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Northern Star (1837-1852), 21st December 1844, Edition 3 of 4, Page 6, Skcttonte, (©flfoucg, -$tt4u?0t0, &c

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      Untitled Article

      THE CHAMBERS' PHILOSOPHY REFUTEDLABOTTR PLEADISG ITS O"STS CAUSE . THE EttPLOTEB A 5 D EMPLOYED . ± ri-vrmvR DiiioGrB . — p art n . Mr , Smith , and Jfr . Jacob Quill receive Old Sobin and Richard Jackton in a private room in the " Stranger" t Some" public house . Mr . Smith . — "Well , Jackson , von see I am not unmindful of my appointment . 1 am glad to see you ; how is Robin to-day ? Itobin , —Thankye , thankye , Maisfcer Smith , I be ' s a joking on for ninety years come Martinmas . I have nothing to complain of , on health account ,

      fliankGod . Qnffl . —Well Robin , and how do do ? Koibin . —Ay , dear Me , Maister Jacob Quill , 1 am not so strong as when I and thy father used to go to Sunday school four Bcore years an ' , long enough before thou wen born or thought of .-QuHL—Hem , hem , Bonin , Tm told that you and onr good friend Jackson here , and some other of the town-folk , have taken it into your heads to think that machinery is a Tery injurious thing to the workingclasses . Robin . —E ' eod then , Maister Quill , that ' s a notion I have had thiq many a vear .

      QnUL— - "Well now , Robin , my time is precious but always anxious to confer any service in my power on £ he working classes , I hare consented , at the request of Mr . Smith , io forego the most pressing and important engagements for the purpose of destroying this bobgobfin that you hare got in your head about machinery ; and as 1 know that all the young chaps 2 ook to your opinions on the subject , I think it a duty that I owe to you , to myself , to society at large , and especially to my misguided townsmen , to convey to them , through you , my notions on this allimportant subject , at any sacrifice to niyself . So now , Robin , let us begin . "

      fiobin . —WeB , Mr . Quill , that ' s just what I want . Tod . may be sore though , that thouch my time is not as Tamable as thine , ninety years isn ' t fond of long ¦ windedspeeches . So go on : " we be ' s here to bear what thou bast to say in favour of thy client . _ Smith . —Jsay , nay , Robin , you are Mr . Quill ' s client- ^ He has come here to plead your cause . Robin . —E'cod , I thank him . Lawyers don ' t often plead for poor folk for nowt . So I'll . hear what Maister Quill has to say for me . Smith . — "Well , come " , shan't we have a drop of something to cheer us before we begin ? What will

      you have , Mr . Quill 1 Mr . QuilL—YvelL a class of brandy and water"cold without . " Smith . —Robin , what will you take ? Robin . —I'll hare nowt , thankye , Mr . Smith . QnilL—O , come , Robin , I hear . you ' re fond of a glass of ale-Robin . —Aye , I could take my glass after a days , work when I could 'brew it myself ; but 1 hare no fancy for that there staff they froth with * ' fettling . " It always gives me the gripes . Smith . —Well , Jackson , what will you have ? Jackson . —Thankve , sir , I'm a teetotaller .

      QuilL—0 , damn your teetotalism—that ' s another of the -crotchets that you working men have got into your beads . Robin . —^ ow , then , Maister Quill , as they say in the law courts , "just open thy case . ' ' QuilL—Well now , Robin , " what I say is this : — Though I am not as old a map as you , 1 can well recollect the state of society in ihe ^ rillage of Devil ' s Dust before the introduction of machinery ; and every man who has had eyes to see , and brains to understand the rapid progress that this village has . made , even within the last fifteen years , when Providence put it into the head of Mr . Smith to settle amongst us , must , if he is a candid man , admit-that we have

      projjressed rapidly in wealth and civilization ; and you , as the father of a family , must have partaken , to a considerable extent , of the general advantage . For instance ; things that were wholly out of your reach when you were -a working man , are now articles in common use with the working classes generally . The produee of machinery , from the facility of producing so much more goods than could be produced by manual labour , has so increased the supply 6 f that description of produce as to compel the masters who vest their capital in those descriptions of fabrics , actually t < x-be obliged , as it were , to invite the purchaser to take them at any price . And then , again , see the extent to which thu much-reviled-machinery gives employment to the whole familv of the working

      classes . Surely , Robin , you remember the time , —for I am younger " than you , and I remember the time myself—whenall those new streets behindMr . Smith ' s , and Mr . Twisf s , and 2 Hr . Cobb ' s , and Mr . Grab ' s , and Mr . Screw's , and Mr . Bait ' s , and Mr . Thimble ' s , and Mr . Bigg ' s , were all open fields , and children used to be there of eight , nine , ten , eleven , aye , and twelve years of age , idling their time at plav at Cricket , and trap , and marbles , and ball , and hop-. step-and-jninp , and running , and leap-frog , and doinc all sorts of mischief from morning till night : now , all those , even to the very youngest , are employed in the miTls , instead of passing their time in idlene > - > and vieiousness , and wickedness , that brings them to the-eaBows at last .

      Robin . —E ' cod , stop ; not sofast , maister . Webadn ' t a lawyer la those days nearer than York , twentyihxee miles from Devil ' s Dust ; so folk wasn ' t very "wicked : now we have twenty-seven in Devil's Dust alone . QuilL—Well , well , Robin , that has nothing to do with it ; if you have twenty-seven in Devil ' s Ihist they spend their money there . Robin . —2 say , they spend other folks ' s . We could manage to do without Thpm QuHL—Well come , Robin , we won't dispute that

      point ; but to return to machinery . Had you a Town-hall sixty years ago ? Had vou a Mechanics ' Institute ? Had you three banks ? Had you a railway coming up to your Terr door to convey your produce to all parts of the world ? Had you such hospitals , infirmaries , and cemeteries as you ean boast of now ? Had you such a refuge as stands on yonder hill , the union workhouse , where the unemployed may live at ease , aye , and in luxury too—1 say in luxury , notwithstanding all the foul-mouthed denunciation of demagogues ? Has not the occupant of every £ 10 house a vote ? and is not that -within the reaeh of

      every -man of good character and common industry i Have you not shops with fronts fine enough to dazzle the passenger , especially when lit up at night ? Don't they look like fairy palaces ? Have you not now fourteen churches built by all denominations of Christians , instead of the one miserable little parish church that stands prominently conspicuous as a memento of / Our former poverty , when compared with the splendour of those grand edifices which mark the progress of civilisation ? Have von not all thpse thingsand are they not one and all the result of machinery i Then agajr ^ see the amount of capital that it annually circulates among the working classes . See the number of foreigners that frequent this formerly almost unknown , out-of-the-way village ; and think , that after bestowing all this grandeur and these improvements at home , it enables us to export the surplus to all the countries of the world ; . and farther , that if our mad rulers would untrammel it of those

      restrictive laws which limit its produce , and thereby necessarily limits the employment of the working classes , it would be an unalloyed , unmixed , and undeniable—aye , 1 repeat it , undeniable source of profit to all classes of the community , and to the working classes in particular . Those restrictive laws , Robin , once removed , would open every pore of industry ; would create an amount of competition among the masters , that would lead to the employment of thousands and tens of thousands of unemployed hands that are now competitors against their own class , or obliged to be supported on the industry of those at work ; and thus could we make the whole population one united , happy family , all units in the social circle , instead of , as now , setting labourer against master and master against labourer . Robin , what was Emdand before the introdaetion of

      machinery , and what is she now ? ISot to draw our conclusion from - this one isolated spot , let us cast a glanee at the great national improvements that have taken ^ ilace . See , then , the great improvement in navigation , whereby you apply the steam engine , — the mainspring , we may call it * of machinery , —to the transmission of the prodnce of British industry to the remotest part of the habitable globe . See the * substitution of gas for tallow ; and the printing machine for the old dull system of printing by hand . Seethe stupendous railways , annihilating both " time and tpace "—passing , asit were , through the bowels of the earth , _ levelling ^ mountains , and flying with an -astounding exactitude over a mere line , -as it were , running between two terrible precipices , conveying a moving village by this mainspring , as 1 before called it;—inn movingpower of machinery—the triumphant steam engine , that never tires .

