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Aver. of 5 years to 1697. 5747 19,715 14,862 5 years to 1702 6070 24,112 14,474 6 years to 1708 6082 26,896 16,430 number de- In 1709 and 1710 a plague stroyed in 247,733 two years In 1711 12,028 32,522 10,131 and then arguing most unhesitatingly, through half a dozen pages afterwards, upon this supposed fact, that “the number of marriages in the year 1711 was very nearly double the average of the six years preceding the plague.” The said “dou- bling” having been entirely his own creation, by 156 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. throwing all those marriages and births into 1711 alone, which Susmilch gives as belonging to 1710 . 1711 The discovery of this extraordinary and inex- cusable mis-statement naturally awakened Mr. Sadler's suspicions; and on testing the other assumed “facts” on which Mr. Malthus had rested his system, he found them, one after another, crumbling away at the least touch, and discovering themselves to be generally nothing more than bold guesses, or unaccountable blun- ders. Even those leading “facts” which Mr. M. had assumed, as needing no proof, such as, the tendency of early marriages to over-stock the population ; and the propriety of the postpone- ment of marriage in order thereby to check the dreaded increase, turned out, on examination, to be nothing more than groundless suppositions. Actual scrutiny shewed that both by an accele- rated rate of production, in the case of postponed marriages, and also by the smaller proportion of mortality among such children, the laws of nature easily counteracted and rendered nugatory, all ideas of a reduced amount of human increase, as resulting from such delayed unions.” - * Sadler on Population, book iii. ch. xvii. HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 157 Hin one entire class of females, whose registers were accessible, it appeared that the permanent âncrease resulting from their marriage was far greater in the cases of those who married between 24 and 27, than in those who married between 16 and 19.3% But, worse than this, all the arithmetical cal- culations, and alleged statistical facts, with which Mr. Malthus's first chapter opens, and upon which his system is built, appeared, on a closer scrutiny, to be nothing more than a series of errors and ab- surdities. For instance, Mr. Malthus boldly as- serts, that “Population has been found to double itself in fifteen years. Even this extraordinary rate of increase is probably short of the utmost power of population.—According to a table of Euler, calculated on a mortality of 1 in 36, if the births be to the deaths as 3 to 1, the period of doubling will be only 12# years. And these pro- portions are not only possible suppositions, but have actually occurred for short periods in more countries than one.” f Here was an important fact broadly stated, but neither was the table itself produced, nor the countries in which population had so marvellously increased, even so much as named ! Mr. Sadler, * Sadler, vol. ii. p. 281. F Malthus, (ed. 1826) vol. i. p. 6. 158 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS, SADLER. therefore, had no other course than to sit down and construct a table for himself, shewing by what process this prodigious increase might occur. Such a table he therefore formed, and it will be found at p. 11 of his second volume. By it a du- plication every 12# years is produced, but only by the following mean: 1. All the marriageable per- sons in the supposed population must actually marry at the age of 20. 2. All these married persons must have ten children for each such union. 3. All these ten children must live, in every case, to marry themselves, at the age of 20, and produce, in their turns, ten children for each union. 4. And, lastly, in this wonderful popula- tion, there must be no deaths / Thus, and thus only, might the supposed duplication in 12# years be attained and kept up ! Of course, as such a state of things was altoge- ther impossible, as the earth is at present consti- tuted, it followed that that increase which Mr. Malthus asserted to have “actually occurred in more countries than one,” must be absolutely im- possible also. From this fiction of a doubling in 12; years, Mr. S. proceeded to a more moderated statements of duplications in 15 and in 20 years, all which he proved by the same process to be alike, though perhaps not to the same degree, impossible. His work on POPULATION. 159 Another of these vague generalities, resting upon nothing, concerned the alleged actual increase in the United States of America. Of this, Mr. Malthus had said, that “ In the Northern States of America, where the means of subsistence have been more ample, the manner of the people more pure, and the cheeks to early marriages fewer than many of the modern states of Europe, the population has been found to double itself, for above a century and a half successively, in less than twenty-five years.” ” To which Mr. Sadler replied by one or two facts, which at once demolished this statement. In 1760, these very states, (New England,) contained 500,000 inhabitants. By this alleged process of duplication, say in 25 years, they would amount in 1835, to 4,000,000. Whereas, the census of 1820 shewed their numbers, in that year, to be only 1,638,435, and their decennial increase, between 1810 and 1820, to be only 186,368 Rhode Island was particularly named by Mr. Malthus as shewing a period of doubling of less than 22 years. Mr. Sadler shewed, that having in 1730, a population of 17,935, a doubling every 20 years would have carried its numbers, in 1830, to 573,920. Whereas in 1820, its whole popula- tion was only 83,038 * Malthus. Vol. I. p. 5. (ed. 1826.) 160 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. China had been dealt with by Mr. Malthus after a similar fashion. The fables of the Jesuit Missionaries of a century back had been eagerly resorted to for statements confirmatory of the favorite theory, and the corrections supplied by later travellers had been wholly disregarded. Thus China was still represented as containing 333 millions of inhabitants, although Malte-Brun, Grosier, Ellis, Timkowswki, Dr. Morrison, Thoms, the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Bulletin Uni- versel, and the Asiatic Journal, all drawing from the best modern information, united in the conclu- sion, that about 150 millions is the real number. In the same manner the “Edifying and Curious Letters,” were resorted to for a representation that the Chinese live in “extreme misery,” that “mil- lions of people perish with hunger,” and that infanticide is the common practice of the poorer classes. Whereas all modern travellers had given a totally different view of the case. Ellis says, “I have been much struck with the number of persons apparently in the middle classes, from which I am inclined to infer a wide diffusion of the substantial comforts of life : ”—Von Braam that “it was easy to perceive that the inhabitants are strangers to poverty,”—and that “every thing wore the appearance of plenty and happiness: ” Barrow, that “the countenances of the peasants HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 161 were cheerful and their appearance indicative of plenty: ” and Sir George Staunton, that “the cottages are clean and comfortable.” While of the alleged infanticide, De Guignes declares, that “in his route through the whole extent of China,” he never met with an instance of it ; and Mr. Ellis, giving the same testimony, adds, that “supposing any of the statements respecting it to have been well-founded, it will scarcely be believed that in passing over its populous rivers, through upwards of sixteen hundred miles of country, we should find no proof of its mere exist- ence.”