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    race were Pilgrim Fathers of Co-operative Industry , ey their Miy Flower of Toad-lane , with a faculty of organization ; , an indomitable will ; ' and a sturdy faith which no apparent impossibilities can break down , characteristic of the best specimens of our English race . In J 843 , the flannel-weavers of Rochdale astonished their masters by ** asking for more . " Some of the most generous agreed to give it If others would follow the example . In other respects they left the men to light the battle as well as they could . With subscriptions of twopence a week , trades unions , and a strike , the weavers did their best to beat the capitalists in the old-fashioned clumsy way , and as often happened , before and since , got beaten for their pains . Thus for tlie time , at least , flieir position was made worse . There was a good deal of anger and unreasonableness , but strong sense lay at the bottom , and after much dispute and discussion they

    came to the conclusion , that by twopenny subscriptions and some kind of socialism , their Rochdale world was to be saved . To carry out this notable project the twopences were collected , and a " constitution" drawn up , which unlike the-fifteen —• more or less—that Talleyrand swore to , proved to be of » very vital and serviceable character . It looks droll enough now , surveying the matter backwards , and it must have looked still droller at the time , surveying-it forwards , to see a few rough , dingy weavers , who could with difficulty squeeze out of empty pockets the small contribution of twopence a week to ibrm the collective capital of the Association , sitting together In conclave , and determining to build houses , manufacture articles , purchase land , and deal in all sorts of goods—nay , further , " as soon as practicable , " to arrange the powers of production , distribution , education , and government , " so as to produce a " self-supporting home colony . " Little more absurd would it have appeared to worldly-wise men , if the poor weavers tad talked seriously of purchasing the moon to cut up into small candles ,

    and thus save an expenditure of dips in the long -winter evenings . Their " soon as practicable" seemed , at least , as far off as the lnillenniuui , calculated upon much longex range principles than those of Dr . Gumming and the Prophetic Press ; but they had other capital than that of the combined twopences—the capital of honest , selfrdenyinghearts , and a determination to stick together and get on . So great were the obstacles they had to overcome , that the collector of forty twopenny subscriptions had to travel about twenty miles to get them in . But three collectors were appointed ; and horrible as the ' * uncircumcised Jews" * ' Hebrew Christians" might think it to do good work on the Sabbath day * they visited the members every Sunday , and thus the little fund grew . Byand-by the rate of subscription was Taised to threepence , and at last the industrial knights-errant became possessed of 28 / ., with which they were to purchase all the arms and outfitHecessary to stay the dra gon of Competition arid set-their order free .

    Well might " Toad-lane' ^ laugh when the " Equitable Pioneers , " on a memorable December evening in the year 1844 , took down their shutters and opened their store for the sale of flour , butter , sugar , and oatmeal , purchased to the extent of 14 / . or 15 / ., which was all that remain-ed of their capital after fittings and other preliminaries had been duly paid for . But as Rochdale phrased it , " the owd weavers * shop was opened at last , " although in a very small Way , and with apparently poor chances of competing with the wealthy tradesmen who could purchase cheaper and make a profit in underselling the Socialist magazine . This created great difficulty , and James Daly proposed that the members who would not purchase at the

    store should be paid out . This Charles Hannah stoutly opposed , as savouring of despotism . He , good man and true , had a firm belief an freedom , and much as he Liked co-operation , he would forego it rather than infringe upon a higher Ia . w . James Daley withdrew his motion , and the store grew upon wiser principles , so that in March , 1845 , we find its proprietors raising capital to go into the tea and grocery line . Then , " for the first time 3 " says their biographer , "do we hear of any member being in possession of more than twopence . " One " promised to find" half-a-crown , and another became a hnancial hero by undertaking to procure 1 / . These promises were fulfilled , and at the close of the year the association numbered upwards of eighty members , and possessed a capital of 181 / . 12 s . 3 d .