      Robin . —Has ^ t done , or nearly done , MaMer Quill ]? for , e ' cod , thou ' st spun such a long yarn that I can Karcekeep the tale m my old head . QnflT—Done , Robin I Iso ; it is a theme upon which I could expatiate for hours , days , weeks , aye months , together . What man of common feeling can reflect on tnis national boon without feeling a meritorious desire to explain to those who are too dull to comprehend its advantages ? and surely a sensible imm like you , Robin—the verymind and organ of the workine classes ( I sav it without flattery)—cannot be

      indifferent to the vast advantages that machinery has conferred upon the working classes . At all events , you , and several other different trades , sueh as Carpenters , Builders , Ironmongers , Potters , Cutlers , UaKnet-makers , and so forth , can have nothing to eomplain of , as it hasn'tinterfered with your labour : and yet , steange to say , those very parties are most vehement dedaimers against the present system , and loudly complain of their present poverty . Robin . —Well now , Mr . Quill , when so many folks complain , as they say , " there ^ s never smoke without fire r" so there can't be so much complaint without

      cause . Smith . —Well , but stop , Robin : don't interrupt Mr . Quill : he hasn't finished ; and 1 am sure if you came here to learn , yonrmnst be equally delighted as myself—and 1 think " I may say as our friend Jackson appears to be—with xhe ' ludd , clear , candid , and 1

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      will add unanswerable , exposition of our friend . 1 thought that yon came to hear , and to be convinced ; and surely it would be a waste of your time and mine to attempt to urge anything against the philosophical and philanthropic reasoning of our friend . Robin . —Maister Smith , Maister Quill knows that if one side had all the talk , there would be but little call for judges or juries ; and , as I am an old man , 1 have got in my head now as much as I can think on for a bit . So , with your leave , I'll lust have a word . QuilL—Well , come , let us hear what . Robin has to

      say . Smith . —Well , if you wish it , with all my heart . 1 merely interposed for Robin ' s own benefit , and for the benefit of his class . i \ ow , go on , Robin ; but be brief , for its twenty minutes after eleven now , and I have ordered my carriage to be at the door at one . Robin . —Well , Maister QuilL I se ' ed a blind man many a year sin' a taking notes , as they call it , of what folks said , by knotting a piece of string ; and 1 have tied down what thou hast said on this here ; and , e ' cod thou seestits full . Now I'll begin where thou began ; and all thou'st done Maister Quill , is just to show me all the changes that have taken place sin' machinery was introduced ; and thou hast put them all down to machinery . Why , Maister Quill , I reads a bit of history now and then , and i reads of the time when the poor was " serfs ; " and I

      read of the revolutions ; and I read of the kind of houses that folksand kings lived in , and of ourrude and uncivilised manners and customs ; and 1 have lived to see what the hisiorians call the improvements in the arts and sciences , and in living , and in civilisation , and these coing on year after year , before the world ever thought of the steam engine . I se ' ed them , and noticed them , aye , and felt them myself too , Maister Quill ; but now thou would put down all the improvements that have taken place within the last fifty years , and twenty-nine of them in peace too , to machinery , . sow , Maister Quill , whatllsayis this : In them there old times , when folks felt that they were born with fingers to do sumniut for one and another , we hadn't so many classes ; and whenever any improvement took place , aye , even at the top , in the palace , another would take place in the poor man ' s house . 1 remember the times that thou call ' st

      the wicked times , when youngfolk used to run about the fields ; when farther and the older children used to do the work , and when the mother used to tend all , and had all under her own eye . If a call come for one of the young ones to bear a hand , he was always ready and willing ; and now , Maister Quill , I'll tell you the change I ' ve seen in my time , and all has been brought about by them there flying devils doing the work of youn" and old . 1 remember when there was—say a ' population of about 200 U in this parish . There would be about twelve maisters , big and little , and about 200 Hand-Loom Weavers . Then there was Shoemakers , and ail the other trades . There was no cotton-mill always running by steam ;

      there was no banker in the parish ; there wasn ' t a lawyer , Maister Quill , nearer than York ; there was no Town-hall then , no Mechanics' Institute , no hospital , no infirmary , no union hostile . . No , nor no police , Maister Quill , except Bumble , the beadle , and me , and the like of me , that all had an interest in the peace of the parish . Then , Maister Quill , Bumble ' s staff carried authority with it , and he never had to use it ; fur he knew every man in the parish , and knew where to find him in his own house if the justice wanted him . At that time there was only the little ' parish church , and old parson Flower , to preach in it , and the Catholic chapel , that the Rev . Mr . Faithful used to attend . Y \ e hadn ' t the fourteen churches then , Maister Quill .

      Mr . Smith . —Robin , what has all this to do with machinery ? Machinery didn ' t build the churches . Robin . — 'Eeod . ' it did though—and made the parsons too . Smith . —Well , Robin , what is it you are driving at ? Politics , 1 am afraid , Robin . Robin . —Noa , Maister Smith , nor at reb' gion neither . We can talk of churches and parsons now-adays without thinking of religion . I am an old man : you must give me mv own way ; Maister Quill has drawn a picture of what Devil ' s lhist was , and what it is now , and he says machinery made all the difference ; and I am going to shew him that all them there tilings , aye , ' eeod , everv one of them , that he calls "improvements , " is all t'other way for the working classes . SmitL—Ah : ah : ah ! QuilL—He : he , he .

      Robin . —Well , wait a bit . I ¦ was saying , that at that time , there were the two churches , and two religions ; and Master Flower , and Master Faithful would gu down and preach ; and thev'd meet after in the street and shake hands , and all lolks would see them and think that howsomer they differed in the pulpit , they met like friends outside , and that other folk shoulil do the same . But now e ' cod , we have the Wesleyans , the Unitarians , the Methodists , the New Connection , the Old Connection , the Baptists , the Anna-Baptistss the Ranters , the Puseyites , and the Intidels . E ' cod . its no wonder that folks' brains , should be bothered when there ' s fourteen different parsons all at work together , every one telling folk that there's only one road to heaven , and that ' s their own . IJuilL—Come , come , Robin , let us not enter into questions of religion ; those are subjects between man and his Maker ; and , no doubt , those fourteen pious men are , one and all , in quest of truth .

