the price frequently arose enormously before harvest. Stowe relates, that in 1317, before harvest the supply of wheat was nearly exhausted, the price was 4. the quarter. After harvest it was 6s. 8d. A reference to the table of wages and the price of food tells of the misery of the times. The progress of manufacturing industry, and town pop- A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 57 ulation operated favorably on the condition of the working classes. The woolen manufacture had been known as early as the Conquest, and, for greater security during a bar- barous age, had been chiefly established in boroughs and cities. It was at first carried on by the Flemings. The privileges, conferred by the sovereign, on weavers, fullers, and clothiers, in allowing them to carry on their trades in walled towns, and form themselves into guilds and compa- nies, governed by corporate laws, were not more intended for the advancement of their art, than to protect their per- sons from popular outrage, and their property from depre- dation. Such was the want of police during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, that robbers formed themselves into bands, under powerful barons, who employed them in acts of violence and plunder, and justified their conduct, and partook of their booty. The king's retinue was often beset and pillaged by banditti. Towns, during the fairs, were assaulted and ransacked, and men of rank carried off and confined in the castle of some lawless chieftain, till their ransom was paid. In so general a state of insecurity it was impossible that the pursuits of agriculture should thrive without special protection. The immunities granted to merchants and manufacturers, to make laws, to raise troops for their own defense, enabled them to taste the blessings of order and protection, and enrich themselves, while the occupiers of land were languishing in poverty and servitude. The superior comforts enjoyed in towns, no doubt, inspired the dependents of a manor with ideas of emancipation from a state in which they could scarcely obtain the com- forts of life.* If in the hands of a poor cultivator, oppressed with the services of villainage, some little stock should accumulate, *Sir F. EDEN'S State of the poor, vol. I p 1 8. 58 THE LABORER; he would naturally conceal it from his master, by whom it would be claimed, and take the first opportunity to escape to a town. The law was indulgent to the inhabitants of towns, and so favorable to diminishing the authority of the lord, over those in the country, that if a vassal should con- ceal himself from the pursuit of his lord for one year he was free forever. By the demand for manufactures, a large number of vil- lains were converted into free laborers. The number was increased, during the long wars of Edward III, in France, which must have obliged him to give freedom to many of his villains, to recruit his exhausted armies. The legisla- tion of 1350, gives us this fact, that those who worked at husbandry and the loom worked for hire. In 1344, a terrible pestilence prevailed, labor became ex- tremely dear. A proclamation was issued to fix the price of labor. "The Statute of Laborers" was enacted to en- force it, by fines. The statute says, since the pestilence no person would serve unless allowed double wages, to the de- triment of the lords and commons. It provides that in fu- ture plowmen, carters, shepherds, swineherds, and other servants shall receive such liveries and wages as they re- ceived in the twentieth year of the king's reign. If paid in wheat it was to be tenpence a bushel. Hay-makers and weeders were to be paid a penny a day ; mowers were to receive fivepence a day ; reapers twopence a day, without diet. Laborers were enjoined to carry their implements of industry in their hands to the market towns, in a public place, to be hired. This unjust interference with the freedom of industry was repeatedly confirmed by succeeding parliaments. A law of 1363, regulated the diet and apparel of laborers; and that of 1388, which prohibits servants from removing from A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 59 one place to another; and finally, to conclude these oppres- sive enactments, justices of peace were to fix the price of labor every Easter. The statute of 1363, directs that arti- ficers, servants, and laborers, shall be served once a day, with meat and fish, or the waste of other victuals, as milk and cheese, according to their station. The cloth of yeo- men and tradesmen, was not to cost more than one shilling and sixpence a yard. Plowmen and other farm hands were to use only black russet, at twelve pence a yard. Clothiers were to make and keep a sufficiency on hand. One important fact may be elicited : the laborers had ex- tricated themselves from the grasp of their feudal masters, who were compelled to resort to acts of parliament to get power to compel servitude. Law was in place of arbitrary power. Before the end of the fourteenth century, freedom, order, and industry, had made considerable progress. The mass of the people, when contrasted with those of the Con- quest, were rich and thriving. Historians are silent on many points there is evidence that domestic happiness was greatly improved. The immunities granted to cities, the introduction of manufactures, the dawning of the polite arts, the humanizing tendency of Christianity, are causes which have ameliorated the condition of the community. It is to these that we may ascribe the changes in the po- litical opinions of the laboring classes. Wat Tyler, in the year 1381, required of the king abolition of slavery; free- dom of commerce in market towns, without toll or impost, and a fixed rent on lands instead of services by villainage. "These requests," says Mr. Hume, "though extreme- ly reasonable in themselves, the nation was not prepared to receive, and which it were dangerous to have yielded to in- timidations, were however complied with. Charters of manumission were granted, and although they were revoked 60 THE LABORER; after the rebellion was crushed many hundreds of the insurgents were executed as traitors. The spirit that man- ifested itself during this period, prevented masters from inv posing, and vassals from again submitting, to the oppressive service of bondage." Various causes changed the villains into free laborers, and created tenantry, who were strengthened by manufac- tures and commerce. At the Conquest, most of the lands in England were parceled out among the Norman nobility. Earl Morton acquired no less than 193 manors; and Hugh de Alrinces received the whole palatinate of Chester. The extensive county of Norfolk had only sixty proprietors. The owners of such vast possessions lived on their estates. Earl Spencer, in the time of Edward II, possessed 1,000 oxen, 28,000 sheep, 1,200 cows, 500 cart horses, 2,000 hogs, and of salted provisions 600 bacons, 80 beef carcasses, 600 sheep, and also ten tuns of cider. This nobleman's estate was probably managed by stewards, and cultivated by the labor of villains or slaves. This was spent in rude and riotous hospitality. Commerce at length led to allurements of a different kind, and induced him, from motives of per- sonal gratification, to lessen the number of his idle retainers and to grant a portion of his demesnes to a tenant, on con- dition of receiving a rent, which might enable him to ex- tend his pursuits beyond gorgeous entertainments, field pleasures, or domestic warfare. The progress of manufactures led to a revolution among land-owners and other ranks of community. Instead of fortunes being spent in supporting numerous idlers, it was expended in the production of art. Dr. Smith, the author of the " Wealth of Nations," says : "For a pair of diamond buckles, or something as frivolous, they exchanged the maintenance of a thousand men for a year." It is to more A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 61 rational causes this change may be attributed. The desire of bettering our condition is the parent of many virtues ; it would compel the lord to prefer comfort to barbaric splen- dor, and the villain to engage in the independence of trade. These changes produced advantages for the general good. A man, by dismissing half of his useless domestics, increases his enjoyments ; he could clothe himself in woolen and fine linen instead of coarse canvass and a leathern jerkin. It would add the production of horticulture to his table, and would render a dreary castle more comfortable with warm hangings on the bare walls. In 1406, we have evidence, competition commenced be- tween rural and town industry. A statute had been passed compelling those who had been brought up to the plow till they were twelve years of age, to continue at husbandry all their lives. To evade this law agricultural laborers sent their children to the town, as apprentices under that age. It was enacted that no person, unless possessed of land of a rental of twenty shillings, should bind a child to any trade, except that of the parents. In the reign of Henry VII, the race of villains was al- most extinct. The useful arts had made a wonderful prog- ress. In the statute of laborers for 1496, bricklayers are for the first time mentioned as artificers, and also gla- ziers. In 1567, glass was a rarity, only in castles. It was used for farm houses in the time of James I. The diet of laborers at this period had become whole- some by the introduction of vegetables. Their dress was simple, the hat and hose were made of cloth, the coat was fastened on with a belt. Laws were in force regulating the quantity and quality of the wearing apparel. A statute of Richard III limited the price of a hat to twenty pence. In the reign of Henry VIII, it was enacted that no serving 7 62 THE LABORER; man, under the degree of a gentleman, should wear a coat containing more than three broad yards, under forfeiture. The cloth was not to exceed twenty-pence a yard. The statute of 1496, fixed the rate of yearly wages. A shepherd was to receive i. A common farm servant's wages was 1 6s. The yearly allowance for his clothing was 55. A woman received for a year ics, and 45. for her clothing. Artificers received 6d., and a laborer 4d. a day, and no food. In harvest id. a day more was paid. The food was 2d. a day. Yearly laborers received food. If any person re- fused serving at these wages he might be imprisoned. The statute said the hours of labor should be from five o'clock in the morning to seven at evening, from March to September. One hour shall be allowed for breakfast. An hour for dinner, and half an hour to sleep. In winter, the hours of labor were from ''springing of day" till dark. The diet of the artisan was one-third of his income, and one-half of the laborer's. The rewards and relaxation from labor are the same to the English laborer now as they were in 1514. Erasmus says: "The dwellings of the common people, had not yet attained to the convenience of a chimney, to let off the smoke, the flooring of their huts was nothing but the bare ground ; their beds consisted of straw, with a block of wood for a pillow." Fortesque, who wrote in the reign of Henry VI says of the French peasantry, "Thay drink water, thay eate apples, with right brown bread made of rye ; thay eate flesch, but it be seldom ; a little larde, or of the entrails, or of the heds of beasts, sclayne for the no- bles or merchaunts of the lond." At the close of the reign of Henry VII, originated that class denominated the poor those who are free, but with- out the means of supporting themselves by their industry. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 63 Individuals in this unhappy condition are in a state of slav- ery. Those who can not live independently of the support of others can not, in the affairs of life, act the part of free- men. The great mass of English poor is nothing more than the continuance, under a mitigated form, of the race of villains, who have exchanged baronial for parochal servitude. With the feudal system, a regular chain of subordination subsisted from the highest to the lowest. All thought of personal independence was precluded, and each individual looked for maintenance and protection to his next superior. A cause may be assigned for the contrast presented be- tween rural and civic industry. In the country, laborers are often hired by the year. They are guaranteed against all casualties. Their remuneration does not depend on wages they have the produce of a garden. These are not expose^ to those temptations of pleasure and irregular life, which are among the many causes of extreme wretchedness in towns. The extension of commerce is one of the causes of the poor. It is an evil inseparable from commerce that it augments population, without providing a permanent sub- sistence for the people. The employments that spring from commerce must always be liable to variations. The in- ventions of machinery, or the ever-changing fashions, often take away work. Unless there be some certain provision for the people, independent of these fluctuations, there must be great distress, and numbers must perish. In the year 1376, we have evidence that there was a dis- position to vagrancy among laborers. It was a complaint that masters were obliged to give their servants high wages, to prevent them from running away ; that many of the runaways turn beggars, and lead idle lives in cities and boroughs, although they have sufficient bodily strength to 64 THE LABORER ; gain a livelihood, if willing to work ; that others become staff-strikers, wandering in parties from village to village, but that the chief part turn out sturdy rogues, infesting the kingdom with frequent robberies. To remedy these evils, the Commons proposed that no relief shall be given ; that vagrants, beggars, and staff-strikers ^cudgel-player i\^ shall be imprisoned till they consent to return home to work, and whosoever harbors a runaway servant shall be liable to a penalty of ten pounds. This is the first time beggars are mentioned ; it shows the earliest opinion of the Commons on mendicity. These persons were chiefly found in towns where, owing: to commerce and the introduction of manu- ' O factures, the principal part of the wealth of the nation accumulated. In 1388, it was enacted that those who, by lameness or sickness, could do no work, had a legal claim on the rev- enues of the clergy. In 1391, an act was passed that a part of the tithes for the support of monasteries should be set apart for the maintenance of the poor. These regula- lations laid the foundation of the English system of poor laws. For two centuries before the Reformation, the leg- islature struggled against the evil which accompanied the transition from slavery to free labor, and their policy was directed to objects similar to those which now engage the attention of law makers, to analyze the mass of vaga- bondage, imposture, and real destitution. To punish the former and relieve the latter, branding, whipping, imprison- ment, and sitting in the stocks, were employed. Scholars were liable to these penalties, unless provided with written testimonials from the chancellor of their university. Sail- ors, soldiers, and travelers were also provided with pass- ports to travel homeward by the shortest road. Artificers and laborers were forbidden to play at unlawful games, ex- A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 65 cept on Christmas. Two justices were empowered to re- strain the common selling of ale in towns and places where they should deem it expedient, and to take surety of the ale-house keepers for their good behavior. In 1530, beggars got license to beg within certain limits. Their names were registered if found without license, or beyond the assigned limits. The offender was fed on bread and water in the stocks for two days. Able-bodied men found begging, were flogged, and made go to labor. An act in the time of Henry VIII made it obligatory on the head officer and householder of every parish to main- tain, by collection of voluntary and charitable alms, for the poor of the parish in such a way, that "none of them of very necessity foe compelled to go openly on begging," the alms to be collected Sundays, holidays and festivals. The ministers in their sermons, collations, confessions, and at the making of wills, are required to "exhort, move, stir, and provoke the people to be liberal in their contributions tow- ard the comfort and relief of the impotent, decrepid, and needy poor." Some of the poor are directed to go round twice a week, and collect from each householder his bro- ken and refuse meat and drink, for equal distribution among the indigent. Precautions were taken by fines and penal- ties to guard against embezzlement the parochial alms and doles, from constables and churchwardens. The Reformation affected property more than industry. It was the transfer of a large portion of the English soil to laymen from spiritual corporations. . That there was a ne- cessity for it may be inferred from the Mortmain Act, passed in the reign of Henry II, "That government had become fully sensible of the hurtful tendency of the vast accumula- tions of the religious houses." It was this transfer that made England take the lead of the nations of Europe in 66 THE LABORER; wealth and intelligence. Had the vast possessions of the clergy remained in their hands, they must have formed an obstacle to the productive power of the country. The re- venue used by the priesthood can not clearly now be ascer- tained. The number of religious houses were 1,041, and the revenues were near .273,106. Tithes are supposed to be twice that sum. Upon good authority it is stated the clergy owned seven-tenths of the whole kingdom. There were four orders of mendicants to be maintained, against whom no gate could be shut, to whom no provision could be denied, or secret concealed. Henry VIII, to obtain the consent of parliament to his spoliations, declared that the revenues of the abbeys should be applied to the expenses of the state, and JIG loans, subsi- dies, or other aids be asked. The chief portion of these ben- efices were given to the nobility. Sir F. Eden doubts if the monasteries gave themselves any trouble with the poor, that did not belong to their own demesnes. The abbeys were burdened with the rich more than the poor. Sheriffs and other great men traveled from abbey to abbey, with great retinues, regaling themselves at each and exacting presents. Laws were made to make abbeys keep the poor. It has been computed that 50,000 monks were thrown on society during the Reformation. Edward VI punished "idleness and vagabondries," by enacting "That any per- son who refuses to labor, and lives idly for three days, he shall be branded with a redhot iron on the breast, with the letter V, and be adjudged a slave for two years to the per- son who informed on him. And the master is directed to find his slave with bread and water, in small drink, and re- fuse meat as he thinks proper; and to cause his slave to work by beating or chaining him. If the slave absconds for fourteen days he is a slave for life ; and if he runs away a A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 67 second time he shall suffer death." These laws were found too severe and abolished. The statute provided that certain of the poor shall be employed by the town. In pursuing the various occupations of industry, the people had discovered the means of emancipating themselves from feudal servitude} and the nobility, preferred the arts to baronial splendor, which was the source of idleness and disorder. Personal authority was exchanged for luxury and comfort. Their influence over their dependants wasted away, and was still made weaker by civil wars. So many ancient families were sacrified in civil contest, that Henry VII could only get twenty-eight peers to his first parliament. The dissolution of monasteries destroyed ecclesiastical au- thority, and removed obstacles to progressive industry and a middle rank, whose condition it is to be hoped will be enjoyed by all. Hume says: "In the interval between the fall of the nobles and the rise of this order, many of the monarchs assumed an authority almost absolute." The police of the country was defective, and did not at- tain to perfect order. Punishment was not lenient, it was vigorous and unrelenting. Harrison says that Henry VIII executed his laws with such severity, that 72,000 "great and petty thieves were put to death." He adds, in Eliza- beth's reign, "rogues were trussed up apace. Commonly in one year, 300 or 400 of them were eaten up by the gal- lows in one place and another." These punishments did not prevent robbers, sometimes as many as 300 together, from plundering dwellings and sheepfolds. These outrages are attributed to the changes in society, the uninstructed condition of the laborer. Schools were rare. Young men were taught in monas- teries, the women in nunneries, in writing, drawing, confec- tionery, and needle work. Domestic manners were se- 68 THE LABORER; vere and formal ; a haughty reserve was affected by the old, and an abject deference by the young. Some, when arrived at manhood, are represented as standing uncovered and silent in their father's presence; and daughters were not permitted to sit before their mothers, but must kneel till she retired. Omissions were punished with stripes and blows, to such an excess, that the daughters trembled at the sight of their mother, and the sons avoided their father. The diet of the people appears not to have differed from the present time. In cities meat was consumed. The food of laborers, in time of Henry VIII, was a small quantity of bacon, and it is probable they lived much in the same manner as the husbandmen in Scotland, their food consist- ing of oat and rye bread, milk, and pottage. The substan- tial diet of the sixteenth century was limited to the tables of persons of rank. A maid of honor of Elizabeth's court perhaps breakfasted on beefsteak, but the plowman was compelled to regale himself on barley or rye bread and -water gruel. Morrison says : " Husbandmen weare gar- ments of coarce cloth made at home, and their wives weave gowns of the same cloth, kirtles of light stuffe with linnen aprons, and cover their heads with a felt hat, their linnen is coarce and made at home." In 1597, Elizabeth directed that four overseers be chosen, to set poor children to work and others wanting it. The church wardens were to build houses on the waste, and put poor people in them. James of Scotland had an act passed, that "Hail inhabitants shall be taxed and s tented on their substance, to keep poor people." These acts were passed in Elizabeth's reign. Profaneness and immorality, neglect- ing to go to church, and not wearing a woolen cap on Sun- day, were finable offenses, and the money was given to the poor. A curious act was also passed: "No cottage shall A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 69 be erected unless it had attached to it four acres of land." A special commission from Charles I, was issued to enforce this statute. In 1495, a laborer working a certain amount of time, could purchase with his wages 199 pints of wheat ; in 1593, tne same time an ^ labor would only purchase 82 pints of wheat; in 1610 the same time and labor only pur- chased 46 pints. The increase of indigence increased crime. A magistrate, in Somersetshire, in 1596, affirms that u Forty persons were executed, thirty-three burnt in the hand, and thirty-seven were whipped in one year." James I enacted "That dangerous rogues shall be branded with the letter R with a redhot iron and placed to labor ; if afterwards found begging they shall suffer death." In 1610, Parliament gave to magistrates the power of rating the wages of the working people. They were to take notice of those who " Goe in good clothes and fare well, and none knowes where they live ; those that be night walkers." They were to enforce the laws that required poor children to learn trades. A wandering family were required to tell when married, and if the children had been christened; u For these people live like salvages, neither marry, nor christen ; which licentious libertie, make so many delight to be rogues and wanderers." At this time a proclamation came out to the nobility and gentry, to take no suppers on Fridays, fast days, Lent, or Ember week, and the meat that was saved was to be given to the poor. In 1697 John Locke expressed an opinion that many who got public relief could work, and that work- schools should be started for destitute children, the boys to have trades, and the girls to be prepared for service. In 1714, John Bellars proposed" The College of Industry," for the poor. This writer said : "The poor without employ- ment were like rough diamonds, their worth is unknown." In 1723, at Hanslope it was found that if houses were pro- 70 THE LABORER; vided, a poor person could be kept for is. 6d. per week. In 1758, Mr. Massie said the poor were increased by tak- ing away the " commons," by removing the people from farming to the fluctuating demands of trade and manufac- ture. In 1760, Dr. Adam Smith states that half of the people of England do not eat wheat bread, they use as a substitute rye, oats, and barley. In 1768, it was enacted that tailors should work, from six in the morning to seven o'clock at night, one hour allowed for meals, their wages was not to exceed 2s. 7jd. a day. In 1796, Mr Whitbread in Parliament said: "In most parts of the country the laborer had been long struggling with increasing misery, till the pressure was too great to be endured." Mr. Pitt replied "That the condition of the poor was cruel, and, as such could not be wished on any principle of humanity or policy." In 1807, the population of England and Wales numbered 8,870,000; not less than 1,234,000 persons were partakers of public relief. In 1818 infant schools were established by Brougham, Macauley, Sir T. Baring, Lord Dacre, and the Marquis of Landsdown. The motive for instruction " was to keep them from vice and mischief and give them the rudiments of virtue and knowledge." Lord Brougham ascertained that one-third of the English children had no learning. In Parliament he exposed the abuses of school endowments from good people. A clergy- man was at the head of a school, and received .900 and had only one scholar. Another school yielded 500, and had no scholars ; the school-room was rented for a sawpit. This nobleman has been the means of millions of the poor, obtaining an education. He began the cause of universal instruction in 1816. In 1823, Parliament sent to the Cape of Good Hope 350 persons, and 586 to Canada as an ex- periment for unemployed poor. At this period Mechanic's A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 71 Institutions were established. In 1824, all the old statutes, from the time of Edward I, relating to the combinations of workmen, the rates of wages, and the hours of work, were repealed. The great injustice had long been felt of allow- ing masters in concert, to fix the rate of wages and the hours of work, and interdicting the workman to fix theirs. In 1827, a number of men distinguished for literary and scientific attainments, established a society, "For the Dif- fusion of Knowledge among Men." The object of this socie- ty was : " The imparting of useful information to all classes of the community, particularly to such as are unable to avail themselves of experienced teachers, or may prefer teaching themselves." In this year, a Committee of the House of Commons, reported: "That in the United Kingdom, cir- cumstances indicated a great deterioration among the people of the agricultural districts, where wages were so depressed by competition for employment, that the laborer is com- pelled to live chiefly on bread and potatoes, seldom tasting meat. Symptoms of an approaching servile war are discern- able, which can only be averted by relieving the market. In Ireland it was ascertained that a part of the population were dependent on the precarious source of charity, or is compelled to resort to plunder and spoliation, for the actual means of support." The committee said colonization was the best remedy. In 1831, the barbarities practiced in manufacturing dis- tricts, caused an act to be passed that a person under twenty one years of age shall not work at night. The hours of labor to be from half past five in the morning to half past eight in the evening. The hours of labor to those under eighteen shall be twelve. One hour and a half shall be al- lowed for meals. A parliamentary committee said : " The cruelty and cupidity of mill-owners in the pursuit of gain 72 THE LABORER; has hardly been exceeded by the Spaniards in the pursuit of gold." Fifteen boys went to a ragged school on Sunday evening. The clock struck eight, which caused them to start away. The master detained one and said: "The les- son is not over." The reply was: "We must go to busi- ness, and catch them as come out of the chapels.*' The boy had no remorse or shame, in making this avowal ; be- cause he believed he would die with starvation, if he did not go and steal. To another boy the master spoke of the terrors of after life. The boy said : " That may be so, but I don't think it can be any worse than this world is to me." There are in London alone 30,000 juvenile beggars and thieves, many of whom are not as moral as the brutes of the earth, and many have nothing but rags tied on them. This chapter will teach what laborers have suffered. It is not legislation men want, it is more industry. Were the kings of the earth, with their horses, servants, and soldiers, made to do work, misery would cease. Those who have started governments by conquest were robbers, they are con- tinued among men by violence, fraud, folly, and ignorance. When the wrongs that governments do shall cease, man- kind will be happy. Men are made poor by those who govern them. Want makes crime, and it will ever be so while one man works, and another does nothing. Society contains many who do single work and get quadruple pay. CHAPTER IV. GOVERNMENTS AND FEUDALISM. PATRIARCHAL GOVERNMENTS THE ORIGIN OF MONARCHIES THEIR COR- RUPTIONS AND CHANGES WILLIAM THE NORMAN His ADVENT INTO ENGLAND FEUDALISM ITS ORIGIN AND NECESSITY TO IMPROVE MEN. "Governments are caused by men's wickedness." PAINK. JN the earth, at the present time, may be found na- tions and tribes of men who are a type of the past generations in every period of time. In Ceylon some of the interior natives live in trees, and have little or no language. The habitations of the Australians are made by the women, of branches, bark, and clay. The Patago- nians, in the days of Columbus, had no conception of a fire. Little did man know when he commenced his career on this earth, he had none to guide him. Nature provided spontaneous productions for all his wants. Those who lived longest had the most experience, and were the guides to others. In course of time there would be an insufficien- cy of room, which would cause some one to start into the wilderness. His family would increase, after awhile this man would be the patriarch of his tribe, who would obey him because he knew the most. His commands would be reasonable because he loved his people. Their wealth would be flocks, which would give them milk and fleeces. These would require pasturage, and in changing their pas- turage, these shepherds would come in contact with other (73) 74 THE LABORER; tribes, which would lead to a conflict. The conquered party would be willing to be slaves for the sake of having their lives spared. The two tribes would easily overcome another tribe. Has the leader of the successful party a right to adoration, or a greater share of the spoils, than the others ? Has his posterity a right to honors and rewards forever ? A leader of a battle is often at a distance. The leader has a feeling of satisfaction, and this should be his only reward. Hereditary honors, how costly they are to mankind ! The family of England's Queen, with her own salary costs hei nation annually 6,000,000. This enormous sum requires hundreds of tax-gatherers to collect it. To keep the people from revolting, a standing army of 24,000 persons are re- quired ; these consume a fourth of the laborer's earnings. After the war between those shepherds, was there any need of the chief living a life of idleness, or lessening the scanty stores of the others ? There can be no doubt the ancient Britons were once rude shepherds. It is commerce and being conquered that has made England great among the nations of the earth. The Conquest in England's history marks the line of that which is authentic from that which is doubtful. All the history antecedent to William the I contains much that is marvelous and improbable. The improvements in the arts were slow in one period, rapid in the other. What a contrast between the two periods of time ! One is a long night of bondage, darkness, and error, with only gleams of social amelioration. The latter period shows what a fa- vorable climate, and the discoveries of men of genius can accomplish. The Teutonic invaders of England did much to make stronger those germs of art and science started by the Ro- mans. These latter taught the Britons how to build stone A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 75 houses, to spin and weave cloth. The Anglo-Saxon insti- tutions were analogous to all communities entering on the early career of civilization. Such was their rudeness that the marriage rites were not always observed. They held in slavery two-thirds of the people. It was the introduction of Christianity that did much to reclaim them. The code of laws made by King Alfred show the progress of religion. It was William the Norman that gave to us all the usages and customs of modern society, and it may be profitable to know something of his life. He was the seventh Duke of Normandy. He was called a duke from this fact; 150 years before William's time a pirate of the name of Rolla, left his rude home on the Bal- tic, with some followers. He took possession of a part of France, and it was called Normandy, from the Northmen who conquered it. The King of France could not expel this invader. He made a compromise: Rolla should rule as a duke if he would do homage for his dukedom. The hom- age was, that he should kneel in the presence of all the po- tentates and chieftains, and put his clasped hands into those of the king, and then kiss an embroidered slipper on the king's foot. This Rolla did not like to do. One of the no- bility was called to do it. He lifted up the king's foot so as to throw him off his seat. The king had been besieged in his capital, and was too feeble to resent this insult. Another condition of peace was that Rolla should be baptized; and marry a daughter of the king. A long peace followed ; the resources of the fertile country were drawn out. Wil- liam had abundant means for his invasion of England. The conqueror of England was not of noble blood, on the side of his mother. Robert, the father of William, saw a girl, the daughter of a tanner, washing clothes at a stream. He sent for her to live at his castle. It was not customary for \ 76 THE LABORER; dukes and peasants to marry. It is strange that those who are the most useful should be held in contempt, while a pi- rate's descendants, who can overrun a province and make its people poor, are held in esteem. At the present time excessive riches are acquired by injustice, and their possess- ors are more regarded than those who keep men from dying by their useful toil. The offspring of Robert and Arlotte was William, a very beautiful boy. His father was proud of him. At his father's death, when thirteen years of age, hom- age and fealty was shown to him by the barons. The rea- son of this obedience, was that the king of France might recover again his province, which had been given up. By being united they could keep down the common people. Barons are often quarrelsome ; a duke or a king can do very much toward reconciling them. A king is a judge as well as a leader. A nice analysis of the laws of civilized society show they favor the rich more than those who do the hard toil. There is a sufficiency of labor done to make every one rich. The labor is put in the wrong place. In- equality must ever exist where the rich make the laws. If riches were universal, crime would cease. William's pretext for invading England was, he consid- ered himself the legitimate successor to its crown. Ethel- red, the Saxon king of England, married Emma, a sister of one of the dukes of Normandy. Edward, one of her sons, was much in Normandy, and was often in William's com- pany. When Edward became king of England, William paid him a visit. Edward had no children, and William, it is said, obtained a promise from him, that he should in his will be named as his successor. Edward the king had a quarrel with the Earl Godwin, which led to a cruel civil war. A compromise was made; Godwin was to retain his rank, and the government of a A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 77 province, and he promised to dismiss his armies, and to make war upon the king no more. He bound himself to the faithful performance of this covenant by giving the king hostages. Godwin gave to King Edward a son and grand- son. Edward sent these to William for safe keeping. It was those who were the best beloved that were given up. A non-fulfillment of the contract subjected the hostages to torture and death. These lived in continual fear among their enemies. Godwin died. Harold his son asked King Edward if he could go to Normandy for his brother and nephew, as there was no longer any reason for detaining them. Edward did not like to give them up, as Harold was ambitious. Harold went over the channel ; a con- trary wind wrecked him on the dominions of the Count of Ponthieu, who demanded a large ransom before he was re- leased. William received Harold with a great deal of hos- pitality, he got up games, feasts, and military spectacles, and gave to the followers of Harold suits of armor, presents of horses, and banners. William went on an expedition, and took Harold with him ; on the journey home William told Harold that King Edward was to adopt him as his succes- sor. Harold had designs to secure the crown for himself. As he was the guest of William he consented to his plans. The most solemm oaths were administered to Harold to bind him to his word. William kept Harold's brother, promising to bring him over when he came to England. Harold did not consider his oath binding, as it was taken to prevent being made a prisoner. Harold collected munitions of war, made friends of the wealthy, and sought the favor of the king. Edward, on his death-bed, told his nobles to choose whom they liked for their king. Harold was made king with much splendor. Wolves destroy in packs; they have a leader. Nobles and wolves are alike. 78 THE LABORER; William, on receiving the news that Harold was made king, made preparations to invade England. Every baron in his realm was bound, by the feudal conditions on which lie held his lands, to furnish his quota of men for any en- terprise the sovereign should see fit to engage in. The no- bles found ships and money. On the English soil the bat- tle of Hastings was fought. It was long and severe. Harold with 250 of his nobles were slain. This battle made Wil- liam king. He fortified London and reduced the island to his sway. He confiscated the property of the nobles who had fought against him. This conquest was the means of introducing into England and America pernicious customs, the evils of which it will be as difficult to convince the people, as it will the Chinese women that it is wrong to wear tight shoes. Nothing could exceed the terror of the English on the death of Harold. Stigand, the primate, made submission to the conqueror in the name of the clergy. The nobility made submission also to him. William accepted the crown upon the terms that he should govern according to the cus- toms of the country. He could have made what terms he pleased ; though a conqueror he wished to be thought an elected king. For this reason he was crowned at West- minster. He took the oath that he'would observe the laws, defend the church, and govern the kingdom with imparti- ality. William did not find ruling very pleasant. His wife and son Robert governed Normandy in his absence. Robert used his influence to supplant his father. The King of France assisted Robert, which caused William to invade his country and burn his towns. He assaulted the town of Mantes, and set it on fire ; while riding among the ruins his horse stepped on some fire concealed among ashes ; the pain made the horse to throw his rider, which caused the A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 79 death of William. Many, when they come to die, think they can atone for a life of avarice, legal plundering, and abstracting others' comforts, by religious charity, by sending clothing and missionaries to Africa, or building a fine church. Religion makes men moral and saving. Many invest their religious savings in wild lands and corner lots, for specula- tion, after consuming a generous portion of the gains, "an offering to the Lord" is made to soothe the conscience of those who know their money comes from those suffering painful anguish of mind and bitter self-denial. Remorse of conscience troubled William for his deeds. He cried to God for forgiveness, and ordered the monks to pray for him. He gave his money to the poor, and ordered the churches that he had destroyed to be rebuilt. As soon as William was dead, his attendants carried his arms, plate, furniture, and dresses away. Monks came with crosses and tapers, to pray for the repose of his soul. The body was put in a cart to be buried in a monastery .he had built. As the procession was moving along, a fire broke out, and those in the procession went to put it out. The body went on. At the grave a person forbid the burial, because the abbey lands had been taken without paying for them. A sum was paid for a grave. A stone coffin had been made, it was found too small, and in trying to put the body in, the coffin broke. The church was so offensive every body left except the workmen, to fill up the grave. The English historians complain, of the most grievous oppressions of William and his Normaris. Whether by his conduct the conqueror willingly gave the English oppor- tunities of rebelling against him, in order to have a pretense for oppressing them afterward, is not easy to say ; but it is certain that the beginning of his reign can not justly be blamed. The first disgust against his government was ex- 8o THE LABORER; cited among the clergy. William could not avoid the re- warding of those numerous adventurers, who had accom- panied him in his expedition. He first divided the lands of the English barons,* who had opposed him, among his Norman barons ; but as these were found insufficient, he quartered the rest on the rich abbeys, of which there were many in the kingdom, until some opportunity of providing them offered itself. The whole nation was soon disgusted, by seeing the real power of the kingdom placed in the hands of the Nor- mans. He disarmed the city of London, and other places which appeared most warlike and populous, and quartered Norman soldiers wherever he dreaded an insurrection. This was indeed acting as a conqueror and not as an elected king. The king having thus secured England as he imag- ined from any danger of revolt, determined to pay a visit to his Norman dominions. He appointed Otho his brother, and William Fitz Osborne as regents in his absence ; and to secure himself yet further he took with him such of the no- bility as he had no confidence in. His absence produced most fatal consequences. Dis- contents and murmurings were multiplied every-where ; conspiracies were entered into against the government ; hos- tilities were commenced in many places ; and every thing seemed to threaten a speedy revolution. William of Poic- tiers, a Norman historian, throws the blame on the English. He calls them a fickle and mutinous race. The English * BARON, a degree of nobility, a lord or peer, in rank below a viscount, and above that of a knight or baronet. The barons were the feudatories of princes, the proprietors of land held by honorable service, and members of the parliament. Barons had courts on their domains, and were judges of the people. VISCOUNT, an officer who supplied the place of earl or count a sheriff. FEUDATORY, a tenant or vassal who holds lands of a superior, and owes for the use of them military service. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 81 historians tell us, that these governors took all the opportu- nities of oppressing the people, either with a view of pro- voking them to a rebellion, or, in case they submitted, to grow rich by plundering them. A secret conspiracy was formed among the English for a general massacre of the Normans. The conspirators had already taken the resolu- tion, and fixed the day for the massacre, which was to be on Ash-Wednesday, during the time of divine service, when the Normans were unarmed, as penitents, according to the discipline of the times. The presence of William disconcerted all their schemes. Some of the conspirators consulted their safety by flight; and this served to confirm the proofs against those who remained. From this time the king not only lost all confidence in his English subjects, but regarded them as inveterate and irreconcilable enemies. He had already raised such a number of fortresses, that he did not dread any of his discontented subjects. He deter- mined to treat them as a conquered people. He revived the tax of the Danegelt.* This produced insurrections. Exeter and Cornwall revolted ; they were soon subdued, and began to implore the conqueror's mercy. Many fled into Scotland and other places. The English did not fail privately, in the woods and high- ways, to assassinate the Normans, when there was no pos- sibility of being brought to justice. The conquerors began to wish for security; several of them desired to be dismissed from service. William, to prevent it, increased their boun- ties. The consequences were fresh exactions from the English, and new insurrections to prevent it. The county of Northumberland, which had been most active in revolt, DANEGELT, an ancient tax to procure money to expel the Danes, or give it to them to leave. It was at first a shilling for every hide of land, and after- ward seven. The Danes, when masters, levied the same tax. 82 THE LABORER; suffered the most. On this occasion 100,000 persons per- ished by sword and famine. The estates of all the English gentry were confiscated, and given to the Normans. All the ancient families were reduced to beggary, and the Eng- lish excluded from preferment. In order that William might have a hunting ground, he created New Forest, by destroying many villages and twen- ty-two parish churches. Manors* and chapels were de- stroyed within a circuit of thirty miles. Blount says: "It was attended with divers judgments on the posterity of William one son Rufus was shot by an arrow, Richard met the same fate. Henry, nephew of the oldest son, was caught by the hair of the head in a tree, like Absalom." William caused a survey of lands in thirty counties in England. This survey was made in 1078. The reason given for this survey is, "That every man should be satis- fied with his own right, and not usurp with impunity what belongs to another." All those who held lands became vassalsf of the king, and paid him, as a fee, money, homage, service, in proportion to the lands they held. For the ex- ecution of this survey, commissioners were sent into every county and shire. These were to be informed upon oath by the inhabitants, of the name of each manor, and that of its owner; the number of hides of land, J the quantity of wood, pasture, and meadow lands ; how many plows in the demesne, how many fish-ponds, and mills belonged to it; with the value of the whole ; also whether it was capable * MANOR, a gentleman's country house, a district bounded with stones, from maen, a stone. This word means the house and lands of a lord for his own subsistence, and the right to hold court-baron [a court.] f VASSAL, a servant to a prince for the use of lands, which are cultivated by persons in humble life, who become vassals to the lord. J HIDE OF LAND, a quantity of land, supposed to be what one plow can do $ DEMESNE, a manor house for the use of the family, with sufficient lands. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 83 of improvement or being advanced in value. They were likewise directed to return the tenants of every degree, the quantity of lands then and formerly held by each of them, what was the number of villains or slaves, the number and kinds of their cattle. These inquisitions were sent to the king's exchequer. This survey gave great offense to the people; and occasioned a suspicion that it was intended for some new imposition. This survey, "The Great and Lit- tle Doomsday Book," is now in Westminster, written in Latin, highly wrought, on vellum. A part is thus translated: King Ijolbs JSprmunbpspg, rafob at 12 Ijibes of tonb; on onp is a bpinpsitp, 25 tiilletns, 33 fcorbers, a neto rljurrlj foft| 20 erpps of rapa- boto, anb pshragp for fi&p Ijogs."* Dr. Stuart says : " The spirit of feudalism was national defense and domestic independence." Feudalism is a system so contrived that a conquering people can defend them- selves from enemies without, and an outraged people within. Without a knowledge of feudalism it is impossible to un- derstand the nature of civil governments, or the laws relat- ing to the possession of land. * VILLAINS, were annexed to the manor, attached to the person of the lord, and transferable to others. BORDARS, those who tilled land to supply the lord's table, which were pieces of bords or boards. BORD-LAND was to supply the ta- ble, or boards, with food, from which comes bordars. These letters are speci- mens of those used to record this survey, and it reads thus : The king holds BERMUNDESKY [in Brixistan Hundred], rated at twelve hides of land, etc. 84 THE LABORER ; The constitution of feuds* had its origin in the military policy of the Goths, Franks, Vandals and Lombards, who poured themselves in vast multitudes into all the nations of Europe at the declension of the Roman empire. It was brought by them from their own countries, and ccntinued in their new colonies, as the most likely means to secure them their new acquisitions. Large parcels of land were allotted by the conquering general to the superior officers of the army, and by them dealt out again to the inferior officers, and most deserving soldiers. These allotments were called "feoda," "feuds," "fiefs," or "fees,"f which appellation signifies a conditional reward ; and the condition was, that the possessor should do service faithfully, both at home and abroad in the wars. He who received them took an oath of fidelity to him that granted them. If this oath was broken, the stipulated service not performed, or the lord forsaken in battle, the rewards were to revert again to him who granted them. Allotments thus acquired, naturally engaged such as ac- cepted them to defend them ; as they all sprang from the same right of conquest, no part could subsist independent of the whole. All givers as well as receivers were bound to defend each others' possessions. This could not be done in a tumultuous, irregular way, some subordination was necessary. Every receiver of lands, was bound, when called on to defend the same, when called upon by his benefactor, for his feud or fee. The benefactor was under the com- mand of the prince. Almost all the real property of Eng- land is by the policy of the laws, granted by the superior lord or king in consideration of certain services to be rendered by the tenant for this property. This lord becomes a ten- * FEUD, a quarrel between families or parties in a state, a right to lands on certain conditions, f FEE, a loan of land, an estate in trust for services. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 85 ant of the king or a chief tenant. This grant was called a tenement, the manner of the possession a tenure,* and the possessors tenants. By this reasoning all the lands in Eng- land is supposed to be holden by the king, who is the lord paramount. The tenures, by which the lords held their lands, were sometimes very frivolous. One lord had a grant of land given him for being the king's champion. His duty was to ride armed cap-a-pie f intoWestminster Hall, and by the proclamation of an herald, make a challenge, u That if any man shall deny the king's title to the crown, he is there ready to defend it at single combat." When this is done the king sends him a gilt cup full of wine, which the champion drinks, and keeps the cup for his fee. This championship is in the family of Sir John Dymock, who holds the manor of Sinvelsey, in Lincolnshire. This manor has been held in this family since Richard II. At the coro- nation of Charles II and George III, a person of this name was their champion. Some had "feofs" or grants of land for carrying the king's banner, his sword, or holding the stirrup when mount- ing his horse, or for being a butler; others, who lived on the borders, for sounding a horn on the approach of an enemy. Some had grants of lands for annual gifts of bows and arrows. Others for gifts of ships. The greatest number of these tenures were held for knight service. \ These grants of land were great in proportion to the services given. * TENURE, the manner of holding lands and tenements of a superior. All the species of ancient tenures may be reduced to four, three of which subsist to this day. j. Tenure by knight service, which is now abolished a. Tenures by fealty or paying rent. 3. Tenure by copy of court roll or written deed. 4. Tenure in ancient demaip, or having improved and occupied the land. j- CAP-A PIE, covered with armor from head to foot. \ KNIGHT, a man admitted to military rank by imposing ceremonies. A privilege conferred on youths of rank. In modern times a title, which is Sir. 9 86 THE LABORER; Those who understand heraldry* can tell, from coats of for what purposes these grants of lands were given. Her- aldry is a kind of rude writing that tells of the deeds of the lords in battle. It was in use before printing. Its devices are placed on the persons, houses, and carriages, of those who are entitled to them. The size of the grants of land gave birth to the orders of aristocracy of various names. The king had daily wants, these at first were no doubt supplied by the labor of villains from his own lands, which exceeded the lands of the nobility. The lords supplied their wants from the labors of vassals and slaves. The difference between the two is this : the vassal was a soldier on foot for a limited period, frequently for forty days, or the payment of an assessment in place of it, such as plowing the lord's land for three days. The villain's services were base in their nature, such as manuring the fields and making the hedges, while the other was honorable. SirWm. Temple speaks of them as "A sort of people in a condition of down- right servitude, used and employed in the most servile works, belonging, both they and their children, and also their effects, to the lords of the soil, like the rest of the cattle or stock upon the land, to be removed at the lord's pleasure or will." These villains, belonged principally to lords of manors, and were either villains regardant that is, annexed to the manors or villains in gross, that is, annexed to the person of the lord, and transferable from one owner to another. They could not leave their lords without his permission; if they ran away, or were purloined from him, they might be * HERALDRY, is the art, or science, of recording genealogies, and blazoning arms or armorial ensigns. It teaches what relates to processions and ceremonies. j- COAT OF ARMS, a short dress on which was embroidered the deeds of the family in silver and gold. Its devices are now put on panels and shields. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 87 claimed like other beasts or chattels. They held small portions of land by way of sustaining themselves and fami- lies. The lord could dispossess him at any time when he pleased. A villain could acquire no property either in lands or goods ; if he purchased either, the -lord of the manor* could seize them to his own advantage, unless he contrived to dispose of them again before the lord seized them. In many places a fine was payable to the lord, if the vil- lain presumed to marry his daughter, without his consent, to any one. The lord could bring an action against the hus- band for purloining his property. The children of the vil- lains were also in the same state of bondage with their pa- rents. The law, however, protected the persons of villains, as the king's subjects, against atrocious injuries from the lords. The lord could beat his villain with impunity, and there was no redress for him. The lord was amenable to the law only for maiming or killing his villain. In process of time villains became manumitted, and gained considerable freedom from their lords, and came to have an interest in their estates the good nature and be- nevolence of many lords of manors having, time out of mind, permitted their villains and their children to enjoy their possessions without interruption in a regular course of descent. In general, these persons held their estates at the will of the lord, and were tenants by copy of court-roll. f It is an instructive lesson to mark the transitions of the * The lord, in addition to his manor lands, had tenemental lands which he distributed among tenants who held them by different modes of tenure. These lands were called book or charter lands, held by deed, rents, and soldier services, from which have arisen freehold tenants under particular manors, and were called folklands, held by no writing, but distributed among the common people at the pleasure of the lord. f COURT-ROLL, a tenant's tenure, made from the rolls of the lord's court. 88 THE LABORER; social condition of men. Ten centuries ago portions of Europe were occupied by men who possessed the soil in common, and were nearly equal in their condition. This same land is now full of mansions, the abodes of learning, refinement, and splendor. This is all at the expense of humble toil. For the use of a piece of land the laborer has to give one-half of his labor, and half of what he has left to the power that enforces these exactions. These rents at the first were very mild and only occasional, and were called aids and reliefs to be given by the vassals on extraor- dinary occasions of the son coming of age, his marriage, or when the lord died, and his son took the oath of fealty to the king. These contributions are called aids.* When the lord was reduced to distress and captivity by public or private wars, when he was in embarrassment from prodigality or waste, when he required means to support his grandeur or advance his schemes of ambition, the vassal came forward to relieve him. The vassal, on entering his fief [grant of land] felt grateful, and, won with the kindness of the lord, made him presents. These acknowledgments natural and commendable, produced the incident of relief, f While these grants of land were precarious, or for life, the superior chose to educate, in his hall, the expectants of his fiefs. As these fiefs or fees were to descend to the * AID, the assistance a person gives to another. AID IN Law, a tax paid by a tenant to his lord; at first a gift it became a right demandable by the lord *nd was chiefly of three kinds, i. To ransom the lord when a prisoner, z. To make the lord's eldest son a knight. 3. To marry the lord's eldest daughter with gifts. These modest aids, and reliefs have now become rents. f RELIEF is to remove or lift, in law, is a fine payable to a lord by the heir of a tenant, (whose parent or ancestor held land by knight service,) for the privilege of taking up the estate, which, on strict feudal principles, had lapsed or fallen to the lord on the death of his tenant. This relief consisted of horses, arms, money and the like. The amount was at first arbitrary, but afterward fixed at a certain rate by law. This fine was payable when the heir was of age. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 89 heir of his vassal, at his death the lord took charge of the son and his estate. The lord protected his person, directed his education, and watched over his concerns, and felt a pride in observing his approach to manhood, and delivering to him, on his majority, the lands of his ancestors. When the heir became of age he could sue for his estate from his guardians. When the heir had possession of his estate he paid a fine to his lord equal to half a year's profit of his land. If this guardianship was done in a proper spirit, its incidents were devoted and affectionate friendship, and pleasing intercourse. These cares were expressed by the interests of wardship.* Grateful for the past, and anxious for the future favor of his chief, the vassal did not incline to ally himself with a family that was hostile to his chief, who was ambitious to add to his power and splendor by consulting the benefi- cial alliance of his vassal. They joined in finding out the lady whose charms and connections might accord with the passions of the one and the policy of the other. f When the vassal gave way to violence or disorder, or when, by cowardice or delinquency, he rendered himself un- worthy of his fief the sacred ties that bound him to his lord were infringed it was necessary to deprive him of his land and give it to one more honorable. This is called escheat. J * WARDSHIP, in feudalism, one of the incidents of tenure by knight service. The wardship of the infant was a consequence of the guardian having an ownership in the soil. The infant vassal was to be the companion of the lord, hence he was the most proper person to give his ward such an education as would enable him to perform the services he was bound to render. f Marriage, in ancient times, was a means used to strengthen the power of kings and nobles. Marriage has often merged two kingdoms peacefully into one. The lords, in past times, quarreled often with each other. Intermarriages would promote peace. Each lord was to his subjects the same as a king. What marriage does for the chief lord, it does the same to the inferior lord. J ESCHEATS, lands that are forfeited to the lord by the death of his vassal. 90 THE LABORER; To perpetuate the conquest made it necessary to have all the lands in England divided into what are called knight's fees [fees mean fiefs or grants of land.] They numbered 60,000 ; and for every fee a knight or soldier was bound to attend to the king in his wars, for forty days in a year ; in which space of time the campaign was generally finished, and a kingdom either conq icred or was lost. By this means the king had at his command 60,000 men without expense. The knights or soldiers were of two kinds. Knights to the king, and knights to the lord the one had honor, the other service. They were distinguished by the name of knighthood and knight-service. To become a knight of the higher class required much ceremony. The council of the district where he belonged was assembled. His age and qualifications were inquired into ; and if deemed worthy of being admitted to the privilege of a knight, his father adorned him with the shield and lance. In consequence of this so- lemnity, he prepared to distinguish himself, and his mind was open to the cares of the public ; the concerns of his family were no longer the objects of his attention. Knighthood, known under the name of chivalry^ is to be dated from the nth century. All Europe being reduced to a state of anarchy and confusion by the decline of the house of Charlemagne, every proprietor of a manor became a sovereign ; the mansion house became a castle, and was surrounded by a moat. The lord of a castle had often en- gagements with others. It frequently happened that castles were pillaged, the women and treasures carried off by the conquerors. During this state of universal hostility, there was no friendly mode of communication between the pro- vinces, nor any high roads from one part of the kingdom to the other. The traders traveling from one part to A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 91 another with their merchandise and families were in danger; the lord of every castle extorted something from them on the road ; and at last, some one more rapacious than the rest, seized upon the whole cargo, and bore off the women for his own use. Thus castles became warehouses of all kinds of rich merchandise, and the prisons of distressed fe- males, whose fathers or lovers had been slain or plundered. Many good lords associated together to repress these scenes of violence and rapine, to secure their property and protect the ladies. The association received the sanction of a religious vow and ceremony. The first knights were men of the highest rank. The fraternity were regarded with reverence. Admission into this order was deemed the highest honor. The candidate fasted from sunrise, con- fessed himself, and received the sacrament. He was dressed in a white tunic, and placed himself at a side table, where he was neither to smile, speak, or eat ; while the knights and ladies, who were to perform the principal ceremony, were eating, drinking, and making merry at the big table. His armor was put on he advanced with his sword hang- ing about his neck, and received the benediction of the priest. From this time the knight devoted himself to the redress of wrongs, to secure merchants from the rapacious cruelty of banditti, and women from their ravishers, to whose power they were exposed by the confusion of the times.* Valor, courtesy, justice, humanity, and honor, were traits of character in the knight, and to these were added religious duties ; these were productive of improvement in manners. War was carried on with less ferocity, humanity was deemed an ornament of knighthood, and knighthood a distinction superior to royalty. Gentle manners were in- *The lords engaging in the Crusades made wars cease among themselves. 92 THE LABORER; troduced, and courtesy was recommended as the most amia- ble of virtues, and every knight devoted himself to the ser- vices of a lady. Violence and oppression decreased, when it was accounted meritorious to check and punish them. A scrupulous adherence to truth, with the most religious at- tention to every engagement, were some of the benefits of chivalry. During the prevalence of chivalry, the ardor of repressing wrongs seized powerfully many knights. Attended by their esquires * they wandered about in search of objects whose misfortunes and misery required assistance. To assist and relieve the ladies was an achievement they most courted. This was the rise of knights-errant, whose adventures have been the foundation of many romances. f If we compare the amount that an Englishman pays now for the loan of an acre of soil, with the amount that the barons of William I received, we can see how aggressive and unjust are a few to the many. The English tenant has now to give one-half to two- thirds of his labor for rent. It was not so with the Norman tenant. What he paid was only occasionally, and under the modest name of aids, reliefs, presents, the exactions of wardships and marriage presents. The ties that bound the barons and his soldiers together, were destined to undergo a change. The bond of union was the danger that surrounded them. When the baron did not fear the subjugated English, then he began to increase the burdens that his vassal should bear, which may be illus- * ESQUIRE, once a shield-bearer and an attendant on a knight. Now a title given to the younger sons of the nobility, to the king's court officers, to counselors at law, justices of peace, sheriffs, and gentlemen. In the United States this title is given to officers of all degrees, from governors down to jus- tices and attorneys. When used to others it is a mark of respect. j- KNIGHT-ERRANT, a knight who traveled in search of adventures, for the purpose of exhibiting his military skill, prowess, and generosity. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 93 trated by a benevolent writer:* "The Arab trains his camel, from its birth, to all the exercises and hardships it is to undergo during the whole course of its life. He accus- toms it to labor hard and eat but little. He teaches it to draw its legs up under its belly, while it suffers itself to be laden with burdens, that are insensibly increased as its strength is improved by age, and by the habit of bearing fa- tigue. This singular plan of education princes sometimes adopt, the more easily to tame their subjects.' 1 The generous maxims of feudal association and the wild- ness of chivalry were to suffer with time. Property was to be unfolded in all its relations. It became a distinction more powerful than merit, and was to alter the condition of human society. By separating the interests of the lord and his vassals, it was to destroy forever the principles of their association; and the incidents, which, in a better age, had fostered their friendships, were to feed their rage. As their union had been attended with advantages, their disaf- fection was attended with debasement. Out of the sweets of love, a fatal bitterness was engendered. Oppression was to succeed freedom ; society and governments were to be disorderly ; diseases and infirmities were to threaten its decay. In the prevalence of property and mercenary views the ward\ of the infant vassal was to be regarded in no other light than a lucrative emolument. He committed spoils on the estate which of old it was his duty to improve. He neglected the education of his heir, and gave insults to his person. His relations were often compelled to buy from his superior the custody of his person and his lands. This *ABBE RAYNAL'S Hist, of Europeans in East and West Indies, vol I, p. 3 3 3. * WARD, a guardian over a child. To charge for these services would open a wide field of avarice and peculation, and be a source of bitterness. 94 THE LABORER; right of wardship was frequently let out to the rapacity of strangers. The treasury of princes* was to increase with this traffic ; and subject superiors were to imitate the exam- ple of princes. The heir, on his joyless majority, received the lands of his ancestors with a melancholy feeling, his castle bore the marks of neglect, his fields were deformed with waste, grievances were to embitter his complaints and swell his passions, his woods decayed, houses fallen down, stock wasted, lands barren. The heir was also to pay half a year's profits of the lands for suing out his livery, f and also the price and valuation of his marriage. J If he refused such a wife as his guardian provided for him and married another the fine was twice as large. The expensive honor of knighthood made the poverty of the heir apparent, and the deductions from his fortune to which he had to submit often ruined him, and if obliged to sell his patrimony, he had not even the privilege allowed him of selling out by a license of alienation. A slavery so compli- cated and extensive called for a remedy. The relief, which originally was no more than a present, at the pleasure of the vassal on entering his fief, was con- solidated into a right. An expression of gratitude was converted into a burden. The superior, before the heir entered on his land, made an exaction of him, in which he had no rule but his rapacity. His demand was exor- bitant. If the fine of redemption was unpaid or delayed, * The king was the guardian of the orphan children of his nobles. |- LIVERY, the ceremony of delivering to an heir his estate, and releasing the lord from wardship 5 it is also the form and color of the dress of servants, to distinguish them from others. J Charles I was the last monarch to exercise this custom of finding a part- ner in marriage for his ward. $ LHENSE, in law is authority granted to do some act. ALIENATION, a transfer of lands and tenements to another. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 95 the superior continued the possession of the estate. This produced discontent which was not regarded. The marriage of the vassal was a ruinous perquisite, and the superior could give his vassal to whom he pleased. If the vassal married without the consent of the superior, it involved the forfeiture of the estate. The vassal could only purchase a right to marry whom he pleased. It was the rule that the heir should not be married to his dispar- agement ; but this rule was overlooked in the violence of the times. The vassal had no relief but in remonstrance. When the lord exercised his authority over his female ward he paid no heed to her affections and made her sub- mit to embraces unsanctioned by love. It was a means of oppression and ferocious cruelty. Her beauty was to lose its sweetness, and her heart its enjoyment, to gratify avarice. Her relations had to buy from the tyrant exemption from his unfeeling exactions and base demands. The aid, the vassal bestowed out of benevolence, to re- lieve the distress, to assist the grandeur of his lord, became a burden, a tax, a misery, and enforced as a duty. Aids were required on the most frivolous pretenses. When the cro%n or lord was disposed to be oppressive, they could find a reason for an aid, which was to affect every mo- ment the subsistence of the vassal. Cowardice, dishonor, treachery, or treason, were causes for escheat. With the progress of time lesser delinquencies, disagreements, trespasses, and trifles, were to multiply and be causes of forfeiture of the fief. If the vassal refused to attend the court of the superior, o* take the oath of fealty ; or infringe the oath \ or if he foresaw any act or misfortune that was to befall his lord, and not inform him ; if he should make love to his wife or daughter, caress his unmarried sis- ter; these and other reasons still more absurd, were to for- 96 THE LABORER; feit the estate to the superior, and involve the ruin of the vassal and his family. These causes were to destroy the cordiality that existed between the lord and his vassal. The conditions of the fief were still obligatory, and the vassal could not renounce his ties without forsaking his importance. His property and subsistence fastened him to an enemy, whom he was to reverence. The vassal had to do military duties. With a cold heart he buckled on his armor, to follow, with reluc- tance, the march of his chief. Of old, it had been the am- bition to carry all his strength against an enemy, that he might display his own greatness, and add to the magnifi- cence of his superior. He now furnished unwillingly the assistance that he was bound to give. The fervor that he once displayed in advancing the ambitious plans of his lord was to cease. The contentions between the nobles and his vassals, was to work important changes in the structure of human so- ciety. The king had often designs of his own to carry out, it might be a new conquest, or to gratify splendor and magnificence, which would require aids from the nobles, the collection of which might be easier with disaffectecfvas- sals. The king, by favoring his nobles' vassals, strength- ened his own power, and is the source no doubt of gaining uncontrolled power, and a cause of fiefs being hereditary to be held by annual rents and taxes, instead of knightservice. CHAPTER V. PARLIAMENTS AND COMMONS. PARLIAMENTS A RESULT OF CONGEST THE DISPUTES OF KINGS AND NOBLES A CAUSC OF PARLIAMENTS ORIGIN OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS AN AS- SEMBLY OF MEN TO SAVE THEMSELVES FROM BEING PLUNDERED. "It is better to be a great statesman than a common thief." JONATHAN WILD. JEUDALISM has displaced barbarism or rude so- ciety. Before it was introduced into England the rich and the great lived in stone houses, without glass in the windows, or plaster on the walls. The sleep- ing place was a recess in the wall filled with straw. To hide the naked walls, in the Middle Ages the ladies hung up tapestry or embroidered cloth. The Bayeux Tapestry, is over four hundred feet long. The web is linen while the embroidery is woolen. It was worked with a needle, and executed with labor and care. This work is attributed to Matilda, the wife of William the Norman, and is a series of designs, illustrating the events of William's life, and gives us battle scenes, rural, and domestic life. Feudalism has changed this scene, and given to a few magnificent palaces, with papered walls, carpeted floors, frescoed ceilings, carved furniture, costly food and wines, waiting servants, grassy lawns, and sparkling fountains. These scenes are before the worker, and he wishes to possess them ; yet they might never have existed had no force been employed, which is hunger and want, caused by idlers eating up the food of the (97) THE LABORER; workers. Hunger and a sight of wealth are powerful mo- tives to quicken the energies of man. In sight of the glittering mansion are to be seen boys, who tie on their rags with ropes, which are all they possess. Some of these boys sleep in water pipes, the park roller, and in trees.* "A widow, residing in Robert Street, was found by some of her neighbors in a starving condition. She occupied a room to herself, and she was so far reduced in strength, that she could not cook food if she had abun- dance, "f To remedy the ills of life, men must be taught to practice useful labor. Legislation can not abolish the evils of life. To prove this it is only necessary to know something of the history of legislation, and for what pur- pose it was introduced into the world. Many suppose that governments are to protect the weak ; they are contrivances of men to enrich themselves at the expense of the toiler. It was not to be expected that the blood-stained warriors of the conqueror could agree among themselves, or they could make a subjugated people submit to their unfeeling de- mands, hence the necessity of a parliament, which comes from the Latin word parley to talk. The original or first institution of parliaments is one of these matters that lie far hidden in the Dark Ages of an- tiquity. Their tracing out is a thing difficult and uncertain. It signifies a place where men meet to settle difficulties. King Alfred ordained for a perpetual usage: " That these councils should meet twice a year, to treat of the govern- ment of God's people ; and how they should keep them- selves from sin, and live in quiet, and do right." There seems in early periods of time to have been a con- stant struggle between kings, lords, and the people to gain the ascendancy. This same disposition still exists. In * London paper, f Cincinnati Commercial, of January 1 7th, 1867 A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 99 many countries the king rules without assembling parlia- ments. His word is law, from which there can be no appeal. The nobles are turbulent, and think themselves as good as the king, and they do not submit willingly to his authority. They court the good-will of the people to match the king. The king, on the other hand, grants the people all the fa- vors he can so as to be able to rule the nobles. Parliaments are only compromises between kings and nobles to plunder the people, aided by unprincipled men who desert from the class that keep the race from perishing by useful labors. It is the soldiers and policemen that keep the people from ruling and obtaining the happiness that is their due. William at first tried to rule his people without parlia- ments. His wars in Normandy required money, and the tenure upon which land was held was not sufficient to fur- nish supplies. This compelled William to call a meeting of his barons to obtain money from them. In America, the land of freedom, is to be seen and felt the spirit of feudalism, which makes men so unequal in their condition. Look at Astor, his income is $3,000 a day. A farm laborer has to work six years to earn this sum, and it will take him fifteen years to save this amount. Another evidence of the spirit of feudalism among us, is to see, in large cities men, wearing a livery, with clubs in their hands. Another evidence is to see a large stone jail with a victim suspended on a gallows, to atone for a fault that would not have happened had better circumstances been thrown in his pathway. The miseries of mankind arise from a few growing rich, doing nothing and lessening the clothing and food of others who are industrious. Had the Fathers of the Revolution given to those who were willing to settle the uncultivated lands, a hundred acres and no more, and only to the cultivators, the painful contrasts that we see TOO THE LABORER; in human society would not have been known or even felt. This pleasing description of a colony shows that a com- munity is better without ruling powers, who eat up the sub- stance of the people and cause crime. "It was in 1604, that the French settled in Acadia, [opposite the state of Maine,] four years before they had built the smallest hut in Canada. Instead of fixing toward the east of the penin- sula, where they could have had plenty of cod, they chose the Bay of Fundy. It is probable that the founders chose this situation on account of furs. At their first arrival in Acadia they found the peninsula peopled with savages, who were called Abenakies, and they were sociable in their man- ners, and became enthusiasts in religion. Whenever hos- tilities took place between England and France, the penin- sula was attacked and ransacked by the New Englanders. No magistrate was ever appointed to rule over them. No rents or taxes were ever exacted from them.* Their lands yielded wheat, rye, oats, barley, maize, and potatoes. The meadows were covered with numerous flocks. Sixty thou- sand head of horned cattle were computed to be there ; and most of the families had horses, though the tillage was car- ried on with oxen. The habitations, built entirely of wood, were extremely convenient, and furnished as neatly as any farm-house in Europe. The people bred a great deal of poultry of all the kinds, which made a wholesome variety in their food, which was in general wholesome and abundant. Their common drink was beer and cider. Their clothing was, in general, the produce of their own flax and fleeces. With these they made common linens and coarse cloths. Articles of lux- * This picture of happiness was universal over the colonies. Criminals, or poor people were hard to find ; the change may be attributed to the introduc- tion of the National Government. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 101 ury they procured from Annapolis, in exchange for corn, cattle, or furs. The French had no articles to dispose of among their neighbors, and still fewer exchanges among themselves, because each separate family was able, and had been used to provide for its wants. They, therefore, knew nothing of paper currency, which was so common in the rest of North America. Even the small quantity of specie which had stolen into the colony, did not promote that circulation which is the greatest advantage that can be derived from it. "Their manners were extremely simple. There never was a cause, either civil or criminal, of enough importance to be carried before the court of judicature* established at Annapolis. Whatever little differences arose from time to time among them, were amicably adjusted by their elders. All their public acts were drawn by their pastors, who had likewise the keeping of their wills, for which, and their re- ligious services, the inhabitants gave them a twenty-seventh part of their harvests. " There was a sufficiency to fulfill every act of liberality. Real misery was entirely unknown, and benevolence prevented the demands of poverty. Every misfortune was relieved, as it were, before it could be felt; and good was universa.ly dispensed, without ostentation on the part of the giver, and without humiliating the person who received it. These people were, in a word, a society of brethren, every indi- vidual of which was equally ready to give and receive what he thought the common right of mankind. tc So perfect a harmony naturally prevented all those con- nections of gallantry which are so often fatal to the peace of families. There never was an instance in this society * This court was established by the English, to whom the French nation ceded Acadia. This virtuous people had no use for courts. 10 IO2 THE LABORER; of an unlawful commerce between the two sexes. This evil was prevented by early marriages ; for no one passed his youth in a state of celibacy. As soon as the young man came to the proper age the community built him a house, broke up the lands about it, sowed them, and supplied him with all the necessaries of life for twelve months. Here he received the partner he had chosen, and who brought him her por- tion in flocks. This new family grew and prospered like the others. They all together numbered 18,000 souls. "Who will not be affected with the innocent manners and the tranquillity of this fortunate colony ? Who will not wish for the duration of its happiness ? Who will not con- struct, in imagination, an impenetrable wall, that may separ- ate these colonists from their unjust and turbulent neigh- bors ? The calamities of the people may have no period ; but, on the contrary the end of their felicity is always at hand. A long series of favorable events is necessary to raise them from misery, while one instant is sufficient to plunge them into it. May the Acadians be excepted from this general curse ! but, alas ! it is to be feared that they will not. "Great Britain perceived, in 1749, of what consequence the possession of Acadia might be to her commerce. The peace furnished an opportunity by the disbanding of the troops for cultivating a vast territory. The British min- istry offered particular advantages to all who chose to go over and settle in Acadia. Every soldier, sailor, and work- man was to have fifty acres for himself and ten for each of his family the land to be tax free for ten years. The government found a passage, built a house, gave imple- ments of industry, and subsistence for a year. These en- couragements determined 3,750 persons to go to America. These new inhabitants founded Halifax, in 1749. Some A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 103 disturbances began to break out among the neutral French. These people, whose manners were so simple, and who en- joyed such liberty, had already perceived that their inde- pendence must necessarily suffer from encroachments from any power that should turn its views to the countries they inhabited. To this apprehension was added that of seeing their religion in danger. This determined the happy Ameri- can colony to quit their habitations and remove to New France, where lands were offered them. This resolution many of them executed immediately ; the rest prepared to follow as soon as they had provided for their safety. "This the English government either from policy or ca- price, determined to prevent by an act of treachery a base and cruel course in those whose power gives them an opportunity of pursuing milder methods. Under a pretense of exacting a renewal of the oath which they had taken at the time of their becoming English subjects, they called to- gether all the remaining inhabitants, and put them on board of a ship. They were conveyed to the other English colo- nies, where the greater part of them died of grief. " Such are the effects of national jealousies, and the ra- pacity of governments, to which men as well as their property, becomes a prey. Can it be said after this, that policy and society were instituted for the happiness of mankind ? They were instituted to screen the wicked, and to secure the powerful" * Hume, in his History of England, says : " Feudalism was a huge fabric, which for several centuries preserved such a mixture of liberty and oppression, order and anarchy, sta- bility and revolution as was never experienced before a system to secure conquests against the revolt of numerous subjects and tribes. The prince was nothing but a great ABBE RAYNAL'S History of the Settlement of the West Indfes,Vol. V, p. 3 50. IO4 THE LABORER; chieftain, who derived his power on account of his nobility or valor, and from the attachment of other chiefs. He seized the conquered lands, and kept a large share for him- self. To support his dignity he granted lands to his chiefs ; these made a new partition among their retainers, under the name of fiefs, on condition they take the field in defense of the nation. The conquerors separated that they might enjoy their new acquisition. They soon became attached to their lands and made improvements. To lose their pos- session, to be expelled for not submitting to another's will, made them wish for a change, so as the family could not be left to want by death. Fiefs were made hereditary in families, and descended to sons, grandsons, brothers, and more distant relations. The idea of property stole gradu- ally upon that of military pay ; and each century made some additions to the stability of fiefs. "In all these changes the chief was supported by his vas- sals by constant intercourse and friendship, arising from dependence, they followed their leader against all his ene- mies. The authority of the sovereign gradually decayed ; and each noble, assisted by his vassals in his own territory, became too powerful to be expelled by an order from the throne. "The king, therefore, when he found it necessary to de- mand any service of his chief tenants or barons, beyond what was due by their tenures, was obliged to assemble them, in order to obtain their consent. The question was discussed and decided among them. In these two circum- stances of consent and advice consisted chiefly the civil services of the ancient barons, and these implied all the considerable incidents of government. No momentous af- fairs could be transacted without their consent or advice, it .gave security to their possessions and dignitaries. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 105 "The barons had their courts, and presided like the king over the nobles. It was requisite to assemble the vassals, in order to determine by their vote any question which re- garded the barony ; and they sat along with the chief in all his trials, whether civil or criminal, which occurred within the limits of their jurisdiction. The vassals were bound to pay suit at the court of their baron ; and as their tenure was considered honorable, because military, they were ad- mitted into his society and shared his friendship. Thus was a kingdom considered a great barony, and a barony as a small kingdom. The barons were peers to each other in the national council, and in some degree companions to the king. The vassals were peers to each other in the court of barony, and companions to their barons. " The vassal fell under greater subordination to the baron than the baron under the sovereign, which tended to aug- ment the power of the nobles. The great chief fortifying his country seat, lost a part of his acquaintance with the prince, and added new force to his authority over the vas- sals of his barony. They received a military education at his hand, hospitality in his hall, retainers on his person, and partakers of his sports and amusements. Their ambition was gratified by a position in his train, his favor was their honor, his displeasure was ignominy, and he was their pro- tection in controversies with other vassals, and in the daily inroads and injuries of other barons. 41 The feudal government was destructive of the security and independence of other members of the state. A great part were serfs and lived in a state of absolute villainage or slavery. The other inhabitants of the country paid their rents in services, which were in a great measure arbitrary, and they could get no redress of injuries, in a court of barony, from men who had no right to tyrannize and oppress 106 THE LABORER; them. The barons lived in rustic plenty, and gave no en- couragement to the arts or elaborate manufactories. Every profession was held in contempt but that of arms. The industrious and opulent merchant was often exposed to in- jury from the envy of the nobles. "The great baron always was submissive to the prince, so that he might have resource to him if necessary in exact- ing submission from his own vassals. Adherence to the crown protected from injury and powerful neighbors, and promoted the execution of more general and equal laws. The people had a still stronger interest to desire the gran- deur of the sovereign the king being the legal magis- trate, who suffered by every internal convulsion, and who regarded the great nobles as his immediate rivals. The king assumed the salutary office of general guardian, or pro- tector of the commons. Besides the prerogatives with which the law invested him, his large demesnes and numerous re- tainers rendered him in one sense the greatest baron in the kingdom and the fountain of law and justice. "What preserved the first Norman kings from the en- croachments of the barons was, they were generals and had to secure themselves from the revolt of the numerous natives, whom they had bereaved of all their properties and privileges. William and his immediate successors were absolute ; it was lost as soon as the Norman barons began to incorporate with the nation, to acquire a security in their possessions, and to fix their influence over their vassals, tenants, and slaves. The immense fortunes which the Conqueror had bestowed on his chief captains, served to support their independence, and to make them formidable to the sovereign. "William gave to Hugh de Abrinces, the county of Chester, and rendered his grant almost independent of the A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 107 crown. The Earl of Montaigne had 937 manors; Earl of Brittany 442 ; Odo Bishop of Bayieux 439 ; Bishop of Constance 280; Earl of Buckingham 107; Earl of War- renne 298. These are only a few who had princely reve- nues. It was difficult to retain them as subjects. Earl of Warrenne, in a subsequent reign, was questioned on the right to his lands, drew his sword, which he produced as his title; adding that William did not conquer the kingdom himself, but that the barons, and his ancestor among the rest, were joint adventurers in the enterprise. "The executive power" of the government was in the king. The stated meetings of the Council or Parliament was at Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide. The king could summon them together at any time, the whole judi- cial* power was in his hands, and was exercised by officers and ministers of his appointment. " The general plan of the Norman government was, that the court of baronyf was appointed to decide controversies between vassals. The hundred or county court J could judge subjects of different baronies the king's court to give sentence among the barons themselves. The king of- ten sat in his court, heard causes, and gave decisions. The various courts that now exist have sprung from these. " From the two lower courts there could be appeals to the king's court, and by that means the administration of justice was brought into the hands of the sovereign. And, lest the expense of the journey or trouble to court should discourage suitors, and make them acquiesce in the decis- ions of the inferior judicatures, itinerating judges were ap- * JUDICIAL, what pertains to a court of justice, or the distribution of justice. f COURT- BARON, a baron's court, or manor court. The lord was the judge. J CouNTvCouRT, a court limited to a county, and its powers are now the statutes of the land. COUNTY, the territory of a count or earl. Now a partic- ular part of a state or kingdom, set apart for the administration of justice. io8 THE LABORER; pointed, who made circuits throughout the kingdom, and tried all causes brought before them. The lawyers gradu- ally brought all business before the king's judges."* The Norman kings made considerable progress in gradu- ally getting revenues. There were eighteen sources of rev- enue, many of which have passed away, and the king is de- pendent for support on the people, through the Parliament. First source of revenue was the crown lands, which were very extensive. Second source of revenue was the charge of the temporalities of the bishops. Third, was a pension from every abbey founded by royal benevolence. Fourth , was the first-fruits and tenths of all spiritual preferments. Fifth, rents of manors. Sixth, purveying which means when the king went on a journey he sent out purveyorsf to levy on provisions for himself and household. As this led to abuses. Charles I had it commuted to fifteen pence on every barrel of beer that was brewed in the kingdom, on him and his heirs forever. Seventh, on licenses for selling wine. This was commuted to ,7,000 a year by statute of Geo. II. Eighth, was from timber in forests. Ninth, was from courts of justice. Tenth, the royal fish, which are the whale and sturgeon, thrown ashore or caught near the shore ; this was granted on consideration of protecting the coast from robbers and pirates. The remaining sources of revenues were a right to mines, wrecked ships, forfeited goods, treasure-trove,;); waifs, estrays, estates that have no heirs, the care of the estates of minor lords. The present sovereign gets 900,000 a year, which is collected by the House of Commons who, a century and a half ago, rented the crown lands, or rather gave them away on very easy * See article Feudalism, Hume's History of England. f PURVEYOR, an officer who used to exact, or provide the king with food. ^TREASURE-TROVE, money found hidden in the earth, the owner unknown. This well-clad man is setting this poor feeble, boy to sweeping before his man- sion to pay for his new broom. It is self-evident, if this boy's father was a builder on this stone-paneled, and finely-carved building, he would be poor, and leave his children bitter poverty. Reflection should teach laboring people that the division of society into poor and rich classes is oppression, and should cease. In becoming civilized we have forsaken the plain path of nature. Many of the pursuits of civ- ilization are as uncertain as those of the savage, to yield food and clothing. The remedy is, each one should labor for himself, at something useful, and exchange equally and directly with other useful laborers. This ends the laborer's wrongs. 3 A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 109 terms. The means used to collect the royal salary is now called the extraordinary revenues, and are raised by aids, sub- sidies* and supplies. f The king was never contented with the stated rents, hut levied heavy talliagesj at his pleasure, both on the inhabi- tants of the town and country. He pretended to exact tolls on goods sold in the market ; he took two hogsheads of wine from every vessel that imported it all goods paid to his customs a part of their value. A passage over a bridge or river was loaded with tolls. The king exacted money for the renewal of charters, and the people were held in per- petual dependence. The barons were exposed to the inroads of power, against which they had no security. The Conqueror or- dained that the barons should pay nothing beyond their stated services, except a reasonable aid to ransom his person if he were taken in war, to make his oldest son a knight, or to marry his eldest daughter. What should on these oc- casions be deemed a reasonable aid, was not determined, and the demands of the crown were discretionary. The king could in war require the personal attendance of his vassals, and if they declined the service, they were obliged to pay him a composition in money, which was called a scutage. This sum, was during some reigns, preca- rious and uncertain; it was sometimes levied without allow- ing the vassal the usual liberty of personal service ; and it was an artifice of the king to pretend to an expedition, that he might be entitled to levy the scutage from his military tenants. This tax was one, two, or three marks for every * SUBSIDY, aid in money, a tax to assist a prince in place of personal service ' { SUPPLIES, money granted by English Parliaments for public expenditures. J TALLIAGE, to cut off, to share, a tax or toll on the people for the king. SCUTAGE, a contribution from the knights toward furnishing the army. no THE LABORER; knight's fee [a mark is 135. 4banks allure him from it. Hon. S. P. Chase, when governor of Ohio, in his message, said : " No system of currency can insure complete protec- tion against speculation, debt, and revulsion. Credit cur- rency in the United States is supplied by banks in the form of notes circulating as money. The number of banks, in 1858, exceeded 1,400; their circulation is $214,778,822; deposits, $230,358,352; capital, $370,686 ; discounts, $684- 456,887; and specie, $60,000,000. It needs but a glance at this statement to perceive that a currency so expanded 17 1 82 THE LABORER; must greatly stimulate hazardous speculation, and tend to financial disorder. The credit currency must become, in part or all together, incontrovertible into coin." The capital of these banks is in the hands of the comp- troller, and is earning six per cent, interest ; add this interest to the interest the discounts earn, and add $5,000,000 to the two interests, and you have $40,000,000, the probable annual cost of the paper money of this land. The first sum is what the banks gain by their money getting des- troyed, burnt, and wrecked. It is said a Lowell factory girl can make 1,000 yards of cotton cloth in a week; hence, if the bankers, their families, and dependents were to become workers, they could make for this people 4,000,000,000 yards of cotton cloth. Said Helvetius to Frederick the Great, in alluding to some petitions for monopolies : "Sire, you need not trouble your- self to read them through ; they all speak the same language. We beseech your Majesty to grant us leave to rob your people of such a sum ; in consideration of which, we engage to pay you a share of the pillage." Professor Vethake in his book on Political Economy, when speaking of bank expansions and contractions, says : "Profits, too, made in this manner can not be classed with those which result from ordinary gaming. They are pre- cisely of the same nature with the winnings of the gambler, who uses false dice, or marked cards, unknown to his vic- tim , and the act of obtaining them is deserving of no milder epithet than that of swindling or robbery" In 1831, Mr Stephen Simpson, Cashier of the United States Bank, published the "Working-Man's Manual," in which the evils of banking are well portrayed. Page 48 says: "It is a singular infatuation, prevailing among Polit- ical Economists, that the scarcity of food that exists among A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 183 the laboring people is attributable to the excess of popu- lation, while the palpable fact was staring them in the face, that the excess of the rich demonstrated the falsity of .the hypothesis. " The stinted measure of the wages of labor may be just- ly termed the evil principle of the age. If we substitute capital, banks, and monopolies, for the barons, lords, and bishops of the feudal time, we shall realize a juncture so precisely similar, as to carry out in full an illustration of the abuses under which the sons of labor now suffer oppression and injustice. But the law.s have made it a just and meri- torious act, that capitalists shall combine to strip the man of labor of his earnings, and reduce him to a dry crust and a gourd of water. Thus does power invert justice, and derange the order of nature. He who sows, shall reap ; he who builds, shall inhabit ; he who produces, shall possess ! This is the dictate of nature, justice, reason, instinct and common sense. This instinct is crushed by the power of law and capital. Why should the working classes be stripped of the fruits of their labor ? Simply because they are defenceless, and custom has, from time immemorial, classed them with slaves and servants." In Spark's u Life of Washington," is a letter to Thos. Stone, in which the General says : " I do not scruple to de- clare that, if I had a voice in your legislature, it would have been given decidedly against a paper emission. The wisdom of man, in my humble opinion, can not devise a plan by which the credit of paper money would be long supported ; consequently depreciation keeps pace with the quantity of the emission, and articles for which it is ex- changed rise in a greater ratio than the sinking value of the money. An evil equally great is the door it immediately opens for speculation, by which the least designing, and, 184 THE LABORER; perhaps, most valuable part of community are preyed upon by the more knowing and crafty speculators." John Q. Adams says: "As to bankers, there is but little difference between them and the counterfeiter. If I should give any preference, the counterfeiter is the best, for neither of them ever expected nor intended to pay their notes. The banker, more bold and daring, robs the people under cover and pretense of the law ; the counterfeiter, more dif- fident and unassuming, robs the people without law." Daniel Webster, in 1812, in the U. S. Senate, said: u Of all the contrivances for cheating the laboring classes of mankind, none is so effectual as that which deludes with paper money ! It is the most perfect expedient ever in- vented for fertilizing the rich man's field by the sweat of the poor man's brow." Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to J. Taylor, said: "The system of banking we have both equally and ever repro- bated. I contemplate it as a blot left in our institutions, which, if not corrected, will end in their destruction, which is already hit by gamblers in corruption, and is sweeping away in its progress the fortunes and morals of our citizens. And I sincerely believe with you, that bank establishments are more dangerous than standing armies." Andrew Jackson, in a letter to M. Dawson, in 1840, said : "A national paper currency is a great curse to any people, and a curse to the laborer of any country, for its de- preciation falls on the working classes." Wm. H. Harrison, in a speech made at Dayton, said : " I am not a bank man ; I was once, and they cheated me out of every dollar I had placed in their hands." Wm. Pitt said: "Let the Americans adopt their funding System, and go on with their banking institutions, and their boasted independence will be a mere phantom." A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 185 It may seem strange to many why American liberty is imaginary; it is so, unless it means every man to get all he can of his neighbor's labor, and keep it. It is self-evident that the man who is possessed of abundant riches has not earned them, and the causes that made him rich will make riches universal, if men will turn the money into other channels. We say of a slave he is not a freeman, because others get his toil, and leave him a very small share. What shall we say of a community that gives a few the privilege of issuing millions of money, which gets the labor of others when issued, and the people pay every year for its use 40,000,000 ? This is a large sum and would find 80,000 homes at a cost of $500 each. This was brought about in this manner. Soon after the Revolution, the State Legislatures gave bank charters to a favored few at the ex- pense of the many. The banks were required by law to have a third of their issues in gold. Every ten years there have been "runs" on the bank. When the gold was gone then came suspension, which means merchants and others who owe the banks must come and pay. The merchant sells his soap, sugar, hats, shoes, and clothes for the sus- pended money, which he is glad to get. The people are glad to get these things. They are what they work for. So- ciety has now no money, which brings misery to the daily laborer, to those who are in debt, or have taxes to pay. The Guernsey Times says : " In Muskingum the sheriff, in 1842, sold at auction a wagon for $5.50; ten hogs at six and a quarter cents each ; two horses (said to be worth sixty dollars each) for four dollars ; two cows for one dol- lar each ; and a barrel of sugar for $1.50. In Pike County, Missouri, the sheriff sold three horses for 1.50 each; five cows, two steers, and a calf for $3.25; twenty sheep for $2.70 5 twenty-four hogs for twenty-five cents ; eight hogs- 1 86 THE LABORER; y heads of tobacco for $5.00 ; three stacks of hay for seventy- five cents." Henry Clay tells us, in 1837 the people lost in four years by bank failures and depreciation of property 782,000,000, or one-sixth of the property of the Union. The losses of the country, in 1858, by bank failures was nearly the same. By the periodical revulsions we have had for ninety years, or the losses or changes that have occurred, one part of the community has lost $2,000,000,000. To make this subject plainer, we will suppose a person has prop- erty to the amount of $1,000, and he owes $100; when his property is sold at auction, and the property sells for $100, it involves a great loss. The person who purchased the property, may have earned his money by 100 days' labor; the other has losjt what may have cost him a 1,000 days' labor. The human mind can not tell or describe how this land has been blighted by banks of discount, which tempt men to run in debt. To the bankers, for encouraging these treacherous institutions, the people will have paid in ninety years $1,000,000,000. Suppose a laborer earns in one year $500, and he saves half of it for sickness and age, in two years he has saved $500 ; this will keep him two years. If by an inundation of paper money the commodities of life become twice as high, he has only what will keep him one year. This man has labored a day, and he ought to exchange it so as to get a day's labor from another laborer. To prevent this is an in- jury. The issues of the late war have affected those who live by incomes. The money received from interest has not purchased half as much as before. The plan of many of the Democrats is to issue more paper money, to pay the national debt. This will enable a person to pay his debts with half the labor. A person sells two barrels of flour for ten dollars, and lends the money, when he gets his money, A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 187 back again it will only purchase one barrel of flour. We can judge a person if he is rich by the position he assumes. If a man has plenty of money at interest, he will want paper and gold money alike in value, so that he can purchase much with the interest. If a person is in debt he will favor a flood of paper money so that he can pay his debts easily At the present time (1868), the currency is all paper, and it is to be hoped paper money will never again be founded on gold. The past shows how dangerous is a currency based on gold, it rises and falls, causing the fortunes and happi- ness of men be very uncertain. What better money can we make than by pledging houses and lands to the authorities. It can be well secured and save runs on the banks, and then we will have a uniform cur- rency. In Franklin's boyhood books and papers were not plentiful. A favorite way to obtain knowlege was by de- bate. Franklin started this question : u Is the emission of paper money safe?" In 1729, he wrote an essay on paper money. The State of Pennsylvania acted on his thoughts; and issued ,15,000, then ,30,000. In 1736, the assem- bly issued <8oo,ooo, or $4,000,000. The money was loaned to the borrowers from a loan office. Five persons were made trustees of the loan office, under whose care and direction the bills or notes were printed ; they were of various denominations, from twenty shillings to one shilling ; this created no necessity for much silver money. The trustees took an oath, and gave security for the due and faithful execution of their office; they were to lend out the bills on real security for double that amount. The borrowers were to pay the sum in sixteen years, one sixteenth was to be paid every year with interest ; the prin- cipal was loaned out again to others, and the interest was applied to the expenses of the State. The trustees were i88 THE LABORER; taken from different parts of the State, and were to con- tinue in office four years, and to account to the committee of the assembly. At the expiration of the term they were to give up all moneys and securities into the hands of their successors before their bonds and securities could be dis- charged. This money was in use up to 1774. A writer of this period says : u Paper money thus lent upon interest will create gold and silver in principal, while the interest becomes a resource that pays the charges of the government. This currency is the stream which con- verts all into gold that is washed by it. It is upon this prin- ciple that the wisdom and virtue of the assembly of Penn- sylvania established an office for the emission of paper money by loans." Adam Smith says: "The government of Pennsylvania without amassing any treasure, invented a method of lend- ing, not money indeed, but what is equivalent to money to its subjects, by advancing to private people, at interest, and upon land security, paper bills of credit, and transferable from hand to hand like bank notes, and declared by an act of assembly to be a legal tender in all payments. It raised a moderate revenue toward defraying an annual expense of $22,000. Pennsylvania was always moderate in her emis- sions of paper money, which never sunk below the value of coin." Franklin states that, "The colony of Massachusetts gave bills of credit, bearing interest, for which the people loaned coin, and afterward passed the bills. He calls it con- venient money, bearing interest while in the pocket, and when passed the interest was calculated." The citizens of Pittsburg, in 1847, or near tnat time, built water-works ; the corporation got a note-plate and printed money, which paid the workmen for their labor A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 189 and circulated as money. These notes were the same in appearance as other bank notes; there was written on them, " The city will receive this one dollar in payment for taxes." If the water-works cost $100,000, and capitalists had built them, they would have done it with credit paper money. For the use of this capital the citizens would pay -$7,000 an- nually, and pay it for generations till the principal was paid. This $100,000 cost to print it $200, and why should the citizens of this city pay annually $7,000? Are not 100,000 citizens as rich as 100 bankers, and can they not give se- curity to their own money ? Why should these industrious iron-workers be guilty of the absurd folly of keeping a par- cel of fellows in idleness for supplying some paper money ? These notes could be carried in to pay water-rents, and be destroyed, or they can be re-issued to pay teachers or city officers. In this way the city can have money. In olden times cities and governments did more for the people than is done now. Men are degenerating. The city of Hamburg, to maintain its poor, opened a pawn-bro- ker's shop and took goods as pledges. The city, in one year made $160,000. The sale of unredeemed goods increased this fund. If we had such patriots as Franklin, men who loved the country, who had some regard for the humble poor, and who did not look on them as things to live on, such men would give us a currency that would not fatten idlers to riot on the labor of others. Why should not the cur- rency pay the expenses as it has done ? Good men yet are to be found ; they are modest, unassuming, and never seek for office. There are many who would serve the State with pride and fidelity as loan commissioners. What a happiness it would be if the hard-working, wood- chopping, land-clearing farmer could borrow money, on easy 190 THE LABORER; terms. How he could furnish his farm ! There is an other source of secure and profitable lending it is the towns that want to make improvements, and can give the taxes as se- curity. These two land and taxes a great State can loan on with great safety. The county of .Miami, State of Ohio, had, in 1854, made improvements to the amount of $94,000. First, a union school, at a cost of $13,000 ; then a poor-house, at the cost of $20,000 ; then a jail, at the cost of $30,000 ; and then another union school-house, at a cost of $33,000. These improvements were made in the space of ten years, for which the officers agreed to give as interest $9,400. This interest would keep twenty men in idleness. If the State had loaned its notes to this county it would have the in- terest to pay its expenses. In 1857, tne authorities of the town of Cohoes built water works at a cost of $60,000, for the use of which they agreed to give annually $4,200, and give it for twenty years, the length of time agreed on. In this time the citizens of Cohoes will have paid $84,000, in interest, which will make the water-works cost $144,000. It would have been wise to let the State have this in- terest on notes it could issue. It would be wiser still to have built them a little every year. In one year the United States had a surplus revenue. It was divided among the States. The State of New York received as its share $3,580,494, which loan commissioners lent out for the benefit of the school fund. The State of Connecticut sold the lands of the Western Reserve, and for three-fourths of a century has loaned the money for the benefit of schools. This proves a great State can become lenders of money. The governor of Ohio, in his message for 1857, sa . vs tne amount of the state and county taxes were $9,000,000, and A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 191 the people of the State of Ohio on $221,000,000 pay in- terest. The debts of the State are $16,402,095 ; cities, counties, towns are $15,000,000; recorded mortgages are $50,000,000 ; and railroad debts are $50,000,000." The interest is $15,000,000. This will make the whole nation to pay $150,000,000, interest for their debts. This will keep many from productive labor, who could if they were farmers find one-third of the nation in food. There are some debts on which the State might loan. Jay Cooke, a famous banker, has made enormous wealth ; he has a summer house among the lakes worth $10,000. His home cost more than $i, 000,000, and is filled with the treasures of art, and all the creations of modern luxury. This man has the arrogance and the insolence to tell us in his pamplet that "a national debt is a national blessing." This book will rank with "Taxation is not Tyranny." Andrew Jackson, says : " The paper system being found- ed on public confidence, and having of itself no intrinsic value, it is liable to great and sudden fluctuations, thereby rendering property insecure, and the wages of labor unsteady and uncertain. The corporations which create the paper money can not be relied on to keep the circulating medium uniform in amount. In times of prosperity, when confi- dence is high, they are tempted by prospects of gain, or by the influence of those who hope to profit by it, to extend the issues of paper beyond the bounds of discretion and the reasonable demands of business. And when these issues have been pushed from day to day, until public confidence is at length shaken, then a reaction takes place, and they immediately withdraw the credits they have given, and sud- denly curtail their issues, and produce an unexpected and ruinous contraction of the circulating medium, which is felt by the whole community. The banks, by this means, 192 THE LABORER; save themselves, and the mischievous consequences of their imprudence or cupidity are visited on the public. Nor does the evil stop here. These ebbs and flows in the currency, and these indiscreet extensions of credit, naturally engender a spirit of speculation injurious to the habits and character of the people. We have already seen its effects in the wild spirit of speculation in the public lands, and various kinds of stock, which, within the last year or two, seized upon such multitudes of our citizens, and threatened to pervade all classes of society, and to withdraw their attention from the sober pursuits of honest industry. " It is not by encouraging this spirit that we shall best preserve public virtue, and promote the true interest of our country. If the currency continues as exclusively paper as it is now, it will foster the desire to obtain wealth without labor ; it will multiply the number of dependents on bank favors ; the temptations to obtain money at any sacrifice will become strong, and lead to corruption, which will find its way into your public councils, and destroy, at no distant day, the purity of your government. Some of the evils of this system, press with hardship upon a class least able to bear them. A part of this currency often becomes worthless." This list of the evils of paper money, should warn us never to found paper money on gold, but on houses and lands. Harper's Magazine, April, 1858, says: "The result of our commercial revulsion has been a wholesale confiscation of property, and had it been done by government would have led to civil war." Robberies are among the risks of bank capital. CHAPTER IX. A CENTURY OF INVENTIONS. WANT A MOTIVE FOR INVENTION UNIVERSAL RICHES WILL PREVENT INVEN- TION ARKWRIGHT'S POVERTY AND INVENTION WATT'S IMPROVEMENT ON THE STEAM ENGINE- " Invent or perish." MICHELET. |ISITING a State fair and seeing there the contri- vances to shorten human labor should convince the most unbelieving that the hours of toil can be shortened. What an arena of industry is there! Who can contemplate such a scene without emotion ? Here are monuments to plenty, and the evidence that famine shall no more afflict the land. Such a scene would lead us to sup- pose that this plenty is universal. It is not so. Cowper, when speaking of the plenty in England, makes one excep- tion. This painful contrast is to be seen here. He says : " From east to west, no sorrow can be found j Or only what in cottages confined Sighs unregarded to the winds." There is evidence in this fair that the inequalities of life will some day or other cease. The changes in the people's amusements indicate this. The Romans could find pleas- ure in their gladiatorial shows, which were scenes of cruel- ty. The Middle Ages had their mock battles and single combats, called jousts and tournaments. Henry the VIII (193) 194 THE LABORER; paid a visit to the French king. Beneath a canopy of gold cloth the two sovereigns met. The gay pageantry displayed on that occasion has obtained for the place of meeting the name of " The Field of the Cloth of Gold." The time of Elizabeth had its field sports, bull and bear baiting, which consisted in setting dogs on these poor animals. We have cause for congratulation that these scenes have passed away, and are superseded by something more ennobling, the sight of which is calculated to provoke a spirit that will do some good to ourselves and others. The youth of this land have the story of "Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp." The story says that Aladdin had only to rub his lamp, when, whatever he wished for would appear, be it a beautiful mansion, a mine of gold or jewels, or a garden full of enchanting scenery. The scenes in the State fair are a reality no conjuration is there. The crea- tions of the brains of men are wonderful. Franklin said he would like to see the time come when a person could twist more than one thread at a time. He lived to see one hundred spun by a single person. At the pres- ent time a man and two boys can tend 300 spindles, going with three times the speed of a hand-spindle. Since 1760, a community of workers each have received machinery to assist them to be equivalent to forty persons. A State fair is a wonderful display of man's skill. In one part of this arena of industry may be seen the stationary engine, doing the labor of ten, perhaps a hundred horses. How quietly it performs its work ; it never murmurs or tires. It is the inanimate slave of man. A few years ago wheat was beaten out of the straw by tying two sticks together, and then throwing up the wheat in the air and letting the wind blow away the chaff. In this manner a person could thrash and clean twelve bushels in a day. A thrashing ma- A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 195 machine attended by seven persons will thrash and clean 700 bushels of wheat in a day. In a State fair it is not un- common to see attached to the pulleys, which are moved by the engine, three thrashing machines, mills to grind sugar-canes, wheat into flour, clay for bricks, and draining tiles. In addition to all this, the engine makes shingles, saws logs, and splits wood. In another part of this arena of industry may be seen ma- chines, whose moving power is horses. A machine is to be seen that rakes hay, and lifts it into the wagon. A load is gathered in five minutes. Another contrivance lifts with a horse, rope, and tackle the load into the barn. The machinery that has been invented during the last twenty years for saving hay, cuts off two-thirds of the labor in the hot part of the year. In the fair is exhibited a huge saw six feet in diameter; the teeth are six inches wide. With this a strong man and horse can saw or trench in the soil 100 rods in a day. This saves the labor of ten persons. The arches or tiles to put in this drain, are made by ma- chinery in a rapid manner. Seed drilling machines are very numerous and get in the seed at the proper period. A person having these has eight laborers to work for him. Numerous mowing machines are to be seen beautifully polished. One of these can cut down more wheat or grass than ten men. Gang plows have been invented on which men can ride, and do twice or three times as much as with a common plow. Steam plows have been invented, one of which has plowed 400 acres of land in a season. Corn cultivators have been invented. With the aid of these a single man can cultivate sixty acres of corn. These implements were unknown a century ago. Time would fail to tell the wonders seen in a State fair. It is a scene which the nations of antiquity, the Saxons and Nor- 196 THE LABORER; mans never saw. This scene is an invention of modern times. The fruits and vegetables displayed there were un- known four centuries ago, and have been collected by en- terprising navigators, who have given us a more pleasing variety of food. If Franklin could say in his time "Want and misery would be unknown if all would work at something useful," what would he say now ? The time has now come, when the laborer should work for himself only and it will result in the non-workers going to work, who will make such an abundance, that men will not torture their brains making labor-saving machines. That want leads to invention may be proved by Richard Arkwright, who was the youngest of thirteen children of ignorance and poverty. He never was at school. He was a barber and rented a basement, and put out this as a sign, A: CLEAN SHAVE F A PENNY. A barber on the opposite side of the street put out this sign, COME TO THE SUBTERRANEAN BARBER AND BE SHAVED FOR A HALFPENNY. Men are selfish and avaricious. They try to get each other's work away, which is not right when we consider how much land there is unoccupied. Arkwright was forced to quit the business and go to the country and collect hair for the wig-maker. His mind seems to have been drawn out A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 197 to schemes for the abridgment of labor by machinery, from which no change of time or place could divert him from making plans or models of what his brain conceived. This sometimes interfered with his business, and his wife, con- vinced that he would starve his family by scheming, when he ought to be shaving, in a fit of anger destroyed his models, and annihilated his prospects for wealth and fame. It is said he never forgave the ruthless deed, but separated from her at once, and nothing would induce him to live with her again. His thoughts had often been drawn to mechanical inven- tions. This led him to abandon his hair speculations, and give his mind to the construction of a machine for spinning cotton by rollers. His model was patented in 1796. At fifty, he applied himself to the study of grammar, and to improvement in writing and spelling. He amassed a large fortune, and the order of knighthood was conferred on him by George III. Arkwright substituted rollers in place of human fingers. Before he made his machinery 50,000 people obtained their bread by working by hand ; after his invention, 2,000,000 of persons got their bread from cotton. This must include the families of the cotton-workers. The importation of cotton before the invention was annually 2,000,000 Ibs. now it is 500,000,000 Ibs. There was 50,000 hand-spindles, now 12,000,000 machine spindles. The annual value of cotton goods ninety years ago was .200,000. The value now is .34,000,000. This invention has made cotton cloth five- pence a yard. It was ten times this sum. The people use now twenty-six yards where one was used. The annual con- sumption is 700,000,000 yards. The quantity sent abroad is 560,000,000 yards. In 1825, the spinning machinery of Lancashire was computed to be equal to 21,320,000 of 18 198 THE LABORER; hand-spinners. India is the home of cotton and cotton cloth, and was obtained from there before its introduction into England and America. It has been among us one hundred years. In 1540, Bernhard Palissey, of France, spent sixteen years trying to make enameled pottery. His motive was "to provide a handsome support for his wife and children." He was ambitious to be the prince of potters. He succeeded, after years of sorrow, difficulty, and trial. To procure chemicals his family suffered for the comforts of life. To feed his furnaces, he burnt the palings surrounding his house, and even its doors. He endured the ridicule of his friends, the reproaches of his wife, and the persecutions of his king, whose minister put him to death for his Protestant religion. The king, to save him, wanted him to change his religion. Said Palissey, " I can die." Charles Goodyear the inventor of India-rubber cloth, or enameled cloth, and many other things of this material, for many years suffered the bitterness of poverty while invent- ing. His wife used to often say : " Charles, you must pro- vide better for me or I will go home." His answer was, U A little while longer and we shall have splendid wealth." It came ; he triumphed. James Watt is another example of the impelling power of poverty, and the desire to attain those pleasures that the rich gather around them. He was a mathematical instru- ment-maker. He removed to Edinburgh. He was not al- lowed to start a shop there, for the reason that he had not learned his trade in that city. He was allowed a room in the college, where he was called to repair a Savery steam- engine. While doing this work he thought he could make an improvement which he did, and it brought the engine into varied and extensive uses. Previous to this time the A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 199 engine was used for pumping out mines. Had Watt been rich he would have had no motive to make the improve- ments he did. There is such an abundance in the world, and the productive powers of man is so great, that riches, some time or other will be universal. Riches will be uni- versal when universal labor prevails. Says a writer, in Harper's u History of Inventions : " u The power of steam far surpasses all the fabulous wonders which imaginative genius have attributed to the genii of the East, or the invisible fairies who are made to perform such marvels in old English legends. The very elements are conquered by this mighty agency ; both wind and tide may oppose, but still the vessel plunges onward in spite of all opposition, paddling against breeze and billow, like some extinct monster of the early world, armed with those sweep- ing fins that fill the mind of the geologist with wonder. This new-born giant thrusteth his iron arm into the bow- els of the earth, and throws up its treasures by thousands of tons, emptying the dark mine of its wealth, then leaping on the surface, melting with its hot breath the weighty metal, and rolling and beating it into massive bars. As if struck by the wand of a magician, the iron vessel springs out of the shapeless mass of ore, by the power of steam is launched upon the deep, and stands, as if in mockery, be- side its oak-built rival, every rib of which was the growth of a long century. The very leaves that rustle in our hands while we read were formed by it, and every letter in the large sheet of daily news bears the imprint of its majestic footstep. "Even printing, the grandest of all human inventions, was but in comparison the slow copying of the clerk, beside this ready-writer, which now throws off its thousands of perfect impressions within the brief space of a single hour. It 200 THE LABORER; grinds the bread we eat, and gives all the variety and beauty to the garments we wear. It stamps the wreath of flowers upon the flimsy foundation of cotton. And yet the whole of this moving power can be stopped by a child." Dr. Lardner says : "A pint of water may be evaporated by two ounces of coal, into two hundred and sixteen gallons of steam, which will lift thirty-seven tons a foot high. A pound of coke (charred coal), burned in a locomotive, will evaporate five pints of water, and draw two tons on a rail- road one mile in two minutes. "A train of cars, weighing eighty tons, and containing 240 passengers, drawn by an engine, have gone from Liver- pool to Birmingham, a distance of ninety-five miles, in four hours and a quarter, consuming two tons of coke, the cost of which is two and a half pounds ($i2j). To carry these, twenty stage coaches would be required. It would take 600 horses to accomplish this journey in twelve hours. 14 In the draining of the Cornish mines the economy of fuel is attended too, and coal is there made to do more work than elsewhere. A bushel of coal raises usually 40,000 tons of water a foot high." Nations that have no machinery have no coal fires. The mines require constant pumping to prevent them from fill- ing with water. The same engine that pumps out the mines lifts up the coal to the pit's mouth. The railroads take coal to every part of England. A single blast of pow- der will detach more coal than a laborer can loosen in a week. Captain Thomas Savery devised, in '1698, a ma- chine for drawing water from the mines. The French assert that the Marquis of Worcester took the idea of the steam engine from Solomon De Caus, who published a book at Frankfort, in 1615, on steam as a power. A letter teaches us he went to Cardinal Richelieu A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 201 who dismissed him as a madman without hearing him. He still importuned the Cardinal, who ordered him to prison. He had been there three years and a half, when the Marquis saw him. De Caus said, " I am not mad ! I have made a discovery that will enrich any country that puts it in opera- tion.'* His lordship returned, sad and thoughtful, and said : " He is indeed mad , misfortune and captivity have destroy- ed forever his reason. You have made him mad ; when you cast him into this dungeon you cast there the greatest genius of his time, and, in my country, instead of being im- prisoned, he would have been loaded with riches." The Marquis of Worcester, living during the civil wars of Charles I and his parliament, took sides with the king, and lost his fortune, and was imprisoned in Ireland. He managed to escape to France. He became a secret agent afterward in England for the king ; he was detected and put in the Tower. When cooking his dinner there, he ob- served that the steam forced upward the lid of his pot. It occurred to him that this power might be applied to, useful purposes. When he got his liberty he went to work and made a machine, which he described in his book. The steam-engine is a succession of improvements from the time of De Caus to the time of Watt. Those who have made changes on the engine are the Marquis of Wor- cester, Savery, Papin, Newcomen, Brindley, and Smeaton. Their contrivances seem to have been how to get the pis- ton-rod back again after the steam had lifted it up. This was done by a boy who opened valves or cocks. To give the reader an idea how the engine of these men wonted, take an iron barrel and partially fill it with water, under the bottom of the barrel kindle a fire, and you make steam; on the top open a valve and the steam escapes. To get serv- ice from this escaping steam construct another iron barrel, 202 THE LABORER; closed at one end and a rim on the other, smooth and turn- ed straight within. In this barrel you want a movable, flat, edge-turned piece of metal. If you let in steam at one end its expansibility lifts up the sliding plate, till it is stop- ped by the rim. A contrivance is used to cut off the supply of steam. If water is thrown on the outside of the barrel containing steam, the steam will become condensed, or be- come water again ; this leaves a vacuum and causes the flat piece of metal to fall down ; by the pressure of the atmos- phere. That the atmosphere has power is evident, when set in motion it throws down trees and houses, and moves great ships. When in a state of rest the atmospheric weight is fifteen pounds to the square inch. To reduce this prin- ciple to utility, you must put a rod in this moving piece of iron and fasten it to a pump-handle; steam will force up the handle, atmospheric pressure bring it down. This en- gine required a boy to open cocks, and force water into the cylinder to condense the steam. " Humphrey Potter, a mere lad, who was occupied in at- tending to the cocks of an atmospheric engine, becoming anxious to escape from the monotonous drudgery imposed upon him, ingeniously contrived the adjustment of a number of strings, which, being attached to the beam of the engine, opened and closed the cocks with the most perfect regu- larity and certainty, thus rendering the machine totally in- dependent of manual superintendence. The contrivance of Potter was soon improved upon. The whole apparatus was subsequently, about the year 1718, brought into com- plete working order by an engineer named Beighton. "Watt's first improvement was an alteration of the mode of condensing the steam. Instead of using the method de- scribed, he had a condenser attached to the cylinder, and he still further improved upon it by surrounding it with a A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 203 tank of cold water, which was drawn from an adjoining re- servoir by the pump of the engine. An improvement ef- fected in the steam-engine, was the custom adopted by Watt, of closing the top of the cylinder, the piston being made to work through a neck called a stuffing-box, which was rendered steam-tight by being lined with tow saturated with grease, which rubbed and greased the rod and made it move easily. " By this alteration the elastic force of steam was used, as it is now, to impel the piston downward as well as up- ward. The machine hence became a steam-engine instead of an atmospheric one, with that continuous action from which so much benefit has been enjoyed by this simple device. " Notwithstanding these important advantages, Watt and Boulton were compelled to make large sacrifices to bring their engines into use, as will be seen by the proposition of Mr. Boulton to the Carron Company: 'We contract to direct the making of an engine. ***** We do not aim at profits in engine-building, but shall take out our pro- fits in the saving of fuel; so that if we save nothing, we shall take nothing. We will guarantee that the engine so constructed shall raise at least 20,000 cubic feet of water twenty-four feet high, with each hundred weight of coal burned/" Those who obtained these engines commuted the saving of the coal, which Watt's engine ^saved over the others, to an annual rent. The lessees of the Chacewater mine paid an annual rent-charge for three engines $12,000. This inventor had a splendid rural home, and spent the last years of his life in literary pursuits. In Handsworth Church he is represented sitting in a chair, with compass and paper, in the act of drawing. His fame will be as enduring as the 204 THE LABORER; the marble in which his effigy is chiseled. He has given his name to the steam-engine that may never be laid aside. We can form some conception of the magnitude of his gift to man, if we will try and raise coal by hand. An opening is made in the earth, it soon fills up with water ; a windlass when turned with human strength, will some time or other draw out all the water; then the digging is re- sumed, after much lifting of mud and water the coal-vein is reached. The future labor is now to lift up the coal and water, -it may be done with horse-power, it takes much hu- man labor to procure food for the horses. Without steam- power the bushel of coal will be equal or worth a day's labor. Now a day's work of a common laborer will get twenty bushels of coal. The fame of the inventions and experiments that had been made in France and Scotland, in navigating with steam, induced Fulton to cross the ocean to get these inventions on our long rivers. In 1775, John Fitch made a steam-boat, with which he made eleven voyages from Philadelphia to a town distant eleven miles. Washington and his compan- ions were invited to ride in the boat. The maker of this boat was poor, his machinery was badly made, and he was unable to repair his boat. Fulton got Watt and Boulton to make his machinery, with money obtained from Livingston, who was an em- bassador to France. Both saw on the Seine a discarded steam-boat. Unitedly they perfected a steam-boat on the Hudson in 1807. That Fulton was poor may be inferred from this narrative. A gentleman from New York was in Albany when the Clermont first arrived there. He found that the boat was a general object of wonder, but few were willing to trust themselves on it as a means of conveyance. He, however, determined to go in this boat to New York. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 205 In the cabin he found a plain gentleman, quite alone, and engaged in writing. This was Fulton, and this conversa- tion took place : Stranger. Do you intend to return to New York with this boat? Fulton. We mean to try and get back with her, sir. Stranger. Can I have a passage ? Fulton. Yes, if you choose to take your chance with us. Six dollars was paid as the passage money. With his eye fixed on this money, which he retained in his open hand, Fulton remained so long motionless, that the stranger sup- posed he had miscounted the sum, and asked, "Is that right, sir ? " This roused the projector from his reverie, and, as he looked up, the big tear was brimming in his eye, and his voice faltered as he said "Excuse me, sir, but memory was busy as I contemplated that this is the first pecuniary reward that I have ever received for all my ex- ertions for adapting steam to navigation. I would gladly commemorate the event over a bottle of wine with you. I am too poor for that now, yet I trust we shall meet again when this will not be so." They did meet again after four years, and the wine was not spared. Fulton observes : "When I was building my first steam- boat at New York the project was viewed with indifference and contempt or as a visionary scheme. My friends, in- deed, were civil, but they were shy. They listened with patience to my explanations, but with a settled cast of in- credulity on their countenances. As I had occasion to pass daily to and from the building-yard while my boat was in progress, I have often loitered unknown near the idle groups of strangers, gathered in little circles, and heard various in- quiries as to the object of this new vehicle. The language was uniformly that of scorn, or sneer, or ridicule. The 206 THE LABORER; loud laugh often rose at my expense ; the dry jest ; the wise calculation of losses and expenditures, the dull but endless repetition of the Fulton folly. Never did a single encourag- ing remark, a bright hope, or a warm wish cross my path. Silence itself was but politeness veiling its doubts, or hiding its reproaches." Fulton's biographer says : " Before the boat had made the progress of a quarter of a mile the greatest unbeliever was converted ! The man, who while he had looked on the expensive machine, thanked his stars that he had more sense than to waste his money on such idle schemes, changed the expression of his features as the boat moved from the wharf and gained her speed; the jeers of the igno- rant, who had neither sense nor feeling enough to repress their contemptuous ridicule, were silenced for the moment by a vulgar astonishment which deprived them of the power of utterance, till the triumph extorted from the in- credulous multitude which crowded the shores, was shouts and acclamations of congratulation and applause ! u The whole of the progress up the Hudson was a con- tinued triumph. Those on board of the several vessels which she met looked with astonishment at the progress of a ship, which appeared to be a thing instinct with life rather than a fabric moved by mechanical means. It was said that to them she had a most terrific appearance. The first steamers used pine wood for fuel, which sent forth a column of ignited vapor many feet above the flue, and whenever the fire was stirred, a galaxy of sparks flew off, and in the night had a very beautiful appearance. Not- withstanding the wind and tide were adverse to its approach, they saw with astonishment the vessel was rapidly coming toward them ; and when it came so near that the noise of the machinery and paddles was heard, the crews in some A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 207 instances, shrunk beneath their decks from the terrific sight, and left their vessels to go on shore, while others besought Providence to protect them from the approach of the mon- ster, which was marching on the tide, and lighting its path by the fire which it vomited." Mr. Stephens, of Hoboken, soon after this launched a steam-vessel which was taken to the Delaware by the way of the ocean. His son improved on Fulton's models, and gave to vessels which he built that beauty of form they now possess, and a capability of cutting through the water at the speed of thirteen miles an hour. From that time steam-boats have multiplied, till all large rivers are studded with them. The Marquis of Worcester tells us, in 1655, in an obscure statement of a vessel moved by steam, "which should, if need be, pass London Bridge against the current at low water." Twenty years after Captain Savery tried to urge a vessel by means of an atmospheric engine. He had no success. At the same time, Denis Papin, a French phi- losopher, tried to prove in theory that steam would move a boat. Half a century, later, Jonathan Hulls took out a pa- tent for moving vessels by steam. His plans failed. At length, in 1774, the Comte D'Auxiron, a French nobleman, succeeded in the construction of a boat, which, when tried on the Seine, near Paris, moved against the stream, though slowly, the engine being of insufficient power. In his efforts he was assisted by a countryman of his, named Perier, who, in the year following placed a steam boat on the river, with an engine of one-horse power. His means were also insufficient. The Marquis de Jouffroy, on the Saone, at Lyons, tried a boat which excited much at- tention. The dreadful disturbances in France compelled him to leave his native land. On his return, in 1796, he learned that M. Des Blancs had obtained his plans and got 208 THE LABORER; them patented. The government would give no redress to the marquis. Robert Fulton was at that time experiment- ing in France, and had adopted a series of float-boards, that were fastened perpendicular on an endless chain, which was stretched over two wheels ; these were fastened on each end of the boat ; the working of this chain was the same as a belt over two pulleys; a part of these float-boards were always out of the water. Fulton afterward used paddles. Des Blancs complained of the infringement on his patent; Fulton showed him the difference between the two ma- chines, and offered him a share of the gains, if he would bear part of the expense. No agreement was made. In 1784, Rumsey was the rival of Fitch. He made a steam-boat on the Potomac. The coal used was half a bushel in an hour. When the boat was loaded, with three tons' weight, its speed was four miles an hour. In 1793, Rumsey went to England ; assisted by others he had a ves- sel on the Thames that went against the wind and tide at the rate of four miles an hour. In i787,Wm. Symington made, in Edinburgh, a boat that attained five miles in an hour. In 1788, Mr. Miller had an engine of twelve-horse power made and put in a boat, which caused it to go with a speed of eight miles an hour. Mr. Miller spent a handsome fortune in obtaining this pub- lic benefit. Symington still continued to persevere, and in 1802, he made for Lord Dundas a steam-tug that pulled two vessels containing seventy tons of goods. Fulton saw the vessels of Symington, and had been on a successful voy- age with him in Scotland. Fulton made notes of every thing that was shown him, and it appears he was let into all of Symington's secrets. Every-thing connected with steam was explained to Fulton. Mr. Henry Bell, of Glasgow, was the medium of communication between Fulton and the con- A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 209 trivers and improvers of the steamboat. Fulton received from Mr. Bell drawings of the boat and engines which they had used. Sometime after Fulton had received these draw- ings, he wrote to Mr. Bell, to say he had constructed a boat from them, which prompted his correspondent to turn his attention to the introduction of steam-navigation in his own country. He set to work and made a model, which he put into the hands of John Wood & Co., who built for him a boat of forty tons burthen, with an engine of three-horse power. In 1812, Mr. Hutchinson had a boat made with an engine of ten-horse power, that carried one hundred pas- sengers to Greenock, twenty-seven miles, in three hours. The history of steam-navigation is a long series of ex- periments on which labor, ingenuity, money, and time, have been spent, impoverishing and making the heart sick by the failure of the plans of those who engaged in the en- terprise of giving the world steamboats. If we could visit an English monastery in the olden time, we should see the patient monks sitting at their desks, with ink, pens, brushes, gold, and colors, adding letter to letter, and word to word, in thick, angular, black-letter characters, from month to month, never ceasing except to eat, sleep, and attend prayers. Their work is beautiful, and will, when seen, call for our admiration. These written books were to survive when the hand that wrote them was paralyzed in death. It was not running writing as is used now. Every letter had many strokes, or it may have been done with a brush, and it may have taken six or ten times the labor that writing now requires. The initial letters were highly orna- mented with flourishes. This was, no doubt, done by those who had the taste for it. Where Italic letters are used now, the manuscript letters were done in red ink, which are as bright as they were five hundred years ago. The parch- 2io THE LABORER; ment was as fine and as thin as paper. It was very smooth, uniform, and white. It was made from skins. This method of communicating knowledge was confined to a few. The cheap and rapid multiplication of books has been accomplished by applying steam-power to printing. In ancient times the thinking men got a glimpse at print- ing. The Romans could take movable type and stamp clay. For centuries before the Christian era, the Chinese used, no doubt, blocks or pages of characters. The printing of playing-cards was done before printing words or thoughts ; this may have done much toward suggesting the idea of let- ter-making, or movable type. However much printing may do to record the deeds of nations, or keep from forgetfulness the virtues and achiev- ments of men, it has not recorded its own origin, but left it in much obscurity. In 1499, the "Cologne Chronicle," forty-four years from the advent of printing to the world, gathered all it could relating to this wondrous art. The only source from which it could draw its materials was the traditions of men, and from two recorded lawsuits which the inventors of printing had. John Gansfleisch was born in 1397. When a youth he lived in Mentz, with a family of the name of Guttenberg, whose name he adopted, as it was a custom. He became implicated in one of the insurrections against the nobility, so frequent at that time, and which resulted in the freedom of the commercial classes of Germany. This revolt was not successful, and he went to Strasburg. It is supposed he engaged in the occupation of taking off other's writings from carved blocks. His enterprising intellect was directed to some means of hastening the process. A thought broke upon him, the full development of which was to produce such glorious results. The supposition came on him that A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 21 1 if the letters he saw upon the block could be separated from each other, they might be put together again in different po- sitions, and form other words; and thus there would be a power of endless combination with a small stock of mate- rials. How he did this we have no certain means of know- ing, as he would keep this discovery to himself. He returned to Mentz or Mayence, where he met a wealthy goldsmith of the name of Faust ; and, together, they entered upon an undertaking to supersede the laborious occupation of the manuscript writer. Between them they hit on the expedient of casting types in metal, it being a more durable substance, and likely to increase their profits. Faust had in his employ a young man of the name of Peter Schoeffer, who suggested the stamping of letters in lead, so that they could be changed or renewed. This was ac- complished, and the process of printing obtained. The part- nership of these three men was begun in 1440 ; and was not productive till ten years after. Letters at first were made of wood, which were not very enduring. Schoeffer discovered a method of molding let- ters in metal, which so pleased Faust that he gave him his only daughter in marriage. In 1458, Guttenberg retired from the concern from a want of harmony. They com- pleted several works of importance, among them a Bible. Bibles were made so rapidly that these men were said to be in league with the devil. The storming of Mentz, in 1462, by an enemy, scattered the workmen. Printing was com- menced in Italy, in 1466; in Paris, in 1469; in London, in 1474; in Massachusetts, in 1639 ; in Virginia, in 1739, and in Cincinnati, in 1793. The press was a screw, and made of wood, till the Earl of Stanhope, a nobleman of great ingenuity, and an amateur printer, had an iron lever and press made, in 1790. In this 212 THE LABORER; year, W. Nicholson took out a patent for printing books, paper-hangings, calico, etc., on a cylinder, and the motive power was to be steam or water. Lord Camelford, his patron, died, which prevented the machine from being made. Konig, a