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Northern Star (1837-1852), 20th April 1850, Edition 1 of 3, Page 7

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      Untitled Article

      ^ ironnT ANT PUBLIC MEETING ON THE I *** " * [ LABOUR QUESTION . Hie meeting of tbe inhabitants of Brig h t on « Fmia the Town Hall , on the evening of Tuts-, Snd & »•» 'for the purpose of discsssing ^ 'Kortont question of the rig hts of labour a aZZmtitifa the journeymen bafcers , and for » Solans in support of a bill to be intro-^ "SrD aiKonientbjLord Robert Grcsvenor , g ^ f abdition of nig h t wo r k in t he bakin g tfljk . jpgijon of Mr . Nnnu ( master baker , ) se-JwJ bY Mr . R « d ( Secretary to the Journeymen v ' A sstRation , ) Mr . Oastler was unanimously ^ 3 to oc&PS clia 5 r < Oa taKn K the Cttau "» d mwable gentleman was greeted with hearty fce ^ J . the King of the Factory Children . ' cheers - - " __ V- — - —*—^ p ^—* ;! -vii rirrorTn upoTrwn nn TOT !

      ¦ as _ _*!„ , nlncards calling tli «» mppHno-!»«¦ 'fa ding t h e p lacards calling the meeting , r nastier said . -Inhabitants of Brighton—You o * ciiosen me as your chairman—you have iBTe - nled me to preside over the deliberations of S ^ nnmercns and thoughtful assembly / congregated ft the purpose of discussing a question of most Jf 1 im portance . I need not assure you that I am $ lv impressed by this mark of your confidence , atnth the responsibility of the office with which

      nr kindness has charged me . Let your motto be , ^ ro « ell things , hold fast that which is good . No « caa charge BS witn men * dling with that which $ !« not belong to us . Kings and peasants , and c intermediate grade , are alike interested in S jsgrtat question . If we glance onr eyes over the Inntinental "at' 0115 ° * Earope i or stretch them « r « the reg ions b eyon d th e A tl antic , we see the * .-nments and tbe people intently striving to

      f olve tbis creat enigma , wtiat are the ngnts oi hbonr ? How shall they be secured ? Many very Lfeh men , calling themselves philosop hers , fancied ? whaa settled that mighty question herein Engird They , ignorant as they truly are , persuaded thanselves End their confiding dupes , that the way to « ecnre the comfort and well-being of the industrious was to cheapen every article of their product i on , which they have effected ! By opening the competition of the world , in our own market , they have succeeded in cheapening the price of every tome commodity , and lowering the wages and profits of all who are engaged in tbeir production md is the result

      ^ stribntion . And what ? Listen te the Chancellor of the Exchequer , who , « hile be finds the exchequer oveiflowing and exports increasing , feefe the rottenness of the prosperity of which he boasts ; and , dreading the consequences of that very cheapness which it lias been the object of his school of statesmen and philosophers to create , casts about for hope from any quarter , and at last he thinks he perceives it , in a return to higher prices . He fondly hopes 'low piices' will not long continue . Read , in the increase of crime and destitution , the result of that cheapness , which is fast reducing English society to barbarism . Do I exaggerate ? Turn over the

      columns of your daily papers ; read those long and eleqneitf letters in the ' Morning Chronicle , ' beaded * Labour and tbe Poor . * You will there € nd con . fnnation of the sad trnth I have enunciated . Language fails to describe the miseries it would pourtrav . Figures and words may state tbe facts , but fte heart-reading horrors consequent on such appalling facts can only be imagined by those who closely investigate the moral and social foulness produced by excessive but ill-requited labour in creating , not wealth , but cheapness ; Strange that the same organ , while famishing such incontestable proof of the total failure of the cheap philosophers ,

      should still app la u d their s chemes , and urge for a still further extension of the very principles whose partial operations have produced such almost universal havoc . Does any one think that the picture of Eng lish society is not really so bad as the « Morning Chronicle' represents ? Turn nest to the leading journal , tbe ' Times , * and therein , in terrific , but concise and impressive language , read the sad charact e r of E nglish society . Bead the description of our once happy father-land . And , mark well , his are not the words of passion , enthusiasm , or excitenent , spoken in the heat of debate , or to serve a party or a passing purpose . Tbe Editor of the

      * Times , " while calmly penning that which he knew every civilised people could read and ponder , thus describes the present condition of society in England : — 'The prison is a palace by the side oi the cottage . The murderer is comfortable , and the Children , perhaps , of bis victim suffering all kinds of wretchedness . The gaol has lost its terrors . Tbe village labourer cannot get half so much of the housing , the clothing , the feeding , the teaching , and the comforting of his wife and famil y , as the state lavishes on the single person of a miscreant whose sole claim to its attention is some atrocious crime !' —( tbe ' Times' March 28 th , 1850 . ) Such is our

      national character , heralded by the 'Times' to every cmfisea" nation on earth ! What state of barbarism can surpass onr own ; We lavish onr premiums and rewards on murderers and miscreants , while we rob the village labourer of his rightful wages After all , we are s o prou d , arrogant , and self-sufficient , that we boast of onr Christianity and civilisation — nay , « e dare to pr ofess ourselves the missionaries of both ! Thus adding to all our other crimes the sin of national hypocrisy . Will not Heathen nations answer us out cf the book we would persuade them is the Word of God—• Ye hvpocrites , cast first the beam

      cnt of yonr own eyes , and then shall ye see clearly to pull ont the mote that is in our eyes ? ' Will cot the untutored savage retort— 'P h ys i c i ans , hea l yourselves ? ' The Editor of the Times' adds , All that we can hope is , that we may gain a l i t t le b y t h e experience of each year ; and to that we will add onr own fervent desire that the British public and legislature would direct their efforts more to the comparatively easy work of retaining in employment , comfort , and d u t y , those whom otherwise it will be llmost impossible to reform . ' Passing strange it is —the same mind suggests no better method of securing the desired object than a still further increase

      of that very compet ition vtnich has brought in its mke such , destructive cheapness , snch demoralising wealth' Another remedy being the transportation of tbe industrious to distant climes ! Is it not high time for yon , the common people , to betake yourselves to thoughtfulness on this most important question , seeing that the learned—the philosophers—are at their wits' end ? It is . For that purpose you are met here to-night . Yoa are anxious to retain ' in employment , comfort , and d uty ' those who are now * nplojed , and to find means of employing those who are now unwilling idlers . You , too , must be guided by ' experience . ' ' Tee * experience' of every

      age and of every nation proves that rational labour 13 good for man and for nations—that when pursued irrationall y , excessivel y , labour is destructive of its own value , and becomes the parent of physical , mental , and moral evils . Experience' teaches mankind to labour , that they may live—not to live that they Cay labour excessivel y at intervals , and at others Tot | a idleness . ' Experience' teaches the labourers and * oe governors that there are enjoyments to be obtained in life from which the sons of industry may not with safety i , debarred , Jo secure those enjoyments to the industrious , ' experience teac h e s that the laws must restrain the griping hand of ava nee , and protect the labourer from the iron hoof of « * * ~»~ i nii > rnn < l itvlU vu ^ 4 ivu uuwa %# *