      Robin . —In quest of the devil I They are in quest of the brass , ^ laister Quill . Smith . —Robin , my time is too precious to listen to such infidelity . If you have anything to say to tinpoint , I am ready to hear you . Robin . —Then come to the point . Maister Quill says as how machinery has been a blessing to the poor ; and Maister Jackson axed me here to shew what effect it had upon them there trades that it didn ' t do the work of yet-Smith . —Now , thafs it—that ' s coming to the point .

      Robm . —Well then , now let us see what was the condition of the people of Devil's Dust before all these blessings , and what it is now . 'Ecod , but you have roused me , Master Smith . In those days 1 was a Shoemaker , and I had a wife and five children ; and all the affairs of the parish were so nicely balanced that 1 could calcnlate within a trifle of what the Saturday neet would bring . There was no "fluctuations" then to give us a good week , a bad week , and no week at alL My eldest son , Robin , was put to the loom , and the wile and children , when they wengrowing , would card and spin , and wind , and reel , and get bobbins ready , and all that ; and I'd work at my trade , and all at home . Well , If Robin's Maister got a fresh order , or wanted a piece finishing in time , he'd come to the lad and say , " Well , Robin , how does ' t get on , lad ; can ' st finish thy piece bv Saturday neet ?"

      and if Robin would say " Noa , Maister Fairplay , not without a few extra hours ; " then Maister Falrplay would tap him on the shoulder , and , giving him five shillings , would say , " Well , come , Robin , there ' s extra ior thee i" and Robin would finish the piece , and whistle and sing all the after hours , all the family lending a cheerful hand , because the five shillings " went into mothe / s purse on Saturday neet . Ami when Robin took the work home on Saturday neet there was no oatinrjt , nor fi . net , nor damning Ms eyes , but a glass of home-brewed ale , and a shake o the hands , and a " Thankee , Robin , thou art a good lad . " And so it was with all the men : if there was brisk demand they had their share , and if it was slack they never were the ones to murmur . In that way Robin would bring home , the wages of himself and the help the little ones would give him , from 30 s . to 35 s . per ¦ sveek .

      Smith . —Well , but Robin , what can they all earn now—five of them . Robin ( weeping ) . —Nowt now , master Smith . Robin will never earn no more . Quill . —Well but , Robin , I'm told that was his own fault—that he died from the effects of drink , a confirmed drunkard . Surely that wasn't the fault of machinery ? Robin . —Damned , it was machinery killed him . Smith . —Why , how do you make that out , Robin ? Robin . —Well , up to twenty-five years he worked at home , under my roof , and for that time no man ever see'd Robin the ' worse for drink . He'd rather make the weeks wage more , and laugh when he'd tell Parson Flower , on Sunday , what he made for faither and

      mother . But machinery took the loom from Robin , and forced him into a damned " rattle box , " to work sixteen hours a day ; and then at the end of the week , with fines , and batings , and reductions , he was brought down , and uown , and down , in health , in body , and in spirits , with only sometimes 9 s ., sometimes 8 s ., and sometimes 6 s . 6 d . a week , till at hist he got ashamed of coming home at ali . He got into company with others that were broken-hearted like himself " ; and he'd drink a day , and work a day , and play a day , till he broke his mother ' s heart . He died sure enough , but it was the damned " rattle-box" that killed mv lad . I could well afford to make twelve pair of shoes a year for my own familv , out of Robin ' s pay pnt along ; ' with theirs ; but I lost that

      housetrade ; and according as them there " rattle boxes " came here , 1 lost all mv old customers , one after the other , until at last them there cast-iron men of Maister Smith's , that works without shoes or stockings , e ' cod , drove my old feet to these here clogs : for I couldn't afford to make shoes for myself . Smith . —Gome , come , Robin , you are going a little too fast . Surely there are more shoes sold in Devil's Dust now , fifty to one , than there were in your time . So somebody nas got the trade I Robin . — 'Eeod , I wish them joy of it . Its like your calico , Maister Smith : they are obliged to make them " cheap , " to tempt folk to buy them . They make them by dozens , and paste and peg them

      together anyhow ; and after au , " cheap" as they are , poor folk can't buy them . Well now , at the time that I speak of , it was a rare thingto see an idle man in the parish ; and if wages were too low , why the old Poor Law came in and made it up : so that one could spend with another . I had a brother , a tailor , and he had his customers ; and he -would nearly guess what Am wage would be every Saturday neet ; for , somehow or other , the old Poor Law and theparish interest levelled those things all through . Well , in those days the working classes could support one another . ' They had a share of all that was going . They'd brew a " bit , and give the cooper work . Young folk * when they went a courting , or company-keeping ,

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      liked to be as smart as they oould afford—and some would have a watch . Then every man ' s house was well-stocked with plenty of provisions . We'd have a bit of cutlery , and the cutler would have a pair of shoes . And we'd have a dresser and delph- « ase with crockery ; and meal-kest , and all other furniture fitting for poor folk . Smith . —Well , but Robin , surely you can get all those things now for less than a third of their Former price . Robin . —E'cod , I know it ; but I can ' t get the money to buy them ; and when I get them they're not wortn a tenth part of the things that I gave more money ftr . So you see , Maister Smith , if you get machinery to do man's labour , the man wont be worth , as much ;

      he won't have as much to spend in the market . And now mark me : Richard Jackson tells me that if you and your men made a fair division of your profits for the last fifteen veare , the men would have £ 34 , 000 more than they have got ; and if they had that , they'd have better houses , the building of which would employ Stonemasons , and Bricklayers , and Tilers , ana Plasterers , and Joiners , and Plumbers , and Painters , and Glaziers , and Labourers , and Nailmakers , and Brickmakers , and Quarrynien , and Linieburners , and Colliers , and Iron Miners , and Smelters , and , in short , doing every thing for the seventy families , that Jackson tellsme that you say your £$ 0 , 000 spent in that way did so much good , to j \ ~ ow the people employed in all those works would be

      better customers to the Grocer , and the Tobacconist , and the Chandler , and the Shoemaker , and the Hatter , and the Tailor , and the Hosier , and all the rest of them : and then , if the seventy men . —mind , only your seventy , Maister Smith—and although they be put few , their case applies to the whole system ; well , ' if the whole of the poor devils who have been robbed of £ 500 a piece had better houses , they'd have more furniture , a , little education for their children , a few books , and so on : they'd be customers to one another : and , Maister Smith , its the pence of the many going through the hands of the many , and not the pounds of the few going into banks , and railways .

      and mortgages , and all those sort of speculations , that makes a full till and a cheerful face on a Saturday neet for the Shopkeeper , and a good exchequer for the Government too . Now there isn ' t one of them there trades that 1 have mentioned aa works by machinery , and they are one and all crying out and complaining . Smith . —Pooh , pooh I They are always complaining—and they have nothing to complain of . Kobin . —E'eod , when men complain , and are able to give a £ 100 , 000 to relieve themselves , and able to pay ( as they say ) the national debt if they liked , pi > or folk needn ' t be blamed ; for they wouldn't complain if theyjHnFnt some reason . Quill . —Well , and what is the reason , Robin ?