* We must not, however, dwell longer on this part of the question. It may suffice to observe that, one by one, every material statement in Mr. Malthus’s work was sifted and tried ; and the result of the whole investigation, to every candid and impartial reader, was, that the entire basis of facts upon which the author of the “Es- say on the Principle of Population,” professes to rest his system, was utterly and for ever demo- lished and rooted up. But having thus abundantly satisfied himself of the fallacy of Mr. Malthus's statements, it be- came Mr. Sadler's great object, to discover, and * For larger extracts, see Mr. Sadler's Work;-vol. I. book II. chap. xvi., xvii, xviii. M 162 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. to exhibit, the real LAw of HUMAN INCREASE. Knowing well that nothing in the universe hap- pened by chance, but that even every comet flew, as well as every leaf fell, in obedience to the dic- tates of an immutable law, it became his anxious desire to ascertain, if possible, the real nature of that hidden decree, by which the ebbing and flowing of the tide of human population was go- verned. The far-famed dogmas of Malthus, the “arithmetical and geometrical ratios,” he had already seen to be baseless fictions ; or rather mere phrases without meaning. But he was now earnestly engaged, amidst a myriad of recorded facts, in the endeavour so to classify and connect those facts, as to learn from them that secret law which produced and regulated them all. The truth flashed upon him one morning, as it were instantaneously. While examining the cen- sus of England, the simple fact presented itself to his notice,—that the proportion of births and marriages varied greatly,–the births being more or less numerous in proportion as the population of the district was more or less scanty. Exclaim- ing with Archimedes, “I have found it ! I have found it !”—he instantly set to work to form a table of the counties of England, which appears at page 394 of his second volume ; and the re- sults of which are as follows:– HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 163 Marriages Births Proportion º g tº from 1810 from 1810 of births to Counties having less than 100 in- to 1820. to 1820. 100 marr. habitants to the square mile. Westmoreland, York, N. R. . 15,807 66,434 420 Counties having from 100 to 150 on the mile. Lincoln, Cumberland, North- umberland, Hereford, Rutland, Huntingdon, Cambridge, Mon- mouth, Dorset . . . 79,476 315,205 396 Counties having from 150 to 200 on the mile. York, E. R., Salop, Sussex, Northampton, Wilts, Norfolk, Devon, Southampton, Berks, Suffolk, Bedford, Bucks, Ox- ford, Essex, Cornwall, Durham . 264,516 1,033,039 390 Counties having from 200 to 250 on the mile. Derby, Somerset, Leicester, - Nottingham . . . . . . . 66,244 257,136 388 Counties having from 250 to 300 on the mile. Herts, Worcester, Chester, Gloucester, Kent . . . . . 103,255 390,322 378 Counties having from 300 to 350 on the mile. Stafford, Warwick, York, W. Riding . . . . . 111,941 395,070 353 Counties having from 500 to 600 on the mile. Surry, Lancaster . . . . . 112,768 373,142 331 Middlesex . . . . . . . 109,475 269,765 246 Now these results, fairly deduced—not arbitra- rily or by selection, but by a just and matural M 2 164: LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. arrangement of all the known facts of the case— seemed at once to bring to light, the thing of which Mr. Sadler had long been in search ; namely, the true law of Human Increase;—a law agreeing equally with the ascertained state of things on the one hand, and with the chief law of the creation, beneficence, on the other. But it was not his wont, either to raise a system upon a single fact, or to quit an investigation while still on the threshold of the subject. He therefore made this discovery, however important in itself, merely the first step in a series, which ended not while a single country within the limits of civilization re- mained unexamined, or a fact which could in any way be brought to bear upon the inquiry, was left without its place in the chain of evidence and argumentation. -- Animated by the confident hope of achieving that for which he had long panted, his ardour in the pursuit and arrangement of authentic informa- tion on this great subject, seemed daily to increase. His incessant application at this period sensibly affected his health; and was unquestionably one main cause,_his labours in the Factory Question in 1832 being the other, of that fatal inroad on his constitution which ultimately led to his pre- mature decease. From the census of England, which had in the HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 165 first instance discovered to him the true principle, and which seemed to possess in itself abundant data for the establishment of that principle, Mr. Sadler proceeded through the statistics of France, of Prussia, of the Netherlands, of Ireland, of America, of Russia, of Sweden, of New South Wales, and of the Cape of Good Hope. Besides these main branches of the enquiry, a variety of collateral proofs were called in, from time to time, from circumstances which lay beyond or below the range of the larger view. Such as, the facts relative to the Peerage of England,-the Towns of England, the Islands in the British Seas; and a variety of other subsidiary topics, which were attendant upon, rather than part of, the main in- Quiry. In fact, it was impossible for a statistical view of the progress of population in any country or in any period, to fall in Mr. Sadler's way, without being instantly seized upon and forced to contribute its quota of evidence in this great investigation. Even in the course of a few months after the publication of his work, he had gained a knowledge of as many as five new censuses, of Prussia, Naples, Russia, Denmark, and Lombar- dy; all of which he instantly digested, and gave the results in his Letter to the Edinburgh Review- er, which was published in the following spring. No opportunity was ever lost by him, of augment- 166 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. ing his store of facts on this question; nor would his innate rectitude and sense of honor have per- mitted him to conceal any circumstance which these new sources of information might have dis- closed of a nature contradictory to his own views; —but to this test his candor was never brought. Not a single case ever occurred, in which the facts disclosed were of a different tenor to the general mass. So perfect a coincidence and agreement can in no way be accounted for, save as the result of a law alike universal and immutable. We have hesitated whether to insert these various details, as needful to the full establish- ment of the principle; or to omit them, as en- cumbering our narrative with a mass of dry statis- tics. On the whole, it seemed most advisable to postpone them to the close of the volume, where the reader who wishes to do full justice to the subject will find as condensed an abstract as it is in our power to give.