      his remorseless taskmaster ! Our business to-night » te promote that object . The truth is , my friends , tnose wio are employed in England are too long at Tfork ; each man is doing the work of two , and thus * e H committing the double crime of wasting his own strength for a mere nominal return and robbing his neighbour of Mb right to labour . Malthus , the | feat Pree-trade and anti-population philosopher , tad instincts that were sound and natural ; he could Me the dreadful eyils of over-toiling . His heart srggested an alteration , but his head forbade ! The Philosopher was wrong , the instinct of nature was ^ glit . Hear his heart thus speaking : —* I have Iways thought and felt , that many among the

      lacuring classes of this country work too hard for tQQr health , happiness , and intellectual improvement ; and , if a greater degree of relaxation from £ s yere ton could be g iven t hem , with a tolerably ^* prospect of its being employed in innocent **» uanenti and nsefnl instruction '—thus far tbe **? utters the sentiments of his heart ; but the Wuosopher now 6 teps jj , ^ h { head , and raises * % * & » , whid , nature or trath never created . « e philosop ner says—* I should consider it as very ™« piy purchased , by the sacrifice of a portion of IZ ^ wflseaUh ana poputousnesg . ' Thenntu . wrea man gees tnat it is wrong to sacrifice 'health , "SPPmess , snd intellect . ™! imnrnremenf lo ' too

      ™ m work ' -. « 8 CTere toa ; » but theedncatedphUosoget bis discovered that « a greater degree of relaxajj ™ ttnit necessarily involve' the sacrifice of a porlr i ^ ^ tional wealth and populonsness V JUrH *«* i ™« * eed , ** & nra mad , el s e he ^ T ^ known , that to do right , is always the * S £° « to true greatness . Let ihal trutlinever be " *? wed from yonr minds . There never can be zj ?™* 9 » of jusfieewatrath . Bight neter w o ^** wrong , Ag « B | the ^ philowpher ctnao *

      Untitled Article

      perceive that governments arefor the well-regulating of societies . And he adds—*; But , wiffiout a siranltaneons resolution of all the labouring classes to w or k fewer hours in t he day , theindividual who ventured so to limit his exertions would , necessarily , reduce himself to comparative want and wretchedness . —( MalthusY 'Princip les of Poli t ical Econom y , ' c . vii . s . 9 . ) The' unanimous re s o l u t ion' here s po k en Of COtfld never he attained . The strife to attain it would engender many strikes , and , knowing as I do the dreadful evils consequent on strikes , I . never can recommend them . We must not forget that our principal object to-night is to consider the case of one section of our people , viz ., the journeymen bakers of London . Those men are engaged in the most useful and most ne-— ^^ ^^^ MM M | *^^ —^ M ^^^^ t ^ M nerceive that sovernments ari > fnr tho tsali . ran .. u » :- _

      cessary employment of pre p arin g the daily bread of the millions who inhabit our great metropolis . Now , if any employment ought to be comfortable and profitable , it is theirs . What is the fact ? They are very poorly rewarded in wages ; they are doomed to an excessive—to a killing toil . They number about 12 , 000 ; one-fourth of them generally unemployed , out of work , The regular hours of t hose in empl o ym e nt are , on Sun d ays from eight or nine a . m . to one to three p . m . On Sunday night they enter on their week ' s work , at eleven o ' clock , till five or six on Monday evenin g ; resumin g w ork a g ain at eleven a t nig ht , and so on , through the week , tbeir wages being about 18 s . Foreigners and boys now compete with them , and ( heir condition ia deteriorating . Hear one man ' s

      tale—I have just left my place , at Mr . , High Holborn , where I have been lirfng for fourteen months , and I have been compelled to leave , for I could stand it no longer , far during the whole of that time I have worked twenty hours each day out of the twenty-four . My mates round me know I am not afraid of work , but of all the hard places 1 ever had that one beat them . Uad I not left my place I must have sunk under it I have lived at , in Barbican , and you all ( addressing bis club mates ) know what a killing place that is , but the o » e I have just left beats that tiollow . TVe used there to get about an hour to our meals in the course of the day , because everything was timed ,

      but we couldn't in tbe other ; we used to go straight at it until we left off . We used to bake about fifty sacks of flour into bread , a week ; ahore one-half of that ire had to carry te chandlers ' -shops on hoards on our heads , another portion to private customers in baskets on our backs , the remainder being sold in the shop . For all this labour he received 18 s . per week , and what bread and flour he wanted to consume , which may be reckoned about 2 s a week more . . Talk about serfs and s ' ayes , indeed ! Reason about the miseries of savage life , and the blessings of civilisation ! There cannot be in human nature a class

      more sinned against than these wretched men Health they cannot have . Domestic , s o cial , or personal enjoyments they are debarred from ? Does Christianity demand tbeir worship of the true God ? They have no time—no strength ; they are Helots , slave s to M a m m on , in the metropolis of a nation boasting . of its liberty , civilisation , and Christianity ! They minister to the sustenance of others , by their own self-sacrifice . Have we any statesmen left ? If we have , I demand of them ,

      how long is this brutalit y to he allowed by l aw Ah ! but thej are adnlts—free agents ! Indeed J The statesman who says those men are free agents , knows "nothing of society . But if they were , what then ? Have they a right to sacrifice health and life ? Have those 8000 in employment a right thus to keep out the remaining 4000 from any employment ? Philosophy , I know , says yes ! But , reason , nature , sound policy , common sense , humanity and Christianity , answer—No . A thousand times—No !

      Resolutions condemnatory of the existing cruel system , and in support of Lord Robert Grosvenor's bill , and a petition to the House of Commons in its favour , to be signed by the chairm a n o n behalf of the meeting , to be presented by Capt . Pechell , and supported by Lord Alfred Hervey ( the members for Brighton , ) were unanimously adopted . Messrs . Wells , Mock f ord , Read , Cabel , Nunn , Kydd , and others , addressed the meeting ,

      condemning nightwork and long hours of labour . Some opposition was attempted , but the parties did not move any amendments ; eventually joining in support of the resolutions . Mr . Bead made an impressive speech , full of details and important facts ; informing the meeting of the strong opposition of Mr . Cobden to the Bakers' Bill in parliament . ' Mr . Cobden , the great captain of the Free' Traders / said Mr . Read , ' was pleased to tell the Honse of Commons that the London bakers

      needed no protection ! He , the pretended mend of the working classes , thns proving his determination to grant them no relief . He ( Mr . Rpad ) would ask whether were the London bakers or Mr . Cobden the best judges ? He" liked tbe old saying , Mind your own business ; ' and if Free-trade orators would speak only on subjects which they understood , they would talk less and be more thought of . Mr . Cobden often boasted that he was the friend of the working classes , but bis friendship for them was mere thin air—so etberial that when you tried to analyse it , you discovered it was only words ; words , sound , and nothing else 1 but bis

      friendship f o r the g r eat ca p i t ali sts w as s trong a n d influential , marked by deeds , following his words . Soon the English labourers weuld find out their true friends—among them Mr . Cobden would not be discovered . ' Mr . Kvdd ' s speech was full of powerful reasoning and eloquent appeals to tbe head and the heart . He demolished the crude theory of ' enlig htened philosophy and free action , ' and proved , that on mutual dependence alore could national security be built , that dependence being cemented by the mutu a l inte r c h ange of th e pro d uc e of each other ' s labour among the people of each—in contradiction to every country .