    At first the store paid two and a half per cent ; interest on money borrowed , then four per cent . After paying this interest and the small expenses of management , all pronts were divided among the purchasers at the store in proportion to the amount expended . r All transactions were for read y money , and therefore the risk of tiie capitalists was reduced to a minimum , and the division of pro / its amon ^ tlie purchasers was a great move towards an equitable settlement of the cfaims of consumers , regarding them as producers of profits , in which ordinarily they have no share . Admirable as this arrangement was it could not he easilcarried out 11 ol

    y , as Mr . yoake says : jmSr ^ Vi f \ ereatci ; ^ Podiment to social success than even prejudice . Witli a ^^^^^^^^^ ri ^ dpj ^ , « ave the very poor . One Avould think that a customer ought to be extent who , " is Us own shopkeeper On the contrary , ho is not satisfiedL JStU th > nXa ho %£££ U ° COnUntM « the ° ™« P «» t *** J ™ 4 o » f ? e ilof ^

    These remarks exhibit some of the difficulties of the enterprise , and civo a notion of the mer . ts of the men and women by whom thej wereT come . We m ^ st refer to Mr . Holyoaktfa pages for an account of the » ro " gress made from this point by the Tionecrs , how their institution survived ^ " flour-m . ll panic" and other storms , until , from being a concern dcXnt in minute quantities of four articles , t grew to a muTtifarim , , iw S wss / i ^ year i /¦ » r * 8 bank its optSLs rc n v : s beneficial ; th « accumulation of profits credited to the customers 2 suppl . ed httle fortunes to many who never before enjoyed tfce uxurv o being beforehand with the world . J luxury ol The social aspects of Toad-lane are as astonishing ns the economical i ¦ s i ¦ ' i

    Vve . s . 4 £ d . spent on library reading-room , an d fi nd "the " owd weavers" in advance of British senators in the matter of < c woman ' s rights . " Mr . Holyoake says : — " Women may be members of this store and vote in its proceedings . Single and married women join . Many married -women become members because their husbands will not take the trouWe , and others join , it in self-defence to prevent the husband from spending their money in drink . The husband cannot -withdraw the Savings at the store standing intlie wife ' s name unless she signs the order . Of course , as the lawstill stands , the husband could by legal process get possession of the money . But the process tabes time , and the husband gets sober and thinks better of it before the law can move . . These few poor weavers have found practical solutions for difficult social problems , and made themselves captains of industry by rendering strict obedience to moral and economical . laws . Longfellow was right when lie declared there was a nobility of labour as well as a long pedi gree of toil .