* Some, however, who may cast a hasty glance over these pages, will probably be inclined to ask, Wherein lies the vast importance of this contro- versy; and in what does that practical difference between the two systems consist, which is as- sumed to be so momentous ! * See Appendia B. HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 167 To this demand we must now endeavor to re- ply; remarking, however, that among those who, like Mr. Sadler himself, have devoted much time and consideration to the question, how the condition of the poorer classes may be perma- nently ameliorated,—this demand will not often be made. Such persons will be well aware from their own experience, that the Malthusian theory, whenever admitted, has constantly operated to suggest doubts, and to raise difficulties, and, in effect, to check all the natural outgoings of bene- volence and kindness towards the poor.” The two systems are opposed to each other, in the most direct and positive manner. The one may be called the Paternal ; the other, the Sel- fish. The first is expansive, genial, beneficent, rejoicing ; –the second, contractive, withering, harsh, and full of a miser's fears. The Paternal System, having, as we shall see, truth for its basis, cannot be better described than in the words of that book which is the only re- * “I am aware,” said Lord Althorp, in bringing forward his measure for the amendment of the Poor Laws, in the House of Commons, “I am aware that in admitting the expediency of a poor law of any kind, I am expressing an opinion contrary to the strict principles of political economy;—but upon these principles you may not only object to a poor law, but may even go further, and object to private charity itself l’” 168 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. # cord of unmingled truth and of perfect wisdom that we possess. The whole tenor of that record, is in favor of the Paternal system, and not a word 9 of “surplus population,” or of the imaginary hor- rors of a state in which the people shall have out- grown all possible supplies of food, can be found throughout its pages. It begins with a Divine command to the second father of the human race, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” (Gen. ix. 2.) And in every successive instance in which a blessing is conferred, increase seems to be the most prominent feature of the benediction. “God shall enlarge (or increase) Japheth,” (Gen. ix. 27.) To Abraham it is said, “I will make thee eaceeding fruitful,” (Gen. xvii. 6.) Of Ishmael, “I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him eaceedingly,” (Gen. xvii. 20.) Again to Abraham, “I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea- shore,” (Gen. xxii. 17.) To Jacob, “I will make thee fruitful, and will multiply thee, and will make thee a multitude of people,” (Gen. xlviii. 4.) The Israelites are exhorted to obedience, “ that 3ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land,” (Deut. viii. 1.) Again, it is said, “As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the seed of David my servant,” (Jerem. xxxiii. 22.) But we HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 169 must not attempt to adduce the half of the passages of this tenor which are found in Holy Writ. Suf- fice it to observe, that increase, a vast and countless increase, is always spoken of as the peculiar bless- ing of God, and a contrary state of scantiness or fewness of numbers, as the effect of his male- diction. Such is the constant language of that book, which is the only certain and infallible guide, that mankind has ever possessed. Wholly opposed to this view, is the Malthusian theory. With the most downright selfishness for its ruling principle, its constant language is that of misery, alarm, and unreasoning terror. “A man born into a world already possessed,” “ says Mr. Malthus, “if he cannot get subsistence from his parents” (who may not be living,) “and if society does not want his labour, has no claim of right to the smallest portion of food, and, in fact, has no business to be where he is. At Nature's mighty feast, there is no vacant cover for him. She tells him to be gone, and will quickly execute * He does not hesitate to assume, that the world is “already possessed,” although not one tenth of its surface is yet brought under cultivation. Even in this “overpeopled ” country, Britain, the territory still left uncultivated and unpossessed, exceeds thirty millions of acres, more than the half of which is capable of re- paying the cultivator. 170 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. her own orders, if he do not work upon the com- passion of some of her guests. If these guests get up and make room for him, other intruders immediately appear, demanding the same favor.” The remedy which Mr. M. very consistently proposes against these “intruders” is a very sim- ple one. “I propose a regulation to be made, that no child born from any marriage taking place after the expiration of a year from the date of the law, and no illegitimate child born two years from the same date, should ever be entitled to parish assis- tance.” “This would operate as a fair, distinct, and precise notice.” After this public notice had been given, the poor man marrying, is to be dealt with as one guilty of “an immoral act.” “To the punishment of nature, he should be left, the punishment of severe want.” “All parish assistance should be most rigidly denied to him ; and if the hand of private charity be stretched forth in his relief, the interests of humanity im- periously require that it should be administered very sparingly. He should be taught to know that the laws of nature, which are the laws of God, * Essay on Population, 4to, p. 531. HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 171 had doomed him and his family to starve for dis- obeying their repeated admonitions.” Enough of such impiety,+nay, of such blas- phemy It is thus, as Adam Smith says, that “the fortunate and the proud wonder at the insolence of human wretchedness; and that it should dare to present itself before them, and with the loath- some aspect of its misery, presume to disturb the serenity of their happiness ’’ Yet were these unhuman, these atrocious sug- gestions, nothing more than the natural and neces- sary results of Mr. Malthus's theory! If it were true, as he states it to be, that population, if left unrestrained, will inevitably outgrow the means of subsistence,—and that the danger is always immi- nent, of the appearance of more mouths than food can be found to supply,–then, unquestionably some such frightful regulations as he proposes, would indeed become necessary. It would be useless to struggle against the laws of human ex- istence. The only question therefore is, what are the laws of human existence 2 And Mr. Malthus's criminality lay here, that finding in the word of God, the only depository of perfect wisdom and perfect beneficence that we possess, a constant series of instructions of the most explicit and positive character, and bearing * Essay on Population, 4to, p. 539. 