      After a v o te of tha n ks t o t h e Ch a irman the meeting broke up . Many persons thronged round Mr . Oastler to shake hands with the' old veteran- ;' these marks of kindness were evidently appreciated by the ' Old King . ' The proceedings of this important meeting were remarkable for calmness and dispassionate reasoning . It was impossible to witness so numerous an assemblage , composed principally of working men , reasoning on so important a subject as ' the rights of labour , ' withou t observing t ha t the seeds of a great industrial movement have been sown , and that soon the harvest will be reaped .

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      i ^^ P ^——v The Gotersmekt Plan fob the Bobiai . of the Seas . —Under the authority of the proposed bill " To make better provision for the interment of the d ead in an d near the metro p olis , " it is intended to create , a new burial district , to include all London , Westminster , and the borough of Southwark . The divisions will be—the Holborn division : St . Giles-in-the-Fields , St . George , Bloomsbury , St . Andrew ' s , Bolborn , and St . George the Martyr ; the liberty of Hatton-garden , Saffron-hill , and Elyrents ; the parishes of St . Pancras , St . John , Hampstead , St . Marylebone , Paddington , and the precincts of the Savoy . —The Finsbury division : The parish of St . Luke , tbe liberty of Glasshouse-yard , the parishes of St . Sepulchre , of St . James , Clerkenwel ] , St . Mary , Is l ington , St . Mary , Stoke

      Newington , and the Charter House . —The Tower division : Tbe parishes of St . Mary , "WMtechapel , Christchurch , S i ; Leon a r d , Shoreditch , the liberty of Norton Pokate , the parishes of St . John , Haeknev , St . Matthew , Bethnal-green , the Hamlets of Mile End Old Town and Mile End New Town , the parishes of St . Mary , Stratford-le bow , Bromley , SL Leonard , All Saints , Po p lar , St . Anne , Limehouse , the Hamlet of Batcliffe , the Parishes of St . Paul , Shad we ll , St . George-in-the-East , St . John , Trapping , the Liberty of East Smitbfield , the Precinct of St . Catherine , the Liberty of her Majesty ' s Tower of London . —The Kensington Division : The Parishes of Kensington , St . Luke , Chelsea , Fulham , the Hamlet oi Hammersmith , the Parishes of

      Chiswiek , Ealing , Acton . —The Brentford Division The Township of New Brentford . —Extra Parochial Places : Lincoln's Inn , Gray's Inn , Staple ' s Inn , that part of Furnival ' s Inn in the County of Middlesex , Ely-place . —Kent : The Parishes of St . Paul , Deptford , St . Nicholas , Leptford , Greenwich , Woolwich , Charlton , Plumstead . —Surrey : Tbe parishes of Barnes , Battersea , Bermondsey , Camberwell , Clapham , Lambeth , Newington , Putney , Rotberbithe , Streatham , Tooting , Wandsworth , Christchurch , ClinkLiberty , the Hamlet of Hatcham in the parish of Deptford . It is also intended to give powers to purchase certain cemeteries , to be named in one of tbe schedules of the act such as " The General Cemetery for the Interment of the Dead in the Neighbourhood of the Metropolis " ( Kensall Green ) , " The South Metropolitan ''(

      Norwood ) , " 1 ne London Cemetery Company , " " The West of London and 'Westminster" ( Bromnton ) " Stepney , " •« Victoria Park , " and " Abney Park * Cemeteries . These and the grounds to he purchased for extramural interments are to he placed under the direction of the Board of Health . The staff of the board to be slightly increased for the purposes of t his act , which will require an additional member of the board , an assistant-secretary , and atreaBurer , for the special purposes mentioned . These offices respectively to be limited in like manner , and for the same term as the board is at present instituted . They are to purchase and lay out grounds , and to appoint chaplains , subject to tbe approval of the Bishop of London . A portion of eaoh bnrialground is to be left nnconsecrated . and a chapel built thereon , where persona are to be buned at tie r * gjiest of ftefriujvinng relatives ,

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      THE CONDITION OF ENGLAND "' / : , QIJESTION . m * ra nnvrvTmT ^ ,. __ _« . __• _ . ' . ^ t-t ^' . ^ -

      ( Cen d ensed f rom t h e Morning Ghronitlt . ) ¦ - ¦ LIFE IN LEEDS . The east and north-east districts of Leeds are , perhaps , the worst . A short walk from the Briggate , in the direction in which Deansgate branches off from the main entry , will conduct the visitor into a perfect wilderness of foulness . Conceive acre on acre of little streets , run up without attention to plan or health—acre on acre of closely-built and thickly-peopled ground , without a paving-stone upon the surface , or an inch of sewer beneatn , deep trpdden-churaed slough s of mu d forming the onl y thoroughfares—here and there an open Bpaco , used not exactly , as the common cess-pool , but as the common cess-yard of the vicinity—in its centre , ash-pits employed for dirtier purposes than containing ashes—privies often ruinous , almost horribly foul—pig-stiGs very commonly loft pro tempore unten a n c e d , because their usual inmates have been turned out to prey upon the garbage of the neighbourhood . Conceive streets , and courts , and yards , -which a scavenger never appears to have entered since King John incorporated Leeds , and which , in fact , give the idea of a town built in a slimy bog . Conceive such a surface drenched with the liquid slops which each family flings out daily and nightly before their own threshold , and further

      fouled by the malpractices of children , for which the parents , and not the children , deserve shame and punishment . Conceive , ia short , a whole district to which the ahove description rigidly and truthfully applies , and you will , I am sorry to say , have a fair idea of what at present constitutes a large proportion of tbe operative part of Leeds . I have seen hero and there in Bradford spots very nearly ; and in Halifax spots quite as bad ; but here it is no spot—the foulness over large sections of the town , particularly towards the suburbs , constitutes the very face and essence of things . I have plodded by the half hour through streets in which tho undisturbed mud lay in wreaths from wall to wall , and across open spaces , overlooked by houses all round

      in which the pigs , wandering from the central oasis , seemed to be roaming through what was onl y a large sty . Indeed , pigs seem to be the natural inhabitants of such places . I think they are more common in some parts of Leeds than dogs and cats are in others ; and wherever they abound , wherever the population is filthiest , there are the houses the smallest , the rooms the closest , and tbe most overcrowded . One characteristic of such localities is a curious and significant one . Before almost every house-door there lies , of course until the pig cornea upon the deposit , a little heap of boiled-out tea leaves . Although all tbe domestic refuse is flung out , you har d ly ever see bones , but the tea-pot is evidently in operation at every meal . Here and there ,