German, came to England and tried to apply steam-power to a common press, without any success. He then applied himself to cylindrical printing, and succeeded in printing in an hour 1,000 copies. He was attended by two boys. In i8u,the "New Annual Register" was printed by steam. Mr. Nicholson may have helped Konig. He gave his drawings to the public. An agreement was made with Konig to make for the u Times" paper two presses. On the 28th of November, 1814, this paper told its readers, that they were for the first time reading a paper printed by the power of steam. In order to show how steam-power saves labor, look at "The Cincinnati Commercial." Its owners have to supply to their customers 35,000 daily papers, or near that num- ber. This paper is "setup" by thirty "compositors." On a hand-press two men will throw off 1,000 papers in ten hours. To supply the demand would require thirty- five presses, and 1,000 compositors or type-setters. One set of hands set up the copy. Then it is multiplied thirty- five times for the rest, who set up matter for the presses to work next day. At night the number of papers required are done. The first set of compositors, by having a small "take," need only be half an hour in advance of all the rest. What mighty results come from steam working for us. After the thirty printers have done their work, four stereo- typers take and double it, which is done in this manner: Three sheets of a peculiar kind of paper are pasted to- gether ; it is laid on a page of the type, and then beaten A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 213 gently with a brush till the paper fills up the crevices of the type, the form is laid on a steam-heated stone, a powerful screw presses the soft paper on the face of the type, and in ten minutes it is hardened ; this paper sheet is put in a mold, and the melted metal is poured in. The casting is formed so as to fit the cylinder. The Commercial uses two presses, which makes the stereotypers do the labor of thirty compositors. In six hours these four men have cast sixteen pages of the Commercial. If stereotyping were un- known, this paper would require sixty compositors. The metal pages go to the basement press-room. One of these cylinder presses gives 12,000 impressions in an hour, the other 8,000. If one of the monk scribes could see this revolving printing machine, he would be speechless with wonder for some time. The large machine is thirty- two feet high and forty feet long. It is fed by eight persons. The papers are folded by machinery. A machine will fold 10,000 papers in an hour. The compositors, proof-readers, stereotypers, folders, and pressmen of the Commercial office number, perhaps, sixty persons. These working ten hours a day will produce as much writing as 6,000,000 of the monk- ish writers. A compositor will set up six of these pages in a day. A writer can do the same amount of writing. A printer can bring to help him machinery to multiply his work to an enormous extent. The invention of stereotyping is an important one. It is to cast a page of type, so that it will be solid, an eighth of an inch thick. In 1725, Wm. Ged, of Edinburgh, made an arrangement with the University of Cambridge to cast Bibles and Prayer-Books. It received so much opposition from the workmen, that it was discontinued. In 1804, this art was brought into use again. This plan is used for books: The face of the type is oiled, plaster of Paris is mixed with 214 THE LABORER; water till it is as thick as cream, then it is poured on the type. To keep it from running off a frame is put around the edge of the page, which makes the plaster to be half of an inch thick. A screw is at each corner of the frame to lift it up. The cast is put in a flat pan, the lid is fastened on ; it is put in a cauldron of melted metal. When rilled up it is allowed to stand in water till cooled. The plate is shaved on the back, then it is picked, which means the bad letters are to be repaired, or others inserted. One molder, one caster, and two others will finish 100 plates in a day. A cast plate taken from a type page of this book will weigh one pound, and cost fifty-five cents, as wages are high on account of the abundance o/ paper money. A page of this book in type will weigh seven pounds and will cost $3.85. The type-setting adds fifty cents more to the page. When the pressman makes up the " form," it saves his time to handle only 400 Ibs in place of 2,800 Ibs. The page of type is liable to be broken, or, lose a part of its letters, the type page requires very careful handling. Twenty years ago electrotyping was applied to printing. This art takes beeswax and melts it with other substances. By means of heat this wax flows level on a plate, and it is placed on pages of type and wood-engravings ; then it is put when cold, under a very powerful press. The impression is put in a trough containing sulphuric acid, in which has been dissolved pieces of copper. A galvanic battery causes the copper to deposit on the wax. The result is an indestructi- ble copper page, or an engraving that is hard and will not wear out like a wood-engraving. This invention has set aside the costly copper engraving. Messrs. O'Ferral and Daniel, of Piqua O., wish to advertise a new agricultural ma- chine ; they will send a drawing to a wood-engraver, for an engraving he will charge near $20. The electrotyper will A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 215 reproduce it for fifty cents a copy, which, when multiplied, can be sent to every paper in the State. The initial letter, head, and ending of these chapters are electrotype engraved. Machinery, when used on women's shoes, enables a man to sew a pair of soles on in three minutes; and a pair of good 'Masting shoes" can be made, by a division of labor, by each workman, in twelve minutes. Furniture making is not the laborious business it was. A table-frame can be made in twelve minutes, that used to take five hours by hand labor. It is painful work to plane hard and knotted wood. The planing machine takes the cross-grained oak, gnarled ash, curled maple, and tough walnut, and planes them so accurately that it can not be at- tained by hand. The face of a board, twelve feet in length, can be planed in a minute. It used to take a day to plane, tongue, and groove fifty floor boards ; now machinery will do this to 1,000 boards in a day. A century ago a saw-mill was unknown. Timber was sawn by hand over a pit by two persons; one above, the other under the log. Machinery has been introduced into the tinner's trade. It does many things that once were done by hand. To make a plate, a dipper, a basin, will require much marking, clip- ping, and soldering ; by steam machinery each of these, and other things, too, can be made at a single stroke. Aided by steam a workman can make in, a day, ten car- riage wheels. It will take a day to make a carriage wheel by hand. Plow handles can be made so fast with steam that a man can make 100 smooth, bent handles in a day. Steam helps the blacksmith in a wonderful manner. He does not have to heat and pound his scraps together, to make a fire-shovel. By railroad his scraps are taken to the rolling-mill, where they are made into iron sheets of va- rious thicknesses, or into bars, round, oval, and flat. These 216 THE LABORER; make the forming of the shovel an easy task. Steam-power rolls out the railroad-tie, clips the massive bar, hammers out the ponderous anchor, and shapes the little nail. When your ancestors were righting to be free from Eng- land, a noble Englishman invented the moving rest, that holds the cutting point to the revolving surface of a steam- boat shaft, that is held in a lathe. This contrivance saves the workman from standing and holding his tool to what is turning. This gives leisure for reading. So does the iron planer, it saves men from "chipping" and "filing." Steam cuts the edges of books with great rapidity. Book- binder's tools twenty years ago were simple. The hand- knife would scarcely cut a dozen pages. Six of these books are put under the steam-moved knife, and their edges are cut in an instant. Steam now makes paper very rapidly. The New England Indian had no iron. He peeled birch- bark off the trees with his hands to make a house. He burned down the trees to have fire. His food and clothes had to be sufficient, or he would perish from the earth with want. The living of some of our people is as precarious as the Indian's. Steam is making its encroachments, it mixes and bakes bread, does washing, wood-sawing, and needle-work. These things make the living laborer feel sad ; he feels he is not wanted here. The difficulties of obtaining employment are increased by doing every thing by steam. We ought to live easy and free from care with such a power to work for us. Suffering is going to teach the American people how base rulers have acted to let speculators have public lands. CHAPTER X. MERCHANTS AND LAWYERS. MERCHANTS ARE THE FOUNDERS OF CITIES A CAUSE OF THE OVERTHROW or SLAVERY MERCHANTS ARE TOO NUMEROUS THE CAUSES WHY LAWYERS EXIST THE LAWYERS ARE TOO NUMEROUS An INJURY TO SOCIETY. " Do you want any needles, any thread, any lace for your cape."-SHAicspEARE' " A Lawyer takes your estate from your enemy and keeps it himself. "-RSKINE. jABOR is made the positive condition of man's ex- istence. Labor is a decree binding on all. From this there is no escape. A life of toil is binding on all animated nature, from the stupendous whale that dives in the ocean, to the ephemeral insect whose exist- ence is but for a single day. All men have the same form and appearance : it follows all men ought to labor. As all men are the same in their wants and conditions, all ought to have the same rewards for their labor, and an equal right to the earth, in which are the means of happiness. If a man has to labor for himself and another, he has to labor twice as hard, or twice as long. In civilized society as it progresses, few have to maintain many. Those who seek for easy work do an injustice to those who do the hard work. It should be borne equally alike by all. There seems to be a disposition among the humble classes to dispense with retail merchants, and to divert the wealth that flows into the coffers of the merchant into their own slender purses. Merchants have exercised a tremen- 2i 8 THE LABORER; dous influence on this earth. The time may come when the humble workers will break up their power. It can not be that hundreds of thousands of bales of paper are converted into newspapers, and then scattered over the land, each of which contains the wholesale price of the necessa- ries of life, and not teach the working people to combine to get them at cost price. Eight centuries ago the merchant in England was des- pised by the lords of the manors ; he went from place to place with his goods, and was often robbed, or paid a large tribute or toll to be exempt from pillage. He settled the towns, and gathered around him the men of toil and sorrow. These became opulent by engaging in manufactures and commerce. The favor of these merchants was courted by kings and lords, to gain the ascendency over each other. These sent deputies to London, who at first sat at the foot of the House of Lords. These deputies were put in a room by themselves. Merchants and manufacturers have become titled lords, and have purchased manors and manor houses. William Pitt came from a family of merchants. The Peel family came from a calico printer, and own the Drayton manor. Ricardo, a Jewish banker, had a way of " watching the turn and variations of the [money] market." This watch- ing yielded him millions of dollars, with which he bought the estate of two Norman families, Honey wood Yates and a Scudamore. These estates give a rent of $50,000 a year. Holland, one of Baring's partners, has bought an estate of Lord Somers, for $4,000,000. The same lord has sold an estate to a Birmingham banker, of the name of Taylor, for $3,500,000. Mr. Drummond, a banker, bought an estate, pulled down the manor house, and blotted out the memory of the Goodshalls. Mr. Tinkler, a powder-maker, got the A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 219 old mansion and estate of the Duchess of Marlborough. Mr. Laing, a West Indian merchant, has a place once owned by Sir Wm. Temple. Alexander Baring has the mansion and estate of the Duke of Bolton, and also the noble mansion, park, and estate of Lord Northington. Sir Thomas Baring has succeeded the Russells to the estates of Stratton and Micheldover, which were once owned by King Alfred. It has been computed that the Barings have swal- lowed up more than thirty of the -estates of the small nobil- ity. These sharks that have devoured so many fish, can yet be destroyed by the working people, if they will only act soberly and prudently. There seems to be a mighty change coming over the English working people : they are forming partnerships to carry on their trades; others are taken into partnerships by their employers, who give them a share of the profits. The greatest change of all is to buy the goods of the whole- sale merchant, and then divide them without using mer- chants. This plan uses no bankers. The most remarkable case of co-operation is that of the jggr" EQUITABLE PIONEERS' SOCIETY OF ROCHDALE. "~a This is in England, and was commenced in 1844, by some forty poor and humble working-men, with less than ten dollars in their treasury, and an income of two pence in a week from each shareholder its object being that of pe- cuniary benefit and improvement of the social and domes- tic condition of its members. From this simple beginning it has grown to have seven departments, and the capital is now $75,000, and its shares are five dollars, of which $18,000 are in the mill. The pioneers have incurred no debts and made no losses. Their aggregate dealings have amounted to $1,500,000. They have never had a lawsuit, and nearly a hundred per- 22O THE LABORER; sons are employed by the society. Twelve are employed in the store. Over the store is a reading-room of papers, and a library, containing 2,200 books, for the families of the members. Toad Lane is crowded with cheerful co-oper- atives ; as much as $2,000 are taken in a single day and night. Says a writer : " It is not the brilliancy of commer- cial activity, in which the reader will take any interest ; it is the new and improved spirit animating this intercourse of trade. Buyer and seller meet as friends. Toad Lane, on Saturday night, is as gay as the Lowth Arcade in London, and ten times more moral. u These crowds of hard-working men once never knew when they had good food ; their dinners were adulterated ; their shoes let in water too soon ; their coats shone with devil's dust, and their wives' wore calicoes that would not wash. These now buy like millionaires, and get as pure food as the lords. They are weaving their own stuffs, mak- ing their own shoes, sewing their own garments, grinding their own wheat, slaughtering their own cattle, buying the purest sugar, and the best tea and coffee. The finest beasts of the land waddle down the streets of Rochdale, for the consumption of flannel weavers and cobblers. " When did competition give poor men these advantages ? And will any man say the moral character of this people is not improved under these influences? The teetotalers of Rochdale acknowledge that the store has made more men sober than all their efforts have done. Husbands, who never knew what it was to be out of debt, and poor wives, who, during forty years, never had a six-pence unmortgaged in their pockets, have now little stores of money sufficient to build a cottage. In their own market there is no dis- trust, no deception, no adulteration, and no second price. Those who serve neither hurry, nor flatter. They have but A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 221 one duty to perform that of giving full weight, fair meas- ure, and a pure article. In other parts of the town where competition is the principle of trade, all the preaching of Rochdale can not produce effects like these." The "London Morning Star" gives the following inter- esting account of a co-operative experiment in England, which has been productive of excellent results, and saves twenty per cent, of family supplies: "Of all the branches of the civil service the Post-office is the most enterprising, and it was in this department a co-operative movement be- gan. In 1865, the increased dearness of living was press- ing severely on those with fixed incomes. Half a dozen members of the Post-office determined to try whether, by buying in large quantities, and dividing the articles so bought among themselves, they could not get supplied more cheap- ly than in the ordinary manner. In order that the pur- chases be made on the lowest terms, it was settled that all payments should be in ready money. "The experiment was commenced on a small scale, with fifty pounds of tea. Each individual received a share of tea, which he paid for. It was found that a shilling was saved on a pound. Whole chests were obtained, and the consumers increased rapidly. Other articles were also ob- tained. In the course of a month a little society was at first formed, and, after much anxious deliberation as to whether the expense could be met, a small store-room near the of- fice was obtained, so as to be easy of access. Wholesale houses agreed to let the members have, for ready money, goods at reduced prices, on condition that they call on cer- tain days, and at stated hours. " From a small beginning this supply association went on, till it had several rooms, in which were hosiery and station- ery. The amount of the sales in one year was $100,000. 222 THE LABORER; There was divided 50,000 Ibs of tea, 20,000 Ibs of cof- fee, 180,000 Ibs of sugar, 20,000 Ibs of candles, 23,000 Ibs of rice, 12,000 Ibs of soap. This association num- bers 4,000 members, and they have physicians, lawyers, bro- kers, and architects, who charge lower rates to each other. These statements show that, by the co-operation of consum- ers, the cost of family supplies may be reduced one-fifth. Similar experiments have recently been made in France with the same good results." There are many American mechanics who earn $1,000 in a year; by adopting this plan $200 a year can be saved. This, in ten years, will give $2,000, which will obtain a fine house and furniture. Americans can see the injustice of slaves supporting masters, they can not see the injustice they do themselves by keeping merchants. In the streets of Cincinnati, in the fall of 1867, men offered the fore- quarters of beef for five cents a pound, and the hind-quar- ters for six. In the market beef sold from ten to twenty cents a pound. It seems the Englishman buys the fat ox, hires the butcher to kill him, and distributes the meat. Is not this evidence that the laborer will prevent the merchant from buying any more baronial halls or manor lands. In 1867, dressed hogs sold for seven and a half cents a pound in Cincinnati. The pork merchants buy these and cure them ; the retail dealers charge for this meat in the form of hams, lard, and bacon, from eighteen to twenty- five cents a pound. As the present generation do not know how the people lived thirty years ago, it may not be amiss to tell them. In those days men did not live in cel- lars and garrets. The cellar was a store-room for meat, apples, and potatoes. The meat, when cured, had a piece of wood attached to it, on which was carved the owner's name, who sent it to the public smoke-house, the owner of A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 223 which charged two cents for smoking a ham. The wife and children went and gathered a load of apples, or twenty bushels at a cost of twenty cents a bushel. The farmer brought to the town family a winter's supply of potatoes, without the merchant's profits. A barrel of cider cost a dollar, which made vinegar for a year. At the present time the merchant fills his cellar with potatoes, at a cost of a dollar a bushel ; they are sold, too often, to the improvident laborer for $1.25 to $2.00 a bushel. This was the price at the gathering time in 1867. In the spring the price was $2.00. Apples sold at the same rates. The "North British Review," November, 1852, said: u The number of retail trades and shop-keepers is out of proportion to the requirements of society, or the number of the producing classes. There are in many places ten shop- keepers to do the work of one, such at least is Mr. Mill's estimate. Now these men, industrious and energetic as they are, do not add to the wealth of the community ; they merely distribute what others produce. Nay more, in pro- portion as they are too numerous do they diminish the wealth of the community. They live, it is true, many of them, by snatching the bread out of each other's mouths ; but still they do live, and often make great profits. "These profits are made, by charging a per centage on all articles they sell. If, therefore, there are two of these retail dealers to be supported by a community when one would suffice to do the work, the articles they sell must cost that community more than needs be the case, and so far the country is impoverished by supporting one unpro- ductive laborer too many. Any one who has examined in- to the subject is surprised to find how small a portion goes to the producer or importer, and how large a portion is ab- sorbed by the distributer." 224 THE LABORER; There is another movement in England worthy the at- tention of the American who sells his labor, on which the employer frequently makes one-half of the amount of his wages. Thomas Hughes says: "That by far the most important question arising, on the occasion of the recent gathering of the Social Science Congress at Manchester, is co-operation, a term which expresses a fair compromise between capitalists and laborers, whose contests for so many years in England have been severe and expensive to both. Co-operation, within the last twelve months, has taken a new start in England. " The antiquated trammels in which the law bound all industrial enterprises in favor of great capitalists, were only finally broken through in 1865. In that year a short act was passed, for further amending the law of partnerships, in to which was slipped a clause, enacting that paying work people or agents by, a share of the business, instead of fixed wages, should not constitute such work people or agents partners or enable them in any way to interfere with the management of the business. " Immediately after the passage of this act, the firm of Briggs & Son, very large coal owners in the West Riding of Yorkshire, converted their business into a joint stock as- sociation, and declared that their work-people should be henceforth entitled to a share of all the profits made beyond ten per cent., which sum has been estimated to be a fair interest on capital in coal mines. This step was taken at the suggestion of Mr. Currer Briggs, the eldest son of Mr. Henry Briggs. The latter gentleman had incurred a great amount of odium with his men. He received letters threaten- ing his life. He was denounced in the men's union, where it passed into a proverb that ' coal owners were devils, and Briggs is the chief of devils.' In 1863, things had come to A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 225 such a pass that he had to work under the protection of the county police. His capital yielded him and sons only four per cent. He proposed to sell the pits, and take their capi- tal where they could get better interest for it, without con- stant quarreling. The son said : ' Let us try the plan of giving the workmen a share in the profits before giving up.' The father and the other partners consented. The capital of the concern was divided into shares, small enough for the work people to buy with ease. They were invited to buy, and at the same time, whether as shareholders or not, every man who had worked for a certain time was entitled to a bonus out of the surplus profits, after the ten per cent, on the capital was paid, in proportion to his wages earned in the mines. u The result of the first year's working has been such a complete success as to almost stagger those, who for many years, advocated such plans as the only method of securing peace between employers and employed. The company has actually earned nineteen per cent, clear profit. These results were celebrated at the town hall, in Leeds, on the evening before the meeting of the Social Science Congress. The colliery hands, nearly 1,400 strong, came in two special trains, and met the Briggs family in the hall. u The workmen gave some silverware to Mr. Currer Briggs, which was paid for by subscription. Several of the leaders of the miners, who had been the most bitter oppo- nents of Mr. Briggs in the old days, stood upon the plat- form, and spoke from their hearts as to the blessings which the change had wrought and would bring. Every man was full of loyalty to the concern, which he now felt to be his own, and there was a resolution to double the bonus dur- ing the coming winter. It is believed that the immense industries of England will be peacefully united." 226 THE LABORER; These plans show that the Englishman will some time or other arrive at liberty and independence, though he has no fourth of July orators or writers on liberty. His savings will enable him to go to some foreign country where land is free. It is possible, by virtue and intelligence, for the toil- ing men of England to emancipate themselves and leave the merchants and bankers to wait on themselves, and cultivate their newly-acquired manor lands. The Americans have need of co-operative stores. Are not many of them the subjects of severe toil. Why should they give ten dollars for a clock, when it costs at the fac- tory two dollars and twenty-five cents, and the carriage to Ohio is fifty cents. This was ten years ago. There are women's stuffs, having French fancy names, made in Lowell for twenty-two cents a yard, for which the retail buyer pays sixty cents. It becomes Americans to use the learning, they have acquired at such an immense public cost to learn the cost of the many articles they use, and not be the victims of the thinking merchants. Printers, with their ink and paper, will enlighten men on the cost of production of commodi- ties, if men will find the light. All merchants do not gain splendid wealth ; some gain very bitter poverty in old age, and wear thread-bare coats, and feed their children on bread and molasses. This is often contrasted with the house, garden, lawns, and fruit trees of a less gifted person, the labor of a carpenter and farmer, who did not understand the mysteries of trade, or the art of keeping books by single entry. The two Pres- ton barbers began to compete with each other. The one who offered to shave for a halfpenny to do his best could only earn thirty pence a day, which did not obtain good and suf- ficient food. It often happens that the merchants compete with each other. One richer than all the rest destroys the A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 227 others. At one time a merchant in Cincinnati, supposed to be worth a great deal more than a million, had a neigh- bor merchant, who was supposed to be worth less than a million. Each commenced to put forth arts to get each other's custom, which resulted in selling at cost and below cost. It was a strange sight to see thousands of people at a palace of trade, waited on by hundreds of clerks. The conclusion of this was the little merchant retired broken and discomfited. The mischief did not end here; all the other stores in the city who sold dry goods, had to sell at prices that yielded no profits. A winter at this gave no rent, no salary, no money to pay debts, and caused many to go under the stream of competition, who, if brought to the surface, will appear in new characters as clerks ; when beauty and activity is gone, they become street merchants, venders of stockings, shoe laces, papers, apples, and figs. Many a one in early life has become a merchant, and had visions of the pleasures of wealth, such as riding in a carriage and receiving the homage of men ; it has ended in becoming the sweeper of a crossing, or the owner of a pea- nut stand. Happy are those who fail early ; they avoid ca- lamities like these ; it gives them time to plant a vine, and enjoy the fruit thereof. It has been computed that all the merchants fail except six in the hundred, which must be a cause of sorrow. Merchants have erected walled towns, which have become to panting, fleeing slaves a city of refuge from a master's fury. Merchants have done all the good they can ; it is time their costly power was broken Merchants brought tulips from Constantinople, in 1611. In Holland these became a source of speculation. Chim- ney-sweeps, servants, and noblemen went into a mania on buying and selling tulips. The demand for them became great, they kept rising in value. The first buyers made large 228 THE LABORER; fortunes. The prices went up as high as they could, and then went down. The last buyers lost their money. For a tulip root twelve acres of land was given. Another gave a carriage, two gray horses, and the harness for a root. A species of gambling came from this. A nobleman says to a merchant, u I will give for a tulip three months from now 1,000 florins." At that time it was worth 800 florins, at the time of delivery tulips were worth 1,200 florins [$300]. The merchant gave the nobleman 200 florins ; if the price was 800 florins the merchant received 200 florins. There are now men who gamble in stocks, it shows how corrupt is human society or these men would be at productive labor, at something that will make men happier. Mr. Holland, in his book called Plain Talks, says: U A stock exchange is a paradise of shirks [men who don't work], a place where not the first particle of wealth was ever pro- duced or ever will be produced ; where great games of chance are played in a strictly legal and moral way ; where men combine to break down the credit of worthy associa- tions; conspire to give a fictitious value to things that are of no value, and make a business of cheating each other and swindling the world. "I can perceive no difference between the professional gamblers in stocks, and any other professional gamblers. Both are men who produce nothing; who play at games of skill and hazard for money ; who never win a dollar that does not leave some other man poorer. The commercial exchanges are points of attraction for the shirks of the world. They stand ready to grasp at some portion of the profits of trade men who minister to the vices of the rich, who speculate in the necessaries of life, who invent fancy schemes of plunder, who eat the subsistence of needle- women, who stand at the counter instead of plowing." This boy has now become an adopted son, and has abundant leisure to destroy labor he never created. He visits a hospital, it may be to stifle his conscience, which upbraids him for not assisting those who sustain him, for not enduring the summer's heat and winter's cold. "Bear ye one another's burdens," is a com- mand which we truly observe when we share with those who do them the se- vere duties of life. Lord Oliphant convinced of the injustice of being supported by others' labor, left the pleasurers of his English home, his country's honors, and united with a body of co-religionists on the banks of Lake Erie, where he plows and wears home-spun. If all will practice this, hospitals for sick will be unknown. 5 A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 229 The law has been regarded as the standard by which to measure all offenses and irregularities, as affording infor- mation to the different members of community, respecting the principles which shall be adopted in deciding their ac- tions. One result of the institution of the law is, that the institution, when once it is begun, can never be brought to a close. Edict upon edict is heaped up, volume to volume is added. It is said the published laws of England are con- tained in forty folio volumes, to read which will take a life- time. Every body in England is supposed to know the law ; many suffer from not knowing it. To many its stern code ot laws is darker than the Egyptian hieroglyphics. "^here is no maxim more clear than this, 'Every case ile in itself.' It seems to be the business of justice to distinguish the qualities of men, and not confound them. As new cases occur, the law is perpetually found deficient. Lawyers have not the faculty to look into the future, and can not define that which is boundless. Hence lawyers are continually wresting the law to include a case which was never in contemplation by its authors, or else get laws mau j to suit the case. The quibbles of lawyers, and the arts by which they refine and distort the sense of the law are proverbial. "The education of a lawyer enables him, when employ- ed by a prosecutor, to find out offenses the lawmaker never meant ; to discover subterfuges that reduce the law to a nullity. The laws, in order to escape evasion, are frequently tedious, 'nute, and circumlocutory. The volume in which justice ,ords her prescriptions, is forever increasing, and the world will not contain all that might be written. " The consequence of the infinitude of law is its uncer- taint Laws were made to put an end to ambiguity, and that eacii man might know what he had to expect. Two 21 230 THE LABORER; v. men would not go to law unless they were both promised success by their lawyers. Law was made for a plain man to understand. Yet lawyers differ about the results. Does it make the case any the less uncertain, if it had been trusted to a jury of neighbors with the ideas they entertained of natural justice? Lawyers absurdly maintain that the ex- pensiveness of law prevents the multiplication of suits; when the true source is the uncertainty of the law, which is a code none can master; a labyrinth without an end ; it is a mass of contradictions that can not be disentangled. Study will enable a lawyer to find plausible, perhaps, unanswer- able arguments for almost any side of any question. It will be the utmost folly to suppose that the study of the law can lead to knowledge and certainty. u The task of the law is to describe what shall be the ac- tions of men, and to dictate discussions respecting them. Law says it is so wise, that it can not draw additional knowl- edge from future circumstances, and that future knowledge which may be acquired shall have no effect. Law tends to fix the human mind in a stagnant condition, and substitute duration in the room of unceasing progress. " If a code of laws is wrong, a lawyer is a dishonest man, a subject for censure and regret. Men are the creatures of circumstances under which they are placed. To be sur- rounded by vice is to be vicious. To be dealing in quibbles, false colors, and sophistry can not fail to make lawyers lose the generous emotions of the soul, and the discernment of rectitude. The more successful he is in quibbling the worse he is tainted with evil. A lawyer may be full of sublime virtues, in time he becomes inconsistent and accessible to a bribe. U A lawyer designs to plead no cause that is unjust, and use no arguments that are not truth, but strip law of its am- A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 231 biguities, and talk rationally. Still he is a pernicious mem- ber of society. He retards the progress of mankind, de- fers the advent of a sounder policy, and renders mankind satisfied with imperfection and ignorance. In a word, if there were no lawyers men would plead their own causes, and justice would be easily attained. "The law is wrong in exercising a jurisdiction upon the circumstances of the case. Men are not wanting whose ideas of right and wrong are as correct as the law, and who can come to the same conclusion as the learned judge. The law is called the wisdom of ages. What arrogance ! Law is a compound of passion, timidity, jealousy, monopoly, and a lust of power. The wisdom of ages has to be cor- rected every year, its ignorance pointed out, its intolerance made easy. "Men having reason given them, why should they not obey that? The Creator has engraven on the mind a code of right and wrong. The mountains of parchment to which he refers only impose on him. They are the remains of superstition and ignorance. Frequently it happens a piece of property has been willed to a person ; another claims it. It is put to the decision of a court, and it is appealed to another court. On the one side is cheating; on the other anguish and misery, baffled hopes, fruitless years of expec- tation, which consume the strength of men in lawsuits. Trifles make endless controversies." * " I propose only to consult the volume of nature ; I knew, to a certain degree, what was the task I undertook. All the evidence I collected bore immediately upon the point under consideration. But now the principal point becomes involved with innumerable subordinate ones. I have no longer merely to be satisfied, by a long compendious course, *This language is taken from Wm Godwin's "Political Justice." 232 THE LABORER; to arrive at that which is right. With laws I am concerned with the construction of phrases, the removing of what is doubtful, the reconciling of contradictions, the ascertaining of the mind of the composer ; and for this purpose the con- sulting of history, the ascertaining of the occasions of the institutions, and even the collecting, as far as possible, every anecdote that relates to their origin. I am concerned with commentators as much as I am with the text, not merely to assist my own deductions, but because they have a cer- tain authority fettering and enchaining my deductions. I sought it may be repose for my indolence ; but I have found an eternal labor. I have exchanged a task comparatively easy for difficulties unconquerable and endless. " Such is the mode in which a lawyer forms his creed. It is necessarily captious and technically pregnant with petty subtilties and unmeaning distinctions. But the evil does not stop here. It would be a mistake, peculiarly glar- ing and gross, to suppose that a lawyer studies the law prin- cipally that he may understand it. No, his great object is to puzzle and perplex. His attention is given to the inquiry how he may distort the law to suit the cause in which he is engaged. This is a necessary consequence of one man being hired to tell another man's story. The principal, however, erroneous he may be, is expected to express himself in good faith. The agent is careless himself about the merits of the cause. He is indifferent whether his client is right or wrong. He will plead for the plaintiff to day, and the opposite side to morrow. He stands up before a judge and jury, on the most important questions, upon which are the peace, the lives, and the liberties of familes. If he has an honest tale to tell, it is well. But if he has the weaker side, he undertakes by a solemm argument to mis- lead, if he is able the court and the jury. He justifies him- A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 233 self thus; if men are to have their causes plead by others, the greatest delinquent is entitled to the same privilege. To reject his application would be to prejudice his cause. "Law, we are told, is that by which one man is secured against the passion and injustice of the other. It is an in- flexible and impartial principle, holding out one standard of right and wrong to all mankind. It has been devised by the wisdom of sages, in the tranquillity of the closet, not to accommodate particular interests, but to provide for the welfare of the whole. Its view is sublime and universal. It can not be warped to suit temporary and personal ob- jects of men. "It teaches every man what he has to depend on, not suffering himself to be condemned at the caprices of his judges, but by maxims already promulgated and made known to all. It gives a fair warning to one party of the punishment which a certain conduct will incur. It affords also the other party a remedy against the usurpation of his neighbor. "If law be, to this eminent extent, the benefactor and preserver of mankind, must it not reflect some of its own luster upon its professors? What character can be more venerable than an expounder of the law, whether we apply this to the judge, who authoritatively declares its meaning from the bench ; to the pleader, who takes care to do justice to himself, or to the less brilliant, but not less useful func- tions of him who, from his chamber, communicates the re- sults of the researches of years to the client, who would otherwise be unable to find his way amidst the complexities of statutes, glosses, and precedents ? "We will not inquire into the soundness of this panegyric, which has been so often produced on the institutions of the law. All that our present subject requires of us is to as- 234 THE LABORER; certain what sort of character is the study of the law likely to entail on its professors. The business of a man is to in- quire into the dictates of reason and the principles of justice. The business of a lawyer is of a very different character; he has nothing to do with generous and impartial reason ; his concern is with edicts and acts of parliaments. He is to consider these as the standards of right and wrong. He must expel from his mind all notions of independent inves- tigation, or he must submit to the necessity of maintaining that to be right, because it is conformable to law, which he knows to be wrong and irreconcilable to justice. "This is too plain to need any profound elucidation, that laws, in their great outline, are the prejudices of a barbarous age, artificially kept alive and entailed upon a civilized one. Laws that are of long standing derive their character from principles and systems that are exploded and out of use. Such of them as are of recent date have often originated in temporary objects, in anti-social passions, in the intemper- ate desires of giving strength to monopolies, and firmness to the usurpations of the few over the many. From this het- erogeneous mass the lawyer extracts his rules, which he thinks is for the good of men. Nothing is more usual among persons of this profession, than to see them express their sensation by a look of contempt and astonishment if men doubt the infallibility of the law, or question the truth of its decisions. "The human mind is to bring every principle of ethics within the scope of its own examination ; to derive assistance from every means of information, oral or sciptory ; but to admit nothing on authority that supersedes reason. If I would estimate the means of human happiness ; if I would judge truly of the conduct of my neighbor, or know rightly how to fashion my own, I must inquire deeply, not super- A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 235 ficially, I must enter into the principles of things, and not suffer conclusions to steal on me unawares, I must proceed step by step ; and then there will be some chance that the notions I form will be found harmonious with each other. But when, instead of adopting my opinions with this degree of caution and deliberation, I am induced to admit, at a single stroke, whole volumes of propositions as unapproach- able and decisive, I resign the most beneficient prerogative of the human understanding."* Mr. Maxwell says: "In every school district, in Nor- way, is a Court of Reconciliation. Every law-suit is brought before the justice in person ; no lawyer is allowed in this court. The parties state their complaints, and the justice notes the facts of both sides, considers and arranges the matter, and proposes what is fair in the case. If ac- cepted, it is entered in a Court of Record. If appealed, it goes to the district court. The writings of the justice are taken as evidence, and none other. If the justice was right, the party appealing pays the cost of appeal. This system of minor courts prevents unnecessary litigation. The case can go to another court, on the same evidence, without any trick or circumlocution from either party. There is no chance for pettifoggers, the banditti of the bar. No de- luding of the clients, or mystifying the judge or jury by sharp practice. Two-thirds of the suits are settled in this court. Of the remainder, not more than one-tenth are ever carried up. The judges are responsible for errors of judg- ment, delay, ignorance, carelessness, or prejudice. They may be summoned and tried in a superior court, and, if con- victed, are liable for damage to the injured party. The lawyers of Norway have integrity and learning." * The reader is kindly referred to Wm. Godwin's " Enquirer " and " Political Justice" for a continuation of this subiect, from which this is abbreviated. 236 THE LABORER; There exists in large cities in England courts of recon- ciliation, where three magistrates persuade men to be re- conciled with as little cost as possible. This is a conse- quence of being ruled by a king, who promotes economy, so as to have a greater share of the plunder. Where the people are all sovereigns, they plunder each other. Blackstone says: "Laws are to prevent what is wrong, and promote what is right." This language is sublime if it be the truth ; it seems not to be so. To prove this, take two examples; the year 1857 was one f universal bank- ruptcy made so by paper-money makers. This caused the writer unwillingly to have some leisure to observe the ad- ministration of justice. In the court at Schenectady was tried a man for going into the woods of his neighbor, on Saturday afternoon, at five o'clock, and taking a quarter of a cord of wood. On Sunday, the man who took the wood paid a friendly visit to the owner of it ; the owner of which, the next day, found out his loss, and told his neighbor to bring the wood back again, who then offered a dollar and a quarter for it, which the owner refused to take, and in a spirit of revenge had his neighbor charged with stealing. The witnesses testified that these two men were friendly, they exchanged labor with each other, and borrowed each other's tools. To try this cause required twelve jurymen, two advocates, three judges, two constables, a sheriff, and a fire-maker. The jury could not agree, and call the fault stealing. The court, the next day, tried a man for getting into a sleigh, and driving the horse seventeen miles. This man was drunk; and when his reason returned, he told his brother what he had done, who returned with the sleigh and offered the owner six dollars to be reconciled, which he would not take ; he must have the man prosecuted for stealing. The A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 237 same number of men were employed in trying this cause. The jury could not agree, and call this horse stealing. The two trials took each a day, and cost the county $150. Is not this a robbery on the people? It is time it were ended ! The writer, with four others, made for two employers a set of wood patterns for a hot air-furnace. These were to be made in a month. The person who had the work done was taken with the cholera, which prevented him from overseeing us. When he saw the work, some part of it had to be changed. The man for whom the work was done ex- amined it well, and took it away. The makers asked for 150, their due, a part of which was for making the changes. The man refused to pay, and the debt was taken to a ma- gistrate. The defendant had for a witness his foreman, who said the % work was bad. A rival pattern-maker, having feel- ings of animosity, said, " I have made changes on the work, and it is not workman-like." The judge could not decide. Had a pattern-maker been chosen a judge, each plead his own cause, each witness told his tale, the result would have been, the two contractors would have got some pay. No cheating with such a judge. The work could not have been done any better. The Anglo-Saxons had their dis- putes decided by the witnesses. Have we improved ? Dean Swift, in his " Gulliver's Travels," which he wrote to satirize the follies of mankind, in a conversation with the people he visited, speaks of lawyers thus : " There was a so- ciety among us, bred up from their youth in the art of prov- ing, by words multiplied for that purpose, that white is black, and black is white, according as they are paid. To this society all the rest of the people are slaves. For example, if my neighbor has a mind to my cow, he has a lawyer to prove that he ought to have it from me ; I must then hire another to defend rny rights, it being against the rules of the law 238 THE LABORER; that any man shall speak for himself. Now, in this case, I who am the rightful owner, lie under two great disadvan- tages: first, my lawyer, being practiced almost from his cradle in defending falsehood, is quite out of his element when he would be an advocate for justice, which is an unnatural of- fice he attempts with awkwardness, if not with ill will. A second disadvantage is, that my lawyer must proceed with great caution, or else he will be reprimanded by the judges, and abhorred by his brethren as one that would lessen the practice of the law. I have but two methods to preserve my cow. The first is to gain over my adversary's lawyer by a double fee, who will betray his client by insinuating that he has justice on his side. The second way is for my lawyer to make my cause appear as unjust as he can, by allowing the cow to belong to my adversary ; and this if skillfully done, will certainly bespeak the favor of the bench. " These judges are persons appointed to decide all contro- versies of property, as well as the trials of criminals, and are picked out from the most dextrous of lawyers, who have grown old or lazy, and have been biased against truth and equity, and lie under such a fatal necessity of favoring op- pression, fraud, and perjury, that I have known some of them refuse a large bribe from the side where justice lay, rather than injure the faculty by doing any thing unbecom- ing their office. It is a maxim among lawyers, whatever has been done before may be done legally again j and there- fore they take special care to record all the decisions former- ly made against common justice, and the general reason of mankind. These, under the name of precedents, they pro- duce as authorities to justify the most iniquitous opinions, and the judges never fail of directing accordingly. In plead- ing, they studiously avoid entering into the merits of the cause ; but are loud, violent, and tedious in dwelling on all A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 239 circumstances which are not to the purpose. For instance, in the case already mentioned, they never desire to know what title or claim my adversary has to my cow ; but whether the said cow was red or black ; her horns long or short ; whether the field I graze her in be round or square ; whether she is milked at home or abroad ; what diseases she is subjected to, after which they consult precedents, ad- journ the cause from time to time, and in ten, twenty, or thirty years, come to an issue. "It is likewise to be observed that this society has a pe- culiar cant or jargon of its own that no other mortal can understand, and wherein all their laws are written, which they take care to multiply whereby they have wholly con- founded the very essence of truth and falsehood, of right and wrong so that it will take thirty years to decide if the field, left me by my ancestors for six generations, belong to me or to a stranger three hundred miles off. "In the trial of persons accused of crime against the State, the method is much more short and commendable ; the first judge sends to sound the disposition of those in power, after which he can easily save or hang a criminal, strictly preserving all due forms of law. u Here the listener interposed and said : * It is a pity that creatures, endowed with such prodigious abilities of mind, as these lawyers must certainly be, and were they not rather encouraged to be the instructors of others in wisdom and knowledge.' In answer to which I assured him, that in all points out of their own trade, they were usually the most stupid, ignorant generation among us, the most des- picable in common conversation, avowed enemies to all knowledge and learning, and equally disposed to pervert the general reason of mankind in every other discourse as in that of their own profession." 