172 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. directly against his whole theory, his misconduct consisted in this, that in the face of all this infalli- ble instruction, instead of distrusting his own in- formation or his own conclusions, he boldly puts forth a system and a course of teaching, wholly opposed to the whole tenor of Scripture, and yet in itself resting upon the most preposterous blun- ders and the most groundless assumptions. Had his facts been as clearly established as the rotation of the earth, or the mortality of man, still a pro- per reverence for the word of the All-wise ought to have held his judgment suspended. Instead of which, with a flippancy which defies all just re- buke, and an heartlessness which none but an “economist” could exhibit, he thrusts upon the world his baseless theory, the inevitable results of which are, however concealed, that “ the more ex- cellent the laws, and the more strictly they are obeyed, mankind must the sooner become misera- ble I " + The grand distinctive and opposing principles of the two systems, then, were these ; on the part of Mr. Malthus's system, a fear of over-population, as a danger necessarily connected with the laws of human existence. On the part of Mr. Sadler's system, an entire absence of all such fear; brought * Wallace on the Various Prospects of Mankind, iv. p. 111. HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 173 about by ascertaining from actual observation, the operation of balancing and compensating principles in the growth of the human race. The natural and necessary result of the adoption of the one system, therefore, must obviously be an apprehension of falling into the error of too much benevolence,—of too much fostering the principle of human increase. The heart even of the kind and gentle, was taught by this system to school itself to self-denial, and to imagine that it was necessary that a considerable amount of misery and starvation should be allowed to exist, in order to prevent the poor from increasing too fast. To such an extent had this frightful impression been made upon Mr. Malthus himself, that we find in his work,-the work of a clergyman,—the follow- ing appalling sentiment. “A youth of eighteen would be as completely justified in indulging the sexual passion with every object capable of ex- citing it, as in following indiscriminately every impulse of his benevolence.”” “An aphorism concerning which,” remarks Mr. Sadler, “whe- ther in reference to the age referred to, when the exercise of charity is so lovely, and open de- bauchery so disgustingly infamous; or as respects the consequences of these opposite courses at any * Essay on Population, 4to. p. 559. 174, LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. period of life, as no language I have at command can sufficiently express my execration, I shall, therefore, not employ any l’” On the other hand, the results of the adoption of the opposite theory are just as consonant and agreeable to the best impulses of nature and con- science, as the inferences drawn from the Malthu- sian, are, to our basest and worst. Learning from actual investigation, that increase of numbers is, in fact, what Scripture always represents it to be, an actual blessing;—learning, also, that in place of any possibility of its proceeding too far, and outrunning the growth of food, it is, in all cases, the forerunner and efficient cause of abundance and comfort, and even luxury; the disciple of the paternal system dismisses all the selfish appre- hensions of ultimate scarcity and want, and tunes his heart to the sweetest sympathies of our nature, and to a perfect harmony with those divine les- sons which, if only adopted by all mankind, would restore to earth something resembling the bliss of paradise itself. To every impulse of benevolence, to every appeal of humanity, his ear is open, and his soul awake ;—having first assured himself by the double testimony of Divine Truth, and esta- blished fact, that beneficence is not merely an allowable indulgence of personal feeling, but a wise, a prudent, aud a reasonable line of conduct. HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 175 He reads the words of God: “Thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother; but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him.” “Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him.” “For the poor shall never cease out of the land ; therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land,” (Deut. xv. 7, 11.)—and he receives them with a willing mind. He is not perplexed,—as some good men who have been deceived by the fallacies of Mr. Malthus must often have been, by a supposed disagreement between the word and the works of God. On the contrary, the juster view of the latter, which the discoveries of Mr. Sadler have given him, delights, instead of distressing his heart, and he rejoices to observe, in this, as in all other cases, how Natural Theo- logy, when properly understood, casts a light even upon the more distinct instructions of the written word. There has been, however, another question asked, with reference to Mr. Sadler's system ; and one which demands a reply. It is inquired, Is there any thing really new in his theory ! Did we not know, before he was born, that the open coun- try, and the thinly-peopled districts, were more 176 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. favourable to the growth of population, than crowded cities or manufacturing towns 7 And what, after all, does his vaunted discovery amount to, beyond this ? * Our reply to this inquiry divides itself into two observations. What Mr. Sadler effected towards the settlement of this great question, was, first, immensely to enlarge our knowledge of the sub- ject, so as to bring the true principle, of which men had only, up to that period, been able to catch an occasional and imperfect glimpse, into full and open view. And secondly, to develope and apply that principle, so as to form what is rightly called a System; by which the opposing and most mischievous theory of Malthus, might be utterly swept away, and a generous and bene- ficient course of legislation be substituted for the selfish machinations of the Economists. It is perfectly true that facts so notorious, as, that vices which warred against population, were more common in cities than in rural districts;– and that a country life, with frugality and indus- try, was favourable to the increase of the num- ber of the people, had not escaped the notice of former writers on this subject. But vague and general remarks of this kind left Mr. Mal- thus's principle unimpugned. He could well afford to admit their truth, and to reckon them HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 177 only as the exceptions to the universal rule. While the fact was supposed to extend no further than this, it could neither suffice as the foundation of a system, nor as the means for the overthrow of the theory most in fashion. Mr. Sadler's re- searches, however, entirely changed the complex- ion of the case. The isolated and apparently immaterial fact which had been previously observ- ed, grew under his inquiries, into a series ; and this question was one, which, above all others, was ruled entirely by consecutive facts. To