      I ought to add , the visitor will , even in the midst of such scenes as I have tried to sketch , come upon a cluster or a row of houses better than ordinary , and through the almost invariably open doors of which he will see some indications of domestic comfort ; but such buildings are the exceptions—and , exceptions as they . ire , they rise out of the same slough of mud and-filth , and command the same ugly sights as their neighbours . . There is , I believe , a Nuisance Committee in Leeds . I inquired whether they were aware of even the most flagrant of all these sanitary enormities . Had their attention , for instance , been ever drawn to tbe practice of keeping pigs , or rather of letting the pigs keep themselves , in crowded neighbourhoods ? " Yes , "

      I was answered , by a gentleman much interested in the subject— " Yes , I have reported these things over and over again , until I was sick and tired of reporting ; but , you see , nothing has been done . " Three of the ordinaiy trades of tho Irish in Leeds are rag-picking—such as I have described it in Batley , near Dewsbury ^—untwisting old ropes , and mat-making . Men and women generally work a t t he latter employment ; b ut t h e wom e n al most invariably hawk the produce about for sale . I visited two cellars in one of the Irish streets , in each of which I found a man and woman preparing mats . A sentence of description will suffice for both apartments . They might he about seven feet squ a re , littered with old bagging , Russia mats , old ropes , and shavings—furnished -with ricketty deal tables , and two or three chairs more or less dilapidated , and a bed , in one case , spread on a low frame , in the other , rolled up in- a corner . Tho

      cooking apparatus , in both cases , consisted of a single pot . Miserable as these abodes are , they were clearly superior to the Irish cellars in Manchester and Oldham . The people in the second cellar were rather better off tban those in the first , because the wife bad a " good connexion" in the mat-selling business , and could more generally realise fair prices for her wares . In both instances the peopl e g a ve me ev e ry information about their trade , and I subjoin the substance of . their statements , which in the main agreed . " TVe mnke two sorta of mats , rope mats , which are the best sort , and stitched mats . Both of these mats are principally made of a stuff 'called ' dewit . '" This dewit was a substance like long clusters of coarse hemp . " We buy it for 3 s . a stone . TVe then dye it brown with catechu ; we dye it by boiling a stone of it with lid . worth of catechu , and then we rinse it out with clean water and a

      little alum , and hang it up to dry . " The side of each room was clothed with clusters of the stuff in question . " 'Wehave next to get ropes for the rope mats , and old sacking and shavings and twine for the stitched mats . The ropes cost about Is . 3 d . per stone . The old bagging comes to about lid . per mat , and the twine and Russia matting to a trifle more . "We use shaving 3 when we can get them for nothing . To mako a good-sized rope-mat , liko what we sell for & gentleman ' s door , t ak es six or seven pounds of rope , and from a pound to a pound and a half of dewit . . We generally count , working up the waste of one with another , that lClbs , of dewit will make three rope mats . Stitched mats do not take more than half that quantity , but they re q u i re , besides the sacking , twine an d g ar d en

      mats . " The rope mats are made upon the principle of weaving . The strands of untwisted ropes are stretched across a frame , exactly like warps , and then the workman , passing a stronger rope in the manner of a woof across them , b ind s into the twisted cordlocks of the dewit , which forms the superficies of the mat . In the stitched sort the d ewit is f a stene d b y coarse needlework to the sacking . One of the mat workers 1 saw was an old man . He could , he said , once have made four or five rope mats a day . Now he could not make more in a week . The stitched sort required a day to make two , and another day was generally requisite to sell them . The woman in the first cellar stated , in regard to the sale , as follows : — " I sell the mats

      we mako here , and it's very bard -work—much harder than making them , and very uncertain . The prices I get depend mostl y altoget h er upon wh e t he r it ' s poor houses or rich houses I sell at . There is no regular price for the mats . I take what I can get , and if we're very hard up I take very little . I get as little as 4 d . and Cd . for each of the stitched mats , and as little as Is . or Is . 2 d . for tbe rope mats . The last day I was out selling , I went four miles into the country with four mats , three of the cheap sort , and one of the best . I walked all day . Sold two , and brought home two . I sold the dear one and one of the cheap ones , and bad only lod . for both . The time before that , I -went out at seven in the morning , and never broke my fast . That day I sold three of the bag sort for ls . 7 d . "

      I visited several cellars and wretched dwellings in the vicinity , inhabited by the Irish and tho lowest elass of English labourers , male and female , many of whom were engaged in the miserable occupation of unpicking old ropes , so as to prepare the oakum for being ground up again and wrought into shoddy , canvas and sacking . This species of labour is so unutterabl y wr e tche d th a t it c a n onl y exist as eking out the pittance procured by the industry of the principal supports of the family . The first woman upon whom I lighted , an d wh o pro f esse d to follow this miserable trade , I found ill in bed . It was indeed a squalid household — the floor , dirty stone—the mean furniture , scanty and broken—the smashed window panes stuffed with rags — and an

      emaciated woman , ghastly as de ' ath , lying shivering on a flock bed on the floor , covered principally with a dress and a faded shawl . She told me that she could earn just 4 d . by unpicking a stone of ordinary ropeu , and that she was too weak to p ick more than three stones a week . The family lived principally on parish relief . She did not mean to say that a better band than she was could not make more by opening ropes . She could not work at it longer than from eight o ' clock in the morning until four o ' clock in the afternoon . It was a terribly dusty work . The house would bo all covered with dust . The labour was awfully hard upon the fingers , particularly when the ropes were " green . " For th i s k i n d o f work , h owever , she was p a i d a penny a stone additional .

      I was anxious to see the process actually going on , a n d present ly I came upon a household in which , poor as were its physical attributes , the moral debasement and apathy which , it disclosed were still more terrible- In a bare , stone-paved room , a principal part of the furniture of which consisted of tubs and apparatus for washing , sat three young children cowering- over a spark of fire , and slowl y and painfully tearing tough ropes to p iec e s with their weak , bony , little fingers . An intelligent girl , about eight or nine years of age , seeme d to have the control of the other children , who were y ounger , a n d fo r whom sh e s p o ke / labouring away all the time . I ought to observe that I was accompanied by a relieviBg-officer , and that the father of the family had been receiving parish relief for seven years —

      " Where ' s your mother ?"— " Gone ont to try to get some washing to do . " " mere ' B your father ? " - "U the Heecetnat 8 » public-house , Aji , mother told him te had

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      better not goi to-day , lor you ( to ' the .: relieving * officer ) would be very likely ' to come round , but he w ouldn 't stay . " ¦ ' ¦ •' . ' "Whatdoes your father do ? " — "Sweeps the streets , sometimes . " . . , ' , ' , l ^ ? ° 8 -ot he hel y ° to pick these ropes ?" that" 5 he w ° uWn ' t do that . , He m a kes «» do "What do you get for picking ?" - " Fourpence a strae , but I give it all to my mother . " Do you go to school ?" - " Only on Sundays . I must work , you know . I can't read yet . But my little brother u z- - ' _ - •» : ; , . '• » v . ' ; . . .-. , > '• •• '

      goes to school on week days . Parson pays for him , onl y sometimes they keep him ' at home to help in picking . He can't read either . a niT ls L DOt the otner littIe bov y ° brother ?"Uh no ; he only comes in to help us to pick . " •< -Do you hke picking ?"— « m , because it makes me poowy . Tho dust gets into my eyes and down my throat , and makes mo cough . Sometimes , too , it makes mo sick . I can ' t keep at the work very long at a time because of that . " "You say you give all you earn to your mo-* -5 * 1 , 8 she never let y ° u liave a P eiinyfor yourself ?