240 THE LABORER; This description may be distorted and extreme. It can not be denied that the lawyer does mischief. With what eagerness did one try to .prove my employers were not en- titled to the balance due on the patterns. Each of us had sixty dollars for our month's work, which was obtained from the defendant in advance. The employers had nothing for their rent, lumber, skill, and time. We had in the shop the patterns of a furnace to guide us, made by the rival witness. I saw his work was nailed together and broken. I dove- tailed together what I did, so that it could not break. Dove- tailing was done where it could be. It was afterward ascer- tained the rival witness made changes on the patterns to the amount of twelve dollars. Jefferson said : " A court of justice was an old English aristocratic institution, and a natural enemy to the common people." The census book says we have " 33,980 lawyers, 123,378 merchants, 184,485 clerks." It would be a good plan to set the lawyers and nine-tenths of the merchants at something else. These have abilities to clothe and feed as many as 10,000,000 of people. Dean Swift said : " He who made two grains of corn, two blades of grass grow where one grew before, would deserve well of mankind, and do more service than the whole race of politicians. In England is produced three times more food than the people consume. The greater part goes to foreign countries. In return we obtain diseases, vices, and follies. The rich men enjoy the poor man's labor, who lives miserably on small wages that they may live plentifully." CHAPTER XI. PHYSICIANS AND MINISTERS. JOHN WESLEY'S REMEDIES FOR SICKNESS THE OPINIONS OF THE DEMOCRATIC REVIEW JEFFERSON PRIESSNITZ BULWER HAVELOCK VOLNEY THE EARLY CHRISTIANS ST. CHRYSOSTOM TERTULLIAN THE MORAVIANS. "Medicine is the destructive art of healing diseases." LORD BYRON. "Early piety, if persisted in, prepares for a good old age." J. A. JAMES. |OHN WESLEY believed that every disease under the sun could be tured with cold water, herbs, and the juices of fruits. He cared for the bodies of men as well as their souls. He gave to his humble followers and to the world a book, containing 450 pages [i2mo Pica], called "Primitive Physic, or a Natural Method of Curing Diseases." This book enumerates 290 diseases, and gives 925 remedies. Dr. Abernethy tells us the older a medical practitioner gets the fewer medicines he uses. He tells us of an apothecary who took a room in London, and from six black bottles he compounded and dispensed medicines for the poor, from whom he made an enormous fortune. A prescription in the time of James I was a very long list of strange incongruous substances, under the name of boluses and doses, which, when compared with the few and simple drugs the physician uses now, gives hope that future gener- ations in a century or two, will use no medicines at all. It is some consolation to know that the formidable array of cures and receipts given us by Mr. Wesley, have been, by (241) 242 THE LABORER; modern innovators reduced to six, the juices of fruits, one internal and four different outside applications of water. In his book he says : " It is probable physic, as well as religion, was, in the first ages 'of the world chiefly traditional every father delivering to his sons what he had received concerning the manner of healing hurts, the diseases of cli- mate and season, and the medicines of the greatest efficacy. This is the method of preserving the healing art among the Americans [written in 1747] to this day. Their diseases are few and do not often occur, by reason of continual ex- ertion and temperance. If any are sick or torn by a wild beast, the fathers tell what remedies to apply. It is seldom the patient suffers long these medicines being quick as well as generally infallible. "Has not the Author of Nature taught us many medi- cines by accident? Thus, one was walking in a pine grove, at a time when many were afflicted with sores in the mouth. A drop of gum fell from one of the trees on the book he was reading ; this he applied to one of the sore places. Find- ing the pain ceased, he applied it to another place, which it healed. Numberless remedies have thus been casually dis- covered in every age and nation. " Physic was wholly founded on experiment. The Eu- ropean, as well as the American, said to his neighbor, "Are you sick? Drink the juice of this herb, and your sickness will be at an end. Are you in a burning heat? Leap into that river and sweat till you are well. Thus ancient men, having a little experience, joined with common sense, and common humanity, cured both themselves and their neigh- bors of most of their distempers. " In process of time, men of a philosophical turn were not satisfied with this. They began to inquire how they might account for these things. How such medicines A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 243 wrought such effects ? They examined the human body in all its parts; the nature of the flesh, veins, arteries, nerves; the structure of the brain, heart, lungs, stomach, and bow- els They explored the several kinds of mineral and vege- table substances. Hence the whole order of physic. Men of learning began to set experience aside; to build physic from hypothesis ; to form theories of diseases and their cure, and to substitute these in place of experiments. "As theories increased, simple medicines were disused; in the course of years, the greater part were forgotten. In room of these, abundance of new ones were introduced by speculative men, and these more difficult to be applied, as being more remote from common observation. Hence rules for the application of these. Medical books were multi- plied, till at length physic became an obtuse science, quite out of the reach of .ordinary men. "Physicians now began to be held in admiration, as per- sons who were something more than human, and profit at- tended their employment as well as honor; so that they had now two weighty reasons for keeping the bulk of mankind at a distance, that they might not pry into the mysteries of the profession. To this end they increased their difficul- ties by design. They have filled their writings with terms unintelligible to plain men. They affected to deliver their rules, and to reason on them in an obtuse and affected manner. These introduced into practice compound medi- cines, containing so many ingredients that it was scarce pos- sible for a common person to know which wrought the cure. They used exotics not understood, chemicals that can only be used with the advice of the physician. Thus honor and gain were secured a vast majority of mankind being cut off from helping themselves or their neighbors, or once daring to attempt it. 244 THE LABORER; "There have not been wanting lovers of mankind who have endeavored to reduce physic to its ancient standard, to explode all hypotheses and fine-spun theories, to make it intelligible as it was, having no mystery in it, so that every man of common sense may prescribe to himself and neigh- bor. A mean hand has here made some little attempt to- ward a plain and easy way of curing diseases. I have con- sulted common sense, experience, and the interests of man- kind. Is it not needful, in the highest degree, to rescue men from destruction, from wasting their fortunes, from sickness and pain, from throwing away their lives, health, time, and substance. "The method of compounding medicines can never be reconciled with common sense. Experience shows that one thing will cure most disorders as well as twenty. Then why add the other nineteen to swell the apothecary's bill. Nay, possibly, on purpose to prolong the distemper, that the doctor and he may divide the spoil." * These are a few of Mr. Wesley's remedies, some of which he tried on himself successfully : For an ague. Go into the cold water bath before the cold fit. Never bathe on a full stomach. Go to bed and sweat after the bath, Asthma. Take a pint of cold water every night when you lie down. Vomit by taking a quart of warm water. The more you drink the better. Hooping- Cough. Use the cold water bath daily. Cholera Morbus, or flux and vomiting Drink two or three quarts of cold water, or a drink of vinegar and water. A Cold. Drink a pint of cold water, or add a spoonful of molasses. Tried. A Colic. Drink a pint of cold water. Tried. * Sentences here and there are taken from Mr.W's book j the words are his. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 245 An Inveterate Cough. Wash the head in cold water every morning, or use the cold bath. The Dropsy. Use the cold bath daily after purging. A Fever. Drink a quart of cold water in the beginning of any fever. It is safe and sure. Lie down when taken. Weak Eyes. Wash the head daily with cold water. The Measles. Drink only thin water gruel, or milk and water, or toast and water. The Rheumatism. Use the cold water bath with rubbing and sweating. A Sprain. Hold the part two hours in very cold water. The Scurvy. Live on turnips for a month, or an entire milk diet for six months, or lemon juice and sugar. A Sore Throat. Take a pint of cold water and lie down. For Worms. Use the juice of lemons. A Flux. Use the cold bath daily, and drink water from the spring largely, taking nothing else till it stops. Consumption has been cured by cold bath. A consump- tive man was advised to drink water gruel without sugar or salt. In three weeks he was well. Use as a drink cold water and new milk. To each quart add two ounces of sugar. A middle-aged man drank five quarts of cider every day, and was cured of a dropsy, supposed to be incurable, in a few weeks. A farmer, aged seventy, was given over to die. Being desperate, he drank three quarts of cold water every twenty-four hours. His whole food was sea biscuit. For sixteen days he seemed worse; then he had watery dis- charges for a week, and was soon well. The Gravel. Eat abundantly of spinage, or drink largely of warm water sweetened with honey, or peach-leaf tea, or infuse an ounce of wild parsley seeds in a pint of white wine, for twelve days. Drink a glass of it, fasting daily, for three months. To prevent its return, breakfast on agrimony tea. 246 THE LABORER; It cured me [Mr. Wesley] twenty years ago, nor have I had the least symptom of it since. Mr. Wesley says: "A prejudice prevails, that fruits are noxious in a dysentery. Whereas, ripe fruits, of whatever species, especially summer fruits, are the real preservatives from it. They thin down the thick bile. Ripe fruits are the true solvents of it. They may bring on purging, but such as guard against dysentery. " We had an extraordinary abundance of fruit, in 1759, and in 1760, and scarcely any dysenteries. Whenever dys- enteries prevail, I eat less meat and more fruit ; and sev- eral physicians adopted this caution with the same success. I have seen eleven patients in one house with the dysentery, of whom nine ate fruit and recovered. The grandmother managed a child her own way, with burnt wine and spices, but no fruit. She conducted herself in the very same man- ner, and both died. u In a country seat near Berne, in 1751, the flux made great havoc, and the people were warned against the use of fruits. Ten out of eleven persons ate plentifully of plums, and not one of them was seized with it. The poor coach- man alone rigidly observed that abstinence, and took a ter- rible dysentery. "This distemper had nearly destroyed a Swiss regiment, in a garrison, in the south of France ; the captains then purchased a vineyard, where they carried the sick soldiers, and gathered grapes for them. After this not one died, nor were any more attacked with the dysentery.* * In 1866, the cholera prevailed in Cincinnati. Said a shop-mate to the writer, "I am sick, I will go home." He had the cholera j his mistaken friends gave him brandy and pepper. I prepared him, aided by another, for his coffin. Around my home three died with this disease. I had the diarrhea come on me, I took two lemons and a bunch of grapes. I have not much faith in the physician's skill. I had once a diarrhea when many were dying A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 247 "A clergyman was seized with a dysentery, which was not mitigated in the least by any medicines he had taken. By mere chance he saw some red currants. He took a fancy to them, and eat three pounds in two hours in the morning. He became better that very day, and the next day was en- tirely well.'* "In modern times it is the fortune of an unlettered peas- ant to work marvels in the healing art, and to deprive it of its air of mystery. The name of Priessnitz belongs to history. He is remembered by those whom he has restored to health, and taught to avoid suffering by his water-cure. He has been the means of working out a great change in the pre- venting and the curing of diseases. Future generations will bless the peasant philosopher for his untiring labors. His birthplace was on the mountains of Grafenberg, in Silesia, in Austria. At twenty he managed a small farm, and was capable of great exertion. During the latter part of his life his drink was water. Most of his reflections and observations are directed by common sense. "The first idea he had of the healing power of water was from a man in some iron-works, who used it for burns and injuries. He began to reflect on health and disease. He noticed that the ruddy-faced and bare-footed plowman did not complain of head or stomach aches, and he was unac- with this disease. I invited a physician to heal me. He gave me " blue-mass," which, he said, made me worse. He paid me eight visits, and gave me many medicines. Then he left me, saying, "I must take laudanum." Another doctor gave me twenty doses of rhubarb and morphine. I was as weak as a child. The thought came into my mind, if I would live like a child I should get up again. I made a vow I would throw the medicines away, and live a week on milk. I was, at the end of the week, able to work. Another time I was a great sufferer from this very painful complaint, and I cured it by drinking daily a quart of cider. I was well in a week. The idea was obtained by reading a newspaper. The theory of this disease is the digestive organs need repairs. The juices of fruits help wonderfully. 248 THE LABORER; quainted with anxiety or the blues; and that after being wet for hours, he did not take cold or shiver. He also observed those who had gone through the dissipations of Vienna, or who had passed a studious life in warm rooms. He also observed the dairy-maid, the seamstress, and the fine lady, who seldom walked. From these contrasts he formed his notions of health, life, and disease. He began practicing on the injuries and slight ailments of his neigh- bors, applying his compresses, warm or cold, according to the state of the inflammation. To this he added sponging different parts, and sometimes the whole body, with water, with plain diet, and water drinking at the same time. " In the midst of these trials a wagon went over him, and broke some of his ribs. Two practitioners of the vil- lage gave him no hope of recovery. He took the resolution of trying his own plan. He recovered very rapidly. His cure made a sensation, after such an unfavorable opinion. Many now applied for advice, and he made many cures. It gave him an opportunity of studying the phenomena of dis- ease, and the different effects produced by water. From this he formed a theory, and contrived new modes of applying his remedies to gain certain results. "The powerful aid of sweating dwelt on his mind, and he contrived the plan of enveloping his patients in blankets. This answered his views, when properly used and followed by a bath. This was not attended with any debility and it relieved the internal organs, and the constitutional powers. He was puzzled how to treat the critical phenomena, which took place during the water treatment, and here the water-cure has gained by being thrown on its own resources. Had he been licensed to use medicines, in many of his di- lemmas he probably would have resorted to them, instead of finding out a surer and safer plan of treatment the di- A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 249 versified modes of using water. He was also dissatisfied with his imperfect plan of treating fevers and inflammations. By continual reflection, he arrived at the process of envel- oping in the wet sheet, the crowning discovery of the water cure. With the aid of this valuable remedy, he was able to modify his treatment as he pleased. He soon discovered its powerful effects, when used in the treatment of chronic diseases. "All this however did not go on smoothly, or without obstacles. He was denounced as an unlicensed and dan- gerous impostor. He was fined, and his treatment was sus- pended. Confident in the goodness of his cause, and backed by numerous patients, he appealed against the sentence, and it was set aside. Priessnitz and his system became impor- tant. It attracted the attention of the government at Vienna. A commission of medical men went to inquire into the new water-cure. Old Baron Turkheim, at the head of the med^- ical department was at the head of this, a man of spirit, and learning. On his return to Vienna, at the medical society, he was asked 'what he thought of the new charlatanism/ He replied, 'Priessnitz is an honest man, and no impostor, and his mode of treatment is superior to ours. Believe me, gentlemen, we have much to learn from this countryman.' This made the sages of Vienna angry at the founder of the water-cure. Those who left their care and went to this water-cure returned with perfect health. "The commission analyzed the water to discover its mystic virtue ! They found it was spring water! They ex- amined the sponges with great care, to see if they contained any secret remedies. He was now taken under the protec- tion of the government, and a policeman was stationed at his hospital, to note the number of the patients, and repor.t the deaths, and other results of the treatment. Up to 1841, 250 THE LABORER; he had treated 7,219 strangers, and there had been thirty- nine deaths.* Some of these died before commencing the treatment, and were in a dangerous condition. This peas- ant doctor made $750,000. Nobles and the sons of kings were among his patients. "f There was a ship from Africa, laden with blacks, des- tined for Cuba. They overpowered the crew, and com- pelled them to steer for home. This ship was picked up on the coast of Connecticut. It was resolved by some good people to send these Mendians back to Africa. Mr. George Thompson of Ohio became their missionary. In his "Observations on Africa," he says: "To take medicine is unnecessary. In the most violent attacks of fever, pure water, well administered, is more salutary than the whole list of medicines. Rightly applied, it relieves pain in the head, bowels, and limbs ; it purges or vomits ; it strengthens, en- livens, and invigorates; it carries safely through the fever. All persons going to live in Africa, should acquire the true principles of hydropathy.' General Havelock, in India, could get no relief from his chronic sickness. The English physicians in that country could do him no good. When he went to England, none could help him there. He then made a pilgrimage to the Si- lesian peasant's hospital to be cured. In a letter to a friend he says-: U I can hardly describe to you how much I have already gained by these potations and immersions. * * * * I am to devour eight pounds of grapes per diem." His bi- ographer adds: "What with the grapes and hydropathy to- gether he rallied yet more sensibly, and became compara- tively a vigorous, healthy man." J * Among 100 well persons three die in a year. A good test of Mr. P's skill. 3?fThe practice of Water-cure, by Dr. J. Wilson. Fowler & Wells, 1855. J Life of Wm. Havelock, by Rev.Wm. Brock. Carter & Brother, 1858 A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 251 Volney, in his travels in the United States, says : "I have been attacked with an habitual flux in Georgia, in conse- quence of fatigue. In whatever climate it originates, it yields to no remedy. No astringent was of any use to me, not even rhubarb and ipecacuanha was of any service to me. I took doses of opium. The relief was momentary. Where plums grew, by eating this excellent fruit I was relieved for that season ; and no sooner was I obliged to abandon this fruit, the disease prevailed again. The cold bath I found of some benefit to me." * Thomas Jefferson said: "A physician was one who put medicines, that he knew but little about, into a human stom- ach that he knows nothing about." Such were his prejudices against this class, that he was unwilling for his young rela- tives to enter the profession. Says the "-Democratic Review : " IC Among the allopathic medicines in common use, we have the parafyzers, aconitic and hemlock ; the convulsive*, strychnia and prussic acid; and the delirafacients are henbane, stramonium, and the deadly night-shade seven poisons of the most virulent and sud- den in the whole kingdom of nature. Using these, we can only wonder that the virus of the rattlesnake, or the saliva of hydrophobia was not added to the list, and dealt out to suffering invalids on the authority of formal receipts. Next to these we have the less active, but still powerful poisons, opium, cinchona, digitalis, scammony, gamboge, hellebore, croton oil, colocynth, and a long list of vegetable poisons, as if the whole vegetable kingdom had been ran- sacked ; and when any substance was found, fetid to the smell, nauseous to the taste, and deadly in its action, it fol- lows that men must take it for medicine for health." *A view of the climate and soil of the United States, by C. F. Volney. Page 309. Conrad, publisher. Philadelphia, 1804. 252 THE LABORER; The " Scientific American " tells us that a blister made in the hand by a hoe, or some other implement of industry, will cure sickness. This seems to have been a remedy of Mr. Lyman Beecher, to work away the symptoms of sick- ness, by working on some land. This seems to be true. If we become indolent, and keep on the sofa, we shall be sick. Oliver Goldsmith was a literary physician, a class, people think, are not good at healing. At one time he sent a sick person a round box, labeled to be taken as often as necessi- ties require it. It contained ten pieces of gold. It can not be denied that mankind need a class to be so skilled that they can amputate a limb, sew up an artery, or trepan a dented skull. This is no evidence that physicians should be so numerous. Select one or two in a town, and give them all the custom, who will make you well quicker, and, perhaps, charge you less. Dr. Abernethy had a large practice to make $100,000 a year. People had to be brief when they came to him. A lady showed him her finger He said "a poultice." She came again and showed it and said, " Better ; how much do you charge ?" The reply was, " Nothing ; you have the art of holding your tongue." He used to tell some to earn sixpence a day, and live on it. Bulwer said a physician "was one who relieved you of your money, not of your malady." In his " Confessions on the Water-Cure," which contains a description how he was cured by water when the physician failed, he says : "A little reflection taught me the learned professions are not disposed to favor innovation on that which is sacred in their eyes. A physician can not be expected to own that a Si- lesian peasant can cure with water the diseases that resist an armament of phials. I threw physic to the dogs." * * The reader is referred to the books of Fowlers & Wells, hydropathic pub- lishers, city of New York, for that knowledge to enable him to cure himself. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 253 The advent of Jesus Christ into the world is the most re- markable event in its history. At the present time, fully a fifth of the human race believe in his name. He was full of kindness, benignity, and devotion to men. His object was to benefit them on earth and in heaven. His career was an extraordinary one. His death was very painful. He was the victim of prejudice and superstition. He came to level the galling distinctions of human society ; to make the painful inequalities of life to cease; to add what was lacking in the Jewish law ; to make the moral laws of man complete. He showed how absurd was the Jewish law of retaliation. In its place he gave the law of kindness and forbearance. He came to give men light for their darkness, happiness for their fears. Men desired immortality. He showed them it could be obtained, and there was an inheritance beyond the grave. He upbraided mankind for their wickedness, lux- ury, and superstition. In him there was no hypocrisy or dissimulation, no sin or vice, no desire to be rich. That he was a reformer, may be inferred from the lan- guage of his commission: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ; because he hath chosen me to preach the Gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty them that are bruised. " [Luke, ch. iv., v. 1 8.] For this kindness to the human race, men should adore and love him. There have appeared many re- formers who loved the human race, and gave them noble precepts for their moral conduct. The precepts of Jesus are nobler than them all. Plato wrote the scheme of a republic, in which the law should watch over the equal distribution of the external in- struments of unequal power, honors, property, etc. Confucius said: "If a state is governed by the principles 254 THE LABORER; of reason, poverty and misery are the subjects of shame ; if a state is not governed by the principles of reason, riches and honors are the subjects of shame." Diogenes devised a noble and worthy plan of opposition to the system of master and slave. He said : "It is in the power of each individual to level the inequality which is the topic of the complaint of mankind. Let him be aware of his own worth, and the station he occupies in the scale of moral beings. Diamonds and gold, palaces and scepters, derive their value from the opinion of mankind. The only sumptuary law which can be imposed on the use and fab- rication of these instruments of mischief and deceit, these symbols of successful injustice, is the law of opinion. Every man possesses the power, in this respect, to legislate for him- self. Let him be well aware of his own worth 'and moral dignity. Let him yield in meek reverence to any worthier or wiser than he, so long as he accords no veneration to the splendor of his apparel, the luxury of his food, the multi- tude of his flatterers and slaves. It is because ye value and seek the empty pageantry of wealth and social power that ye are enslaved to its possessions. Decrease your physical wants ; learn to live, like the beasts of the forest and the birds of the air, so far as nourishment and shelter is con- cerned ; ye will not need to complain that other individu- als of your species are surrounded by the diseases of sub- serviency and oppression." Jesus of Nazareth saw that the majority of men were in poverty and ignorance, gratifying the luxury of many at the expense of their comfort. These few did not try to govern their own evil passions. They sought to gain majesty, rank, wealth, and power over the weaker part of men. It was for these proud ones that these precepts were given, to bring them to a better feeling, to teach love and kindness to men. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 255 He opened his mouth and taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after right- eousness : for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful : for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see God. Blessed are the peace-makers : for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness* sake : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. How grand ! How noble ! How sublime are these pre- cepts ! A belief in them makes men love and pity their race, and not trample upon them, nor regard them as beasts of burden to ride into power, or stepping stones to ease and leisure. The eloquence of Jesus was directed to the en- slaving vices of mankind that have made them miserable for ages. Nations had warred against nations, they had em- ployed the ingenuity of men for destroying property, and lives. Instead of one grand community, mankind were di- vided into many, each so organized that they could ruin one another. To carry out these plans required that mill- ions of sensitive beings should suffer agony and want. How much superior are these precepts to the meaning- less, inexplicable code that councils make for us to square our lives by, and which needs an interpreter. Men are destitute; and were law-makers, interpreters, and judges to do something else, some misery would disappear. It is only during the past four hundred years that men have had a 256 THE LABORER; printed code to refer to. The time was when the decis- ion of the magistrate was common law. He was supposed to be full of piety, justice, and wisdom. An analysis of law cases show that they are the disputes of men worth millions with those worth nothing ; those worth four thousand with those worth forty dollars, or some other extreme. If the usages of society were different, or the laboring man was more enlightened, the future creations of labor would be re- tained more by those who make them. The inequalities of life cause endless lawsuits, which will cease when the poor possess more. Crimes and wrongs are on the increase in this Republic. Legislation is an attempt to provide against the mistakes of men, and to assign penalties for injuries ; it destroys as much as it preserves. The command of Jesus Christ is, u Love your enemies ; bless them that curse you, that you may be the sons of your Heavenly Father." If men would obey this command, be forgiving and forbearing they would be happier and better. An Athenian soldier accidently set fire to the city of Sar- dis. It was burned to the ground. The Persians retal- iated on Athens. They assembled successive expeditions on the most extensive scale. Athens was burned to the ground, the territory was laid waste, and every living thing destroyed. The Persians desisted when not able to do any more mischief. Alexander retaliated by destroying Persia. If men would be forgiving, how much happier the world would be. If the sums or the time that is spent in war, were employed in promoting the welfare of man, how dif- ferent would be human society ! " Be ye perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect." If men will obey this sentence, it is better than volumes of laws. To understand the whole moral duty of man, the A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 257 Decalogue must be studied, of which one single precept, strikes at the root of all wrongs: "Thou shalt not covet." The followers of Christ after his death, or "They that believed, were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God." [Acts, ch. 2., v. 45]. This was a severe blow to pride, to ample possessions, to costly food and raiment, and to magnificent rooms. No great moral improvement of mankind can take place till a system of equality like this prevails. These Christians increased rapidly in spite of persecu- tion and torture. Pliny, a governor of a Roman province, in the year 104, tells Trajan, the Roman Emperor, "That the Christians are not guilty of theft or adultery ; they ob- served their word and were true to their trust." Tertullian says : u Were the Christians to retire to another country, the Romans would have a frightful solitude." In the third century there were Christians in the camp, the senate, and every-where but in the temple and theater. St. Chrysostom examining from what source the eminent virtues of the first Christians flowed, ascribes it principally to their divesting themselves of their possessions. He says : "Whosoever hath a large possession, hath a tempter to draw him into hell." It is a source of regret that there are so many divisions in the Christian Church. It would be better for mankind if they would unite and form one church. How many min- isters it would send to the plow ! The town of T , on the Miami Canal, contains three thousand five hundred in- habitants, and has eleven churches. Two churches would 258 THE LABORER; be sufficient to contain all the church-goers. There are two kinds of Methodists and Presbyterians. The Baptist Church had forty members, most of whom were poor, and homeless. Their church cost $4,000, which is on each member $100. These forty members pay an annual salary of $800 to their minister, which is twenty dollars on each member. If one of these homeless members, at the close of life, should say, Why am I homeless ? the answer might be, You have given sufficient to have made you a good home. Religion does not demand these sacrifices. The truth can be found at a cheaper rate. The Primitive Methodists were also poor. The basement of their church was divided into cells, the abodes of women in years. While looking at these poor, cheerless homes, the thought occurred, if the labor that is in superfluous monu- ments were in cottage homes for widows, it would promote their happiness. The time is coming when the most costly monuments will tell that those beneath have been success- ful plunderers of others' labor. The Methodists have local preachers who are as good as the itinerants. The world is very wicked, and something must be done to make it better. To induce the people to come to church, it should be made attractive by organs and beautiful architecture. To such a church there might be half a dozen preachers who could preach gratuitously and by turns. Among the Dunkers and Friends you will find no paid preachers. Among them the strictest honesty pre- vails. These have volunteer preachers. There are many of the sermons of Wesley, Watts, Whitefield and others, that can be read with profit. To make a sermon, requires three days' time. There will not be wanting men full of benev- olence and the spirit of Jesus, who will teach his precepts, without any reward. A paid ministry has its evils. It can A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 259 not strike as heavy blows at folly and weakness, which many in the congregation practice. The minister must treat in a dainty manner the faults of some, or he will lose a part of his salary. The early Christians received no pay for preach- ing. Paul could work and preach. Franklin told Paine not to publish his "Age of Reason." He said : u Don't un- chain the tiger j men are wicked with religion, they will be worse without it." The Bible pronounces woes on those who "add house to house," on the lawyers, on those who are rich, and oppress the poor. See James, ch. v. These examples prove that men can be reclaimed from sin. Mrs. E. Fry went to Newgate Prison, where three hundred ferocious and riotous females were confined. She proposed to find them employment and instruction. She told them of the comfort to be derived from industry and sobriety, the pleasure and profit of doing right and acquir- ing knowledge, the happiness and joy of a religious life. So great was the change, at the end of two weeks the Gover- nor hardly knew the prison again. The Lord Mayor, Al- dermen, and Sheriffs were astonished at the orderly deport- ment of the prisoners their attention to the Scriptures the obedience and respect shown to visitors their cheerful man- ners and the absence of noise, tumult, and contention. Li- centiousness and rioting were exchanged for sobriety and cleanliness. Hundreds were made better. One said to Mrs Fry: "From you I learned to flee the road that leads to hell, and to look to my Savior for pardon. This doc- trine teaches me to deny all ungodliness and wordly pleas- sures. Dear Madam, permit me to give you two pounds for benevolent purposes, which I have earned." Isaac T. Hopper, a Friend, spent fifty years helping poor people to work, and slaves to freedom. He used to preach to the inmates of Sing Sing Prison. He often moved a 260 THE LABORER ; large part of his unhappy audience to tears. His friendly counsel produced permanent effects on their characters. In a letter to his daughter, he says " One of these poor fellows attacked the life of his keeper. I had an interview with him. He received what I said kindly, and said he could not con- trol his passion. I tried to convince him he had power to govern his temper. Since I have talked to him, he has be- come better. I hardly ever saw a more changed man." Burke, in his "Reflections on the French Revolution," says: u When the Anabaptists of Munster, in the sixteenth century, had filled Germany with confusion, by their system of levelling, and wild opinions concerning property, what country in Europe did not feel just cause of alarm at the progress of their fury? " The Anabaptists arose in 1521. They taught that to Christians who had the Gospel to guide them, -magistrates were unnecessary ; that the distinctions of birth, rank, or wealth should be abolished, and that all Christians should live together in a state of equality, throw- ing their possessions into one stock, and live as one family. In 1525, Munzer and his associates put themselves at the head of a large army, and declared against all laws, govern- ments, and magistrates of every kind. They got possession of Munster city, deposed the magistrates, and confiscated their estates for public good. It is reported that 100,000 fell by the sword. It is supposed a part of these were Cath- olics, and others having no religion. The first insurgents groaned under oppression, and took up arms for civil de- fense. It was not a war about baptism. It was in oppo- sition to the feudal system, and the oppression of the Ger- man princes. The Dunkers arose in 1724, Corneal Reissel, a German, was their founder. Persecution compelled them to settle fifty miles from Philadelphia. They do not shave; their A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 261 best speakers are ordained to be ministers. They still are of the same faith as their fathers. They work at agricul- ture, and are very plain in their apparel and furniture. The Moravians derive their origin from the Greek Church. In the ninth century, the kings of Bulgaria and Moravia were converted to this faith. The Romish Church compelled some to submit to its dictates. Some united with the Wal- denses.* In 1547, they were called "The Brethren of the Law of Christ." A civil war broke out in Bohemia, which compelled them to scatter to other places. A colony, under Christian David, in 1722, went for protection to Count Zinzendorf, who helped them to lands, and to a town which was called Hernhutt, From this place has gone * O forth many a noble colony of plain, pious people to every quarter of the earth. The Count became a convert to their faith. They have economies, or choir-houses, where they live in communities. The single men and women, and the widows and widowers, there support themselves. They have established fifty missions, which have been a great blessing to men. Their Greenland mission was begun in 1733; in North America in 1734; in Crimea, in 1765. This last mission was among the Tartars, to whom industry was taught by example. The Moravians had a moat for protection around their town. An ancient Inquisitor says of the Waldenses: " These heretics are known by their manners and conversation; they are orderly and modest in their deportment ; they avoid all pride in their dress, they neither indulge in finery, nor are they ragged and mean. They avoid commerce, that they may be free from deceit and falsehood. They get their living by manual industry. They are not anxious about * Christians who never submitted to the Roman Catholic Church. They reside in the valley of Piedmont, in Italy. 262 THE LABORER; amassing riches, but content themselves with the necessaries of life. They are chaste, temperate, and sober. They ab- stain from anger." The Archbishop of Turin says : " Their heresy, excepted, they generally live a purer life than other Christians." The Friends [Quakers] came from the teachings of a weaver, in the fifteenth century. He taught men to despise gold and silver lace, embroidery, laces and ruffles ; not to use the word master or servant, or address others with titles. He taught that, to attack others, violated the laws of human- ity; to defend one's self broke those of Christianity. If any asked for his coat, he got his waistcoat too. They w*ho struck one cheek were invited to strike the other also. The Friends would take no oaths, pay no tithes, for which they were whipped, imprisoned, and put in pillories and in mad- houses. Wm. Penn, in 1681, obtained for them Pennsyl- vania, to which these people went in large numbers. Said Cromwell: "This is the only religion I can not bribe." The monks were of various kinds. The meaning of the word is "solitary," and is from monachus. Persecution was the cause of men living in deserts. Some lived in commu- nities under a superior, and their houses were called mon- asteries. Those who lived in cells apart were called laurte. Those having a fixed place were called Chartreux, Bene- dictines, and Bernardines. Strolling, begging monks were the Capuchins and Franciscans. St. Anthony, at the close of the fourth century, engaged them to live in societies, and have fixed rules for their conduct. They were first in Egypt, then in Palestine and Syria. They went to Italy, France, and Britain. Monks were distinguished by the color of their habit black, white, and gray. There were monks of the choir and the cloister, professed monks, and lay monks. The latter had priesthood conferred on them. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 263 From these examples we learn what undefiled religion does for a guilty world. It is a remedy for its wrongs. Jesus commands us to put away all avarice and selfishness. Do all Christians do this? No. Many of the children of light and grace are full of selfishness. Religion makes some in- dustrious, frugal, and saving, who will buy wild lands, town lots, stocks, and merchandise, with which to get the earn- ings of others, forgetting that the Scriptures say "having food and raiment let us therewith be content." Many think that giving to the heathen will cure faults. It is not to be denied that this is a noble charity. Many triumphs have been won where the heathen have been taught pro- ductive industry. Where a people have the arts, the con- verts are costly. In Turkey, a worldly paper has made a calculation, the converts cost each $20,000, and a less sum converts here. The Christians deserve our admiration. New York City has one church member to fifteen who are not. These few build the churches, support societies that benefit men. The extreme poor do not go to church. Their dingy hats, faded clothes, ill contrasts with the gayety there. The poor can enjoy the pleasing strains of the or- gan, and the choir singing the songs of the ecstatic Wesley, the pious Watts, or the gifted Montgomery. In a gothic church, having an organ, and a quartette choir, the writer counted fifty persons on a summer's Sunday eve. Another .church, having seats for 2,000, had 120 persons in attend- ance. A gothic church hangs out a sign u Seats are Free." Add to this, the brothers wear home-spuns, and the sisters calicoes. This will induce the poor to attend. In this city [Cincinnati] is a Female Methodist College, which looks like an abbey of the olden time. It has rooms for 100 ladies, in which to learn the Latin name of a dog, and the Greek name of a sheep. To learn these languages 264 THE LABORER; requires four years, and will be forgotten in five unless used. That these ladies may be refined and polished, others must be rude and ignorant. To sweep halls, and cook their food in the basement requires ten servants. At night they will retire to the attics. These polished ladies will require at least twenty persons to create their food and clothing. The wages of these give no books, no leisure, no learning. If all would labor eight hours in a day, learning would be equal. Eight hours daily could be spent conjugating Latin verbs, or declining Greek nouns. The strangest feature is that a hall of learning must be endowed, the Latin and Greek paid for by human society. Says a manager of one of these colleges to the Cincinnati Suspension Bridge Co., we will take $500,000 worth of shares, to give us yearly $50,000 to pay the teachers. Suppose the people of Cincinnati bor- row the money of the State, and give to it every year the tolls ; in ten years the bridge would be free, and persons can keep their money for their own accomplishments. To take interest on money is condemned by the Bible. Our Lord says : iC Do good and lend, hoping for nothing again." [Luke ch., vi, 35]. Webster says " USURY comes from the Latin word usura, to use a premium stipulated to be paid - for the use of money. Usury formerly denoted any legal interest. In this sense the word is no longer in use." Noth- ing can be plainer that interest is forbidden. It was so un- derstood by the "Fathers." Ezekiel [ch. 18, v. 13] says: " Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken Increase [in- terest]: shall he then live? He shall not live." These texts refer to usury. Matt. 5, 42 ', Exod. 22, 25 ; Levit. 25, 35 ; Deut. 23, 19; Psalm 15, 5; Ezek. 18. 17 i Gal. 6, 2. CHAPTER XII. FARMERS AND MECHANICS. THE FARMER'S BURDENS ARE TOO HEAVY IT is HIS DUTY TO MAKE THEM LIGHT How TO EDUCATE HIS CHILDREN To FERTILIZE THE SOIL How THE MECHANIC MAY SHORTEN HIS LABOR How TO OBTAIN A HOME. "Agriculture is the only honest way of living." BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. " Have but few wants, and the means to supply them." DE WARVILLI. OU who are farmers are almost crushed to the earth, with unrequited toil. Like beasts of burden you bear with patience heavy loads. The injustice of society, the remains of barbarism, bind burdens on the farmer that should not be endured. For instance, a number of idle ruffians meet to see a "mill," or two persons maim each other. A number of pale, smooth-faced gentlemen in women's toggery, met to try a MAN, not for crime or out- rage on men's moral feelings, but for preaching in a Meth- odist meeting house, for persuading men "to cease to do evil, to learn to do well." For this he was arraigned be- fore a tribunal of Episcopal clergymen, who should have been better employed. There were many outcasts around them, suffering for the necessaries of life. Had these men first created their food and clothes, their faults would not have been so great. Like worms in the peach, they only destroy, they do not create. This was in 1868. If the farmer would spend a portion of his time making cloth, beet or maple sugar for his own consumption, there. (265) 266 THE LABORER; would be a mighty change many in society would have to toil. The corruptions of society enable thousands to live without doing any work. Farmers are at the bottom of the social column. When a farmer visits a large city, he should have these reflections : This large multitude I help to feed and find in clothing ma- terials. What do I gain ? Am I a freeman or a slave ? Why do I toil so incessantly? The unproductive classes become more numerous every day. The farmers do not increase in proportion. The farmer, by selling his grain and grass, impoverishes his land. Many farms in New England which once gave thirty bushels of wheat to an acre, now only give twelve. The wheat was eaten in cities, and wasted so that the soil was not fertilized. In the same manner are the Western States becoming barren. In half a century ster- ility will prevail, unless prevented. The ruins of cities show they have been once populous. Why is it a desert around them ? This land was once a woodland covered with trees, the leaves of which decay and mixed with sand form the soil. What has taken ages to form may be destroyed in a generation which is done in this manner. The soil was planted, and the products con- sumed in cities, which are on river banks. Water carries away what should be put on the soil. A Southern journal says : u Cotton is an exhausting crop ; it leaves so little to manure the soil. Cotton has destroyed more than earthquakes or volcanoes. South Carolina has produced cotton, to the last dying gasp, till the soil forbids cultivation, and is turned out to nature, reminding travelers of the dilapidated condition of Greece." Thomas Jefferson said : " Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most independ- ent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country, A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 267 and wedded to its liberties and interests, by the most lasting bonds. As long, therefore, as they can find employment in this line, I would not convert them into artisans, mari- ners, or any thing else. Our citizens will find employment in this line till their numbers, and of course their produc- tions, become too great for the demand, both internal and foreign. This is not the case as yet, and probably will not be for a considerable time. As soon as the surplus of hands must be turned into something else, I should then, perhaps, turn them into the sea, in preference to manufactures. I consider this class of artificers as the panderers to vice, and the instruments by which the liberties of a country are gen- erally overturned. However, we are not at liberty to decide this question on principle of theory only. Our people are decided in the opinion that it is necessary for us to take a share in the ocean. I think it is a duty in those intrusted with the administration of affairs, to conform themselves to the decided choice of their constituents j and that, therefore, we should, in every instance, preserve an equality of right to them, in the transportation of commodities, in the right of fishing, and the other uses of the sea. But what will be the consequence? Frequent wars, beyond a doubt!" Mr. Jefferson never ceased to believe only in simple, rural life moderation in living daily toil ; and no greater aggre- gation of human beings than is to be found in the family on each farm. He was opposed to the building of a Federal town for the seat of government. It is the duty of the father who owns a farm, to leave it for all future time to his descendants. Why should the father, who has felled trees, dug up stumps, drained marshes, cul- tivated hedges, planted orchards, and erected the home with its green lawns, graveled walks, flowering shrubbery, and climbing grape vines why should all this, at the father's 268 THE LABORER; death, pass into the hands of strangers ? It is better that the offspring should bless the parent or ancestor for his industry, than a stranger should rejoice in having obtained a posses- sion for a small bale of paper money. When an estate is sold, many a tree and shrub, brick and nail, is not paid for. The purchaser hardly ever pays the full value. Mr. Wilkinson P , of Miami Co., Ohio, told the writer, when stopping with him, as a school-teacher, that he "bought his farm, containing 130 acres, for $3.00 an acre, and he paid for it by driving cattle, for thirty-three cents and a third of a cent for a day." He then got married and had seven children. Said he: "I calculate to give my boys, when twenty one, 100 acres each, and the youngest is to have the home farm." This he has done, and he gave his daughter for a marriage portion $2,000. Since he started them in life, he has saved for each $2,000. From this farm this father has saved, in forty years, $30,000 ; perhaps more. This family had every luxury. This farmer had a way of increasing or multiplying his money, by interest, which is a plan of getting from others. His conscience did not see it was wrong, and he may be forgiven. This case proves that the home should be in the family as a monument after death, and a fountain of supplies, for the members of the family to draw from while creating a new home. These boys were put to work at proper age and earned their farms. Some of them understand algebra and the sciences. These boys cleared their own land. The writer, became acquainted, in Clinton Co., 111., with seven brothers of the name of Sharp. Their father taught them to farm, and then gave each 100 acres of land. One brother now has 500 acres, and is a local preacher; the ex- cess of food his sons, tenantry, and himself make will keep his congregation 150 persons all the year. One has the home. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 269 In Sweden the youngest son takes the homestead and keeps the parents ; the surplus goes to supply the others. A division takes place where the estate is large. It is to be hoped the time will come when men will be- lieve again it is sinful to take interest, and that the laboring men will be their own merchants. If justice had been done to society, it would be the owner of all the turnpikes and railroads. If such a period should ever come, men would have to build their own homes. It is from these sources that wealth is obtained that enables men to buy costly homes. There are three sources that impoverish a farmer's lands: The first is to buy the land on credit, and pay for it by sell- ing its crops ; the second is to sell crops to pay the taxes ; the third is to sell crops to buy shoddy cloth. If these drains on the land were to cease, a greater number of the farmer's children might find support from the soil. Two of these will be done away with when men know their po- litical rights; the latter when men discipline their mechan- ical faculties. To buy cloth abroad introduces the evils of cities. Says Bismark : u Large cities are in the highest degree obnoxious to the welfare of nations." This fact should make the far- mer, joined with others, resolve to possess some simple and cheap twisting and weaving machinery. Porter, in his " Pro- gress of the British Nation," says : "A curious trade has of late years sprung up, that of importing rags for the purpose of re-manufacture. These are assorted, torn up, and twisted with wool of a low quality, and inferior cloth is made from the mixture." The farmers, in olden times, supported many scholars. Wm. Godwin, in his " Enquirer," says: "About the fif- teenth century the human mind began to shake off its slum- 270 THE LABORER; bers. The principal causes of the revival of learning was the study of the classics [writings of the ancients]. The desire of rescuing the ancient manuscripts from oblivion engaged the attention of kings and princes. It was consid- ered the most important task in which they could be en- gaged. Hence they did not scruple to appropriate the re- sources of the nation for this purpose. Scholars went from country to country, with the hope of obtaining classical manuscripts. The recovery of one was the cause of as great a triumph as if battles had been won, or nations plundered. To illustrate these, authors and scholars arose, and consid- ered it an honored task to translate and comment on them, to remove their obscurities, so that the Greek and Roman writers could be understood and their beauties admired." At the present time it is the duty of all to become learned. The ancient classics are translated, why should men go to a large building to learn to read them. The time spent at this would open a new farm. This course must make men poor. If they escape poverty it is a loss to others. The col- leges would make nice homes for aged women who are homeless. In a single year [1867], Harvard College had gifts to the amount of $475,000. George Peabody gave $150,000 for archaeological [the science of antiquities] and ethnological [a science on the different races of men] pur- poses. How much more it would add to the happiness of men if this sum were spent in industrial schools for the poor. It is difficult for boys to get places, as wood and iron can be made to do their work. The boys in the "Ohio Reform School'* spend half of their time at learning, the other at making their shoes and clothing. They are taught to ob- tain their own food ; what is left is sold. The farmers are in need of such a school, where their children can learn the A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 271 use of tools. How few farmers there are who can file saws or put an edge on steel tools. Every farmer should be able to keep his machines in repair, and for this purpose mechanical colleges should be built. There seems to be a disposition on the part of the authorities, to start such schools. If arch- itecture and some of the ologies 'are taught, it will be of no benefit to those who labor. C. B. Boynton, in his book, on Russia, says: "A farm of 700 acres had been laid out, under the direction of the government, and on the premises an agricultural school had been established, where both the theory and the practice of agriculture are taught to 200 peasants. An extensive mu- seum is attached to this farm, containing whatever relates to the occupation of a farmer, including all descriptions of agricultural implements, even to the finest breeds of cattle,. Model cottages are introduced. Each province is allowed to send annually a certain number to the school. In each year fifty graduates are distributed through the country after having obtained a four-years' course. The pupils are taught blacksmithing, carpenter work, cooperage, tailoring, shoe- making, cabinet-making, and agricultural implement making. Connected with this school is a brickyard, a pottery, a tan- yard, and a windmill. Each graduate gets a farm and a 1,000 roubles [$750] to stock it. The pupil is encouraged to carry out these theories and teach others." This is a model for the Americans. If they should teach the fine arts, only a few will enjoy them. The poor do not see a painting often. These mechanical colleges at present are supported by the sale of wild lands. The Government gives a State 100,000 acres, and it is sold for ten dollars an acre, the amount will be $1,000,000. A poor laborer has accumulated $800, by the most painful saving, such as ab- stinence from the best food and clothing, or doing without 272 THE LABORER; books and papers. This laborer, to obtain eighty acres, has to give his savings. It will take 1,250 laborers to purchase this land. Can any humane man say it is just and right that these laborers should suffer so much to found or endow a school like this. These laborers have to endure painful toil to clear and fence this land. They get the lowest pay, and it is a wrong to embarrass them, the most useful class, by such unequal burdens which are not imposed on the other classes. To save this sum will take a laborer eight to ten years. Statesmen and speculators do not build the school- houses and churches that surround this unimproved land ; it is the settlers who make this land desirable, for which they ask nothing, and are glad to see one who will help them to build these. The mechanical colleges should be paid for by the State, and the tuition by the pupil. It is the duty of every farmer to educate his children, so as to go through the world with ease and comfort, without care and anxiety. The parents of the child should hear it say its letters at three years of age, which will take ten minutes in the day. At four, it will be able to read an easy lesson. At this age the child can be taught to form let- ters on a small blackboard, resting on the lap. Chalk is used, and this should be the first lesson, aaaaaaa\ this is the second, bbbbbbb; this is the third, c c c c c c c. When the child has made eight letters, then give it this for a copy, abed efg b. The remaining letters form two copies. This is the last copy. The child should practice on a till it can make it perfect, and make it without seeing the copy. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 273 The writer learned this mode of teaching writing by ac- cident. In 1858, the Government offered, in Missouri, a piece of land, one mile long and half a mile wide, for forty dollars. I went to Crawford Co. to see it. The land was hilly, and covered with small oaks. In the little valleys and creek bottom were opened farms. I was offered, by Wm. Keys, fifty dollars in gold to teach school ten weeks. The school-house had no windows. A log was left out to admit the light. In the loft were some boards ; with them I made a row of desks, and a blackboard 6 by 3 feet. This I put on two poles, having on them a little fork, and placed it against the ugly fireplace, after filling it with green branches. There were some pieces of boards left ; these I thought would, if planed and blackened, make a substitute for slates. I found out what books were wanting as near as I could. I was about to start to Steelville, fifteen miles distant, on foot to purchase them, when Mr. Keys offered me a horse to ride. This act gave me some surprise, as he had only known me five days. I can only account for this, that he did not know what crime was, as it is unknown in far-off rural districts. I purchased, among other books, some men- tal arithmetics. Said I to a druggist, "Let me have two pounds of chalk." Said he, CC I have none." I said to him, with a feeling of disappointment, "What shall I do? I am going to hold a school, and I can not teach without chalk." Said the druggist, "Your scholars will find plenty of chalk in the hills." I had the children of twelve families to teach. I had to "board around." Sometimes I had to go four miles to the farthest family, in a lonely path, with no houses on it, and liable to meet a wolf on the road. Seven of the fathers of these families could read, five write, and two cipher. I gathered the oldest scholars around my large blackboard, 274 THE LABORER; and showed them how addition was done, and what it was for, and then got them to do the same. In five weeks I got some of them through long division. I then showed them how numbers were to be used to find out the price of ar- ticles. I considered for what purposes they wanted arith- metic, and drilled them in those examples that they needed. I found out that nearly all could make the alphabet in chalk, from memory in a month. I then gave them an easy copy on their blackboards, which was afterward put on paper, in a neat manner. Writing was learned without pot-hooks or straight marks. There was a man who persuaded two of the directors that I was not teaching arithmetic right, so I was discharged at the end of eight weeks. This man wanted his son to be the teacher. On the last day of school the circuit preacher was to preach at one o'clock. There was also to be a wedding. I showed how well my charge could read. I then caused them to write on the blackboard the alphabet. I showed their copy-books. I then asked the Presbyterian minister to examine some of them in interest, single rule of three, and in such problems as would occur in life. I had some boys who stepped up to the blackboard and showed to their parents, what they never saw before, how the value of their butter was obtained at so much a pound, the worth of a farm when the price per acre was given, and also the amount of a note. I kindly advise farmers to give this order to a pat- tern-maker or cabinet-maker. Mr. . Please plane for me, on both sides, a piece of board six inches wide, eighteen inches long, and half an inch thick. Let the wood be poplar. Black-walnut or pine will do. Varnish it with shellac varnish and lamp-black. Set your gauge one inch and a half, and gauge from each edge. Parents, with this experiment of mine, can not fail to teach their children to write in a rapid manner. If shellac is not A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 275 to be had, lamp-black, water and glue will answer to paint the board. The gauge lines are made after the board is painted. Parents do not know how easy it is to teach their children. If the teacher has thirty-six scholars, he gives to each scholar ten minutes of his time during the day. The parent spending this time every day in the year will make better scholars. If the mother will take her needle-work, and make her child sit on a low stool, with its back to her, she can hear and see the lesson, and lose no time. Only a few statesmen can spell well. Many scholars are defi- cient in orthography, in the " nature and power of letters, and the just method of spelling words." The country teacher does not stop to analyze words, to accent syllables, to give the varied sounds of letters, or to modulate the voice in reading. The school-books now are progressive, and adapted to all capacities of youth, which the mother can easily teach. It is the duty of the mother to teach her child that six added to six makes twelve, and three times five makes fifteen. It is her duty to teach the difference between nouns and pronouns, verbs and adverbs. If the mother will try she will be equal to the task, and quite an adept at teaching that which is difficult. It is her duty to begin at three years of age and teach to seven then if the child goes to school, it can sit on a bench without a back and its feet will touch the floor. It will be difficult to tell what might have been the con- sequences if the Wesleys had not been taught by their mother. Watts, the poet, could read Latin at four years of age. Watt, the improver of the steam-engine, at six could work the problems of Euclid. Two of these lived to see eighty years, the others not quite that age. NOTE. -Wilson, Hinkle & Co., Walnut St., Cin., publish school-books on every subject. These begin with the primary, and go up to that which is difficult. t 276 THE LABORER; Wm. Cobbett says: "I do not remember when I did not earn my living. My first occupation was driving away the birds from the turnip field. My next employment was harrowing barley with a single horse. This was followed by hoeing peas, reaping wheat, and plowing. My father said : ' He had four boys, the oldest fifteen, and they did as much work as any three men in the parish of Farnham.' In the winter evenings my father taught us all to read and write, and gave us a good knowledge of arithmetic and grammer." This man never was at any school. He earned $100,000 by his pen. He wrote 100 books to the working people, to get them to throw off their slavish chains. The school-teachers of Cincinnati, in 1866 were paid $556,348. Each scholar costs annually $12.00. If par- ents would instruct their infant children, half of this might be saved for an industrial school. Parents should think the school-fund is often taken from those who do not need its benefits. They should save it as much as possible. Farmers are not sure their children will be scholars. I was in Illi- nois, a farmer and his boys were around a heap of corn shelling it. I said to the boys : u If a person can do a piece of work in two days, and another in three days, how long would it take both working together? " They could not tell. The mother and daughter were teachers, and could not tell. I said : " One can do half of the work in a day, the other can do one-third in a day : if you add one-third and one-half to- gether, they will have done five-sixths in one day, and the remaining sixth will take one-fifth of the next day." Said the boys, "We see how it is done." Parents must teach their children to think and reason. It is easy to do it. When I worked at clock-making I paid a boy $2.00 in advance to teach me arithmetic. I had my first lesson on a rock where he was fishing. I then taught myself. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 277 The farmer must be a thoughtful, thinking being, or he will be imposed on. When the people were counted in 1859, it was ascertained that one in six had what was called an occupation. The remaining five-sixths were women and those under twenty-one. Half of the nation are under twenty-one. Half of the nation are females. Those em- ployed were 5,700,000 and occupied as named : Agriculturists 3,219,495 Mechanics and manufacturers 480,905 Day laborers 969,000 Servants 560,000 Merchants I23,3?8 Clerks 184,485 Physicians 54, Clergymen 37,000 Lawyers 33> J 93 Many of the last six classes could easily be more profit- ably employed at something else. The servants alone can produce food for 20,000,000 of persons. We often see them at the most frivolous pursuits, such as polishing a door- handle, waiting on idle people, or driving a carriage, when those within can do it themselves. It is a great pity that men with minds, capable of great achievements, should be en- gaged in such ignoble employments. The poor slave once had a boundary line marked out for him, beyond which he could not go without permission ; those lines were those that surrounded the farm on which he was doomed to work. Did he see the man who was free do his servile work? his language was "poor white trash." As much as if he had said, you can get an ax and a spade and create a home ; sell- ing your labor makes you but half a man , you are midway between a freeman and a slave. Is there "no independent wish implanted in your mind?" Is your sense of enjoyment so dull that you should be content with rudeness ? Is your 25 278 THE LABORER; faculty of invention so poor that you can not give beauty and form to the materials that are so abundant ? Is your rea- son so perverted that you can not see the wrong you do to yourself, by taking so scanty a share of your toil for what you endure ? Is your moral sense so obtuse that you can not see the injustice you do to yourself, by letting another filch away the excess of labor you create, which is given to paint- ers and sculptors, whose creations you are denied the poor consolation of seeing? Our African had these conceptions. Some men were trash, who could be removed and their loss not felt. The time was when men had coats-of-arms to keep themselves in remembrance, and this custom still exists. Some might adopt this device a chin surmounted by razors sponges, and combs. Waiters can use an arm covered with a towel, surrounded by blacking brushes, brooms, and dus- ters. Others can use a curry-comb crossed with whips. This table shows the proportion of men's pursuits. A physician to every 600 people. A clergyman to every 800. ,, A lawyer to every 1,000. ,, A merchant to every 250. ,, A manufacturer to every 65. ,, A farmer to every 10. ,, In 1859, the value of the wheat crop was $223,000,000, the corn was worth $180,000,000, the hay $200,000,000, the butter and cheese $i 10,000,000, the wool $50,000,000, the cotton $200,000,000, the tobacco $60,000,000, the slaughtered animals $212,000,000, the sugar $30,000,000. The cotton, woolen, and iron manufactures amounted to $250,000,000 in 1859. The total amount of this labor is $1,515,000,000. This quantity will keep 90,000,000 of persons. This appeared in the daily papers: A writer, of the name of Major Huntley, died in the streets of Albany, of actual starvation. He left a wife and one child. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 279 A mechanic or laborer, who resides in a large city, and is poor when he marries, the probabilities are that he will al- ways remain homeless. Those who get homes in large cities are one in four. The only plan the laborer has to get a home is to remain single till he can get one. The Miami County farmer who earned $100 in a year, did not marry till he accumulated $400. Had he married without get- ting a home on the land, he could not have set his children to work. They would have been a burden to him, and made him unhappy. The children of a city poor man must do any thing they can find to be done. After waiting months, perhaps years, for something " respectable" to work at, the boy becomes a cigar-maker, or a barber. When a poor father living in a large city dies, his daugh- ters must go out to service, and work from five o'clock in the morning to eight in the evening, and then sleep in a room that has a window in the roof, or they must become sewing girls, to make fine clothes for others, while they are ragged. The only remedy is for men to go in companies to the wilderness and make homes. It can not be that man, with all his knowledge must be poor. It is what we do that makes us poor. In Cincinnati is a warehouse that has four large stone-brackets over the door, on the end of each is a huge face. The carver has dug the eyes out of two, which makes them look hideous. To dig out these eyes must have cost two dollars, which would give some poor child a pair of shoes. Some say this gives work to mechanics. It is very absurd reasoning. It is unnecessary labor, which, if not done, society would be just as well off. If the stone- carver had remained idle, he would not have destroyed his clothes or consumed as much food. A man has money in his house. A bad man goes and takes it, for which he is arrested. The judge says to him, 280 THE LABORER; u Why did you do this act ? " The reply is, " I wanted to give work to mechanics. I know a stone-cutter who'wants to make for me some stone ornaments, to obtain clothing for his family." Says the judge: "The family whom you deprived wanted the money for their own clothing. You must atone for your fault, by confinement, where you will be taught to make cloth. Let the stone-cutter get a loom, and make his own clothing, and society will be gainers." There are in society men who get large quantities of others' labor by strange, queer ways which mankind, some time or other, will find out is wrong. They are guilty of the folly and wickedness of putting labor in the wrong place, thereby causing much sorrow and misery. There is no difference between building the Pyramids of Egypt and some of our modern stores. Both have caused men to go hungry and ill-clad. One of the boys in Missouri to whom I taught arith- metic was seventeen. He could tan and dress a cow's hide, make the leather into a pair of boots. The hides were tanned in a hollow log. He could build log-houses and make furniture. I felt much admiration for Mrs. Keys when I saw her husband in a black suit of clothes, all wool, made, spun, cut, and dyed with her own hands. Many families make blankets, quilts, sheets, and linen for old age. It would fill a person with surprise to see the shelves laden with these goods. Their mechanical knowledge was very limited. If their boys could have learned better modes of working they would be richer. The men did not work more than four hours in the day on an average. They used wooden plows with a piece of iron on the point. The young people had never seen a sofa, brick or frame house. If you set this people to making stone faces and foolish things, families will freeze to death. This often occurs. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 281 If a hundred mechanics will form a community, and sub- scribe $20,000, they can purchase looms, mill-stones, saw- mills, wood-planing machines, wood and iron turning lathes, farming tools, and a steam engine. This amount will also build a shop. This community, occupying a tract of land, will escape many burdens, and their children will never do servile work for others. The Plymouth pilgrims made a contract, that they should possess all things in common for seven years, after that they should be in separate families. In 1650, this instruc- tion was given by the secretary of New Netherlands to the people how they should build houses: u Dig cellars six or seven feet deep, and as long as is necessary. To keep the earth from caving, fasten bark on the sides, and cover the floor with plank. Take spars for the roof, and cover with sods and bark." This was the mode of building in New England at first, so as not to waste time in procuring food. In the course of three or four years, the country became better adapted to agriculture, and then better houses were built. "The 'Oneida Community' has been established twenty years, and consists of 200 persons, men, women, and chil- dren, who own 508 acres of good land. John Noyes organ- ized the association. They believe the Bible is the Spirit of Truth. For tea and coffee substitutes are found. Tobac- co and ardent spirits are not allowed. The sexes generally room apart. As far as their means allow, every man and woman has a private room, with furniture and library. "There are twenty departments in business. Each per- son works at that for which he is fit. They make satchels, carpet and traveling bags, mouse and bear traps, and sew- ing silk. They are wholesale dealers in silk. They can immense quantities of fruit. Their orchard contains fifty 282 THE LABORER; acres, and it is full of strawberries, blackberries, grapes, ap- ples, pears, and plums. Their barns and stables are large. The grounds are handsomely laid out in walks and drives. The house is three stories high, and 300 feet long, with two wings. They have a large hall, in which is held con- certs, lectures, and occasional dancing. They have a band of music. The government is general persuasion and par- ticular criticism. In sickness, " faith and nature " is prefer- red to medicine. Time has softened the virtuous indigna- tion they endured. They now live on good terms with their neighbors. Their belief makes them quiet and industrious, and mind their own business. At the age of two, the chil- dren are given up to be taken care of en masse. At twelve they mingle with the others. The capital of two commu- nities is $254,568. A large portion of the women are not very attractive. The men are thoughtful, with a tendency to reading. Their library contains 2,500 books.* In 1817, some Wurtemburgers, for not fully believing the doctrines of Luther, had to leave that city. U A 'Friend* let them have, in Tuscarawas, Co., O., 5,500 acres of land at $3.00 an acre, and sixteen years to pay it. After they had tried other usual plans, in 1819 they became a social community in the strictest sense a co-operation, where the strong should support the weak, and there be no wants that united effort can not relieve. They elected a secretary and treasurer. There are 300 persons ; they elect three trustees to serve them three years, who subject all their business to a committee of five. They own thirty-three dwellings, a saw, flour, and woolen mill. The flower garden in the center of the village contains a hot-house. They milk TOO cows, and make 7,000 pounds of butter in a year. Fifty families get their milk and butter from the milk-house. The ma- * Cincinnati Times, July 25, 1866. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 283 terials for wearing apparel are kept in the "magazine," and given out by the housewife to each family on application. Each family draws bread from the bake-house, and sends their washing to the public wash-house. They are of the opinion that too much book-learning is not good for people of their habits. They have a school teacher among them, and also a flock of 1,500 sheep. The Justice of the Peace performs the marriage ceremony. They meet for worship twice on a Sunday, and sing, and hear a sermon read. No public prayers. "They seem ignorant of social life. They work hard, and idleness is entirely unknown. The children begin working as soon as old enough, and their life, from the 'cradle to the grave,' seems an endless routine of labor. Few ever see any money. Their wants are supplied out of a common fund. There are no rich or poor ; all are equal, and laboring for a common cause. Many of them are entirely ignorant of the world, or any thing pertaining to it; many never having been three miles from home. Having little care or anxiety, living a moral and industrious life, they are long- lived and healthy. No record is kept of the food and cloth- ing consumed. Their wants are few, and supplied from the store-house. Beyond this they desire nothing. They use no tobacco. Sometimes they drink native wines. Their land and buildings are worth $1,500,000, which makes the share of each man, woman, and child to be $5,000. They wear blue fabrics of their own making. The women wear blue stuff gowns, short and scant. To them pomp and display is nothing but vanity. Devoid of ambition or fame, ignor- ant of the ways and wickedness of the world, they journey through life, without the many disappointed hopes and blasted expectations that the people of this world suffer."* * Cincinnati Commercial, August 3, 1867. 284 THE LABORER; "The Shakers owe their origin to the teachings of Ann Lee, who founded this sect a few years before our Revolu- tion. A settlement of them, near Lexington, Ky., contains 400 persons, and they own 5,600 acres of land. No rich or poor are to be seen in their village. All their lands, cat- tle, horses, and sheep are held in common. "The house which we were shown was a model of neatness. The great wide hall was as cool as an iceberg, with its narrow strip of carpet, and painted floor, which was scoured till it glistened. All the furniture was home-made. The bottoms of the old- fashioned, high-backed chairs were woven out of narrow strips of white, black, brown, and green woolen cloth, and looked very beautiful indeed. The stove shone like a mir- ror, and the tongs, shovel, and wisp hung neatly by its side. Curtains of snowy muslin shaded the windows. Order and cleanliness prevailed every-where. They kept up their so- ciety by adopting children, of whom one in six stay to live a life of celibacy and holiness."* The moulders of Louisville have an association for get- ting high wages. When they forbid others to work for the employers, and say that these shall have only one appren- tice to ten workmen, they do what they have no power to do. Men are free. If one class of mechanics combine to raise their wages, the other should do the same to be equal. If the stove moulders combine, the stoves must sell high, and less will be sold. If the moulder has to pay the car- penter the increased rate of wages, he will see the absurdity of "strikes." The injury workmen do to themselves by strikes is to see their work done somewhere else. Strikes diminish the employer's capital, his machinery goes to ruin ; and, after a strike, the employers use fewer workmen, and do not employ the leaders. A strike, many years ago, in * Cincinnati Commercial, July, 1867. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 285 England, among the cotton-cloth workers, made one em- ployer gather up his machinery and start it in this country. A strike in England, among weavers, in 1830, led to the in- vention of the self-acting loom. A strike among pit saw- yers caused the universal introduction of steam-driven saws all over England. This was fortunate for the consumer, not so for the sawyer. A moulder in Louisville struck a man down, and left him dying, for not working for the price he dictated. The bricklayers of New York City, in 1868, made an unprofitable strike. When they did go to work, it was, perhaps, on some gorgeous mansion, an unnecessary store, or an expensive stable. When their work was done many of them went to eat and sleep in a place not fit for a habitation. Striking mechanics seem to forget, they in- crease the difficulties of employers to get work for them. A wood-chopper hauls wood to town for $3.00 a cord. Another wood-chopper says to him, let us have $5.00 for a cord, which we can bring about by combining,and not let- ting boys learn the work. This would lessen the amount of wood, and cause the bricklayers to shiver. The mechanic who would forbid a poor boy from learning a useful trade, has not much feeling, and would make a detestable tyrant. If mechanics will practice the industry and simplicity of the "Zoarites" and " Rappites," * they can not consume the food nor wear out the clothing they can create. Some can do more than others, and should have more pay. Hugh Miller, in his "School and School-masters," tells us of a man who asked for some stone-cutting. The foreman said, "Can you hew a column/' He replied, "I think I can do it." On Monday he took a chip of his stone, and went a little Zoar is the name of the village in which the Ohio community live. Jacob Rapp, a German, with his followers, in Beaver Co., Penn., created mill- ions of wealth, in the form of farms, mills, and stores. They are Communists. 286 THE LABORER; distance and looked at it. Tuesday he trifled away. The strange Highlander on Wednesday began to work in earn- est. The others ceased to laugh at him. On Thursday, at noon, he was even with them; the laugh was on the other side. He had done as much as they had. On Friday night his column was done. The others had a hard day's work to do. When paid, he said "I can hew a column." Mr. Miller said his uncle could build more stone wall than his two nephews, who worked as hard as they could. This proves that societies can not fix a uniform rate for other's wages. Some have more skill than others. Two of the Harpers, in early life, worked sixteen hours a day, which has caused them to own the largest publish- ing house in this country. Their ambition is to supply us with good and cheap books. Some printers earn thirty-five cents an hour at their labor. There are others who endure the fierce heat, the bitter cold, and work for twenty cents an hour. There are boys who wish to be earning some- thing. If the Harpers choose to employ these, if they can be taught to do the work, who has the right to interfere. The employing shoe-makers of Linn, and the shop-owning clock-makers of Winstead, work all the unskilled labor they can by a division of labor, which gives to printers and bricklayers cheap shoes and clocks. Why should the men who do the severe work have the least amount of comfort ? All men are alike ; all should have an equal share of the earth and its comforts. This fact shows that strikes accomplish nothing. "The Scotch miners' strike was the most extensive and bitterly contested in Scotland. 40,000 men were engaged in it. The loss of wages was $2,500,000. The men have re- turned to their work under a very gloomy mood and a burn- ing sense of injustice." London paper, 1856. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 287 English workmen have a way worthy of our imitation. In March, 1849, a few pianoforte makers commenced with a capital of $500. They went on increasing their business, till they were worth $10,000. In August, 1848, fourteen workmen, with a capital of $550, formed the "Fraternal Association of Working File makers." Their numbers increased to forty-two, and they earned a fifth more than their wages. In 1843, Mr- Laclere, of France, formed partnerships with his workmen, to save his tools and materials. Among fifty workmen he divided 3,500 in a year, in addition to their wages, which was a fifth. A furniture factory in Indianapolis, containing an en- gine and abundant machinery, is owned by nineteen work- men. This shows that changes are made which will be ben- eficial to the working people. Many different trades are thus carried on in England. To see a number of journey- men shoe-makers or tailors in a town suffering a person to make gains from their labor is a reproach to them. The poor mechanic and humble laborer often feel hum- bled, when they contrast their depressed condition with that of the wealthy. Some roll in a splendid carriage, driving helter skelter here and there, while they trudge on foot. Some have a pew in the church, in which to show their silks and satins, and to listen to the sweet tones of the organ, as they reverberate among groined arches, and along fretted aisles. Some are covered with costly laces, silks embroidered with silver and gold, or ermine-trimmed velvets resplendent with jewels. To see a person thus bedizened, putting on a defiant air and a haughty mien, must carry to the mind of that poor widow a sense of great injustice. The laborer has but one method to rise above his condi- tion, and that is, to leave such people to serve themselves. 288 THE LABORER; By frugality and abstinence from marriage till a start is ob- tained, a home will be secured. The writer tried to sell his manuscript on labor to six publishers. Not one had the politeness to look at it. After much thought, I purchased $43.00 worth of type. I also purchased a hog at eight cents a pound, which I salted. I bought potatoes at $1.20 fora bushel. They rose in the spring to $2.00. I purchased beans at wholesale prices. Occasionally I had beef and mut- ton. My winter's daily food cost, with coffee and apples, eighteen cents. A pound of bread sells for ten cents. A pound of good flour costs six cents, and will make twenty-one ounces of bread, at a cost of four and a half cents a pound. It is the duty of every housewife to use as much flour as possible. Make a batter of eggs, skimmed milk, and flour ; ferment it, and bake into pancakes. Have a generous portion left, then put it in a cloth, boil it two or three hours, and serve it very hot for dinner. It is to be eaten with butter, sugar, and honey. Roll out a portion of richly made paste to the diameter of a plate. Roll out six small pieces to the diameter of a saucer. On the large piece of paste spread a layer of apple sauce or blackberries ; spread this on each layer of paste, and bring the outside layer over the whole mass. Put a plate on the joining place, and it will keep out the water. Boil in a cloth. Half a pound of chopped suet, mixed with a pound of flour in milk, and boiled in a cloth, makes good food, when eaten with honey and butter. Four cents' worth of wheat, pounded wet in a bag till hulled, and boiled in five quarts of milk, with six ounces of sugar, serves four men a meal. Coarse beef, with one-third of salted pork, finely chop- ped with hatchets on the end of wood, makes excellent food. CHAPTER XIII. THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT. THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT HAS NOT AMELIORATED THE CONDITION OF THE WORKING PEOPLE IT SHOULD BE CHANGED IT BENEFITS THE RICH, NOT THE POOR OPINIONS OF BRISSOT DE WARVILLE MAROJJIS DE CHASTELLUX. "Ill fares that State, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates and men decay." GOLDSMITH. JODWIN, in his "Inquirer," says: u ln savage life there is no invidious distinction. There is no one unequal. None are insulted by the sight of inso- lent wealth and idleness. As soon as the distinction of property exists, created by the labor of tenants and serfs, then there must be a <*poiuer' vested in certain individuals, to compel others to labor for their benefit." To prove this, we need only to look at the varied disposi- tions of men ; some are good and kind, others are selfish, cruel, and unjust. The benevolent Howard proposed to his wife to visit London. She said, "The .100 it might cost would build a laborer a cottage." The journey was not made. He spent $50,000 in visiting European prisons, trying to get their woes mitigated by their sovereigns. A part of the Roman patricians could find pleasure in gladia- torial shows,where thousands of victims, monthly, must give up their lives, to obtain which provinces were ruined. Some can see others work for the necessaries of life, and not as- sist them. They would rather contrive schemes to plunder (28q) 290 THE LABORER; them. Franklin's satire on human society is true. He says : "Some know no reason why they are born, Except it be to eat up the other's corn, To eat up all the fowl, flesh, and fish, And leave behind them an empty dish." There are many who have acquired wealth by injustice and oppression, and who rely on the government to^enable them to keep it. Van Rensselaer, of N. Y. State, had giv- en to him a piece of land, one hundred miles by fifty, con- taining 3,200,000 acres, which was rented to settlers, each to give a bushel of wheat for nine acres, a pair of chickens, and a day's labor every year. The "Patroon" had the privi- lege of cutting all the wood he wanted ; and when the set- tlers sold out, they had to give a fourth of the money to the Patroon. His claim was given by Queen Anne. In 1837, the settlers got it into their heads that Anne had no right to give away lands, to which they and their ancestors had ac- quired a title by cutting down the trees, fencing the fields, killing the wolves, conquering the Indians, constructing the roads, and fighting for it during the Revolution. To put on a piece of land $10,000 worth of work, and when sold to give $2,500 of it to this Patroon was injustice. This man had done nothing to the land to give it value. This person had rents from the cities of Albany, Troy, and many villages. The "renters" had a revolt, and were sub- dued by policemen and soldiers. An appeal to laws was in vain, as they were made by lawyers and men of wealth. This man had at least $200,000 as a yearly income. It would bother him to eat $1,000 worth of fruits, vegetables, bread, and meat in a year. This sum feeds idle servants, useless mechanics, sculptors, painters, and makers of curiosi- ties. These last make articles called virtu> which cause the Patroon to be a virtuoso, a connoisseur instead of a farmer. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 291 After nearly a century of a national existence, it becomes us to inquire, Are we a happier and better people. Since the Revolution this country has been increasing in misery and crime, and nothing will save this land from wretchedness but to return to those habits that prevailed before our Re- volution. Mrs. Grant came to America in 1760. In her book she says none were rich or poor. All had to work in their gardens, except Mr. Schuyler. This was in the city of Albany. The Marquis De Chastellux, a French officer, was in this country in 1783. In his book of travels, he says the only poor person he saw in America was a girl, who had escaped from the Wyoming massacre, an*d she was living in a tavern. This writer adds, food and lodging are abundant every-where. The translator of Brissot De Warville's American Trav- els, says : u He was an indefatigable defender of the rights of mankind, an impartial reasoner and inquirer." In answer to an inquiry, u Can a people without any goverment be happy? " he says, u Yes, the numerous Quakers dispersed over Pennsylvania have passed half a century without mu- nicipal government or police. P. 16. " We have often observed that civil legislation has cor- rupted the best political institutions; it is often a crime against society. * * * The timidity that wealth inspires, disposes the rich to regard the poor as capable of being re- strained only by fetters. P. 35. " In some houses you hear the piano. God grant that the Boston women may never attain the malady of perfection in this art ! It is at the expense of domestic virtue. * * * The law has imprisonment for adultery. It is scarcely car- ried into execution the families are pure and happy. * * * I see, with pain, they invoke the hair-dresser's art. This art, unhappily, has already crossed the seas. P. 73 292 THE LABORER; " When riches are centered in a few hands, they have a great superfluity to favor the agreeable and frivolous arts. When riches are equally divided in society, there is very little superfluity and means of encouraging the pleasing arts. The ability to give encouragement to the agreeable arts is a sympton of a national calamity. P. 88 " The [Boston] work-house is not so much peopled as you imagine. Provisions are cheap, good morals predo- minate, and the number of thieves and vagabonds are small. There is no misery here. * * * You travel without fear or arms. You sleep quietly in the woods, or in a house that has no locks on the doors. P. 99. "Almost all these houses are inhabited by men who are both cultivators and artisans. One is a merchant, another a tanner, etc. All are farmers. * * Agriculture being the basis of the riches of this state [Connecticut], they are here more equally divided. * * You hear nothing of robberies, murders, and mendicity. The American poor do not abjure all ideas of shame and equity. P. 121. "Agriculture abounds there [Albany], and the people do not like to hazard themselves to the dangers of the sea for a fortune they can draw from the bounty of the soil. The air is pure, the people are tolerably temperate, in good cir- cumstances, and there are no poor, provisions being very cheap. P. 130. U A man in that country [Ohio] works scarcely two hours in a day. * * Philadelphia is already too large. When towns acquire this degree of population, you must have po- lice, spies, soldiers, prisons, hospitals, and all the sweeping train of luxury. Wherever you find luxury, provisions are dear..* * As to gold, it is degrading for a free country to dig for it. Gold has always served the cause of despotism. Liberty will find less dangerous agents in its place." P. 416 This man was once a merchant, and tailed. He now sells hot potatoes to poor street boys. He might have been a happy farmer, if the speculators in wild lands were unknown. Gen. Washington had 200,000 acres, Morris & Co., 6,000,000, Albert Galatin and others, 225,000 acres of land for profit or rent. This made them oppressors of the working-men, and gave them power to found banks, con- struct toll-roads, build bridges, and possess railroads. If the " Fathers " had given to each mechanic a town-lot, to each farmer as much land as he could cultivate, the inequalities that now exist would not be seen. The rulers of this nation, by selling lands to those who will not cultivate them, make the work-people slaves. 6 A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 293 This writer tells us of a visit paid to Gen. Washington, where Col. Humphrey assured him that the General planted 1,100 bushels of potatoes in a year, and his estate consisted of 200,000 acres of land. This language occurs in M. Brissot's second volume: " When man has every convenience, he then thinks of ornament. The wants of luxury are in the imagination, and procure imaginary pleasures only. To wear lace cloth- ing or drink coffee out of china is a want created by fancy. * * Men whose subsistence is precarious love their chil- dren less than the inhabitants of the country who have a small property. Paternity is a burden, and their children are ignorant of the soft caresses of paternal love. Manu- facturers [workmen] are condemned to vegetate in dismal prisons, where they respire infection, and abridge their lives. This alone ought to decide the Americans to reject the painful state of manufactures.* "If manufactures bring gold into the States they bring a poison that undermines them. They accustom men to serv- itude, and give to a republic a preponderance to aristocrat- ical principles. Accumulating riches in a small number of hands inclines republics to aristocracy. u Husbandmen are honest people. Workshops show in- terest struggling against interest, rich and indolent stupidity striving to cheat active indigence. If workshops do not make men rascals they dispose them to become so. * * In a republic none should be wretched want obliges them to disturb civil order. They are paid by the rich, who may make use of them to destroy republicanism. * * * Plate is used in the South, where slavery reigns, and many are poor * This writer had ample opportunities to observe how miserable were lace- makers, jewelers, silk weavers, and others. To his mind, to take the people from productive employment was to make them poor. He saw the people had good woolens and linens, which each made for himself. 26 294 THE LABORER; there. There are none in the North no plate is used there. * * America is not yet gnawed by the vermin which devour Europe, by indestructible mendicity. Thieves ren- der not her forests dangerous. Her public roads are not stained with blood shed by assassins and robbers. There are no beggars, no indigent persons, no subjects forced to steal the subsistence of others to procure one for them- selves. Every man finds land to produce him articles of subsistence, and it is not loaded with taxes, but renders him a recompense for his labor. A man who can live easily never consents to dishonor himself by useless crimes, the torments of remorse, and the vengeance of society." * Mr. Winterbottom, in his "History of America," tells us : "The thirty-sixth article of the [Pennsylvania] constitution says : 'Every freeman, to preserve his independence, ought to have some profession, calling, trade, or farm, whereby he can honestly subsist. There can be no use in establishing offices of profit, the usual effects of which are dependence, servility, faction, contentions, corruptions, and disorders among the people. Wherefore, whenever an office, through increase of fees, becomes so profitable that many apply for it, the profit should be lessened.' u The Americans pay few taxes, and no tithes. The rich have no power of oppressing there. Not many have great riches. Poverty is almost unknown. Mr. Cooper saw only one beggar, and he was an Englishman. * This writer visited this land in 1787. His writings are full of instruction to the Americans. The troubles that he foresaw are upon us. He went back to France. On the 3ist of Oct. 1793, he and nineteen others were guillotined for being in opposition to Robespierre, Barrere, and others. Their last words were "Vive la Republique." They all commenced to sing the Marseillese hymn at execution. As their voices became lessened, the sounds grew feeble. At last one stood up to sing, his voice was silenced. Their execution was concluded in thirty-seven minutes. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 295 "The homestead is given to the youngest son. An un- married man of thirty is scarcely to be found in the coun- try towns. A grandmother at forty and her married daugh- ter, each having an infant, are often seen together. 44 The privileged aristocracy of Europe are often without a single virtue, rolling at ease in splendor, preying upon the fruits of honest industry, and devouring the earnings of the virtuous peasant. Their depraved manners extend poison through all the channels of human happiness. 44 In America this class of persons is not known. The mass of inhabitants, exclusive of servants, consists of those who possess lands in fee simple. A mediocrity of situation is common in America. There are but few whose in- comes will reach ,2,000, and the numbers are nearly as small who are reduced to a dependent situation. "There are in America but few people like the poor in England. There are few great proprietors of land, and few tenants. All follow some handicraft. Very few people are rich enough to live on rents or incomes, to pay the high price for paintings, statues, architecture, or any works of art more curious than useful. Wanton extravagance, use- less parade, and quarrels are not common. Boxing matches are unknown. No military to keep the people in awe. A robbery is rare. There was none during the yellow fever in Philadelphia. 41 In England, the young man flies to prostitution, for fear of the expense of a family. In America no man is anxious about the expense of his family. Every man feels the in- crease of his family to be an increase of riches, and no far- mer doubts his ability to provide for them. 44 In Great Britain, perpetual exertion, incessant industry, daily deprivation of the comforts of life, are incumbent on the man of middle life. In America it is otherwise. The 296 THE LABORER; mass of the people are untainted, hence their freedom from artificial poverty, and the diffusion of the common conven- iences of life. " In England, if a man is unfortunate, the crowd trample on him. In America there is room to get up again. Part of the tradesmen live in the country, and reside on from one to one hundred and fifty acres, which they cultivate at their leisure with their wives and children.