prove, or rather to assert, what required no proof, that population increased less rapidly in towns than in the open country, left the main question untouched. It was asserted by Mr. Malthus that in the ordinary course of nature population doubled itself every twenty or five-and- twenty years; while the means of subsistence could only be augmented at a far slower rate. This was the fundamental principle in his theory. Still, that the vices, the unhealthiness, and the misery which always exists in great towns, ope- rated as a check to the dreaded growth of popula- tion, was also admitted and reckoned upon by him, as one of the established facts of the case. But the investigations of Mr. Sadler entirely changed the position of the question. The distin- guishing feature of his theory was, that it wholly N 178 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. denied the doctrine of an uniform principle of in- crease; and asserted, in opposition to it, the fact of a varying rate of increase; such varying being generally in proportion to the greater or less popu- lousness of the district in which it occurred. The fact was established in a variety of ways. A few of the instances may be here adduced. I. In England, there were two counties having less than 100 inhabitants to every square mile. In these two counties there were 420 births to every 100 marriages. There were nine counties having more than 100, and less than 150, inhabitants to the mile. In these the births were only 396 to every 100 marriages. There were sixteen, with more than 150 and less than 200 on the square mile. In these the births were 390 to 100 marriages. All these were agricultural districts. The same principle of gradual diminution in proportion to increasing populousness, was shown to exist throughout all the rest of England; but as the great manufacturing towns would mingle with the remaining counties, we prefer to stop at the first three divisions. 2. The islands in the British seas furnished a second and a very remarkable proof. The ten years from 1810 to 1820 shewed the following rate of increase. HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 179 Inhab. Births to on a mile. 100 marriages. Isle of Wight 2 13 437 Isle of Man 250 433 Norman Isles 494 363 Here was a perfectly plain and simple proof, wholly free from all disturbing elements, of manufactures, unhealthiness, or peculiar vice or necessity. 3. In examining the censuses of Ireland, Mr. Sadler tested his principle by a variation in the mode of proceeding. The parish registers not fur- nishing him, as in England, with the births, &c. he examined the proportion of children to adults, as supplied by the census, and the result was as follows:— Twelve counties had less than 200 inhabitants to the square mile. In these, for every 10,000 people between the ages of fifteen and forty, there were, of children under ten years of age, 7275. Fourteen counties had from 200 to 300 on the mile. In these, for every 10,000 between fifteen and forty there were, of children under ten, 7019. Three counties had from 300 to 400 on the mile. The 10,000 adults were here accompanied by children, 6885. - * Two counties had from 400 to 500, on the mile. M 2 180 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. Here, to 10,000 adults, the children were only 6.738. . . Lastly, in the county of Dublin, the same class of children, for each 10,000 adults, were only 5254. - 4. The census of America, constructed on a different principle, again forced Mr. Sadler into a different mode of investigation. He was here obliged to inquire, how many children under ten were found for each 100 females between sixteen and forty-five. The results were these :- In the States having only five inhabitants on the square mile, for each 100 females between 16 and 45, there were, of children under 10 - 216 In those having from 5 to 10 on the mile - 200 In those having from 10 to 15 º - 196 In those having from 15 to 20 g- - 181 In those having from 20 to 25 º - 176 In those having from 25 to 30 - - 163 In those having from 30 to 40 tº- - 160 In those having from 40 to 50 º - 144 In those having from 50 to 60 sº - 139 In those having above 60 - - 135 5. Another fact of some importance concerning the diminishing rate of increase in England, was perceptible in the lessened fruitfulness of mar- riages, now, as compared with their productive- ness when the kingdom had only half its present HIS WORK ON POPULATION, 181 number of inhabitants. From various authentic sources, referred to in his work, Mr. Sadler formed the following table. Births to a Date. Population. marriage. 1680 5,500,000 4-65 1730 5,800,000 4-25 1770 7,500,000 3-61 1790 8,700,000 3-59 1805 - 10,678,500 3-50 We have selected these few, out of a multitude of proofs, as the most succinct and simple. But in the work itself a vast magazine may be found, entirely exhausting the subject, and proving, in every conceivable way, the fact, that the law of human increase operates in a varying ratio, having reference, always, to the density or thinness of the existing population; and not in a fired ratio, per- petually doubling and redoubling the existing race, and thus going on to excess and consequent misery. But Mr. Sadler did not rest content with the statistic proofs of the reality of the principle he asserted. He called next upon physiology to lend its aid in the establishment of this great truth. And of each department of proofs it may safely be averred, that either would of itself have been sufficient to support his theory. - Mr. Malthus had propounded the doctrine that [82 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. the most efficient means of checking the growth of population, the overflow of which he represented as the greatest of evils, was, simple starvation. In considering the cause, why the same prodigious increase did not take place in England which he had assumed to be going on in America, he said, “The obvious reason to be assigned is, the want of food; which want is the most efficient cause of the three great checks to population.” In opposition to this doctrine Mr. Sadler alleged that the only efficient checks to population were, ease and comfort, increasing to luxury. Thus, while the one would have counselled the states- man, with a view to keep down the dreaded in- crease of their numbers, to limit, and if possible withdraw, all elymosynary aid;—the other would have replied, “If you really apprehend an over- flow of this kind, the best way to check it, is to improve the condition of the people. Mr. Sadler might very well appeal to notorious facts for the establishment of his principle ; but his indefatigable spirit led him to fortify himself with a host of medical and physiological authori- ties; all asserting the fact, that poverty is favour- able, rather than unfavourable, to fruitfulness; that the most laborious and the hardest-faring people are always the most prolific; and that it is * Essay on Population, 4to, p. 340. HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 183 among those who begin to enjoy abundance and to live at ease, that barrenness first shews itself; increasing, as we advance upwards; till among the higher classes it is found that continual extinctions take place, and that it is only by perpetual drafts from the lower ranks, that their numbers can be preserved. Thus Dr. Buchan remarks, that “a barren woman is seldom found among the labouring poor,” and adds, “would the rich use the same sort of food and exercise as the better sort of peasants, they would seldom have cause to envy their poor vassals the blessings of a numerous offspring.”f In like manner Adam Smith contrasts the extra- ordinary fruitfulness of the half-starved Highland woman with the sterility of the fine lady; and Dr. Short observes that “the poorest and most labo- rious part of mankind are ever the fruitfullest.”f But Dr. Perceval had furnished one striking in- stance from his own observation. In the parish of Dunmow, in Essex, there were 262 poor families, who had 460 children. There were also 116 families of the ranks above them, who had only 120 children; being little more than half the former proportion. † There can be little doub * Domestic Medicine, p. 501. t Short’s Observations, 144. # Perceval's Essays, v. xi. p. 379. 