      Robin . — Why machiuejy is the reason , Maister Quill—machinery that does the work of man , and eats nothing , and wears nothing , and uses nothing while it ' s at work , but a drop of oil . _ " Quill . —Well , but Robin , the landlords and the farmers , and theparsona . and the agricultural labourers complain as well as you , and surely machinery doesn't aflevt them . Robin . —By gow , but it does ! Aye , and it will make them lads squeal out yet . Why , Maister Quill , if

      li you reduce the value of labour you reduce the value of every tiling—1 beg pardon ; except t / w na ~ tion < jd ddtl and niorUjagt . * , tmd JLced salaries , and ¦ " ihad-wei < jht" ami pensioners , Master Quill . ' Ecod , these are like the leech ; they'll fasten somewhere and if niacliinery leaves nowt for them in the working man ' s car case , they'll fasten on to the landlords and the farmers , and the parson , —aye , and on the Queen too , or on the devil himself , Maister Quill , before they'll go without . As io > u AS IH £¥ UAV £ THE BAYONETS THEY ' LL HOIIE \ Y IT

      OUT , . No MATTER WHERE IT COMES FROM ! So that you see , Maister Quill , rather than let folks starve , Sir Robert Peel was obliged to set his wits to work to see bow he could get " cheap" provisions to square with the " cheap" wages ; and the landlords are beginning to find out that the inanimate non-consuming producing power , —them there cast iron men , and wooden boys , and little ! wirc girls , that Maister Smith is so fond of ; they are beginning to find out that them there , eats nothing ; and that those whose work the cast iron men do , must get their / ood as " cheap" as possible . So the landlords and the parsons , that measured the value of their estates by the necessity of putting " Boney" and the "Jacobins " down , miut cismc down tltemsclves in turn . That puzzler , the great Wkard of the North , would be

      puzzled : to pay the £ 50 , 000 , 000 a year , and all them there gambling debts and money owing to the Jews , out of what liuxdanery haves to the working classes after living : and , Maister Quill , the £ 50 , 000 , 000 a year must be paid . That Mrs- uo , iimusoo , Maister Quill ; or thou , and them like thee—them folk that has got all the produee of labour , —mus pat it . Aye , thou may look , and thou may laugh , and thou may wink at Maister Smith , but thou mun pay it , or the folk that gets it on quarter day mun do without it . Quill . —No , Robin , I was only laughing at the idea of » m / being supported by labour , when 1 assure you , on my honour , I have never had a working man in my office , except to do him a service , in the way of recommending him to settle any dispute he might have with his master ; 1 never got a guinea from labonr .

      Robm . — ihc devil you didn ' t . ' Quill . —No , not a farthing . Robin . —And who are your customers , Maister Quill . Quill . —Why landed proprietors , master manufacturers , and some of the parsons , Robin . Robin . —Well , and how do the landlords pay you , Maister Quill . Quill . —U , in money to be sure . Robin . —Would ye take it in grass , Maister Quill . Quill . —O , no , no , no . Not in grass—not in grass , Robin ; I am not a Nebuchadnezzar . I'll tell you what , Robin—if there was necessity for it I'd take it in hay . Robin . —' Ecod , that ' s labour , Maister Quill . Quill . —Well come , Robin , I ' d take a good fat pig that ' s not labour surelv .

      Robin . —Ecod then , it must be grass-bacon . Quill . —Why , how ? what do you mean ? Robin . —Why musn ' t the pig have summatjto eat , — meal , or barley , or 'taters , or suminat of that sort i Quill . —Yes to be sure , but then they can be bought . Robin . —Aye ; but they must be ' produced before they are bought , Maister Quill . Smith ( aside to Quill ) . You had better not go into detail . Keep him to the question of the improvement in Devil ' s Dust , and the increased wealth of the country . QuilL—Well , but Robin ; to come from the ' taters to the public buildings and the present appearance of Devil ' s Dust , and the improvement in the condition of the working classes .

      Robin . —0 , very well . In the times that I speak of , every family was happy , and every man in the parish " , \ vas known to one another . 1 had' five children , all of different ages ; and although all , thank God , healthy , —of different constitutions . The mother watched them ; and if they were careless about playing with other children , or if they did their work negligently , she'd give them their supper a bit earlier , and let them lie-a-bed a bit longer . All were treated according to their health and constitution . No scrambling for a candle then ; no rushing and crushing about the house when the big bell rung at five o ' clock of a winter ' s morning , to rouse all folks , old and young , sick and well , weak and strong , to get up at tne same minute . No running of the poor luuiuci lhv \ 111 UI 11111

      w tj ^ x UVU K > Il , aUullllIK tUl , VI tllUilt , out of sleep , dealing the most tired a box on the ear and a " damn thee , thou lazy baggage , " or "thou : skulkingrascal ; " and then salntingthe father and the husband , with a " get up with thee , and be damned to thee ; doesn ' t tahear t' factory bell ? Give me that there child ; " and then taking the child in her arms , " come here with thee , —take thy suck , before I go—ay , what a bitch thou art ; this is three mornings I was five minutes late , —and fined threepence for thee . " Then hurrying ofij with the little suckling child , to the factory door , and the husband with a half awake child upon his back , to bring back the baby , she goes to work , and he to the beer-shop all day , while Maister Smith's strangers' is doing his work . Smith . —0 yon exaggerate : you talk nonsense .

      Robin . —No , Master Smith , I don't ! I see it every day of my life . Well then , I say , we had nowt of that sort when paid more money for everything that we used because they were good ; and when , after we had paid more for everything we wanted , we had more at the end of the week . In those times good character was the best fortune a poor man could nave ; and if a man or a lad in the whole parish was seen drunk , or did a bad thing , or said owt wrong of a neighbour , I'll warrant me he'd be marked , and held have a visit from Parson Flower . Sunday was a day of rest , and a welcome day . Folk would put on the oest they had— good , decent , warm covering , and go to the parish fhurch with bible and prayer-book , to thank God , and hear good old Parson Flower . When the parson camel

      out of the pulpit , he d shake hands with the old folk , and kindly inquire after them and their families . He was as keen as a shepherd : if he missed the littlest one ofhis flock that ought to be in thefold , he'dsay , "Well ; Robin , where ' s Will to-day ; why wasn t he at church ? " or " where ' s your dame , Robin ? " And then I'd say , " why , please ' you , parson , little Bill is but poorly / and mother set up with him last night . " And then * Parson Flower would say , " Ay , dearee me ^ dearee me ; poor little Will—poor little Will ; I must go and see him , and see what s the matter with him before I go to dine with Farmer Jones . " Well , Maister Quill , that ' s the way we lived when the row came down to Devil's Dust about "Boney and the Jar

      eobins , " and " Church and Ring , and the " Church in danger . " Well , we met among ourselves , though we had no Town-hall then ; Mr . Quill , and we heard what was wanted . Parson Flower and tie Rev . Mr . Faithful came together to the churchyard , and they axed us if we * ' would defend our Church and our King . " We had good wages , and we thought that the King had something to do with giving them ; and Parson Flower , to us , represented the Church , and be was a good man ; and we loved the little ' church , where we used all to meet in on Sundays ; and so we shouted " Hurrah for Church and King !' . ' and ' -We'll fight , we'll fight and die for King George

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      and Parson Flower . ' - Word went off , and down came waggon loads of muskets , and swords , and pikes , and dr ill Serjeants , to teach us how to Bhoot and stick the French . We gave a whole day in every week , and a bit of every day , to learn this new trade qfbutchering ; but we minded nowt about it , but still pulled up the lost time by working later and earlier , and cheerfully ; but , by Gow , if we had known what we were working for then , and how dear we ' ve had to pay for it since , much as we loved Parson Flower , we would have left

      fighting to King George and his soldiers . Q , uill . —What , Robin , wouldn't you fight now for the Queen and the Church ? Robin . —Fight for Queen and Church ! Noa , noa , Master Quill ; you know better than that . The Queen ? why its King still , Master Quill . Quill .- ^ -KinglKing ! what do you mean , Robin ? I mean Queen Victoria and the Church . Robin . —I mean , that the Steam-engine is Kino now ! and folk wouldn't know which of the churches to ' fight for .