*'* Isaac Weld visited America in 1807. It seems from reading his "Travels in North America," that he found money did not command respect. If this Englishman had seen any want or poverty he would have mentioned it. He says : " The generality of servants, in Philadelphia, are emi - grants. They remain in servitude till they can save some money, then they quit their master for the independence so natural to the mind of man. As to the Americans, none but the most indifferent enter into service ; it is considered only suitable for negroes. Civility can not be purchased on any terms. They consider it incompatible with freedom, and that there is no other way of convincing a stranger he is in a land of liberty, only by being surly and ill-mannered in his presence. "At the taverns the bread was sour, the fruit acrid, and it was difficult to get a horse rubbed down." Mr. Weld de- scribes how wretched slavery makes a people, and how the common people fight, and how they gouge out the eye. "In Virginia every fourth man appears with an eye out." Duke De La Rochefoucalt Liancourt wandered up and down this country from 1795 to 1797. His principles were opposite to those of Brissot's. In his book of " Trav- els," he says: "The people of America live well. There *This history was written in 1795, ^ or circulation in England. It is in four volumes, quarto size. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 297 are few persons who do not possess more than they need for their maintenance. Hence the indolence of the inhabi- tants. * * * There are seldom any poor in Roxborough County [near Philadelphia]. Laborers are scarce in New- ark. The district contains no paupers, there exist no poor- rates. * * * Morristown is seven miles from Philadelphia. Its jail is only inhabited by the keeper. Poor-rates are sel- dom necessary. At present no paupers are there. * * * The laws of the State of New York have established poor- rates. There are few to be found of this description in that new country. * * * Herkimer Co. contains 25,000, persons. Two of these received public relief. * : * John Schuyler has 1,500 acres of land ; 500 acres are cleared. He owns three mills, and his yearly taxes were $35.00." "John Melish gives us two volumes of travels in this country from, 1806 to 1809. He says: " The people are remarkably civil and industrious. * The genius of archi- tecture seems to have shed his maledictions over the land.'* There are no large towns, there seems to be no occasion for them. Mankind are better accommodated in small towns than in large cities. The inhabitants are mostly farmers, and produce on their farms every necessary of life. One day's labor was sufficient to keep the family a week." This writer, by this record, has given us the causes of the poverty of this country. "'The Ohio Company's pur- chase' is along the Ohio River seventy miles, from north to south eighty, and contains 1,000,000 acres. The retail price of this land was from $2.00 to $20. OO an acre. "'The Symmes's purchase' is between the two Miamis, *This writer paid a visit to Thos. Jefferson, and has saved us this one of his noble sayings. A beautiful store is built by profits the people have not yet learned to save. That imposing college is often built by speculations on public lands. The grand public edifice is often built by forced contributions. Were the common people wise, this excessive labor would be on their homes. 298 THE LABORER ; it contained more than 1,000,000 of acres, and was sold for $5.00 an acre. Mr. Zane, of Wheeling, for surveying a road, had given to him lands that are the sites of Zanesville, New Lancaster, and a tract of bottom land opposite Chil- licothe, one mile square. 'The Scioto Company's pur- chase* contained 2,000,000 of acres. "'The Western Reserve lands' were 122 miles long, and 45 wide, and contained 3,423,360 acres. In 1795, 500,000 acres were given to those on the Connecticut sea- shore, whose towns were burnt by the British during the Revolution. The remainder of the land, was sold by the Connecticut Legislature, to Oliver Phelps and others for $1,200,000. This, land in, 1810 was re-sold for two and four dollars an acre. "'The Holland purchase' was 100 miles square, and con- tained 4,000,000 of acres, in the vicinity of Lake Ontario, and the Genesee River. The retail price was $3.50 for an acre, five per cent, in cash, and the balance to be paid in six annual payments/' This writer gives us a pleasing description of the "Rapp Colony." He says: "'The Harmonist Society' had its origin in Wurtemberg. The Lutheran religion had be- come predominate, to which every body had to contribute. These men maintained that the religion taught by Luther had been destroyed, and in place of it, to regulate the life, and regenerate the mind, it was converted into an engine of power, to the civil government, to keep the people in check. They were subjected to fines and imprisonments. "In 1805, they organized a constitution, and founded it on Acts, ch. iv, v. 32. This society, in their new American home, in 1809, had 4,500 bushels of wheat, 4,500 of rye, 4,500 of barley, 10,000 of potatoes, 4,000 Ibs of flax, and 1,000 sheep. In 1810, they numbered 800 persons. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 299 "They owned 9,000 acres of land. Their mills, dwell- ings, and lands amount to 220,000. They live pure lives, and resign their offspring to the society at death. They have no fear of want, no care, no use for money. They help each other, and are free from the temptations that the rest of mankind are subject too. There is no crime or im- morality among them." Had these people lived in the city, and become chin- shavers, head-washers, grotesque stone-carvers, toy-makers, wood-carvers, and frivolous workers, they would have been poor and miserable, their children drudges, sewing-girls in shops with the windows in dark, dirty alleys. Some of these societies are still prosperous and getting richer. The time may come when laborers will live in "baronial halls/' sur- rounded with umbrageous walks, grassy lawns, beautiful conservatories, well filled graperies, abundant vineyards, bounteous orchards, flowery parterres, productive gardens, and pleasing apiaries. The "Zoarites" do not increase, and their children wan- der off to enjoy gavety elsewhere. There can be no harm in making their home attractive to prevent this. When a man has a house, a granary, a fenced field, he may indulge in the fine arts ; if he creates them with his own hands, then no one is injured. To take by force or fraud the food and clothes of another, and give them to scene painters and trifle makers is an injustice. Those who nourish these artists never see their wondrous productions.* The writer resolved he would make a painting by getting up early in the morning at midsummer, and painting to seven o'clock, the hour for labor. With pencil I copied a book scene, and put on the varied colored paints. After sixty mornings I then showed the painting to a "tinner" and a "plumber," the two first to see it. One said : " Whoever saw such sharp rocks on a sea- shore." Said the other: "They are put there to rind freight -for the boat." The scene was a boat at sea, sailors on the shore, cottage and hills in the dis- 300 THE LABORER; In 1818, a Philadelphia printer, of the name of H. Hall, printed a series of "-Letters on Pennsylvania," written by C. B. Johns. He says: "There are no poor here. A la- borer gets $1.25 for a day's labor. $1,00 will purchase 20 Ibs of beef, or 20 Ibs of pork, or 16 Ibs of flour. The labor of four days will give him support for a month. I have been in four houses, and the men are sitting down in- stead of working. Sheep skins, heads, and breasts are thrown away." The laborer of half a century ago did not accumulate a pile of money to generate stealers. He created a heap of food, and then ate it. A thief in these improved days stole some silver-plate. He sent a letter to his victim saying: 41 Allow me, sir respectfully to suggest to you in future you will content yourself with cheap spoons, and spend your surplus cash in the cause of humanity and Christ." Abbe Raynal, when speaking of the criminals sent to this country, says: " If they had not quitted their country, dis- grace and shame, which never fail to depress the mind, would have prevented them from recovering either regular- ity of manners or public esteem. But, in another country, where the experience they had of vice might prove a lesson of wisdom, and where they had no occasion to attempt to remove any unfavorable impressions, they found, after their misfortunes, a harbor in which they rested with safety. In- dustry made amends for their past follies. Men who had left Europe like vagabonds, and who had disgraced it, re- turned honest men and useful members of society. "All these colonists had at their disposal, for clearing and tilling their lands, the most profligate set of men in tance. I never painted a cloud, a tree, or a wave before. A determined will works wonders. My ambition is with my own hands to build a house and have some home-made paintings. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 301 the three kingdoms, who had deserved death for capital crimes, but who, from motives of humanity and policy, were suffered to live and work for the benefit of the state. These malefactors, who were transported for a term of years, which they were to spend in slavery, became industri- ous, and acquired manners, which placed them once more in the way to fortune. There were some of those who, when restored to society by. the freedom they had gained, became planters, heads of families, and the owners of the best plan- tations a proof of how much it is for the interest of a civi- lized society to admit this lenity in the penal laws, so con- formable to human nature, which is frail, but capable of sensibility, and of turning from evil to good." Jeremy Bentham, in his * l Theory of Legislation," says : " The English, before the independence of America, were in the habit of sending their convicts to that country. This was slavery to some, to others pleasure. A rogue was a fool if he did not commit some offense to get an outfit and a free passage. Some of the convicts gained a home and property" Penal Code. Lord Kames, in his u Sketches on Governments," says : u 0ur American settlements are now so prosperous, ban- ishment there is scarce a punishment. It may, however, be now a sufficient punishment for theft." Mrs. Kitty Trevelyan, in her diary of the "The Times of Whitefield and Wesley," written in 1745, says: u There are the convicts, our outcast countrymen, working out their sentences beside the negroes on the plantations." Voltaire, in a preface to another's book, speaks of trans- ported criminals to America as becoming honest.* De Toqueville, in his writings, alludes to this subject. *The writer regrets that the note he made from Voltaire is mislaid. Men are made bad by circumstances. If you change them, men become better. 27 302 THE LABORER; James I "ordered dissolute persons to be sent to Vir- ginia." Statutes were enacted that crimes punishable with death might be commuted by the courts to banishment. A reason for this act was u in many of the colonies there was a want of servants, who, by their labor and industry, might improve the said colonies and make them more useful." The Legislature of Virginia passed an act, that persons who disposed of these convicts should give Xioo security for their proper behavior. Those who purchased them gave > Sire, see the kind of bread your subjects eat." The Americans should be thankful that they can right their wrongs without resorting to killing men by machin- * Harper & Brothers are the publishers of Abbott's " French Revolution." 330 THE LABORER; ery. They have a vote given to them, which they can use to clear away all their wrongs. The first wrong done to the American people was to let men have land who did not in- tend to cultivate it with their own hands. The motive was to get others to work for them. The quantity of land that Sturgis purchased of the Kansas Indians will make a State equal in area to Massachusetts. This man may not be permitted to keep this land. He bases his claim upon this: Indians can sell their own lands to whom they please. In- dians, in the State of New York, living near Buffalo, have sold their claims to speculators. "The grant of land to the Northern Pacific Railroad is 47,000,000 of acres. To the Central Pacific 35,000,000 of acres. To the Atlantic and Pacific 17,000,000 of acres. The aggregate number of acres granted by Government, for railroad purposes, is 154,201,584 acres, equal in extent, if placed in one body, to the area of the States of New Yo/k, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and New England.*' "There are plenty of honest men in the community who will never believe in the possibility of our law-makers lending their sanction to a profligate expenditure of the peo- ple's money. To such we commend a paragraph from the The Stockholder: 'Some able gentlemen have this matter [The Northern Pacific Railroad] in hand, and mean to get a subsidy^ from the Government, which will make their scheme a rich mine,' etc. The National Government was never organized for taxing the people for private companies. As its charter of privileges now stands, at no distant day it will be worth $100,000,000, through the settlement of lands along its route. This modest corporation wants help of the United States to the amount of $60,000,000. This is cer- tainly the most brilliant piece of railroad financiering re- * Chicago Tribune, j- SUBSIDY, aid in money from governments a tax. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 331 cently heard of. If the United States is really going into the railroad business to this extent, it had better go in all over, lay out, build, equip, run the railways, and pocket the receipts, which is something to the purpose. We do not like this one-sided business of giving away every-thing and get- ting nothing. It is all outgo and no income for Samuel."* God's earth has too long been made the sport of specula- tors. It was given to the people to those who would oc- cupy and use it. Carlyle says: "The_earth belongs to those two to God, and to those of his children who have worked well, or who will work well upon it." John Locke says: "The earth was given for the use of the industrious, and labor was to be his title to it." J. S. Mill says : " Labor is necessary to clear, to drain, and cultivate the land and upon this rests the sole foundation of the title to property on the earth." These are but the echoes of common sense ; and yet the rulers of the country are squandering the land, upon those who do not, and will not, work upon it ; to those who are mere speculators out of the sweat of multitudes who toil on the farms, and in the work-shops of the country ! This is the source of nearly all overgrown fortunes. It is the chief cause of such a concentration of capital as enables a few to monopolize breadstuff's, and thus make another ter- rible assessment upon the working classes. It enables oth- ers to bribe Congressmen and State Legislators to give them abundant plunderings. Quetalbet says: "Society prepares the crimes the crimi- nals commit." Land monopoly, fostered by Legislatures, causes crime. If all the idle lands in the States were to be sold it would reform society. What an enormous amount of crime the Pacific Railroad will cause ! The tea and other * Editorial from the Commercial of May, 1868. 332 THE LABORER; products it will brins; we can do without. Mrs. Grant says: " Before the Revolution every family had a cow." Tea was not known then. Milk and bread was one item of food. A crime was not known. Says the Commissioner of Statistics : "In 1861, among 4,000 people there was one who committed a crime against property. In 1867, there was one property crime occurred among 2,360 people." Ohio Report. Banks favor a few in this manner: Twenty men each pos- sessing a house worth $1,000, as one man pledge them to the Comptroller, who gives them 20,000 beautiful pieces of paper, which are called dollar bills, for which unthinking laborers will clothe and feed a part of their number, while they are building another twenty houses. These are given to the authorities for another $20,000, under the pretense that society needs more capital. The pledger receives rents for these houses while in pledge. In this wicked manner, by pledging what is most valuable, a few fill the land with railroads, the profits of which keep men from work. The good Franklin could print $4,000,000. His rulers loaned it for $22,000, which defrayed the expenses of his colony. The result was no poverty, no crime, no homeless men. u Seeing to lend money at interest, that is to say, for gain, that is to say, to receive money for the use of money ; seeing that to do this was contrary, and is still contrary, to the principles of the Catholic Church ; and among Christians, or professors of Christianity, such a thing was never heard of before what is impudently called the Reformation. "The ancient philosophers, the Fathers of the Church, both Testaments, the Canons of the Church, the decisions of the Popes and Councils, all agree, all declare, that to take money for the use of money is sinful. Indeed, no such thing was ever attempted to be justified until the savage Henry VIII had cast off the supremacy of the Pope. Jews A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 333 did it, but then Jews had no civil rights. They were re- garded as moral monsters." : There is one truth very certain, that labor keeps us from perishing ; and if any one will not work, he does an injustice to him that will work. He that will not work, is no better than a robber. Nor is it just to choose easy work, and let another do the hard work. The generous, noble man will resolve to do a part of the hard work. Whatever plans make fortunes, are wicked and unscriptural. The means whereby men become rich, are the corruptions of ages; and when the American poor have drunk deeper from the cup of suffering, they will overthrow the causes that make men idle and rich. Our Savior condemned riches, and told his disciples not to refuse to lend, and they were to take no re- ward for it. The opinions of the "Fathers" show that in- terest is sinful and unjust. St. Basil says: u It is the highest cruelty to charge the man who comes to borrow to preserve a wretched exist- ence, or to seek riches from his pinching poverty." St. Clement says : " It is wrong to charge usury [money for the use of money] for the money which should be ex- tended with open hearts and hands to the needy." St. Chrysostom says: "Nothing surpasses in barbarity the modern practice of usury ; certainly the usurers f traffic on other people's misfortunes, and seek gain through their ad- versity. They dig for the distressed a pit of misery." St. Augustine says: "I would not have you become us- urers ; it is repugnant to the law of God. Is he more cruel who steals or purloins from a rich man, than he who grinds a poor man with usury and becomes reprehensible ? " Leo I says: u It is true, his substance swells from unjust * William Cobbett's " History of the Reformation." J- USURY, the practice of taking interest. Lord Bacon. In this sense not used. 334 THE LABORER; and fearful additions; whilst the substance of the soul de- cays. Usury of money is a rope to strangle the soul." St. Hilary says: "What is more cruel than, under pre- tense of relieving, to- augment the borrower's distress; in- stead of aiding him, to add to his wretchedness?" St. Gregory says: "Hold in abhorrence usury dealings; love your neighbor, not your money; bid farewell to sur- plus wealth and usury. Excite love for the poor." St. Ambrose says: " Rich men, poverty is a fertile field for your plentiful crops ; he who has not the necessaries of 'life must pay you usury. This is the height of cruelty." St. Jerome says: "Some persons imagine usury is sinful only when received in money. The sacred writer has pro- scribed increase,* so that you can not receive more than you gave. Usury is prohibited among mankind in general." St. Aquinas says: " To receive usury for money lent, is radically unjust an inequality opposed to justice." Aristotle says: "It is allowable for men to acquire gain by fruits and animals. The practice of reaping money from money is repugnant to nature ; its gains are base." Plutarch says: " By giving usury and entering into con- tracts, we manufacture the yoke of our slavery." Blackstone says: " In the dark ages of monkish supersti- tion, to wit, during the prevalence of the Catholic religion, interest was laid under a total interdict." Kent, in his "Commentaries" says : "Till the twelfth cen- tury the Jews were the only money-lenders. Catholics did not like to engage in the business of renting money." The rules of the Catholic Church, as given by its Coun- cils from time to time, forbids, in the strongest language, the loaning of money on interest. The Bulls [letters] of many pontiffs, the decrees of many emperors, forbid interest. ^INCREASE, a Bible term meaning corn, wine, oil the produce of the earth A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 335 Time, the great changer of events, was destined to make these precepts of no effect. Catholics saw the Jews and Lombards [Italian merchants of the fourteenth century] ob- taining riches, and it was a natural thought to divert these riches into other channels. In 1515, Pope Leo X invited sums of money to be contributed to be lent to the poor, or to be loaned so as to keep men from becoming poor. In- dulgences were granted to those who contributed to these charitable funds,which were called Mantes Pietatls Mount- ains of Piety." * It appears singular to us, at present, that it should have been once considered unlawful to receive interest for lent money ; but this circumstance will excite no wonder when the reason of it is fully explained. Those who borrowed money required it only for immediate use, to relieve their ne- cessities, or to procure the conveniences of life; and those who advanced it to such indigent persons did so either through benevolence or friendship. Acquiring money by money was long detested, and this feeling was strengthened by severe papal laws. The people often contrive means to render the faults of legislators less hurtful. This was devised. A capital was collected, to be lent to the poor on pledges without interest. This idea was suggested by the Emperor Augustus, who sold the prop- erty of criminals, and lent the money, without interest, on pledges. Severus lent money to purchase land without in- terest, and took his pay in produce. The Pope changed burdensome vows into donations to 41 lending-houses." The rich gave money so as to legitimate children not born in. wedlock. Indulgences and holy-water created a capital. The Pope called these holy mountains of *" Usury and Banking," by Jeremiah O'Calligan, Catholic Priest, New York. 1856. A valuable book of 550 pages, full of good teaching from the Fathers. 336 THE LABORER; piety legal. In 1456, Bernardinus went around preaching against the Jews, gaming, intemperance, extravagance in dress. He founded lending houses, and collected money for them to keep people from becoming poor. A gratuity was solicited for the lending servants, which afterward became a regular assessment, to pay expenses. These bancos de poveri have become mountains of misery. Half of those who use them lose their pledges. They lead men into employments that make them poor, and keep them from working in the earth. Banks are contrivances to get toiling men to build public works for idle thinking men. The Cincinnati Suspension Bridge Co., pledge property paying interest while pledged, and get a million paper dollars, which cost but little, and rear a structure that will yield in ten or twenty years $200,000 as a yearly revenue, keeping a few in idleness. This would be a nice sum to teach chil- dren in school exercises. Those who built the bridge, fed and clothed the builders, or use the bridge, should own it, which may be done in this way: Let the State issue " bills of credit" to this community, who will pay the State interest, and devote the tolls to paying interest and principal. The argument used for a few owning roads and bridges is that communities can not make them pay. This applies to the past when population was thin. The future will be dif- ferent, when the people are numerous. The working peo- ple, through their representatives, have a right to offer to the owners of this bridge its cost in money, based on the prop- erty of the State, and say, u With this money buy farms, cul- tivate them, and be men. This is a sure business. Laborers are fast becoming their own merchants and employers." CHAPTER XV. STATESMEN AND POLITICAL ECONOMISTS. SKETCHES OF WASHINGTON LIVINGSTON MORRIS HAMILTON SEDGWICK AMES WOLLCOTT BURR ADAMS JEKFKRSON OPINIONS OF ECONO- MISTS POTTER MORE SMITH MALTHUS SAY RICARDO PALEY. " My son, see with how little reason the world is governed." CHESTESFIELD. [RESIDENT WASHINGTON," says Mr. Jef~ ferson: "entertained serious effects from the self- created 'Democratic Societies' of that day, and he believed they would destroy the government if not discon- tinued. "Chancellor Livingston, on reaching France, was coolly received. He showed that his republicanism was unaggres- sive. His personal tastes and habits were far removed from the Jacobin standard. Few of Bonaparte's courtiers, aspiring to the dignity of the ancient regime, approached the so- cial plane of the stately Patroon. Many of them were up- starts compared with him in personal and family pretensions. His wealth was reported to be ducal. His hereditary pos- sessions were greater than half a dozen French marquisates in the days of the Bourbons. He sat in the revolutionary and pre-revolutionary congresses. A score of his family of the existing generation, and more than twice that number of kinsmen, had borne high civic and military commissions. His whole life had been spent in the highest range of office. "Morris was one of these gigantic breed of speculators, 338 THE LABORER; whom Jefferson could scarce help abhorring. He declared for a perpetual Senate, approved by the chief magistrate, and he must have great personal property. It must have aristo- cratic spirit ; it must love to lord it through pride. It was palace building, and buying vacant lands that consigned him to a prison, in which he died. " Hamilton called Democracy a blind and deformed mon- ster. His luxury and manners exceeded those of the proud- est English nobleman. He disliked the Constitution, and had but little share in forming it. His plan was to obliter- ate State sovereignties, the chief magistrate making the gov- ernors. The National Legislature was to control their laws. Their general concerns were to be subject to the National Courts. He called the Constitution a frail, worthless fabric, and said that all communities divide themselves; the first are rich and well born, the other the mass of the people. It is quoted and believed, that the voice of the. people is the voice of God. It is not true, in fact ; the people are turbu- lent and changeable ; they seldom judge or determine right. Give to the first a distinct share of the government : noth- ing but a permanent body can check the improvidence of democracy. Their turbulent disposition requires checks, or ends in despotism, and is destructive to public morality. "Fisher Ames believed that Democracy is nothing in it- self. It is a dismal passport to a more dismal hereafter. "Theodore Sedgwick said : We have placed at the head of government a semi-maniac [Jefferson], who, in his so- berest senses, is the greatest marplot in nature. What think you of a Democracy ? Will it progress successfully till all its evils are felt ? This state of things can not exist long. The enfeebling policy of Democracy will produce such in- tolerable evils as will necessarily destroy their cause. "Oliver Wollcott believed our government would never A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 339 be very permanent. He could not believe that a people, who had gone through the distresses of the Revolution, and arisen from extreme poverty, could so soon forget their suf- ferings, as to sport with the enjoyment of their greatest social happiness, and expose its continuance to the utmost hazard. u Aaron Burr's plan was to divide the Union at the Alle- ghanies, and attack Mexico. He embarked 300 men in fif- teen boats. He was arrested, gave bail for $3,000, and fled to England, and was banished from there. His expedients to keep off hunger were akin to beggary. It was his ambi- tion to have the manners of a Chesterfield and the morals of a Rochester. " Mr. Jefferson said : ' Certain causes had long since pro- duced an overcharge of the class of competitors for learned occupations and great distress among the supernumerary candidates, and the more so as their habits of life had dis- qualified them for re-entering among the laboring classes. The remedy he proposed was to make agriculture a scien- tific profession, and thus list the supernumeraries into an employment, where they would find occupation for the body and the mind.' ul The charitable schools, instead of storing the minds of pupils with a lore which the present state of society does not call for ; which, converted into schools of agriculture, might restore them to that branch qualified to enrich and honor themselves, and to increase the productions of nature, instead of consuming them. A gradual abolition of the useless offices, so much accumulated in all governments, might also close the drain from the laborers of the fields^ and lessen the burdens imposed on them. By these, and the better means which will occur to others, the surcharge of the learned might in time be drawn to recruit the laboring class of cit- 34-O THE LABORER; izens. The sum of industry increased, that of misery is di- minished. The strong desire of men to live by the labor of their beads rather than their hands the allurements of large cities to those who have any turn for dissipation, threatens to make here, as in Europe, cities the sinks of voluntary misery ! He held in little esteem the education that makes men helpless in the common affairs of life. This he exem- plified by the example of a man who had been to Europe for an education. On a journey a saddle-strap broke, and he had to wait till some common man came along, and let out the strap at the other end/ u Thomas Jefferson invented the best form of a mold- board for a plow. He made furniture and shod horses. He was an architect, and designed his own house. He thrashed his wheat by machinery, at the rate of 150 bushels a day. He directed the labors of his slaves in farming, me- chanical pursuits, and cloth-weaving. At one time he had fifty visitors from all parts of the world. One of his slaves confessed that it took all the labor of the slaves to feed and wait on them. This was a cause of his poverty in after life. He did not believe in his grandsons attending medical col- leges or living in cities. "John Adams was classed among the believers of mon- archy. The proposition that the people are the best keepers of their liberties is not true ; they are the worst conceivable. They are no keepers at all, and can neither judge, think, nor will as a political body. The majority would invade the mi- nority sooner than a monarchy." * Madison says: "Democracies have ever been the spec- tacles of turbulence and contention ; have ever been incom- patible with personal security or the rights of property. A *This is taken from H. S. Randall's "Life of Thomas Jefferson." Some sentences are omitted. The language is unchanged. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 341 large body of men is more apt to sacrifice the rights of the minority, because it can be done with impunity. Establish it as a principle, that to give sanction to -law it must be ap- proved by a majority at the ballot-box, and you take this se- curity and surrender these rights to the most capricious and cruel tyrants. I regret to see this growing spirit in Con- gress and throughout the country, to democratize our gov- ernment to submit every question, whether pertaining to organic or municipal laws, to the vote of the people. God forbid that the demagogism of this day should prevail over the philanthropic and philosophic statesmanship of our fa- thers. Property is the foundation of every social fabric. To protect, preserve, and perpetuate rights of property, society is formed and governments are framed." Wolves become ravenous by hunger. Lions will let you pass them when not hungry. If every man had a home, he would let the homes of others alone. When a part of mankind are selfish, they must have governments to help them. Washington had land sufficient to maintain 25,000 persons. Without governments he could not collect his rents. If this land belonged to the cultivators, there would be no need of governments. The writer was offered, in Indiana, for $300, forty acres of land. He went to see it and found a person who had pur- chased a tax title, and had built a cabin on it !2ftXi6ft. I told him the owner was not dead. The taxes had not been paid for twelve years. He wished me to see the owner of forty acres on one side, so that he could have a road from his place, which was surrounded by abrupt and impassable banks. There was one outlet, the owner of which asked $300 for the land. I found him living in a palace, with a tessellated marble floor. The ceiling was supported by Co- rinthian fluted columns, having capitals exquisitly carved. 30 342 THE LABORER; The ceiling was a surface of deep panels and fine carv- ings. This land speculator had every luxury. The man who wanted this land would have to save for six years, as he was married. His cabin contained three bedsteads, and sheltered three children and their parents. The house con- tained no pictures, books, or papers. The mother had never seen any of the fine arts, nor heard piano music. She told me they went in their wagon nineteen miles, to Indian- apolis. When there she asked a householder if she could boil sorrie coffee ; this was refused. The two pieces of land cost $100. The laws the "Fathers" made have caused these social distinctions. The refinement of the one was at the expense of the other. Among the Fathers not one favored the toil- ing classes, except Thomas Jefferson. He compared the Treasury to a huge turtle laying eggs in the sand for foul birds to eat. In 1795, Hamilton tried to get an act passed so that not less than 4,000 acres should be sold to one person. For forty years not less than 640 acres were sold at a time, at $2.50 per acre, which compelled many to pur- chase of others. John Adams said: " That governments were to protect the rich in their great possessions as well as the poor man in his. * * * All the officers of the Gov- ernment must be gentlemen, friends and connections of the rich and well born." * Most of the inequalities of life are from governments and are inventions of the avaricious and rich, to strengthen themselves and get riches. These will make half slaves of the poor, and deprive them of their birthright, the public lands three-fourths of which get into the pos- session of speculators. M. Turgot, when speaking of the first-formed State constitutions, said : "They were imitations of the customs of England without any particular motives." * John Adam's "Defense of the Constitutions," vol. i, page 373. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 343 What domestic economy is to a family, so is political economy to a nation. Domestic economy takes the in- come of a family and proportions it to what it will purchase. For instance, a woman fed herself and four children on a dime a day. How it was done may be known by referring to chapter first. Political economy relates to a nation's labor, and considers how many may be taken from the laboring classes and made into soldiers and servants, so as not to have them die with hunger, or accumulate so much as to be able to revolt. Says Bishop Potter: "We are far from denouncing the luxuries of life. We do not condemn the possessor of a handkerchief worth $50, or a $1,000 shawl. We have a greater respect for him who provides handsomely for his family. The amount of enjoyment principally depends on the number of beings enabled to obtain a comfortable sub- sistence, with satisfactory security for its continuance." This writer wrote his book for the use of schools. It is strange it did not occur to him that those who create costly things are ill clad and often hungry. This man had three sons : one became an architect, one a general, another was a rector of a marble church, with $10,000 a year. A report of a Life Insurance Co. contained this : Rt. Rev. A. Potter was insured for $5,000. He paid $3,637. What a comment on one who wrote a treatise showing how u skill and industry can be rendered most useful!" Sir Thomas More was born in London, in 1480. He was the adviser of Henry VIII, whom he offended by tell- ing him privately about his marriage conduct. He was sen- tenced to lose his head, which was done so awkwardly that several blows were struck before it was cut off. In his book "Utopia" is described a happy society. In this book is this language : u One day I was with the king, 344 THE LABORER; where there happened to be a lawyer, who took occasion to run out in high condemnation of the severity in the execu- tion of thieves, who were hanged so fast, that there were sometimes twenty on one gibbet. Said he: 'How comes it to pass that since so few have escaped, and yet so many thieves are still robbing in all places/ "I took the boldness to speak freely before the cardinal, and said there was no room for wonder at the matter, since the way of punishing thieves was neither just in itself nor good for the public. As the severity was too great, so the remedy was not as effectual simple theft not being so great a crime that it ought to cost a man his life. No punishment, however severe, was long able to restrain those who can find no other way of a livelihood. In this not only you in England, but in a greater part of the world, imitate some ill master, who are readier to chastise their scholars than to teach them. "There are dreadful punishments against thieves; but it were much better to make such good provisions, by which every man ought to be put to the necessity to live, and so be preserved from the fatal necessity of stealing, and dying for it." Said the cardinal: "There has care enough been taken for that. There is husbandry, by which they may make a shift to live." More replied: " There are a great many nobles among you that are drones that subsist on other men's labor on the labor of tenants to raise their revenues, they pare them to the quick. They have about them a great number of idle fellows, who never learned any art by which they may gain their living ; and these, as soon as the lord dies, or they fall sick, are turned out of doors. Your lords are read- ier to feed idle people than to take care of the sick. The A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 345 heir is not able to keep together so great a family as his pre- decessor did. Now, when the stomachs of those that are turned out doors grow sharp, they rob no less keenly. And what else can they do? For, when by wandering about, they have worn out their health, their clothes, and are tat- tered and look ghastly, men of quality will not entertain them, and poor men dare not do it ; knowing that one who has been bred in idleness and pleasure, and who used to go about with his sword and buckler, despising all the neigh- bors with an insolent scorn, as far below him. He is not fit for the mattock or spade, nor will he serve a poor man for so small a hire and so low a diet as he can afford to give him/' Said the cardinal: "In them consists the force of the ar- mies for which we have occa'sion. Their birth inspires them with a nobler sense of honor than is to be found among trades or plowmen." More replied : " You may as well say that you must cherish thieves on account of wars, for you will never want the one as long as you have the other; and as robbers are sometimes gallant soldiers, so soldiers often prove brave rob- bers so near an alliance are those two sorts of life. The maintaining of many useless and idle persons, will ever dis- turb you, which is ever to be considered in a time of peace. Restrain the engrossing of the rich, who are as bad as mon- opolies. Let agriculture be set up again, and the manufac- ture of wool be regulated, so that there may be found work for these idle people, whom want forces to be thieves, or who, being vagabonds, will certainly be thieves at last. If you do not find a remedy for these evils, it is in vain to be boast- ing of your severity for punishing theft. u He is an unskillful physician who can find out no other way of healing without putting him into another disease. 346 THE LABORER; So he that can find no other way for correcting the errors of the people, but by taking from them the conveniences of life, shows that he knows not how to govern a free nation." " In Utopia every man has a right to every thing. They all know that if care is taken to keep the public stores full, no private man can want any thing no man is poor, or in necessity. Though no man has any thing, yet they are all rich. What justice is in this, that a nobleman, a goldsmith, a banker, or any other man, that either does nothing at all or is employed in things that are of no use to the public, should live in splendor and luxury? "A carter, a smith, or a plowman that works harder even than the beasts, and is employed in useful labor, so that no commonwealth could hold out a year without them, can only earn a livelihood and lead a miserable life. The con- dition of the beasts is better than theirs. These men are depressed by anxieties, fruitless employments, and tormented by apparitions of want in their old age. That which they get by their daily toil does not maintain them at present, and is consumed as fast as it comes in. There is no over- plus left for old age. " Is not the government unjust, when it is prodigal of its favors to goldsmiths, gentlemen, or those who are idle, or live by flattery, contriving vain pleasures, and take no care of plowmen, colliers, or smiths, without which it could not subsist ? After the public has had the advantages of their services, when they come to age, sickness, and want, their labor is forgotten, then they are left to die in great misery. The richer sort are often endeavoring to bring the hire of laborers lower not only by their fraudulent practices, but by the laws they procure to make this effect. Though it is a thing unjust to give so small rewards to those who deserve so well of the public, yet they have given these hardships A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 347 the name and color of justice. * * * * They inclose all into pastures, throw down houses, pluck down towns, and leave nothing standing but the church, to be made a sheep bouse. These good and holy men turn all dwelling-places and glebe lands into a wilderness and desolation." This last clause refers to driving out the Scotch people, so as to make fleeces an article of commerce, the source of their misery from that day to this. Plato, in the " Fourth Book of his Republic," describes a perfect commonwealth, " where kings are philosophers, and philosophers kings; where the whole city might be in the happiest condition, and not any one tribe remarkably happy beyond the rest ; where the laws govern, and justice is es- tablished ; where the guardians of the law are such in re- ality, and preserve the constitution, instead of destroying it, and promote the happiness of the whole city, and not their own particularly ; where there are no parties, of the rich and poor at war with each other," etc. John Milton has given us a " Ready and easy way to es- tablish a Free Commonwealth." His plan was to have an assembly of senators for life: u They must have the forces by sea and land, for the preservation of peace and liberty ; must raise and manage the revenues, with inspectors to see how it was employed, with power to make laws, and treat on commerce, war, and peace, etc." Mr. Hume, in his "Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth," would have elected representatives with executive powers and the prerogatives of kings. In 1663, John Locke made a government for Carolina, in which were to be barons, caciques, and landgraves. The first was to have 12,000, the second 24,000, .the last 80,000 acres of land. It was to be shown in Acadia that a few thousand Cath- olics could live for more than a century without magistrates 348 THE LABORER; or crimes ; and the Utopia of More was a possible and not a visionary scheme. Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" all should read. It contains this : "Among civilized nations, a great many peo- ple do not labor at all, many consume the produce of ten times, frequently a hundred times, more labor than the great- er part of those who work." Rev. Mr. Malthus, in his books "On Population," says: "That if a man chooses to marry without a prospect of sup- port to his family, it is an act which society can not justly take up, prevent, or punish. To the punishment of nature therefore, he should be left. A man who is born into a world already possessed, if he can not get subsistence from his parents, and society do not want his labor, he has no claim or right to the smallest portion of food, and, in fact, has no business to be where he is. At nature's mighty feast there is no vacant cover for him. She tells him to be- gone, and she will quickly execute her orders." In his "Political Economy," he says: " Statesmen, sol- diers, sailors, and those who live off the national debt, con- tribute powerfully to demand and distribution. They insure that consummation which is necessary to give the proper stimulus to the exertion of industry." Jeremy Bentham read in a coffee-house this: "The only reasonable and proper object of government is to produce the greatest happiness to the greatest number." Said he: "At the sight of it, I cried out in the greatest ecstasy." He was a lawyer, and became disgusted with law. He spent sixty years at law reforms, in putting an end to the system. His books and pamphlets number fifty. Law to him was the offspring of a barbarous age, the patchwork of fifteen cen- turies, a huge, shapeless, and bewildering pile. To relieve the tedium of study, he turned wooden bowls, ran in bis The rich, to keep the poor from perishing, feed them, so that they may have serv- ants. The rich, who give to the poor, give often that which they never earned. "Thou shalt not covet other men's goods" is a command which, if observed, would prevent riches. If society possess the banks, roads, railroads, and bridges, and the merchant will tell his neighbor what is the cost of goods, and that association will distribute them at cost, then will scenes like this disappear. Inequalities will al- ways exist while the merchant exists; and in order to attain equality he must be destroyed. Tobacco and drinking habits destroys a tenth of the nation's labor, an amount sufficient to rind furnished homes for all Americans who become of age. 7 A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 349 garden for exercise, played on a fiddle. He heated his house by steam, slept in a sack, and thought the common law the perfection of absurdity. J. Stuart -Mill, a political writer, gives us this piece of sat- ire : " The lot of the poor, in all things, should be regulated for them, not by them. TJiey should not be required to think for themselves. It is the duty of the higher class to think for them. This function the higher class should pre- pare to perform conscientiously, and their whole demeanor should impress the poor with reliance on them. The rela- tion between rich and poor should be only partially author- itative; it should be amiable, moral, sentimental ; affection- ate tutelage on the one side, respectful, grateful deference on the other. The poor should be called on for nothing, but to do their day's work. Their morality should be provided for them by their superiors. "The poor have come out of their leading strings, and can not be treated like children any more. I can not con- ceive how any person can persuade himself that the major- ity will much longer consent to hew wood and draw water all their lives in the service and for the benefit of others." Dr. Chalmers, writing on political science, says : " Be- cause of a fertility in the earth, by which it yields a surplus over and above the food of the direct and secondary laborers, that we command the services of a disposable population, who, in return for their maintenance, minister to the pro- prietors of this surplus all the higher comforts and conveni- ences of life" Dr. Paley, in his u Political Philosophy," taught" That the condition most favorable to population is that of a la- borious, frugal people, ministering to the demands of an op- 'ulent and luxurious nation; because this situation, whilst it leaves them every advantage of luxury, exempts them from 31 350 THE LABORER ; the evils that naturally accompany its admission into any country." Blackstone, in his u Commentaries," declares: "Among the many acts men are daily liable to commit, 160 are pun- ished by death." If any should be hung through mistake, Dr. Paley kindly advises their friends: "To reflect that he who falls by a mistaken sentence may be considered as fall- ing for his country." Robert Owen believed that the drunkard and thief were victims of circumstances. In his "New Moral World," he maintained that money was an evil, a source of injustice, oppression, and misery to the human race makes some the slavish producers of wealth, and others wasteful consumers. He believed that u men divided into employed and employ- ers, masters and servants, would cause ignorance and pov- erty to pervade the world." Owen prepared two memori- als for the Congress at Vienna, in 1815, in which were these words "Wealth, privileges, and honors are the playthings of infants." This made some impression on it. MaryWollstonecraft,in her "Vindication of the rights of Women," says : "Such combustible material can not long be pent up. Getting vent in foreign wars and civil insur- rections, the people acquire some power in the tumult, that obliges their rulers to gloss over their oppressions with a show of right. Agriculture, commerce, and letters expand the mind. Despots are compelled to make covert corruption hold fast the power which was formerly snatched by open force. A baneful gangrene is formed, spread by luxury and superstition, the sure dregs of ambition. The indolent pup- pet of a court first becomes a luxurious monster or a fas- tidious sensualist and an instrument of tyranny. It is the pestiferous purple, which renders the progress of civilization a curse^ and warps the understanding, till men of sensibility A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 351 doubt whether the expansion of intellect produces a greater portion of happiness or misery." Thomas Carlyle, a "Writer of Books," said : "An earth all around, crying, come and till me ; yet we sit here en- chanted ! The sun shines and the earth calls; and, by the governing powers and impotences of England, we are for- bidden to obey. * * * The Continental people are export- ing our machinery, and beginning to spin cotton for them- selves. Sad news, but irremediable. The saddest news is that we should find our national existence depends on sell- ing cotton a farthing an ell cheaper than any other people. Cotton cloth is already twopence a yard or less ; and yet bare backs were never more numerous among us. Let invent- ive men cease to spend their existence incessantly contriv- ing how cotton cloth can be made cheaper, and try to in- vent how cotton cloth, at its present cheapness, could be divided a little more justlier among you." Thomas Paine hated injustice and oppression. He was secretary to Congress during the Revolution. He wrote then the "Crisis" and "Common Sense," to induce the Americans to revolt. In his "Rights of Man" is found this : "We see in countries that are called civilized, youth going; to the gallows and age to the workhouse. * * * To make one rich, many must be made poor; neither can the system be supported by any other means." Rousseau, born in 1711, and dying in 1 788, was hated by the authorities for his opinions. His "Emille," a treatise on education, could not be tolerated. He was banished for it. His "Social Contract" says: "Supply an administration with money, and they will supply you with chains. The very term of taxes is slavish. Foreign commerce is pro- ductive only of a delusive utility to the kingdom in general. It may enrich a few individuals, and perhaps some city. 352 THE LABORER; The whole nation gains nothing by it, nor are any of the people any better for it. It is required that no greater quan- tity of land be given than is necessary for the subsistence of the occupiers." Earl Stanhope, born in 1753, and dying in 1816, invented a printing press and a calculating machine, and was the im- prover of canal locks and stereotyping. He was full of enthusiasm for the improvement of the social institutions, and looked with complacency on the French Revolution as an attainment of that end. Lord Holland says of him : il He was in some senses of the word the truest Jacobin I have ever known. He not only deemed the monarchy, clergy, and nobility, but property, or at least landed property by descent, as unlawful abuses. He sometimes gave me a glimpse of his designs in proposing measures apparently preposterous, by hinting their tendency to subvert the fundamental prin- ciples of society." His daughter, Lady Hester Stanhope, lived in Syria, and said : "Your Europe is so insipid ! Leave me to my des- ert ! What should I do in Europe? See nations worthy of their chains, and kings unworthy to reign ? Wait a little, and your old continent will be shaken to its base. Every thing is worn out in Europe. The kings do not make dy- nasties ; they fall by their own fault. An aristocracy, soon to be effaced from the world, is giving way to a mean and ephemeral middle class, without productivity or vigor. The people, the hard-working people alone, still preserve a char- acter and some virtues. Tremble you, if they become aware of their strength !" Lord Byron despised his own class, and said: " One of the noblest sights of earth was to see a man go forth in the morning to toil for his family." In 1824, he went to fight for the Greeks, to deliver them from the Turks. He died A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 353 in Missolonghi. This line denotes his humanity: "The drying up of a single tear had more of honest fame than shedding seas of gore." Montesquieu was born in 1689, and died in 1753. His principle works are "The Spirit of the Laws," and "Persian Letters." These are some of his teachings: " Luxury is always in proportion to the inequality of fortunes. 