184 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. that similar inquiries would furnish similar results, if generally extended. Lastly, Mr. Sadler was also enabled to appeal to the voice of history;-to the record of the uni- versal experience of the human race. In every part of the globe, man had been found at first, in a rude and savage, and almost in a soli- tary condition. The hunter of the woods roamed over boundless deserts, and amidst the undisturbed possession of whole provinces, fared hardly, and suffered all kinds of privation. But as his household grew and multiplied, in that very multiplication we soon discern the cause of increasing civilization, prosperity, and comfort. The rural and agricultural life begins. Flocks and herds appear; the fruits of the earth are culti- wated and increase; and quickly, instead of popu- lation outgrowing the means of subsistence, the means of subsistence are seen to outgrow popula- tion, and men become rich and luxurious. Then arises the splendid city, the crowded mart; and commerce begins to facilitate the ex- change of productions and the growth of luxury. The savage had fed upon his roots, and the pro- duce of his bow : the early agriculturist had pro- vided bread, probably of a coarse description, and the flesh of the goat or wild sheep. But now “the finest of the wheat flour,” “the fatted calf,” “the His work ON POPULATION. 185 juice of the grape,” are in common use; and where a few scattered hunters could hardly subsist, mil- lions of people enjoy a succession of comfort- able meals on each day that passes. And every where, be it especially remarked, the character and quantity of the people's food, rises with the increase of population. Roots for the savage ; black bread for the thinly-peopled country; brown for the region possessing greater numbers ; but white for the crowded city. And what is the history of the decline of nations ! According to Mr. Malthus, we might have expect- ed to read of the mighty empires of old, as each falling a victim, by degrees, to increasing poverty; to perpetually advancing misery; and to the wild fury, at last, of a half-starved population, mad- dened by the want of food. But has such a cir- cumstance ever yet occurred ? On the contrary, does not all history agree in a totally different story ! Has not each empire, in succession, fallen a victim, not to want, but to luxury; not to an impossibility of obtaining food, but to the decay of industry, arising from wealth and enjoyment; and to the decrease of population also, which quickly follows, as a necessary consequence, the growth of luxurious and vicious habits. In every possible point of view, then, Mr. Mal- thus's theory stood convicted of fatal error. The 186 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, whole experience of the human race refuted it. The laws of human existence, the physiological principles by which the increase of the race was governed, with equal decision denied its possibi- lity. And statistic facts, the most conclusive, when sufficiently extended, of all proofs, united in declaring, that the notion of a geometric rule of increase, constantly operating, and only checked by vice or “want of food,” was a baseless fiction, and entirely at variance with the actual history of mankind's increase. On the other hand, the same three branches of evidence all concurred in declaring the truth of the great principle first enunciated by Mr. Sadler, and of the system which he based upon it. His- tory assured us that instead of a regular duplica- tion of the human race at stated intervals, the rate of increase was always found to vary; being rapid in young and thinly-peopled countries, slower in those which were already populous, and declining into a positively retrograde movement, after it had passed a certain point of prosperity. Nor would history admit for an instant Mr. Malthus's hypo- thesis, that the practical check to growth of popu- lation consisted in a “want of food,” seeing that its progress was always the most rapid in poor and ill-provisioned countries, and slower in those which had become rich and full of luxuries. Physiology HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 187 entirely concurred in this view ; assigning the most satisfactory reasons for the facts as they occurred; and declaring that it must inevitably be found, that among the poor, the ill-fed, and the laborious, population would advance at a far more rapid rate than among those in easy or comfortable circum- stances : While Statistics adduced the clearest proofs that in all places, and at all periods, that law had existed, and did exist, which Mr. Sadler had been the first to bring to light; a law which so varies the ratio of human increase, as to produce great advances wherever the thinness of the popu- lation admits and requires such rapidity of growth, and then gradually diminishes and checks the ratio, by the natural causes of ease and luxury, till it soon falls to that point at which all further advance necessarily ceases. And thus confirmed on every hand, the principle discovered by Mr. Sadler naturally grew into a system. That system we have already described as the Paternal one. Having wholly discarded the fear of “a superabundant population,” the natural feelings of good-will and kindness were again allowed to flow forth. And more, they were encou- raged and confirmed by the investigation which had taken place. It had now been ascertained in the fullest manner, that not an abundance, but a paucity of inhabitants, was the real evil to be apprehended ; 188 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. and that the words of God were indeed the words of truth, that “In the multitude of people is the king's honour; but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince.”” Such was the theory of Human Increase of which Mr. Sadler was the first propounder. His work, the greatest effort of his life, and the greatest gift bestowed on mankind by any secular writer of modern times, appeared in the spring of the year 1830. Its reception, externally, was immeasurably be- neath its merits, but its success was complete. And it is very necessary, in this case, to discrimi- nate between the two. The book itself was overcharged with matter. More than thirteen hundred