      Quill . —Which of the churches ? Why the right church—the Church of England , to be sure . Robin . —Maister Quill ; its because so many says that this church is reet , and that church is reet . and because the Church of England hasn't done ' what ' s reet , that we hear of so many infidels that ' s gone away from all churches . QuilL—What , ' . Robin , are you an infidel ? Robin . —Noa , Maister Quill , but I ' m going to shew you how infidels are made . If I was a traveller making my way to Devil ' s Dust , and if I came to a pass where there was another road , and if there was a finger-post saying— " this is the road to Devil ' s

      Dust , " and "this is the road to Shoddy Hall , " I should be all reet then ; but if I came on to forty or fifty different turns off the one road ; and if there was a finger-post to every one V and if all said— " this is the road to Devil ' s Dust , " then I should be regularly bewildered ; I shouldn't know which road to take , so I might get lost and go astray . And so it is with them tnere infidels . They hear all the parsons saying that tliis road , and that road , ' and t ' other road is the only road to heaven , and , like me , on the road to Devil ' s Dust , they get bewildered . Quill . —Well but , Robin , suppose that arms were sent down now to fight for the Queen and the Church , do you mean to aay that the people wouldn ' t take them ?

      Robin . —Noa , I say nowt at sort . They'd take them fast enough : but they'd fight for grub and cottage , instead of Church and Queen . But , don't you fear , Maister Quill ; Government will never try that scheme again . So now you see , your fourteen churches-are only wrong finger-posts , leading us all / tatray : your Town-hall is never open , except for the masters and free traders to put clown wages , though we built it . Your banks are only to discount your paper flimsies , your speculations on our labour ; your railroads , steam-navigation , and all those tilings are but machinery for cheapening our labour in all parts of the world ; your hospitals and infirmaries are built for fear that your sort should take the infection from our

      sort , since you huddled scores of filthy starving paupers into garrets and cellars ; and your big bastile is a grinding machine to grind the faces of the poor , and to make them work for owt rather than go into one of them ; your Mechanics' Institute is only to enable you to fight " genteel" labour against povaty ; and your Cemetery is your Free Trade burying-groiiml , by which you get as much as you can' from poor folk when they are dead . It never will be looked on with the veneration , reverence , and respect , Master Quill , that attaches to yon little old church-yard , where rich and poor lie buried togethcralongside . as they lived together in harmony and fellowship . There used to be no doubly sanctified grave , here and there , railed iu and beautified , making one man better than another . And as for that Parson Barebones , that has £ 2 , 000 a year for preaching sermons all about the "

      improvidence" of the ' poor , and for nattering up them that gives himVood dinners , and all that sort of stuff , —ay , my God Almighty , when I sees him slapping through the street , not minding to ride over poor iolk , and when sees his wife and family turning up their noses when poor folks pass ; and when I think of poor Parson Flower upon £ 200 a-year , praying for the poor , I no longer wonder that there should be a " niGii" and a " low" church , I tell thee what , Maister Quill , if a rich man has a shepherd he'll run from liis dinner or his bed if ho hears there ' s a sheep on his back in a furrow ; and the herdsman will sit up all night with a sick cow . We are told that Parson Barebones is our shepherd ; and I should like to see him leave his bottle at the " Squire's , " to take one of the poor flock of Devil ' s Dust oiF his back ; or see him sitting up with one of his sick flock ah neet . Maister Quill , when poor folk see more respect paid to the dumb anhna £ of the rich than to the flesh and blood of

      beings with souls to Save , they don ' t like it , Maister Smith . —Well now , Robin , it ' s my time ^—I must be off ; and as you have appealed to me as one of the jury to decide between you and Mr . Quill , I think I shall ^ onvince you that I am neither prejudiced nor partial . I confess that I did think my friend Quill ' s arguments were unanswerable ; but I also candidly confess that many of the points you have so shrewdly urged have presented a new view of the case to my mind , especially what you have stated as to the likelihood of the land being compelled to satisfy those demands which have heretofore been supplied to the Government by labour : and now , Robin , as I have

      stul a hankering after the olu spot , if you will meet me here after the market on Tuesday next , —Mr . Quill and Jackson , I ' m sure , will attend , —I'll have great pleasure in hearing the conclusion of your reply . Robin . —Well , I'll meet you : I ' m told tliou ' st purchased " Shoddy Hah " and the estate from Squire Gambler . Ecod , what " comes over the devil ' s back goes under his belly ; " and thou'lt find that the taxsucking-folk will be after " Shoddy Hall" when the panic comes : and it ' s a-cooming ! Smith . —Well , well , Robin , don ' t suppose me so sordid as to have made the appointment from an interested motive ; but be punctual , and I'll attend .

      Robin . —I'll be here ; and when I ' ve done thou'lt hear Jackson about machinery , for I ean only speak to one point . Smith . —Yea , yes . I think its quite right to hear what every man has to say on his own behalf . It ' s what I should like to have myself . My motto has always been , "Do as you would be done by . " Jackson . —Then 1 am sure , Mr . Smith , as you'd like to get £ 500 from me if I had it , yours , perhaps , according to your maxim ,, you will-give me back mine . Smith . —Good morning , Jackson . Good bye , Robin- ;—shake hands : you are a wonderful man of your age . Come , Quill . Robm . —Ecod , I remember when there were many men betwixt four and five score in the parish of Devil ' s Dust before the machinery came here : but now a man of forty is almost a wonder . Good bye to ye . ( To becoittirwed . )

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      Death op a Chelsea Pensioner . —An inquest waa held on Tuesday evening , at the Kings Head , Knightsbridgc , before Mr . Higgs , on the body of Mr . Glassbroke , aged 50 , formerly a private in the 2 nd Life Guards , and latterly an out-pensioner of Chelsea Hospital . Sarah Glassbroke said that she lived with the deceased , her husband , in Rose and Crown-yard , Knightsbridge . He left the army six years ago , and since then had nothing to depend upon but a pension of Is . per day , of which sum 2 a . ( id . per week was paid away for rent . He was much addicted to drinking , and was the worse for what he had drunk on Thursday night . On Friday he quitted home , and witnesses searched all over the neighbourhood for

      him , but without success , and it was not until the following evening , when he was brought home in a state of utter insensibility , that she knew where he had been . She was informed that he had been found in Wapping . Having taken care that his neckerchief was loose , she left him l y ing on the floor , and on visiting him the next morning , found him dead . The jnry consisted of fifteen persons , twelve of whom were for a verdict of " Died by the visitation of God , " and three for one of " D ' from excessive drinking . " Twelve being a sufficient number to constitue a jury , the coroner received the first-mentioned verdict .