      The poor child hung down her head , hesitated , and then stammered out—'' sometimes , " "And what do you do with it ? " — "I buys bread . " In another house , very close to tho last , I found three children left alone , but in idleness . The place was a mas s of filth . ' The scanty furniture , broken and flung carelessly about — tho unmade bed a chaos of brown rags — cracked and handleless cups , smeared with coffee grounds , on the floor—amid unemptied slops , and beside a large brown dish , full of fermenting dough , upon which dust and ashes were rapidly settling as it stood at the fireside . Tho uncleaned window and the dim light of a winter ' s afternoon made tho place so dark , that it was with difficulty I made out these details . There were here three little savages of children — their hair , tangled in filth-clotted mass e s , hang i ng over t he ir g ri my faces . Their clothes were mere bunches of rags , kept together by strings . A wriggle of their shoulders , and they would be free from all such , incumbrances in a '

      moment . I asked them if they ever -went to school ?—" Never . " . " Can you tell your letters ? " — A mere stolid stave of ignorance . II How old are you ? " I -asked the eldest girl . — "Don't know . " " Do you know what is tbe Queen ' s name ?"—!« No . " ¦ ' " Did you ever hear of anybody called the Queen V - "N o . "

      " Where were you born ?"~ " Don't know . " The relieving officer said he believed all the family were Irish . " Did you ever hear of a place called Ireland ?"" No . " " Or of a place called England ?"— " No . " " Or of a place called Yorkshire 1 "— " No . " " Do you know the name of this town ?" After a pause , this question was answered . The eldest girl did know that she lived in Leeds ; and this knowledge , with the exception of matters belonging to the daily routine of existence , seemed positively to be the only piece of information in the possession of the family , In two other houses , in both of which the inmates were receiving pariah relief , the ignorance was almost equal . None of

      the children knew the Queen ' s name . In each of these instances I must observe that the reason of these families being upon the parish was simply a temporary stoppago of the husband ' s employment in a mill . In neither case could the mother read . I was struck during the course of my rambles in the Irish quarters in Leeds at the frequency with with pictures of the "Liberator" hung upon the walls . Wherever the cottage or tho cellar was fithiest and meanest — where potatoes to bo eaten and rags to be picked lay mingled upon the floorthe features of Mr . O'Connell looked blandly down upon the sq ualor ; an d , in one or two instances , I found his effigy supported by a , repeal map of Ireland—the south and west coloured a vivid green , and the " Black North" tinted to a sable

      corresponding with the title . A number of the cases of poverty which I was taken to see , were those of wives with four or five children , deserted by their husbands . Others were the sad ones of old working men who had outlived their capability for labour . One of these individuals lived certainly in the blankest poverty I ever saw . In his room there was a bed , not worth , I should sup p ose , eighteenpenceas old rags , and one solitary broken chair . The floor was sinking , and the laths showed in great patches , plasterless and bare . The occupant was an unshorn , little , old man . He said , "I have nothing to do . I want to work , but they say I am too old . Tho parish pays Is . a week for the rent of this room . I live on bread and water . "

      " Then why did you leave the workhouse ? " said the relieving officer . "Because I wanted my freedom , " said the old man , sitting down on hi 3 one broken chair . The sent i ment must h a v e b een strong to survive ami d such misery . He had been a weaver , but had not flung a shuttle for nearly a dozen years . He bad walked well nigh through Yorkshire trying for work , and got none . Sinco he had been out of employment as a weaver , he h ad been a b rickla y er ' s l ab ourer , and had earned as much as 17 a . a week , but now he was too old tor that , too old for anything . But he would not go into the house . No ; he would have his freedom and his bread and cold water . Another man , who would be in a similar

      position were it not for the kindness of his family , observed to me— " They say I ' m pnst work . I'm not . I could work yet—only a little , perhaps—but I could work . But things have come to that pass in this land , that lads and lasses have men ' s work . " In the course of my wanderings through Leeds , I encountered two or three women engaged in a rather curious trade , a description of which I am notable to give with technical accuracy , though I can easily make clear the object in view . Like most occupations , the cloth trade has its share of tricks , one of which consists in passing off an inferior for a superior kind of cloth by some legerdemain practised in the dying process . The deception , were it not for the ingenious device I saw being practised , would , however , I wa s told , be ex p ose d at once b y the peculiar action of the dye upon the selvage of tho cloth . The object , therefore , is to dye the cloth

      without dyeing the selvage upon its borders , and for this purpose the piece is delivered to a woman , who " selves it—that is to say , who rolls up the selvage into a circular cylinder all round the cloth , and then covers it with a sort of envelope , tightly stitched , and perfectly water-proof . The whole is then plunged into the dye-vat , and after being duly taken out and dried , the sewing is unpicked , and . selvage unrolled precisely in its original state . The women employed in this adroit trickery have about lOd . per piece for sowing up the selvage , and 2 d . per piece for unpicking it after the cloth comes from the dyers' hands . A good work-woman will earn from 5 s . to 6 s . a week ; but the work is seldom regular . One of the women engaged in it had been " playing" for three weeks before she got the piece upon which I found her labouring , The parish , of course , is in the meantime supporting nor and her sick child .