closely-printed pages, crowded with an hundred-and-four statistical tables, presented a task from which the great majority of readers would naturally shrink back. Even those journals which might have been ex- pected to assist the progress of the work, declined to grapple with its prodigious mass of proofs. Blackwood's Magazine devoted an article to the praise of a detached appendix, and the Quarterly Review suggested doubts as to the theory; but neither of these works so much as attempted to * Proverbs xiv. 28. HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 189 deal with the question,--whether or not the theory itself was established by proof? The Edinburgh Review, on the other hand, lent itself to a mean and base attempt to show the proof to have failed;—mean and base, because it consisted in garbling and falsification. Mr. Sadler had given a view of all the counties of England, showing how fully they exhibited the operation of the principle for which he contended. Mr. Sadler's table was a complete one, suppressing nothing, and contriving nothing. The Edinburgh Reviewer, professing to give this table, first cut off one end of it, and then the other, and then, giving the middle only, so contrived, by an arbi- trary distribution, as to get rid of the fact which stood in his way. Having thus, by mere mutila- tion, destroyed one of Mr. Sadler's hundred proofs, he coolly declared all the rest to be of like invali- dity, and so evaded the force of the whole body of evidence | * Thus misrepresented on one hand, and faintly defended on the other, it was natural that the work, which from its ponderosity, required all the friendly aid that could be obtained, should make less rapid and visible progress, in taking possession of the public mind, than its predecessor. Never- * See Appendia (C.) 190 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, theless its advance, though gradual, was not less certain. No one candid or unbiassed student have we ever been able to discover or hear of, who rose from its perusal without the most perfect convic- tion of its truth. Nor were testimonies to its value and importance wanting, even in the highest walks of literature and science. Mr. Sharon Turner, in his Sacred History of the World, thus alluded to it. “It is this undiminishing and undecaying pro- perty in plants which may rescue us from that chimerical dread of a superabundant population of the earth, under which we have been labouring for the last thirty years, until Mr. Sadler's tables, calculations, and reasonings, have at last rescued us from it. I allude to Mr. Sadler's ‘Law of Population,” which has thrown, at last, the steady and animating light of truth on a darkened and much-mistaken subject. A great mistake has been prevailing on this subject; the true law of nature was misconceived; partial effects were taken to be the general rule, and the real agency greatly overrated; and thereby an imaginary law has been assumed, which has never operated as has been alleged. In nature, the law of population has never exceeded that of the productive power of vegetable life, and never will.” + * Turner's Sacred History. Vol. I. p. 113, 114. HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 191 From an immense mass of epistolary congratula- tions we shall only stop to quote two or three. Sir John Sinclair acknowledges “the very great satisfaction” with which he has perused the work, and adds, that “never before had the subject been so thoroughly and profoundly investigated.” The venerable Dr. Storer of Nottingham, writes —“I cannot suppress the gratitude I owe, with the community in general, for one of the greatest benefits that could be conferred upon it.”—— “For, in a moral or political view, what can be a greater national benefit, than to fix the foundation of the whole system of political economy on its only sure and unerring basis; a knowledge of that universal law, by which the increase of the human race is regulated, under all circumstances, and in every region of the habitable world.” “I have really been upon my guard, and have read your work with all the jealousy of a disciple of the Malthusian school. My conclusion is, that the law of human increase which you have discovered and maintained, is a truth founded in nature. It may be assailed, but cannot be invalidated. All the facts already known, and applicable to the subject, coincide in demonstrating its truth. Fur- ther discussion will necessarily lead to a multi- tude of other facts bearing upon the question; but such is its striking analogy to the other known 192 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. laws of nature, and such its admirable provision for all the various conditions in which society may be placed, that I feel a firm conviction, that a further accumulation of facts will confirm the principle which seems to me to be already esta- blished—and established on a basis as immoveable as Newton's demonstration of the Copernican system.” Dr. Storer adds, “I cannot forbear expressing my surprize at the extent and depth of research into which you have been led, in establishing this fundamental truth. If I did not know the con- trary, I could have fancied that your life had been passed in your library.” Dr. Southey writes as follows—“You have demonstrated that Malthus's theory is as absurd, as the consequences to which it necessarily leads are execrable. And the proofs by which you have supported your own deductions, are as conclusive as they are surprizing. Part of its work this will do now, and hereafter the truth will be universally acknowledged : but for the present race of political economists, (who are the pests, and bid fair to be the ruin of the country,) they will not be persuad- ed, though one rose from the dead l’’ We must here add, what was overlooked in a former chapter, the testimony of the Bishop of Llandaff, Dr. Copleston, to Mr. Sadler's former HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 193 work. His Lordship, after apologizing for address- ing Mr. S. says, “the great interest which your work on Ireland has excited in my mind, will not allow me to remain silent.” “You have triumphant- ly exposed the sophistry of Macculloch about ab- senteeism; and your view of the evils of Ireland, and their appropriate remedies, appears to me ad- mirable. Poor laws, and a tax on absenteeism, I have always thought the best, but I should have been quite unable to assign sufficient reasons, had I not read your book.” - - The greatest triumph of Mr. Sadler's work, however, consisted, in this case, as in the former, much less in the plaudits of friends, or the struggles and contentions of foes, than in the gradual but im- mediate and perceptible crumbling away of the ri- val system. The Malthusian theory received its death-wound on the day when Mr. Sadler's work appeared ; its dying struggles were decently con- cealed by the mantle cast over them by its friends; but the whole system has now passed away, and must be reckoned among the things that were. The silence which has been maintained, though it may have rendered the decease of the system an unobserved event in the minds of the multitude, cannot prevent us from comparing the ascendan- cy of Malthusianism in 1820–1830, with its ut- ter oblivion in 1830–1840. We might apply to O 194, LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. it the expressive language of the Psalmist;-“I sought for it, but lo, it could no where be found !” The sudden change which was wrought in the minds of the foremost defenders of the theory of Malthus was not quite imperceptible, though those parties naturally said as little as possible concern- ing their idol's fall. We find the Edinburgh Re- view, in March, 1824, speaking of the doctrines of Malthus as things established, and beyond doubt: “It has been supposed by many, that the compa- rative density of the population of different coun- tries afforded the best test of their condition; and that those nations which had the greatest popu- lation must necessarily be the best governed, and the most prosperous and happy. But the examples of Ireland and the United States, and the princi- ples unfolded in Mr. Malthus's work on population, have shewn the fallacy of this criterion; and have indeed at length effected a complete change in the public opinion on this subject.”