      Daiung a . vd Impudent Robbery . —On Monday evening cibout seven o ' clock , a carter in the employ of Mr . West , town carman , brought nine chests of tea to the house of Messrs . W . Marshall and Co ., tea dealers , 'in the Strand , and whilst in the act of delivering the last chest but one , which did not occupy him more than a minute , two men in a light cart drove up alongside of that containing the tea , took the last chest , placed it in their cart , and drove off . The tea was fine gunpowder , valued at between £ 21 and £ 22 .

      Exthaobxhnaky Dbatii . —On Friday last William Mann , aged sixteen , died suddenly at Kidderminster , in a boat called the Sarah and Jane , which was on its way from Tipton to Gloucester by the Worcestershire ana Staffordshire Canal , before medical assistance could be obtained . At the inquest held on the body at the Pheasant Inn , on Saturday , before Mr . W . S . P . Hughes , coroner , it appeared from the evidence of Mr . Cornelius James Philbrick , surgeon , that he was called to attend the boy on Friday , about a quarter before V p . m ., and that before he could arrive the lad had expired . Mr . Philbrick made a pott mortem examination of the body , and found the abdomen filled with fluid that had escaped from a hole in the stomach , about two inches from the gullet , on

      the left-hand side . He found in the stomach a large round Worm , about a foot long . The stomach throughout its entire surface presented appearances of inflammation . He gave it as his opinion that death had resulted from the perforation , which was the effeet of inflammation , probably produced by the presence of the worm . The father of the boy stated that he was taken ill with : violent vomiting on the Snnday night previous , and that on Monday he applied to a druggist at Wolverhampton , who furnished medicine , which gave no relief . The boat was on its journey from Sunday till Friday , so that there was no opportunity of obtaining medical advice till it reached Kidderminster , where the fatal event took place . The jury returned a verdict of " Died by the visitation of God , "—• Worcester Herald .

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      ... 4 . . . _ Dreadful ; Fires at Ltmi Rbois . —Intelligence was receivedin the course of Wednesday , at the several fire insurance-offices in the metropolis of two most destructive fires having taken place at Lvme Regis on Sunday night , occasioning a serious loss of property , 'lhe outbreak happened between 11 and 12 o ' clock , when , on the alarm being raised , it was found to have origihatedin an uninhabited house in Churchstreet , and ,. \ from circumstances which have since transpired , it is too sadly feared that it must have been the work of some incenqiary . Owing to the roof of the building being thatched , like most of the other in the town , and a [ strong S . E . wind blowing at the time , the flames raged with extreme fury , ana fired the adn ' ing houses four of which fell a sacrifice . Scarcely the inhabitants recovered from their alarm

      before they were again startled by the bursting forth of another fire- in the same street , about 60 yards higher up , on the opposite side of the way , at a house in the occupation of a Mr . Garland . The firemen and their engines werd almost immediately in attendance , and , notwithstanding the most strenuous exertions on their part , thb y were unable to stay the progress of the flames , untUjthree buildings , in addition to the one tenantea by Mr . Garland , were . destroyed . This second calamity is also said to have been caused by some miscreant intentionally .

      Another Incendiary Fire is Hert 3 . —On' Wednesday night a very large straw rick on Highfieldfarm , Hemel Hempstead , in the occupation of Mr . Thomas Woodman , farmer and auctioneer , was discovered to he on fire , and no doubt the contents of an extensive and valuable farm would have been destroyed , had not the burning rick been a considerable distance from the others , and also from the buildings , sheds , out-houses , &c . York . —The Condemned Criminals . —We understand that the execution of Wm . Potter and Wm . Kehdrew , the former for setting fire to the dwellinghouse of Wni . Neville , at Wistow , near Selby , and the latter forf the murder of Mr . Wm . Inchbald , at Low Dunsibrjth , near Boroughbridge , will take plaee ( should no reprieve be received ) on Saturday week , the 28 th inst " .

      Death from Destitution is the City . —On Wednesday afternoon an inquest was held in £ he City Bridewell , before Mr . Payne , the coroner , on the body of Sarah Henley , a native of Inverness , aged thirtynine , a prisoner , committed on the 29 th ult . for breaking windows at the Mansion-house . Mr . John Crooks , the [ assistant surgeon , said that he saw the deceased on the 30 th ult ., the day after her admission , and found her in an extremely low . and enfeebled condition , apparently from the effects of want and exposure to the cold , without any marked signs of disease . Fever of a low typhoid character gradually came on , and she was treated for it until her death , on Monday last . When lie first saw her

      she w . is suffering from great depression , both mentally and bodily . Mary Anne Simpson , a prisoner , committed at the same time and i ' of the same offence ) as the deceased , said she first , met her at Bishopsgate workhouse , where they both had a night ' s lodging and left in the morning . The next time she sawj lief sitting on the steps at the Mansionhouse . Deceased told her that she was in want , that she had nowhere to go , and that she was about to break a window at the Mansion-house , to get taken before the Lord Mayor , tliat something might be done

      for her , for ! she had been told there was' no other way of getting to see him . Witness told her she was going to do the same , and so they then went together and threw stones at the windows and broke them . They were t 61 d that if they broke windows , the Lord Mayor would do something for them ; did not say she had sought relief at the union . The coroner and jury made some feeling remarks upon the dreadful state to which the deceased and her companion must have been reduced before they took such a strange mode of obtaining ( relief . Verdict—Natural death .

      Dangerous Effects of Burning Charcoal . — Three Persons Suffocated . —Chatham , Dec . 16 . — : On Sunday morning last , considerable sensation was created ' in the village of Luton , near Chatham , in consequence of three husbandmen in the employ of John Oakley , Esq ., farmer , at Darling , having been found dead in their bedroom . It appears that the men , whose ! names are John Stedman , 25 years ; Thomas Webb , 18 ; and George Wright , \ 1 , lodged at the bailiff ' s I cottage , which stands on the opposite side of the road to the farmhouse ; and in consequence of the severiiv of the cold , they had for the last few nights beggcjti of the bailiffs'wife to warm their room . On Saturday night last , the night being very cold ,

      she yielded to their wishes , and as the bedroom had not a fire-plice , she procured a stable lantern , and filled it with charcoal , and placed it in the centre of the room , so that the tire should do no mischief . About eight' o'clock on Saturday night Stedman retired to rest ! and he was followed about an hour afterwards by the other two , Webb and Wright , closing the bedroom door after them . Nothing was heard of them until ! next morning , when , not coming down down stairs ] at the usual hour of a Sunday morning , the bailiff , about seven o ' clock , went up . stairs to rouse them , j and on n ' opening the door of the room the most melancholy sight of three dead bodies

      presented themselves . Wright was found lying on the floor behind ! the door , having evidently dropped down dead the instant he entered the room , which must have been tilled \ yith carbonic acid gas . Webb was lying on hia back ion the bed , with his hand to his handkerchief as if he was , when seized with death ; in the act of untying it . Stedman had his jacket off , and had partly pulled ofF his trousers , and had fallen back on the bedi Medical assistance , which was immediately procured , was unavailing , as the poor fellows must have died a few minutes after entering the room . Stedman has left a widowed mother , who partly depended on him for support .