      THE LONDON EMBROIDERY TRADE . I found the good woman with her young children in their bedgowns about her ready dressed for bed . It was late in the evening when I visited her . She was the type of the better kind of labourer ' s wifethe mother , housewife , and workwoman all in one . The cheeks of the children were ' red and shiny with recent scrubbing . In her arms she held an infant , and by her side sat a good-looking boy in the dress of a parish-school . By the fire sat her husband , a swarthy , big-boned man . I told them the object of my visit . and was instantly welcomed to their hearth . In answer to questions they told mo as follows : — " I do the embroidery . I can work any part of tue embroidery work , no matter what it is . I don ' t

      suppose any one s doing good at tho embroiderv , for gracious knows where it ' s gone to . Then th ' ere ' s the tapestry , that ' s gone altogether , That was what I learnt . We used to serve seven years at our business . I embroider the policemen ' s collars and the railway guards' collars , and sometimes silk work —I , 8-to Is . 3 d . the dress , what I used to have 5 s . and 6 s . for , and more than that . Why , they are paying now 2 s . 6 d . for cardinals , that I ' ve had lGs . for . I do the East India work for tho Calcutta police ; and the Liverpool police , and the Isle of A ™ } P ° » ce . I work tor the Penitentiary , and the Model Prison . They are the officers' coats , and indeed I do for all the prisons that wear ornaments . I work for her Maieatv ' a vaohtH . T hav « all mv

      work from the contractor for the embrdidery . He takes it from the clothier . The clothier knows nothing about our business ; he gives it to the embroiderer , who gives it to me . There are no chamber masters that I know of iii our business . The contractor takes a very good shaking out of it before we has it . I get 6 s . and 7 s . a dozen for Metropolitan police dress-coat collars . I can do five a day , but we generally reckon four an average day 9 work of twelve hours . I can earn about 12 s . a week at it . Indeed I can do more if I can get it . I have earned 29 s . a week at it , but that was by getting up at four in the morninz and working till

      ten at night ; and besides , the work was muoh better paid for then . Then the collars was paid 8 a . to 0 s . a dozen—that Svas about five year ago . The other police are about the same j the railway and City both . The railway guards are according to the letters upon them . We are paid 4 d . a dozen for the large letters . I could do about four dozen and a half a day . As they pay for that work now , a woman can't earn more than 2 s . 2 d . to about 93 . Cd . a day but I ' ve sat and earned 6 s . a day at it , and that was for the small letters on the oap-bands of the jaUwayfluards , and only having Sd , a band then . For the Calcutta polka I ( cat fid , a , collar , or fro »

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      69 . to 7 s . a dozen The Calcutta polW are iusfc the same work as the Metropolitan : I do iusl as many of one as the other . It's a white duck ' colla ? worked with blue cord . / The Liverpool police has the bird called the liver , with a branch of olive in its mouth , and a single strap and number worked in white cord upon blue . Everything used is worsted . It ' s been argued we work with white cotton cord , but that's a miatako . They ' re 6 s a dozen , and take about the same as the Metropolitan and tho Isle of Man police . The o r n a m e nt o f th a t is the same as the Isle of Man halfpenny—three lees , boots and spurs . The price is the same as the Metropolitan , Cs , a dozen . I never knew them more , and they take about the same . The Penitentiary is a small ring , something similar to the „ .. , _ . __

      Fire Brigade , It s a small ring , and the number inside of it . They arc 2 d . a piece , to the beat of r ay recollection . I can do about twelve of them a day . The Model Prison have oak leaves and acorns , with a coronet in the ring . Tlie're worked in buff upon blue . Those I ' m paid double for , 11 s . and 12 s . a dozen . But then there ' s a d eal more wor k in them . The o . ik leaves and ncorns requires a good deal of shaping . When they were first done they were 18 s , » dozen , and that was about fire or aix years ago . Tho Metropolitan Police , when they first came up , were 16 d . tol 8 d . a collar , and not done half so well as they are now . Dear me , there was no shape in them scarcely . The Fire Brigade is SO badly paid—I think they offered me ljd . a

      collar—that I couldn ' t work at them at all . There's the Isle of Wight work—that ' s the entrance to the prison gate ; we have to form all the stones , and the brick-work over the arch . They are Od . each . I ve had them three or four times , but I never had a great many . Wo can earn about the same at that as at any other of the work . Some things 1 have to do are black cord worked upon bluo , but I d on 't know what they are for ; they're a small coronet in a ring . Wo work for the Irish police as well . It is the same as the Metropolitan , without either figure or letter . They ... put metal in then ) when they get there . Theii there ' s a ll sorts o f crests that we work you know—coats of arms and such like . They are mostly small orders , and don ' t

      run above fifty . We work for the Thames Police , — that ' s the anchor , and like the Metropolitan . At all kinds of work about 2 s . to 2 s . GoVis -what I can'earn a day , working twelve hours , or 12 s . to los . a week : There ' s very few hands in our business , and we can't think what ' s become of the work . I never had apiece of work returned in my life , and I ' m generally reckoned a very good hand at the business . There can ' t be more than 200 p ersons wor k ing at it . We likewise do the soldiers' grenades on the collars of their coats . The general pay of them is 6 s . a hundred , but I have never done any under 8 s . 4 d ., because I wouldn't work upon scarlet cloth unless I had full prico . I could do about 150 a week . I ' ve worked at the embroidery and tapestry ever since I was thirteen years old . " A little while ago there was the embroidering of the gentlemen's stocks ; they was worked upon the hand , and the hand embroidery has mined the

      frame embroidery altogether . At these I did very well ; I could make £ 1 a week at them easy , I ' ve got a frame nearly half as long as this room , that 1 suppose I shall never want again . You see here ' s one of the frames—its tied up , and no use . I ' ve got three more , and had them all full . The cause of the stock work falling off was this : a man got a quantity of the girls out of the workhouse , an d put a few t i dy hands to superintend the business . There was a great deal of laughing and joking about that man , for he was a butcher by trade , and the idea of his starting in the embroidery line tickled every one . He took'em down to Cambridge-heath , and cut down the prices so low that fifty of us was forced to leave the business at once . The butcher made a failure of it , and the whole establishment waa broke up , and that waa the ruin of the hand embroidery . Then there was another cheap hand , the son of a party in the trade . He underminded his father . He went to the warehouses and offered

      to d o the work f or l ess t ha n h a l f price , and ruined it altogether . I believe he made a failure too . Besides these another was going to have all tbe work . You see there was a good bit of money made at it then . This party sent me a shawl , a very well drawn thing . It was honestly worth 4 s . 6 d . or 5 s . to do . I had had more money for the same . When I took it in , ho had the impudence to offer me Is . l | d . for it . Well , this one made a failure of it too , and I have heard that his wife now is trying to pick up a bit of work anywhere . The military embroidery was very good about three years ago . I had a great deal of it , so that I could have supported myself and four or five children very comfortable on it . I could always keep four frames full , and now I ' ve nothing at all to do . Last Saturday week I took 5 s . 10 tl ., and that was earnt in

      a fortnight , and so on about the same for many months . My weekly earnings for the whole of- this year hasn't been more than 2 s ., take one week with another , and three years . ago I used to make 15 s . to 16 s . a week regular , and that with perfect ease . As for the ' gold hands , ' I know one that ceuld sit and earn 10 s . a day , and I don't think she knows what it is to see a bit of work now . I don't know what really has become of the work lately . All tho _ emhroidery hands are earning a mere trifle —3 s . one week and then 2 s . —and many has called on me to know what's the cause of it , because they know I generally used to he so full . Three times last week I sent that little boy for work , and they said , ' sendin next week , ' - Where the ) - ' re adoing