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    THE CHASE . The Horse and the Hound ; their various Uses and Treatment . By Nimrod . Third Edition . Edinburgh : Black and Co . GuART > ES James Appeblet , better loiown to sportsmen by the soubriquet of" JNimrod , " has contributed more to the literature of sylvan sports than any other writer of earlier or later times . He-was by birth a gentleman by education a scholar , and the classic tastes imbibed during a long and honourable career at college are perhaps rather too ostentatiously exhibited in all his writings . In many cases they seem entirely out of place ; irrelevant matter being often introduced merely as pegs on which to han * a Greek or Latin quotation . Does he recommend the " summerinw hunters , " - ~ -e . e . the removing the animal ' s halter for a three months' gambol among daisies and buttercups—the noble horse ' s wild and joyous riot at this partial recovery of his natural liberty must be illustrated by Homer ' s description of the return of Paris with Hector to the battle-field of Troy . — Sis , d ore ns crraros ittttos , a . Koa-rq < ras em ( fxxTrju , Aecrfxbv aTroppTj ^ as Set *} neb ' toto Kpoatvav , &c . &c . The author ' s companionable qualifications , at least , were unquestionably first-rate . Each master of hounds deemed the attractions of his hunt dinner to be all in all ir Niinrod ' s feet were settled beneath his mahogany . More than once , in the vicissitudes attendant on an expensive sporting career , was he called upon to acknowledge the bounteous liberality of the ° cduntry gentlemen of England , who showed their respect and regard by extricating him from embarrassments by which , but for th eir kindness , he must have been wholly overwhelmed . On his thorough practical knowledge of the mysteries of St . Hubert some doubt has been cast . Certainly there were hundreds of his contemporaries who rode to hounds with equal , perhaps superior , tact and skill . We need scarcely suggest that in all relating to the economy and conduct of a racing stud establishment the mere gentleman amateur cannot , and never will be able to , compete with any early initiated professional trainer ; . - ¦ ¦ . ¦ . •; . . ¦ ¦ . . . ;¦ ¦¦ . :. ; ¦ ¦ . •¦ ¦ ¦ - . ¦ ¦• . . . ¦ ¦ :. ¦ ¦ ' . ¦ ' - . ' What constitutes a thorough-bred horse ? is a query oftener asked than satisfactorily replied to . Indeed , it has never yet been satisfactorily defined . A " thorough-bred" we believe to "be—and this definition applies to the equine race only— -one lineally descended without inferior stain from Arab ; or Barbary sire and dam . Among the progeny sprung from the Darlcy Arabian—so named because imported by Merchant Darley—and King Charles ' s " Royal Mares" were some noble animals , of marvellous beauty , speed , and endurance . These , and the Godolphin Arabian , purchased out of a , cart in Paris , laid the foundation of that unrivalled breed of horses which makes Great Britain the . envy of all Europe , and no very superior race-horse has appeared in England for many years past which cannot be traced to their blood . Having once gotten possession of the essential constitutional parts of a perfect racer , the English turf has benefited nothing during the last three-quarters of a century by the importation of foreign blood . In whatever country and in whatever climate his racing powers are tested , he has scarcely found a rival except under palpable disadvantages . Every trial over the Desert , no matter what the distance , during 1826-55 , between English and Oriental lioivses , has x * esultcd in a crowning triumph to the former . It may , however , be here noted , that the style of the animal now so adequately adapted for every purpose of war and the chase , was lightly esteemed by the most renowned stud-masters of the seventeenth century . When good " King Jamie" gave five hundred guineas for an Arab horse , the then Duke of Newcastle , a great authority and a writer on equitation , foretold the utter degeneracy of the old EngLish war horse , in case the fashion , of breeding from , these diminutive Levantine horses should generally prevail . Indeed , if we reflect on the enormous weight imposed on the charger of three centuries ago , the lm . ge demi-pcaked steel-plated warsaddle , and his rider clothed in the same iron panoply , the strong and bony , though perfectly well-bred animal which seems stepping from the pedestal at Clmring cross , was fur bettor qualified for service in the field . Let not undersized horses be however entirely despised . Some of the readers of this review probably remember Lord Oxford ' s beautiful little forty-eight inch horse , the oilspring of the Clive Arabian and a Welsh mountain pony , whicli , ridden by a smull lad , could beat any of his lordship ' s speediest racers . During the drawing of Irish lotteries in tho beginning of the present century , all the expresses between Ilolyheiid and London wero conveyed by ponies at the rate of nearly twenty miles in the hour . " A good horse cannot be of a bad colour . " Tho ancients preferred the bay ( Radices ) , and dark , or " Jorsey buy , " is still the favourite English choice . The famous horse Eclipse , a real chesnut , hud a . small dark spot on his quarter which has been sometimes found in his descendants of the fifth and sixth generation . " Wo do not , " observes Nimrod , again indulging for tho hundredth time in his ultra-classical tustes , « find much benelit from our research into ( ' ancient authors on the subject of hounds . " Here , of course , follow Oppinn , Claudian , Gratius , and Virgil ; the " Canes Odoros" of tho first , . jand the " Canis Vcstigator" of Columclla , with the -oorrfmai and the

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    and thset sail in read of 450 / 3 the and 57 < j THE LEADER . [ No . 429 , June 12 , 1858 .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 12, 1858, page 570, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2246/page/18/