      Destructive Fibe is Spitalfields . — On Sunday evening , shortly before five o ' clock , a fire broke out upon the extensive premises belonging to and in the occupation of Mr . G . Leslie , oil and colourman ' , No . 59 , Brick-lane , 'Spitalfields . The fire originated in the lower part of the premises , immediately behind the shop , which was stocked with inflammable articles , and the flames spread with extraordinary rapidity , destroying the partition between the shop and-parlour , and setting ! fire to . the stairs . At this juncture an elderly female , deaf and dumb , appeared at one of

      the back windows , and finding all hopes of escape from the burning building cut off , she signified by agonising gesticulation that she was in" danger of being burned to death . One of the men in- the emp loy of Messrs . Truman and llanbury , whose brewhouse is close by the spot where the outbreak occurred , observing her perilous position , instantly procured a ladder , and rescued the affrighted creature from a horrible death . Notwithstanding the utmost exertions of > the firemen , the house is burned through , and the valuable contents generally destroyed .

      Frightful Accidext at Whitechapei .. —^ Shortly before nine b ' cleck on Monday night , a dreadful accident occurred opposite Aldgate Church , close by the junction of Aldgate with the Whitechapel-road . About four | o' clock in the afternoon Mr . Dagget , a commercial ( traveller , in the oil and colour business , left Romford for the metropolis in a gig with a spirited horse . On { arriving near Whitechapei Church the animal shied , and immediately afterwards started off at a rapid pace . By the rattling of the vehicle over the stones he was much frightened , and , notwithstanding the utmost exertions of the driver , it was impossible to hold him in . At a frightful speed he reached thelcorner leading to the Minories , * close by a p ile of new building , where , unfortunately , two omnibuses werp passing each other . Mr . Dagget , to escape a collision , pulled one of the reins , but the

      road being narrowed at that spot , and there lx ? mg a temporary platform for foot passengers , the horse ran upon it , amongst the people who were there crowding the pathway . The scene was frightful ; no less than nine or ten persons were knocked down , and the policeman , Goodman , 591 , city , who was passing along his beat , was dashed to the ground with great violence . The gig was instantly overturned , and the driver thrown out J upon -the pavement . A gentleman , who we have since ascertained ia seventy years of age , was knocked down and severely injured . Mr . Dagget is much cutt about the head , and bruised all over the body . A gentleman of the name of Wincklow was also much 'injured . Six persons were conveyed to the London ] Hospital . Goodman , the constable , it is feared has received a concussion of the brain , which renders his recovery very doubtful .

      Alleged ( Confession of a Murder . —Some years ago , a man homed Thomas Willey was tried in Exeter for the murder of a person named Cropn , a tailor , who was found drowned below Trew's Weir . He was , however , acquitted , from some defect in the evidence . On' Friday last he died , in a state of great misery , in jthe Exeter Workhouse , and it has been reported that , previous to his death , he confessed to the chaplain of the workhouse that he was really the murderer , and that two other men were implicated with him in ! the foul transaction . This is not exactly correct . That he saw the chaplain very shortly indeed before his death , is quite true , and it is also

      true that he appeared most anxious to . make some communication to him , but his condition was such that he was not able to articulate more than a word or two . It ! was the chaplain ' s impression , from his manner and from all that he saw at the time , that he was really about to make a confession of the crime of which the rev , gentleman was aware he had been accused , anil he addressed him accordingly ; but , as there was certainly no confession in express words , and as the man became insensible almost immediately afterwards , ) and remained so until the time of Ida death , it ip right that so much at least ^ should be stated . —D&vorvport Independent ,

      The Teippinaoh Abduction Case . — Arrest op Three of ] the Principals . —Killarney , Monday . — In a few hours after information was received , head constable Thornhill , with a strong party of police from this station , proceeded to the lands ot Inchmore , beyond Kenmare ( a distance of thirty miles ) , and succeeded in taking , in bed , Jeremiah and Patrick Houran , jbrothers to the principal aggressor , and Dennis Prindeville , his cousin , and lodged them in I ? ridewell this day . The fugitives had a watch night and day until they could effect their escjipe to Ajnerica .

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      DlSCOVEBY OF A XOXG-eO . VCZALED . MBBDERgjj ^ Chester , Saturday . —A considerable sensation \[ m Srodu ced here this ^ jnorning by the arrival ' of .. iwi »'| S 2 ce-officers , onefrbm Parnell , m Warmck sbiefand the other from Alcester , who seyeraUy represehtetf to Mr . Hill , the superintendent of thei Chester '' pu&n that they were in search of a man named Jm& Crowley , of Parnell , charged with the wilful mur ^ ej of Wilfiam Tilsey , also of that place , as far back m the 25 th of December , 1842 . In consequence o £ 3 i formation supplied by the officers in ' pursuit , ; & ; Hill sent some of bis men to the Black Dog public house , where the party in question had been stayjiiff for some time . He had , however , removed to aldog . ing in the Eaton-road , leading to the seat of the Maiv

      quis ot Westminster ; but it was ascertained that hjg trunks and other moveables hadrecently been taken to the Castle and' Falcon , a small pub ' lie-house ij Watergate-street , kept by a person named Mary Jones , at which place he occasionally called for ; r& freshments , and , on inquiry , Mr . Hill was given , to understand that he ( Cfrowley ) was expected there at about noon to-day . Accordingly two officers from Parnell and Alcester , accompanied by two of the Qhes . ter police , repaired to the house at the time spe . cified , and there found Crowley seated with a glass of ale before him . It was known that he wag always provided with , pistols , and , therefore , d ue precaution was used in apprehending him . He was

      seized by each arm belore he was at all awar ? of the presence of the officers , who then informed Jbim of the nature of the heavy charge alleged againsthhn , "I admit it ! " he at once exclaimed ; and , sdjse . quently , as they were placing the handcuffs Upon hjni , he added , " I am a dead man . " He was forthwith taken before the mayor and magistrates ; and , on being searched , thirty-six sovereigns were found upon him , together with a double-barrelled pistol . The weapon was not loaded ; but a paper , containing a number of balls , and a flask of powder , were found in one of his pockets . It appeared by the statement made before the magistrates , that the prisoner hadformerly resided with his parents at Parhell ; but , in

      consequence ofhis violent conduct , ids father had forbidden him the house , at the same timeproviding foj him a small cottage in the neighbourhood , and al lowing him £ 1 per week , and a horse to ride on . Notwithstanding this arrangement , however , the father having still reason to dread some fatal act of violence on the part of his son , had one of his farmservants , named William Tilsley , sworn in as a special constable for bis ( the father's ^ protection ; and on Christmas-day , 1842 , the family and a party of friends having just taken their seats at the dinnertable , the prisoner ' s mother suddenly started up , ami said to her husband , "For God ' s sake go up stairs ; there ' s James coming across the field with his gun t «