      tbe work , or how they re a-doing it , I can 't tell . Whether they ' re doing it in their houses or not , by young girls , I can 't say ; but there must be somei thing like that , for you s ee as the new clothes comes round there ' s the work to be done , and some one must do it . Perhaps they ' re a-doing it in the pris ons , for there's many a trade been cut up in that way ; but it ' s a sad pity ^ for it was a very pretty , tasty , and clean business . " I now made my way to a garter-maker , and found an old maiden woman engaged at the business . Her rc-Ptn exhibited the utmost order and neatness . >' ot an a rt i c l e b ut wh a t was in i ts proper p lace , and all was scrupulously clean . On the window-sill , which was as white as snow , stood a row of

      geraniums and cactuses in pots , brilliant with redlead . The nose of the bellows was polished quite bright , and over the mantel-piece was a piece of antiquated embroidery in a gilt frame . The dress of the old maid was quite as tidy . She wore an old green stuff gown , without a speck upon it , and a little red silk handkerchief tied round her neck . Her statement was as follows : — " I make up the garters . They g ive m e th e India rubber web and I stitch the straps and the buckles on . I have 7 d . a dozen pair for what I mostly do . That is the lowest price I get . The highest price I get is ls . 7 d . a dozen . If I could get sufficient I could do two dozen pair of the 7 d . one 3 a day , but they havn't got-it for me to do ; and

      of the Is . 7 d . I couldn 't do more than a dozen . My usual time of working is from eight in the morning till nine at night . Tho Is . 7 d . ones are going to be lowered . They told me last time I was at the warehouse that they were obliged to sell so cheap they couldn't afford to pay that price any longer . I said I hoped they would consider of it , b ut I woul d b e glad to take what they could afford to give me , as I had nothing else to depend upon . In the day , at the commonest work , I can earn Is . 2 d ., arid at the best Is . 7 d ., but then Ihave silk to find , and that costs me 6 d . a dozen for Is . 7 d . ones , end lid . a dozen for the 7 d . ones . I think I burn half a pound of candles extra when I am at work . I have to lisrht mv candles sooner , and I sit ud longer

      when I am at work than when I'm not . Half a pound of candles is 2 } ., so that I can make clear , working at the 7 d . garters , 10 § d . a day ; and at the Is . 7 d . I can get Is . OJd . clear in tho same time . When lam full employed . ill the week at the commonest kind I couldn't make twelve dozen a week , because I should have to do for myself , and wash and cJean . I make two dozen for one day—to do that I must sit close , and hardly have time to get my meals , and I couldn ' t go on so all the week through . I might , if I could get it to do , but they haven't got trade enough for it , to do ten dozen I say in the week , and ten dozen at 7 ilcomes to 5 s . lOd . ; then there's the deduction for the silk , which is l $ d . a dozen , and that ' s Is . 3 d .,

      and tho extra candles 23 d ., in all Is . 5 H to bo taken from 5 s . 10 d ., and this leaves 4 s . 4 id . as my clear earnings for the week at the commonest kind of work . Of tho Is . 7 d . I think I could do about five dozen in the week , though I'm often for months and don't hnve any of that kind to do , and five dozen at Is . 7 d . comes to 7 s . lid ., and then there ' s 6 d . a , dozen to be deducted . I have to find this si'k for them , she said , producing a small trnyfull of little ' cushions' of siik wherewith to join the clasp to the slide . - Then deducting the silk for five dozen at Gd . —that is 2 s . 6 d . from t& lid ., there will be 5 s . Sd . » and this , with 2 $ d . lesa for candles , will leave 5 s . 2 Jd . clear for my week ' s work at the best kind of work to bo had in the tsade . I think taking one kind of work with another , I could earn 5 s . a week , clear of all expenses , if I could get it . I pay 2 s . a week rent , and am obli ged to be ray near . I was fifty-nine last August ,, and have

      nothing to look forward to hut tho workhouse , unless the Goldsmiths' Compaay will do something for me . That is all I have to . look forward to . I have not tho energy I iiaed to have , nor the spirits —on , d ear no . I am sing le , and my father was a silversmith . He has been dead about sixteen years , and mother ten . I had no rent to pay while they were alive . My father was a working silversmith , and had the pension from the Goldsmiths * C ompany b of ore he d i e d , and he had the City pen » fiion as well ; and mother and mo worked at the brace work . These were his things . I had no brothers nor sisters , and they oame to me after his and mother ' s death . I ' ve been obliged to part with some because I waa in need of money ; and ,. indeed , I only see now the prospect of parting with them all . I can't maintain myself a great while longer by my work , I ' m certain , and then Ihave nothing left but to live on them , as long as they will last , and after all to end . m 7 days w the , wor fchouae ,

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      It's impossible for me to save- a farthing , I can barely live on what I get . Indeed , tho anxiety of my life at present , haying my living to get , and to get . my rentup , is such that I certainly would do anything . ! could to avoid it , but sti l l I h a v e s uc h a struggle-to live and pay my way that I ' m tired of it . I liate" been upon my own hands about tea years , that is , ever since my mother ' s death . Father was afflicted with rheumatic gout for fourteen years before his death , and all I earned then went to him . I have nothing in pawn , and I owo no ° nt , n o r a ny money in the neighbourhood . All 1 know is , i ' ve worked hard all my life , and been unable to . get anything more than would barely keep me . As for putting by anything out of inw out

      iiiy age , it was ridiculous to think : Gd . a day is all I have had to find mo in coal ? , clothes , and food for these ton years past . I find it very irksome that I should bo forced to he a pauper in . my old age , but it is impossible for me to havo done otherwise than I have . I have cut and contrived every way to get a decent liviw » out of the little I got , but now even that little is beginning to fail me . I ' vo had my mother ' s clothes , you see , and they ' ve lasted me pretty well , and 1 haven't had much to buy that way , I » m quite alone in tho world . If ' a place in some almshouse could bo got for me that would be a real blessing indeed — worth more to me than all the money in the world . " ( To be Continued . )

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      MONDAY , Afhil Id . HOUSE OF LORDS . —On the motion of Earl Grey , the Exchequer-bills Bill and the Brick Duties Bill passed through committee . HOUSE OF COMMONS . —IkdecektDress . —Mr . Hume presented a petition from the inhabitants of Stirling , complaining of the indecent dress of the Highland soldiers . ( A laugh . ) The petitioners represented that in the course of the last nineteen months , during which a regiment of Highlanders had been stationed at Stirling Castle , they ( the

      petitioners ) had beer , obliged to witness many painful spectacles . ( Roars of lnughter . ) Tho petitioners further alleged that the ' manncr in ' which the bodic 3 of the soldiers were exposed to the inclemency of the weather was injurious to their health ( laughter , renewed ) , an d that , as a compensation for their scant clothing , the men received an additional premium from the public of £ 1 5 s . On the score of economy , therefore , no less than of delicacy , the petitioners called upon the house to take the matter into their serious consideration . ( Laughter . )

      The Lord-Lieuienancy op Ireland . —Lord John Russell gave notice that , on the 6 th of May , he should move for leave to bring in a bill for the abolition of the office of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland , and for the appointment of a fourth Secretary of State . Stamp Dciies BiLL . —The order of the dny for going into committee on the Stamp Duties Bill being read , The Chancellor of the Exchequer went into a short statement to the effect that great numbers of objections and suggestions had been made to and upon the details of the bill , and that alterations had been made which met ninety-nine out of a hundred of the difficulties thus raised . There was , he said , no increase of taxation by this bill affecting the great mass of business , though the adoption of the ad valorem principle did not affect transactions of . high value .