41 Indolence and inaction is a consequence of being de- prived of our labors. "Nothing can reconcile those who have nothing to those who are in affluence. " Commerce was only the profession of mean persons, that of knaves. It is only making those who do it dis- honest. Aristotle. "So great is our luxury that people adorn with embroid- ery the shoes of boys and girls. The employing of so many persons in making clothes for one person is the way to pre- vent others from getting clothes. There are ten men who eat the fruits of the earth to one employed in the means of agriculture, and is the means of preventing others from get- ting nourishment." Kiavanti Voltaire died in 1778, after writing seventy books. From a dialogue between a man worth forty crowns and another worth five thousand, is this language : "Whence comes this dearth of laborers? "Because every person who has the least inclination to industry, becomes an embroiderer, watchmaker, silk weav- er, lawyer, divine, beggar, or a monk. Every one as much as possible has avoided the laborious employment of hus- bandman, for which we were created by God. "Our new wants are a cause of our poverty. What a cursed thing is this tax, which has reduced me to beg alms ! 354 THE LABORER; There are three or four hundred taxes, whose names it is impossible to remember. Was there ever a legislature, upon founding a State, that thought of creating the counselors of the king, coal measurers, gaugers of casks, assizers of wood, overseers of salt, butter, etc. of maintaining an army of scoundrels twice as large as that which Alexander com- manded by sixty generals, who laid the country under con- tribution ? Such a legislation takes away from me one-half of my property. Upon a nice calculation, it will be found that the establishment takes away three-fourths by detail." St. Simon was a French nobleman, and was at the siege of Yorktown. He was born in 1760, and died in 1825. He laid down this principle: "That society is composed of idlers and laborers, and that a policy should be aimed at for the moral, physical, and intellectual amelioration of the la- borers, and a gradual extinction of the idlers. The means of accomplishing this was the abolition of the privileges of birth, and the classification of laborers." Louis Blanc obtained an office under the French Gov- ernment. At a party of the aristocracy he was introduced to a lady. She stood on her tiptoes, and looked over him, ex- claiming, "I can not see him." He was so offended that he threw up his office, and commenced to write on the "Organization of Labor." Louis Philippe has often been heard to say, that it acted like a battering ram to royalty. His plan was for the government u To erect social work- shops to employ the idle men, and to loan them money." Tailors were set to work on clothing for the Garde Mobile. The King of France had to run away in 1848. He was succeeded by Louis Blanc, whose plans led to idleness and extravagance, and he, too, had to leave. A civil war was producd in which two officers, and ten thousand soldiers were killed. Both rulers found refuge in England. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 355 Lamartine says: "Political economy ought not to be, as formerly, the science of wealth. The democratic republic ought, and will give it another character. It will make it a science by the results of which not only will labor and its fruits be increased, but by which a more general, equi- table, and universal distribution will be accomplished. An- cient science tended only to render individuals wealthy, but our new science will apply itself to make the entire people rich." Raymond, a writer on political economy, in 1823, says: "How many people do we see in each community who, in- stead of supporting themselves by their own industry, con- trive to supply themselves with the necessaries and com- forts of life from the industry of others ! Some do this by fraud and overreaching, by direct violence, by the exercise of their wits, by the permission of the law, or in violation of it. What a host there would be, if all the people of the United States, who live by the labor of others, were col- lected together! "The history of mankind, in all ages of the world, shows that some will never labor for subsistence if they can ob- tain it by plunder that they will never labor for them- selves as long as they can compel others to do it for them.*' Robert Southey, the English poet, when a boy could say : "When I look at the mansions of the great, with all their splendor and magnificence ; when I look at the cottage of the husbandman, and see him dividing his scanty morsel among his infants, I blush and shudder at the patience of humanity." His uncle said to him: "Robert, if you write democratic eclogues you will be poor; choose the Church and State, and you will be rich." Poverty compelled him to do this. His plan was to settle on the Ohio. The per- son who was to advance the money died, which compelled 356 THE LABORER; him to be a pen drudge. His best poem is "Joan of Arc." In it is described the ravages of war, and its desolating influ- ences on the country, its besieged cities, famines, ruined homes, and impoverished people. In one of his rural poems is described the plow-boy, his visit to the fair, and how the recruiting sergeant saw him and gave him punch. He por- trayed to him the glory of war " flags flying, drums beat- ing, cannons roaring, and the French retreating." The boy lists and "sets off for fame," then he is drilled, marched, and countermarched. After enduring hunger and misery, he returns home, and is robbed of his money. He com- mits a crime, and ends his days in a penal colony. The sufferings of England's toiling classes are told in mournful poems by Southey. "It was Shelley's creed, that human nature is capable of being made perfect; that kings and priests have hindered that glorious consummation for the attainment of their own selfish purposes ; that religion is hostile to the develop- ment of feelings of charity and fraternity; and that if the inherent goodness of the human heart was free to work out its mission, the Golden Age would be realized. There is no doubt Shelley believed his principles to be correct, and his views attainable. His untiring benevolence in visiting the cottages of the poor during his residence at Marlow, stamps with sincerity and disinterestedness his eloquent pleading for humanity. " ' Queen Mab,' the most generally known of Shelley's works, is a poem abounding in fine passages. He supposes the soul of a female character, called lanthe, to leave the body during sleep, and to ascend, under the guidance of the fairy Mab, to the latter's cloud-roofed palace, from whence she contemplates the earth, and surveys the ruins of Jeru- salem, Palmyra, Athens, and Rome. Then she beholds a A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 357 battle-field, a town destroyed in the conflict and the death- bed of a tyrant. The poet descants upon the horrors of war, the vices engendered by competitive commerce, and all the social errors and evils of the present life. The spirit describes the auto-de-fe of an atheist. Mab, after defending materialism, summons the wandering Jew, who relates the crimes, abuses, and consequent misery, which are alleged to have resulted from Christianity. Having thus passed in review the past and present, the fairy queen favors lanthe with a glimpse of the future, when all the moral and mate- rial beauty of the Golden Age, and all the prophetic antici- pations of the millennium are realized and fulfilled. The earth, in the language of St. Simon, is re-habilitated, and no longer produces rank weeds and poisonous fungi, but every- where flowers and fruits. Fens and marshes, which had exhaled malaria, are covered with waving grain ; the whirl- wind and the storm are known no more; the burning des- erts of Arabia v are rendered cultivatable ; the polar ice is dis- solved ; and the wild denizens of the forest have forgotten their thirst for blood the lion sports with the kid. The na- ture of man has experienced a change corresponding with this beautiful picture of the external universe. War, slavery, commerce, and all the evils of the present society are no longer known ; his passions are tempered and harmonized ; temperance has banished disease from his frame, and pro- longed his life, and his existence has become a long mid- summer's day a dream of Arcadia or Paradise realized. " 4 The revolt of Islam' is of a different cast. The poet arises from slumber visited by unquiet dreams, and meets on the sea-shore a beautiful female form, by whom the story is related. She is beloved by a spirit, who conducts her to the glorious senate of the departed friends of the human race, where she meets Laon, a patriot of Argolis, who re- 23 358 THE LABORER; lates the story of the revolt of his countryman against the tyrant of Islam. This poem is far superior to Queen Mab, and is replete with passages of extreme beauty. The hymn in the fifth canto of the nations who have liberated them- selves by revolt, is a complete exposition of Shelley's views and opinions. It declares fear to be the cause of man's misery and degradation, proclaims the moral beauty of equality, and announces the advent of peace, love, freedom, and universal brotherhood. " l Prometheus Unbound,' is as metaphysical and mystical as are most of Shelley's poems. The atheistic tenets of the poet are boldly proclaimed. The idea of the perfecti- bility of human nature is here reproduced. The overthrow of Jupiter, and the unbinding of Prometheus harbinger the restoration of the Golden Age. These three poems pre- sent us with a complete view of Shelley's social philosophy, and the whole tenor of his life." Chambers'* Works. Extract from Shelley's Queen Mab. " Those gilded flies", That, basking in the sunshine of a court, Fatten on its corruption ! What are they ? The drones of the community : they feed On the mechanic's labor. The starved hind For them compels the stubborn glebe to yield Its unshared harvests j and yon squalid form, Leaner than fleshless misery, that wastes A sunless life in the unwholesome mine, Drags out in labor a protracted death, To glut their grandeur ; many faint with toil, That few may know the cares and woe of sloth." Hugh Miller's "School and Schoolmasters " teaches us to escape poverty by workihg directly on the soil, which will give us plenty of food, fleeces, and candles. He says: "I found myself standing before a life of labor and restraint, A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 359 The prospect appeared dreary in the extreme the necessity of toiling from morning to night, and all for a little coarse food and homely raiment ; and I fain would have avoided it. * * * In less than a fortnight I succeeded in obtaining a very considerable mastery over the mallet. I astonished Uncle David [his teacher in stone-cutting] by setting myself to compete with him, and by hewing nearly two feet of pavement to his one. * * * We found twenty-four work- men in a corn-kiln, open at the gable ends, and a row of beds on the sides. Over each bed hung a sack of oatmeal, which was their summer's food, without milk or meat. "The oatmeal was boiled in water, and made into cakes, which were baked before the fire. ' The uncle grumbled because the meal went so fast ; he laid it down as a law that only two cakes a week should be eaten. I mixed up a peck of meal. During the baking the uncle came in, and ex- claimed, 'What's this, laddie, are ye baking for a wadding?' * Just baking one of the two cakes, master,' was the answer. This raised a laugh, and cured uncle of two cakes a week. There was a diversity of opinion how much salt should be put in the porridge, and how long it should boil. A cook contrived, in the same pot, to make half of the porridge without salt, the other half very salt. When the two men sat down to eat, one exclaimed, c He has given me por- ridge without salt.' The other exclaimed, 'He has given me porridge as salt as brine.' "Candle-light indulgences could not be afforded. To pass fifteen hours in darkness was no easy task. Exploits were told. A stone-cutter, on his night journey home, fell into a grave. On getting out, he was pursued by some body- stealers, who wanted him for a 4 subject.' Another time he was attacked by robbers, from whom he escaped, and was lost in a mist. To keep warm he went among some sheep." 360 THE LABORER; Mr. Miller tells us he "had all his fingers oozing blood at once; and labor was torture handling dirty stanes. My poor master suffered more than I did. The wall went up painfully with his chopped and bleeding hands, which made him fretful." Mr Miller became editor of a paper, and his best essays are made into a book of 500 pages, called "Literary and Po- litical Essays," in which he describes a farm laborer's cot- tage as no better than a shed no window frames, the roof lets in the rain, which makes the floor quite soft, and keeps the beds damp. It does no good to keep fire, as this abode is so open. It is owned by the land-owner for a yearly ten- ant, and contains a father and mother, four daughters, and two sons. These have only one room. Mr. Miller worked on " hanging stone-steps with torus ami mouldings formed on them," and also on stone columns. It seems not to have ever occurred to him, that were men to work less on stone-carving, and more on homes for those who support men by useful toil, human happiness would be promoted. He chose rather to flatter the vulgar rich. In his essays, he speaks well of Wellington, and gives us an amusing account of a Burns' festival in a shower of rain. He heaped ridicule on the Chartists, whose plans were well meant, and were trials to mitigate human misery. He seems to have no remedy for the social ills of life. This author writes beautifully on "Ptericthys, Anadontas, and Unionidtz" This kind of knowledge would be well if no misery were to be found. If this writer had told the gentle- men to do something useful, as a means of lessening the bur- dens of the poor, he would have been of more utility to men. CHAPTER XVI. SOCIAL AND MORAL INNOVATORS. THE OPINIONS OF VOLNEY FRANKLIN FXNELON CAREY FOURIER HAR- RIET MARTINEAU JOSEPH KAY DR. PRICE JAQJJES TURGOT FORTES- QJUE WILLIAM GODWIN JOHN WESLEY WILLIAM WICKLJFFE. '* Let tyrants know there exists a place on the earth, where oppressed men may escape from their chains'" ABBE RAYNAL'S address to Americans. JOUNT VOLNEY, in his "Ruins of Empires," says : " I perceived in the extremity of the Medi- terranean, in one of the nations of Europe, a pro- digious movement, such as when a violent sedition arises in a vast city a numberless people rushing in all directions to the public places. My ear, struck with the cries that resounded to the heavens, distinguished these words : 'What is this new prodigy ? What cruel and mysterious scourge is this ? We are a numerous people, and we want hands ! We have an excellent soil, and we are in want of subsist- ence ! We are active and laborious, and we live in indi- gence ! We pay enormous tributes, and we are told they are not sufficient ! We are at peace without, and our prop- erty and persons are not safe within ! What is the secret enemy that devours us?' " Some voices, from the midst of the multitude, replied: 4 Raise a discriminating standard, and let all those who main- tain and nourish mankind by useful labors gather around it, and you will discover the enemy that preys upon you.' 362 THE LABORER; "The standard being raised, the nation divided itself into two unequal bodies, of a contrasted appearance one with sunburnt faces, the marks of misery and labor; the other, a little group, an imperceptible fraction, in rich attire covered with gold and silver, .and in sleek and ruddy faces, present- ing the signs of leisure and abundance. "Considering these men more attentively, I found that the great body was composed of farmers, artificers, mer- chants, and all the professions useful to society. The little group was made up of the ministers of worship of every or- der, financiers, nobles, men in livery, commanders of troops, and other hireling agents of governments. "These two bodies being assembled face to face, they regarded each other with astonishment. I saw indignation and rage arising on one side, and a sort of a panic on the other. The larger body said to the smaller one : ct ' Why are you separated from us ; are you not of our number?' 'No,' replied the smaller group, 'you are the people; we are the privileged class, who have our laws, customs, and rights peculiar to ourselves.' "People. 'And what labor do you perform in society ? ' "Privileged Class. "-None; we were not made to work.' "People. 'How, then, have you acquired these riches ? ' "Privileged Class. 'By taking pains to govern you.' "People. 'What ! we toil and you enjoy ! we produce and you dissipate ! Wealth proceeds from us, you absorb it ; you call this governing ! Privileged class, a distinct body not belonging to us ! Form your nation apart, and we shall see how you will subsist ! ' "Then the smaller group deliberated on this state of things. Some just and generous men said: 'We must join the people, and bear a part of their burdens, for they are like ourselves, and our riches come from them.' Others, arro- A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 363 gantly, exclaimed: 'It would be a shame, an infamy for us to mingle with the crowd; they are born to serve us. Are we not the noble and pure descendants of the conquerors of this empire? This multitude must be reminded of our own rights and of their origin.' " The Nobles. * People ! know you not that our ances- tors conquered this land, and your race was only spared on condition of serving us? This is our social compact, the government is constituted by custom, and prescribed by time!' "People. ' O conquerors, pure of blood, show us your genealogies ! we shall then see if the robbery and plunder that is in an individual, can be virtuous in a nation/ "And forthwith voices were heard in every quarter, call- ing out the nobles by their names ; and they related their origin, parentage, how their great-grandfather, grandfather, or even father, were born traders and mechanics. After acquiring wealth in every way, they then purchased their nobility with money, so that very few families were of the original stock. Said these voices: 'See those purse-proud commoners, who deny their parents! See those plebeian re- cruits who look on themselves as illustrious veterans!' 41 To stifle them, audacious men cried out: 'Mild and faithful people acknowledge the legitimate authority, the king's will. The law ordains.' "People. ' Privileged classes, explain the word legitimate! if it means conforming to the law, say who made the law ? Can the law ordain any thing else than our preservation?' "Then the military governor said : 'The multitude will only submit to force. We must chastise them. Soldiers, strike this rebellious people!' "People. 'Soldiers ! you are of pur blood, will you strike your brothers, your relations? If the people perish, who 364 THE LABORER; will nourish the army?' And the soldiers grounded their arms, and said : 'We are likewise the people, show us the enemy ! ' Then the ecclesiastical governors said : 'There is but one resource left, the people are superstitious; we must frighten them with the names of God and religion.' '"Our dear brethren! our children! God has ordained us to govern you!' "People. 'Show us your power from God!' "Priests. 'You must have faith ; reason leads astray.' "People. 'Do you govern without reason?' "Priests. 'God commands peace. Religion prescribes obedience.' "People. 'Peace supposes justice. Obedience implies conviction of duty.' "Priests. ' Suffering is the business of this world.' "People. 'Show us an example.' "Priests. 'Would you live without gods and kings?' "People. 'We would live without oppressors.' ''Priests. 'You must have mediators, intercessors.' "People. ' Mediators with God, kings, courtiers, and priests! Your services are too expensive, we will manage our own affairs.' " Then the little group said : 'All is lost the multitude are enlightened.' " The people answered : 'All is safe. Since we are en- lightened, we will commit no violence; we only claim our rights. We feel resentments, but we must forget them. We were slaves, we must command, we only wish to be free, and liberty is but justice.' " Volney, a French nobleman, was born in 1753, and died in 1797. He maintained that the force of the State was in proportion to those who tilled the soil and owned it. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 365 Dr. Franklin wrote this on a margin of one of Jefferson's pamplets: "Happiness is more generally diffused among sav- ages than in civilized societies. No European, who has once tasted savage life, can ever afterward bear to live in our so- cieties. The care of providing for artifical wants the sight of so many rich wallowing in superfluous plenty, whereby many are kept poor and distressed by want the insolence of office the snares and plague of law, and the restraints of custom, all contribute to disgust them with what we call civilized society." Archbishop Fenelon, a Catholic divine, offended the king of France by his u Telemachus," which reproved him for his misrule. The morals in this book are sublime. Its po- litical maxims are for the happiness of mankind. This good man died in 1715. These are extracts from his book: "If he is qualified to govern in peace, it must follow that he should be governed by the wisest laws. He must restrain pride and luxury, and suppress all arts which can only grati- fy vice. He must only encourage those which supply the necessaries of life, especially agriculture, to which the prin- cipal attention of the people should be turned. "Whatever is necessary will become abundant. The people being inured to labor, simple in their manners, ha- bituated to live upon a little, and therefore easily gaining a subsistence from the fields, will multiply without end. The people will be healthy and vigorous, not effeminated by lux- ury, veterans in virtue, not slavishly attached to a life of vo- luptuous idleness. "When they [savages] were told of nations who have the art of erecting superb buildings, and making splendid furni- ture of silver and gold, stuffs adorned with embroidery and jewels, exquisite perfumes, costly meats, and instruments of music, they replied that the people of such nations are ex- 32 366 THE LABORER; tremely unhappy in employing so much labor and ingenuity to render themselves at once corrupt and wretched. Su- perfluities effeminate, intoxicate, and torment those who pos- sess them. They tempt those who do not possess them to acquire them by fraud and violence. Can that superfluity be good which tends only to make men evil ? Are people of these countries more healthy or more robust than we are? Do they live longer, agree better with each other. Are not their hearts corroded with envy, and agitated with am- bition and terror ? Are they not incapable of pleasures that are pure and simple? And is not this incapacity the una- voidable consequence of the innumerable artificial wants to which they are enslaved, and upon which they make all their happiness depend. "These were the sentiments of a people who acquired wisdom by the study of nature. They considered refine- ments with abhorrence, and it must be confessed that, in their simplicity, they were great. They lived in common, having no partnership in the land. The head of every family is a king/' Helvetius, in his "Essay on Man," says: U A small for- tune will suffice a busy man. The largest will not supply him that has no employ. A hundred villages must be laid in waste to amuse an idle wretch. The greatest princes have not sufficient riches to supply the avidity of a woman, an idle courtier, or a prelate. It is not the poor, but the idle rich that feel the want of immense riches, for which nations are loaded with taxes and ruined. How many citizens are deprived of necessaries, merely to support the expense of a few discontented mortals! When riches have stupefied the faculty in man, he gives himself up to idleness. He feels at once a pain in serving himself. If a man were truly noble and honest he would spend his time in tears." A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 367 Douglas Jerrold, in his "St. Giles and St. James," con- trasts the condition of the rich and poor. "In the streets of London an infant is found on a door step. The by-stand- ers exclaim l God help it,' and with this easy adjuration we consign thousands and tens of thousands of human beings to want and ignorance; doom, when yet sleeping the sleep of guiltlessness, to future devils their own misguided pas- sions. We make them outcasts, wretches, and punish them in their wickedness for our own selfishness and neglect. "The child is before us. May we not see about it, con- tending for it, the principles of good and evil ? a contest between the angels and the fiends ? Come hither, states- men ; you who live within a party circle ; you, who fight some miserable fight; continually strive in some selfish struggle for power and place, considering men only as tools 9 the merest instruments of your aggrandizement; come here, in the wintry street, and look upon God's image in its baby- hood! Consider this little man. Are not creatures such as these the noblest, grandest things of earth? Have they not solemn natures are they not subtly touched for the highest purposes of human life? Come they not into this world to grace and dignify it? There is no spot, no coarser stuff in the pauper flesh before you, that indicates a lower nature. There is no felon mark upon it no natural forma- tion indicating the thief in its baby fingers no inevitable blasphemy upon its lips. It lies before you a fair and un- sullied thing, fresh from the hand of God. Will you, with- out an effort, let the great fiend stamp his fiery brand upon it ? Shall it, even in its sleeping innocence, be made a trading thing by misery and vice? a creature borne from street to street, a piece of living merchandise for mingling beggary and crime? Say; what, with its awakening soul, shall it learn ? What lessons whereby to pass through life, 368 THE LABORER; making an item in the social sum ? Why, cunning will be wisdom ; hypocrisy its truth ; theft its natural law of self- preservation. To this child, so nurtured, so taught, your whole code of morals, nay, your brief right and wrong, are writ in stranger figures than Egyptian hieroglyphics, and time passes and you scourge the creature never taught, for the heinous guilt of knowing nought but ill ! The good has been a sealed book to him, and the dunce is punished with the jail." Rev. Sidney Smith, in 1820, said : "In what four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book?'* H. C. Carey, of Philadelphia, has written 3,000 pages on political econo- my. His books, for truth and clearness, exceed all that has been written on this subject. His books are, an " Essay on Wages," "Past, Present, and Future," in two volumes, and " Social Science," in three volumes. He teaches earnestly that the farmer and mechanic should be together, so as to save the middleman. In his "Social Science" is this lan- guage: "Why does misery and crime exist? Why, when so large a portion of the earth is yet unoccupied ? Human beings are suffering for food, and crowded together in un- wholesome dens, to the sacrifice of comfort, decency, and health. Why does one nation export food, of which its own members are in need, while another nation sends its manufactures throughout the world, although hundreds of thousands at home are scarcely clothed ? In short, what is the cause of the measureless woe that exists on the earth ? * * * * * Seeing the great disparity there is between the different conditions of human life, we ought to raise each lower class to a class above it. This is the true equaliza- tion of mankind not to pull down those who are exalted and reduce all to a naked equality, but to raise those who are abased, to communicate to every man genuine pleasures, A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 369 to elevate every man to all true wisdom, and to make men participators of a comprehensive benevolence. This is the path which the reformers of mankind ought to travel. This is the path they should pursue. Do you tell me that soci- ety can never arrive at this improvement? I tell you we can come nearer and nearer yet." Charles Fourier was born in 1772, and died in 183. He was, at five years of age, punished for telling the truth in his father's shop, which he never forgot. It led to this truth, that agricultural association and wholesale dealings were the only means of neutralizing fraud and falsehood in com- mercial dealings. His father left him $20,000, which he in- vested in rice, sugar, tea and coffee. This was taken from him for the use of the hospital troops of the Convention. A vessel laden with goods, belonging to him, was wrecked, which made him poor. Being fond of fruit, he was obliged to pay sevenpence for an apple in a town, which were sold for three farthings a dozen in the country. These and some other causes led him to frame his system of " phalanstery, social husbandry, and attractive industry." He waited for a large capitalist to carry out his plans ; none offered him- self to put them in practice. His ideas were based on reasoning like this: A piece of ground takes one person twenty-four hours to dig it. If twelve men are put at it they will be "-joyous and happy, and do it in an hour and a half." Groups were to take care of the poultry, others to work in the kitchen, workshops, and gardens, "under movable canvas canopies." All these groups have made free choice of the functions they are en- gaged at. If a shower of rain came up, those who worked in the house were to go to the fields with carriages after the distant laborers. Says the translator of Fourier's book: "Large cities engulf 370 THE LABORER; vast masses of men in a kind of a living death, and doom them to wear away their lives in a wilderness of brick and mortar, amid the tumult and traffic of crowded streets, while all nature is robing herself in magnificence, as it were, to regale the senses of her lord, and raising her glad anthems to Him who arrays the earth in loveliness. The artisan is a stranger to scenes like these. The trees may be clothed in beauty unknown to him, the groves may be resonant with music that sounds unheeded by ears attuned only to the dis- cord of creaking machinery. "I do not call mere wages an index to the happiness of man. He may vote for a representative unbiased by threats, and yet be a slave in soul, ground to the dust. If he suc- ceeds in getting a little capital, it is at the expense of worn limbs and an aching brow. Something must be wrong in our political schemes, to reduce men so low in the scale of happiness. Man was undoubtedly placed on the earth to cul- tivate and embellish it. He is invited, by its infinite variety, to satisfy his ever-multiplying wants, and encircle himself with its choicest beauties and costliest varieties. The earth, with all its boundless riches, is a waste, a wilderness, an unreclaimed desert. " Labor is the lot of man. Without toil he could not sup- port his body. That vast multitudes of men should be doomed to the soul-deadening drudgery of beasts of burden, is a libel on humanity. No agrarian scheme of division and anarchy is proposed to rob the rich and aggrandize the poor. The system now introduced seeks to show how multitudes may be released from heart-wearing toil, and the rich from corrupting and corroding idleness. The poverty- stricken may be raised to opulence, while the rich may be surrounded with additional magnificence." Harriet Martineau has shown what a woman can do, in A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 371 grappling with this difficult subject, which few men under- stand, nor do two men understand it alike. This lady treats political science in the same way as Ricardo and others. She believed that there should be distinct classes to receive rents and create capital. Her books are called "Illustra- tions of Political Economy," in which are interwoven the incidents of domestic life, with its cares and struggles, its hopes and fears. She has given to this dry, tedious science the novelty of fiction and the pleasures of romance. Her "Tales and Sketches" show that women can think as well as men. Her " Manchester Strike" describes the distress of families, and how the factory children enjoyed their long holiday at first to be succeeded by pinching want. She very clearly points out that employers lose the rents of their shop, and how their capital yields no profits ; or, if the capital was partially borrowed, how the interest diminished the fund of the employer. This book shows how the work they might have done was made in other countries,* and how other peo- ple became skilled at the same work, and their competitors. When the workmen are ready to go to work, after losing their wages, the employer can not give work to as many as he did, his capital, stock, and machinery have wasted. Her books teach that laborers receive wages, capitalists profits, and land owners rents. What mankind want is a plan whereby they can all alike receive wages, profits, and rents. For useless labor this talented woman had no con- demnation. These two examples, or others like them, should afford satire for the pens of philosophers. The pal- * There was a strike among Paris hatters. English workmen gave to them money for their support. During this strike English hatters were supplying Paris with hats. If a hatter strikes and makes a $2.00 hat worth $2,25 j if the shoemaker strikes, and make shoes at $2,00, worth $2,25 a pair,what will the hatter gain ? Nothing. When one class strikes all should strike. 372 THE LABORER; ace of Versailles was repaired at a cost of $200,000,000, for the accommodation of 100,000 philosophers, pensioners, no- bility, and statesmen, who were to surround the king. A single monument cost $10,000,000. The utility of these may be shown by the conversation of two weavers in the streets of Hull. One said to the other: "There is Wil- berforce's monument, it has given work to a great many mechanics." Said the other: "If the labor on it were in implements of industry, or on cottages for the poor, the la- bor would be of some utility, and promote the happiness of the human race." Wayland has given to us "The Elements of Political Economy" in three divisions on " Production," "Distribu- tion," and "Consumption," which,when analyzed, say to la- borers : You are an inferior class ; it i-s your duty to produce and distribute, to be consumed by a superior class, clothing, food, and other things. This is from his book: "Consump- tion is the destruction of values. By this is not meant the annihilation of the material^ but only of a particular form of utility. Thus, if gunpowder be burned, if bread be eaten, if a tree be felled, the particular utility each originally pos- sessed is destroyed forever. And the destruction of value takes place altogether independently of the result which may in different cases ensue, because that destruction is as truly effected in one case as in another. A load of wood that has been burned, as truly loses its utility its power of creating heat when it is destroyed by a conflagration as when it is consumed under a steam-boiler, or in a fireplace, though the result in the two cases may be very dissimilar. If bread be thrown into the sea, its utility is destroyed just as much as if it were eaten ; though, in the one case, there is no result from the consumption, in the other, it is the means of creating the vigor necessary for labor." A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 373 It is self-evident, that if a person spends his day-time in learning this, he will be poor or make some one else poor. It will bring about the result mentioned by Say the laborer will get none of the comforts of life. Thousands have been taught out of these books, yet they can not prevent the increase of want and crime. The Rev. Mr. Blake, author of "Political Economy for the use of American Schools," u thinks it very improper to teach the poor the nature of political economy. * * * The rich and the poor are necessary to each other ; because, without the rich, the poor would starve, and without the poor the rich would have to work. * * * If, besides fur- nishing subsistence for himself, the wages of the laborer do not enable him to maintain a wife and bring up a family, the laborers will gradually diminish, and the scarcity of la- borers will raise their own wages, which will enable them to live with more comfort and rear a family; but, as the capitalist will always keep wages as low as he can, the la- borer and his family can seldom command more than the necessaries of life." Bulwer, in his writings, seems to plead for the poor crim- inals, and to blame society for their many crimes. In his " Eugene Aram," he puts this complaint in the mouth of one of them: "Why is this? The world is my treasury; I live upon my kind ; society is my foe ; laws order me to starve: but self-preservation is an instinct more sacred than society, more imperious than laws." Bulwer seems to look upon the governing powers as no better than thieves. His " Paul Clifford," the tenth chapter reads as follows : "'Listen to me, Paul,' answered Augus- tus ; 'all crime and excellence depend upon a choice of words. I see you look puzzled. I will explain. If you take money from the public and say you have been robbed, 33 374 THE LABORER; you have undoubtedly committed a great crime ; but if you say you have been relieving the necessities of the poor, you have done an excellent action. If, afterward when dividing this money with your companions, you say you have been shar- ing booty, you have committed an offense against the laws of your country. But if you observe that you have been sharing with your friends the gains of your industry, you have performed one of the noblest actions of humanity. To knock a man on the head is neither virtuous nor guilty, but it depends upon the language applied to the action to make it murder or glory. Why not say, then, that you have shown the courage of a hero, rather than the atrocity of a ruffian ? This is perfectly clear, is it not ? ' '"It seems so,' answered Paul. "'It is so self-evident, it is the way all governments are carried on. If you want to rectify an abuse those in power call you disaffected. Oppression is law and order* Extor- tion is a religious establishment; and the taxes are the blessed constitution. Therefore, my good Paul, we only do what all other legislators do. We are never rogues so long as we call ourselves honest fellows, and we never commit a crime so long as we can call it a virtue! What say you now?' "'My dear Tomlinson, there is very little doubt but that you are wrong; yet if you are, so are all the rest of the world. It is to no use to be the only white sheep in the flock. Wherefore, I will in future be an excellent citizen, by relieving the necessities of the poor, and sharing the gains of my industry with my friends.' " This same author, in this book, says: "The learned pro- fessions are masks to your pauper rogues ; they give respec- tability to cheating, and a diploma to feed on others." Joseph Kay, in his "Social Condition of England," tells A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 375 us of scenes that no benevolent mind can bear to read of, a father and mother and six children in one bed. In a room in Church Lane were found two widows with four children, three single women and one man, two husbands and their wives. These were respectable people. Houses are so of- fensive that persons can not visit them with medicines or consolation. There are scenes so depraved that they can not occur in savage life.'* Chateaubriand, in his "American Travels," says: "The mercantile spirit is beginning to carry them away ; interest is fast becoming with them a great national vice. A gold- bearing aristocracy is ready to spring up, with a love of dis- tinctions and a passion for titles. People imagine there is a universal level in the United States ; it is a complete error. There are circles that disdain each other, and between them there is not any connection. The enormous inequality of fortune threatens still more seriously to destroy the spirit of equality. A cold and hard selfishness reigns in the large towns." Fortesque, Lord High Chancellor under Henry VI, says: " Every inhabitant is at liberty to fully use and enjoy the fruits of the earth, products of the farm, and the increase of his flocks. All the improvement he makes by his own personal industry, or of those he retains in his service, are his own, to use and enjoy, without the let, interruption, or de- nial of any man. If he be injured, he shall have satisfac- tion against the party offending. Hence it is that the in- habitants are rich in silver and gold, and in all the necessa- ries of life. They drink no water unless at certain times, by the way of doing penance ; they are fed in great abun- dance with all sorts of flesh and fish ; they are clothed in good woolens; their bedding is of wool, and that in great store j they are all well provided with household goods and 376 THE LABORER; implements for husbandry. Every one, according to his rank, has all things to make life easy and happy." "Evidence before the, House of Commons, in 1824, stated that the laboring classes of Suffolk were robbers too deeply corrupted to be ever reclaimed. The sheriff of Wiltshire stated the food of the field laborers to be potatoes. The judges of the King's Court declared the general food of the laborers to be bread and water, and that some had eaten horse-flesh and brewer's grains. "A law recently published tells the world that this nation, once the greatest and the most moral in the world, is now a nation of incorrigible thieves, the most impoverished, fall- en, and degraded that ever saw the sunlight." Cobbett. Such a condition of life is caused by selling the food of laborers abroad for useless things. It is converting men, who should be farmers, into sailors, custom-house officers, life-insurers, and other pursuits that cause the misery of the nation. Burke, in his writings, said : "Religion is for the man in humble life, to raise his nature, and to put him in mind of a state in which the privileges of opulence will cease^ where he will be equal by nature and more than equal by virtue." Reasoning like this will not make the toiling man con- tented, when earth has such an abundance. Burns has said : "If I'm designed yon lordling's slave, By nature's law designed, Why was ever an independent wish E'er implanted in my mind ? If not, why am I subject to His cruelty or scorn ? Or why has man the will, the power, To make his fellow mourn ? See yonder poor o'erlabor'd wight, Who begs a brother of the earth So abject, mean, and vile, To give him leave to toil." A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 377 Dr. Charming says: se who had saved money could only purchase half as much as they did. Many statesmen are in favor of bringing paper money to the value of gold. This will cause misery to those who are in debt. It will take more labor to pay the nation's interest. Issuing paper was an injury to the working people.* If I were to stand on a highway and take ten cents from a man I should be punished. If I put a bar across a road, and say to a traveler you must pay me ten cents to travel on this road, as I built it, the traveler could say, laborers built this road, mechanics and farmers clothed and fed them. You have only used cunning to obtain this road, which has cost you paper money, the making of which did not take a day. It is the duty of society to purchase this road by is- * The writer believes this nation's debts should be paid as agreed on. Taxes might have supplied the soldier's wants. The debt is a scheme to live easily. A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONGS. 403 suing paper money and offering it to the unnatural owner for it. This money will buy him farms and tools, then he can go to work like the rest of mankind. Working people do themselves an injustice to allow others to live in idleness from the profits of the roads and bridges. The pike be- tween Piqua and Troy, O., receives one-third of its value annually in tolls. The American people are getting to be numerous, and it is just that these tolls should be theirs. Society saves a fourth of its time having money. The is- sues of money from a State would give us a currency. A good man never seeks an office. A farmer, having always good crops, well-fed cattle, obedient, well-behaved children, neatness on his farm, not overrun with weeds, one not given to kid gloves or fashionable clothing, who speaks kindly to his neighbor, and assists the orphans such a one will be a good public officer. Having learned to live from the soil, he will not favor paper or credit schemes that will make coats, hats, shoes, food, etc., twice the value of the usual price, and then buy large quantities of them on credit for the use of soldiers, which are to be paid for by future gen- erations. Common minds know these things are in the country, and that the tax-gatherer can collect the money to purchase them, and that the operation can be renewed till the war is ended. The mind of such a man can not see, after feeding and clothing a number of soldiers, how the cost is to be got back again twenty or thirty years from now, and we still keep on feeding and clothing a number of per- sons. When a person fills an office well, and is not given to peculation, how absurd it is to remove him. There are a number of persons who meet to discuss "Social Science;" this may give them some light. In the beginning of this century, Botany Bay had 5,000 criminals. To reform them, they were set to work on public fountains, 404 THE LABORER; making fine columns for public buildings, and to work on the governor's stables. In addition to this, add the mainten- ance of ladies learning Latin, in cells with carpeted floors and papered walls, officers of government, policemen with clubs, professors of colleges, and other persons too numer- ous to mention, and you make them poor, abject, and envi- ous. One inquires, Why am 1 made to differ from others? Why are others fed on turkeys, eggs, and fowls, while I am in rags, and have the coarsest fare ? * To get the superflui- ties of life, I will not trample on others ! To gain riches, I will not push others down ! I will try and bear my bur- dens ! Society has made me what I am ! f It must be self-evident if you relieve the poor convicts of these burdens, you make them virtuous and happy. The more you pile scholars, philosophers, statesmen, and others on toiling men, the more hungry, vicious, and ignorant they become. It is the duty of all to spend a part of their time in the field and shop. The people of Acadia and uncivil- ized Paraguay show us that security, order, and virtue can be attained without our usages. A display of virtue like this can never happen in highly civilized countries. Columbus writes to his king and queen thus: "When the Pinto was wrecked, the natives swam about and collected every thing on the beach. The property could not have been better taken care of in Spain. Nothing was stole n." -Jointer bottom. A great source of intemperance is from the idle sons of rich men, who, having no occupation, learn habits of dissipa- tion. Many, who work, having poor homes, are attracted Bishop Potter, in his "Arts and Sciences," tells us that sawdust can be made into palatable puddings. Harper's Family Library. j- Bishop Potter, in his " Political Economy," gives us the Chaplain's " Report of" the Conn. State Prison." "Thieves and robbers attempt to jus- tify their course, on the ground that one man has no right to hold property more than another, and they take from the rich only." A REMEDY FOR HIS WRONG&. 405 to the gay drinking saloons. It is not improbable that this nation spends annually $300,000,000 on tobacco and strong drink, which in ten years will buy every five persons a good house having four rooms. A mechanic, when buying a drink, saw an open door, and heard a female voice, saying : "Where did you get this fine furniture ? " The reply was : "The fool's pence bought it." The man repented? Dur- ing a rain-shower a woman took refuge in his house, and said :