      shoot some of us . " The old man accordingly hurried from the apartment , and the prisoner , who had beet seen by his mother through the window advancing ia the way she described , went round to the back of the house , and thrust the muzzle of his double-barrelled gun through a pane of glass . In the meantime Tils , ley went out to expostulate with the prisoner , who , oi seeing him , retreated a few paces , exclaiming , " It ' s you , is it i" and at the same instant fired at the us . fortunate man , and shot him dead upon the spot He then shouldered the gun , and was heard to say aj he walked away , "I ' ve another charge for somebody else . " No one ventured to stop him . He went

      home , saddled his horse , rode to Tring , and there left his horse at an inn , took the train , but stopped at the first station , where he bought a pair of spectacles to disguise liis person , and was heard of no more until a few days since . He has , it appears , been in the United States in the interim , but has resided eva since March last in Chester . A woman with whom he has recently cohabited , in a fit of jealousy betrayed him . The prisoner , after having been duly cautioned , signed the following declaration : — " I have to say I am guilty of what 1 should do again to-morrow . 1 did shoot the man in open day . I think I did mj duty . " He was ordered to be taken to Warwick . where he will undergo further examination .

      Fatal Accident at Wakefield . —On the evenus of Friday last , an accident , fatal in its results , occuma to a man of the name of Broadhead , of Primrowhill , Wakefield , through falling into the river in Thornes-lane . The poor man was walking down a plank laid from the shore to a vessel in the river , and from its slippery state occasioned by the frost , he fell into the water unobserved . The water was but three feet in depth , yet from the intense coldness he was unable to get out . He was discovered on Sato ' day afternoon , and removed to liis house on Primrosehill , where an inquest has since beeu held , and a verdict returned according to the facts of the case .

      Extraordinary Case of a Married Womix Concealing the Birth op her Child . —Within tin last week the body of a new-born infant was discovered in a privy at Leytonstone , and it was ultimately traced to belong to a young woman who was only married about seven weeks ago , and resides at the above place , A warrant has been issued for her apprehension ,: bit not having recovered from her confinement , two of tie police arc in custody of the house till she is wB enough to be removed to undergo an examination before the county magistrates . — Essex Standard .

      Destructive Fire d ? the Commercial Roab .-On Tuesday forenoon a fire broke out in the marine signal light manufactory , in the occupation of Messn . Robeson and Highams , the patentees , situate in tie Commercial-road East , near the Regent ' s Canal , The progress of the fire was unusually rapid , and in the course of a few minutes the building became one complete flaming mass . Not-withstanding that the firemen exerted themselves to the utmost , they were unable to extinguish the fire before thestockin-trade and the building were nearly destroyed .

      Five Persons DROWffED . —Letters were received yesterday , at Woolwich , announcing the death of Sergeant Skinner and four other persons ,- belonginj ! to the Dfedalus , by the boat upsetting . The body of Serjeant Skinner , who belonged to the Woolwich division of Royal Marines , is the only one yet found , and lite was not totally extinct at the time , but he died in about half-an-nour , on board the Firebrand . Fatal Accident in Threadn-eedle-street . —On Tuesday evening , about half-past five o ' clock , a Tan belonging to a Mr . Afaynard , carrier , of Barking , mi proceeding up Threadnecdle-street , toward ! Bishopsgate-street , when the right wheel came in contact with a quantity of paving stones . At the same

      moment a truck , drawn by a poor man , in the employ of Mr . Stevens , of ^ Minerva-street , llackney-road , t& passing the vehicle on the other side , and , in consequence of the wheel passing over the stones , the Tan was completely canted over on to the unforttinate man , throwing out at the same time a lad , named Chalk , with much violence into the road , who ' wm seated with the driver . On the cart being lifted Eft the ill-fated man , was found dreadfully mutilated about the head . He was promptly removed on a stretchy as also the lad , to St . Barthomolew ' s Hospital , hot on arriving there he was found to have breathed i& last . As regards the boy , it is sadly feared that he has sustained some serious Internal hurt . The driTff of the van was immediately taken into custody by the police .

      The late Case op Suffocation near CiiATBiS .-On Monday afternoon an inquest was held by Mr . Hinde , on the bodies of the three unfortunate fefO labourers , who died at Linton in the course of Saturday night , in consequence of charcoal having tow used to warm the room in which they slept . AfteC hearing the evidence , the coroner , in summing up , remarked that it was most lamentable that ttoes young men should have been thus cut off in thepn ? 18 of their lives , through the unfortunate ignorance « Chapman and his wife , to whom there was niip blame to be attached , although they pleaded their ignorance of the dangerous tendency of charcoal . Afel a short deliberation , the jury returned a verdict- * " That the deaths of the ' young men were accident ** caused by suffocation by ' charcoal being burnt in th « room . "

      Murder in the County of Clare . —Another murder has been commited in Clare . Ori ^ Friday afternoon Thomas Ileffennan , a farmer , residing Kj £ Ennis , the assize town of the county , wis nred at jfl some miscreants who lay in wait . He died instafluJj The murder was committed about three o'clock ; sj >" it is stated that some of the neighbours of the viettB weie quite near at the time . This murder , > $ ¦ * almost all the crimes perpetrated in the south , ^ connected with disputes about land . Dreadful Murder in Ireland . — Last Friday * murder of a most atrocious nature was comniitteij o , a female , respectably dressed , arid far advanced ® Pregnancy , but whose name could hot be ascertain * In the following day an inquest was held -beWj * Messrs . Duckett and Gamble . It appeared by j » evidence of persons examined on the iuquest , 'V r _

      the deceased and supposed murderer were travePV on the road from Tramore to Annstown , at one 6 cl < jj * on Friday ; and at two o'clock on the same day W poor woman was found on the road about 100 y ^ from a cabin into which the murderer went to lip * pipe , with her head completely smashed . —Corres ^ dent of the Carlow Sentinel [ The ^ at % l ChronicU states that the supposed murderer haa we " arrested and fully committed for trial . ] Wales . —Explosion of Fire-damp . —Another ? these accidents , of too common occurrence in ^ mineral district , took place on Friday last , ait Edwards Colliery , Pontypridd , when five P ^ Jj were severely burnt . It appears that the ex P ' <) L . took place in consequence of Simon Davies ( v * j * ?* j nager ) and his son going into an old stall , Tvhicnn * J been discontinued working , with a naked candle '

      Cambrian . " : Fire at Polstead . — On Saturday morning ; , ^ between seven and eight o ' clock , a fire broke out J " stable belonging to a widow , named King , who ae ** . in fowls and eggs , and had just previously starteo *' Colchester market . The flames soon oommunica ^ with a bam adjoining , in which were the prw ^" two and a half acres of wheat in the straw , ; and a « £ siderable quantity of barley straw , the whole of irt »» was consumed , together with the barn , stable , an ^ shed . The neighbours were soon at the spot , ^ exertions saved the dwelling-house from destructio The fire was occasioned by the servant boy going " L the stable with a candle and lantern , which ne "i some means let fall amongst the fodder .

      Untitled Article

      6 THE NOftEH 13 JSK ; : ; SjrAJR . I - Degibmbeb ZL i » w

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 21, 1844, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct687/page/6/