      Mr , Goulbukn expressed a very unfavourable o p inion of th e ad valorem p rinci p l e , which he said would be most injurious to the landed interest . In certain cases a payment which was now £ 25 would he raised to £ 700 . He thought it would drive peop le to the bi ll market , to which in fairness the same principle ought to be extended , but the mercantile man would never submit to it . The result of the bill would be embarrassment to the honest , and evasion by tbe ingenious . Mr . Mullisgs objected to the system of discouraging the raising money on mortgage . Mr . KoUisdelI / Palmer called attention to the operation of the bill on the transactions of building societies . Mr . Hume did not think that the country would object to the ad valorem principle , having hitherto had to complain of large transactions being lightly taxed in comparison with small ones .

      Mr . Henley thought the Chancellor of the Exchequer ought to satisf y t h e h ou s e whether the £ 300 , 000 of revenue which he proposed to give up would not be in great measure repaid by this new arrangement of stamps , which bore very hard upon the agricultural interest . He complained of the bill being unduly hurried forward . Mr . Sadler also objected to the hurrying forward a measure of so vast importance and complication , and he spoke at some length , against various details . The house then went into committee .

      The Chancellor of the Exchequer briefly answered the ' o bjections of preceding speakers , again asserting fiae fairness of the ad valorem principle , and stating that , from information supplied by the Commissioners of Stamps , he had no doubt that the loss to the revenue would be about £ 350 , 000 , t h oug h it was impossible to say whether , i n ye a rs to come , that loss might diminish , Mr . Disraeli charged the government with falsifying-the statement made when the Budget was produced , and with taxing the greater proprietors

      to relieve the smaller ones . There existed , in fact , a sum of £ 350 , 000 in the Exchequer , which was at the service of any gentleman who might have a plan , ready for the remission of any taxation . A proloDged discussion followed ,. in which Mr Bright a n d other mem b ers ur g e d d elay , in order to obtain the opinion of the countryupon the measure , Mr . Bri g ht , in particular , asserting that the general impression was that it increased taxation . Lord John Russell resisted the proposal for postponement , declaring that delay would be most

      inconvenient . ' Sir Henry Willougiiby , on the item charging a duty of 2 s . 6 d . on bonds for sums under £ 50 , moved an amendment reducing the duty to Is . After considerable discussion , The Committee divided , when the numbers-were—For tho amendment 1 C 4 Against it 135 Majority against Government 29 The division was received with very loud cheering . The Chancellor of the Exchequer said , after this decision , which involred a principle applicable to mortgages and other parts of tbe measure , he wished to have time to consider what course the government should take ; and , Upon his motion , the Chairman reported progress , and obtained leave to sit again on Monday next .

      On the next order , for the second reading of tha Securities for Advances ( Ireland ) Bill . Mr . Stuart moved the adjournment of the discussion until the house should be in possession of more information on the subject . He asked the Solicitor-General for Ireland three questions : — First , how many sales had been made under the Act for the Sale of Encumbered Estates ? Secondly , how the order ' s had been made by the commissioners under which sales had not been effected ? and thirdly , whether any one had offered to buy estates under the terms of the present bill ? The Solicitor-Genebal for Ireland complained warmly of the discourtesy of asking such question * without notice ; but as regarded the first inquiry , he said that there had been either seven or ten sales , but referred Mr . Stuart to th& newspapers ; and that as to the other questions inquiry was

      necessary . The question whether the . hill should be proceeded with that evening or aot was debated for sometime . The Soliciior-Geneiul at length consented to po s tpon e , the second reading until Thursday . In moving the second reading of the Medical Charities ( Ireland ) Bill , Sir W . Somekvillb stated the nature oi' the remedies which it provided for the vices and evils of the existing system . Sir D . Norreys objected to the principle of the bill , namely , the creation of a separate Central Board lor the superintendence of medical charities . After a short discussion , the bill was read a second time pr » forma , in order that it should undergo amendment . The Indemnity Bill went through committee .

      Insjrment of tisb Dead . —Sir G . Grey then rose ,, pursuant to noiico , to move for leave to bring in a bill for the hotter interment of the dead in and near the metropolis . The house was aware that by an act passed towards the close of last session , tho 12 th and 13 th of Tietoria , c . 115 ., power was given to the Board of Health to inquire into the state of thebuml-ai'ouaus in tho metropolis , and in various large to-vns oi" the kingdom , and if the result of that inquiry should show intramural burials were prejudicial t « the public health , to devise an improved mods of intermenfi . - In pursuance of this power , and of the duty so imposed on tbe Board of Health , tn » board instituted extensive inquiries into the state of the bwrial-grovmda in and near tho metropolis , and in certain towns of the-United-Kingdom i and , as a resuli of their inquiries drew up a

      scheme , embodied i& their report laid some weeks since on tho table of the house , having reference to the metropolis and its immediate neighbourhood . The board considered the subject in two points of view - . —first , too effect of the existing system of burials on the public health ; and , secondly , its effect in rolation to the decency and solemnity of the ceremony of interment . At that time of night he would not state at any length the nature or purport of the evidence collected by the board , and which formed the basis of the report . The report itself attracted much public attention , and ha presumed that its contents were known to the house . He would therefore only read one passage , which , exhibited a summary of that evidence;—From the replloH to queries isiued by the General Boui at iitftltp , it ftppews ttattin avsaber tf puHU wtfprinrtB

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      Sntamal ^ avlinmtnt

      Untitled Article

      - '' A ^ aL ^ o , j 8 gQ ^ ^ - ^ ^ ?^^^^ . ^ . , ^^ , ^ ,. _ , . _ ^^ ^ ¦ ¦ - —¦ -, ^ - - ^ :- ^ ' ^ ^^^ r ^^ ^ , . ¦ m ^ - - -- ---- . - _ - ' ¦ - ... , : , < ¦ . ' .. . < ¦ - ;•'¦ . - ¦ ¦ . ¦ : ¦ ¦ ¦' . ' . ¦¦ ¦ ¦ . ' ¦ ¦ ... t ¦ ¦;•' '' - i ; ' ' ¦ ¦ '¦¦ '¦ " : ¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - • ¦ - ¦•'¦ ' £ ILUa ^ i ¦ - ¦¦ !! ¦ - ' ¦¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - ¦ ¦ . ' . ^^^^ ! T * ^^ ^^ *^ * ^" ' ^ ^ rT ^ S ^ mmmmm T ^ ! :

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), April 20, 1850, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1570/page/7/