* A similar tone is preserved, even down to January 1830, when Mr. Malthus's book is styled an invaluable work.”f In January, 1831, however, when Mr. Sadler's treatise had been published some months, and had had time to produce some results, a far different feeling is observable. Mr. Malthus's work is now * Edinburgh Review. Vol. XL. p. 1. Ibia, vol. L. p. 352. HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 195 described as “incomplete,” and “one-sided,” and his famous “geometrical and arithmetical ratios,” the very pillars of his system, are said to constitute “a fruitful source of controversy and miscon- ception.”” In the same article praise is given to Mr. M“Culloch’s “chapter on population,” “modified as it now is.” And very considerably “modified” had that chapter been 1 Mr. M'Culloch, in his first edition, had shewn himself a thorough-going Malthusian. But in his second edition, which the Edinburgh Reviewer had then under notice, and which was published after Mr. Sadler's unanswer- able defence of the Poor Laws, in his work on Ireland, had appeared, Mr. M'Culloch's views were found to be so radically altered, as to lead him to insert, what is most abhorrent to a Mal- thusian,—an elaborate argument in favour of a legal provision for the poor! The legislative history, however, of the last fif- teen years, if a rapid retrospect be taken of it, affords the best proof of the fact, that Malthusian- ism, once so paramount, must now to be reck- oned among the things gone by. Turing the period between 1820 and 1830, the poor laws of England seemed abandoned by all. On •º * Edinburgh Review. Vol. LII. p. 342. O 2 196 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. { every side they were reviled; on none, defended. The only question seemed to be, who should be their legislatorial executioner ? The government, what with the currency question, the Romish question, the free-trade question, and the ordinary duties of an executive, seemed to shrink from the task; and individual members of parliament were every now and then offering their services to perform what seemed to be a duty alike recognized by all. In 1821 a bill was introduced by Mr. Scarlett, carried through several stages, and only dropped at last on account of the approaching close of the session. This bill treated the existing law as alto- gether indefensible, and at once proposed to fix a maximum of amount to be raised, and to take away the right of relief in all but certain cases. The mover's language was, that “The effect of making an unlimited provision for the poor, it would ap- pear, a priori, must be this, to operate as a pre- mium for poverty, indolence, licentiousness, and immorality.” A year or two after, another bill was brought in, which seriously proposed to make every reci- pient of parochial relief, throughout the kingdom, wear a badge of disgrace, and a mark of crimi- mality - In 1827, Mr. Slaney introduced a measure which was also abandoned for want of time; and which HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 197 would have enacted, almost literally, the Malthu- sian code. It proposed to take away, altogether, the general right of relief, and to permit assistance to be given only in certain cases. The theory and writings of Mr. Malthus were especially appealed to, in support of this measure. In the following year the same gentleman offer- ed a fresh proposition, which, however, he soon desisted from pressing. Shortly after this, the writings of Mr. Sadler be- gan to exercise an influence over the public mind; and accordingly, while we hear no more of these propositions to take away the poor man's right of re- lief, we observe, when the government itself at last took up the question, a marked amelioration of tone. . Lord Althorpe, in 1834, when opening his plans for the amendment of the Poor Laws, alluded to the economists and their theories, only to disavow their opinions. He admitted that the ground he took was opposed to the principles of what was called “political economy; ” but he preferred being ruled by the ordinary feelings of humanity. And, accordingly, while there was much that was harsh and objectionable in his plan, there was still nothing of Malthusianism in it. No taking away or abridging the right of relief; no badge of crime inflicted on the distressed ; but a distinct 198 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. adherence to the ancient law. We are not ex- pressing a decided approval of the measure, when we admit or rather assert, that it was a very differ- ent one from what Mr. Malthus and his disciples would have counselled. Such, then, has been the success of Mr. Sadler's greatest work; the most complete, – however imperceptible to a cursory view, - that could possibly be conceived. With far less of public applause than greeted and followed his treatise on Ireland, its effect on the mind and legislation of the country has been equally signal and triumph- ant. The one, in fact, carried the poor laws into Ireland; the other saved the poor laws of England; and both may be safely said to have exerted a more powerful influence on the bent, and purposes, and opinions of the English people, than any other productions of a similar class, during the present century. A brief mention may here be made of a sin- gle circumstance, which may perhaps, to many minds, place the fact of the destruction of the Malthusian theory in a clearer point of view. We allude to the remarkable change in the marketable value of Mr. Malthus’s work. When Mr. Sadler first explained his theory, and produced his proofs, to the publisher of Mr. Malthus's work, the exclamation of the latter was, HIS WORK ON POPULATION. 199 —“Why, Sir, you are going to destroy a copy- right which cost me five hundred guineas 1” And most fully and literally was this prediction fulfilled. At the moment of the appearance of Mr. Sadler's treatise, in the commencement of 1830, the wri- ter of these lines felt it desirable to compare the two systems together; and not having a very high opinion of Mr. Malthus's work, he sought for a copy at a cheaper rate than the usual price. But the reply was, that it was never to be had even a shade below the publication-price ; and that second-hand copies, in sales, brought nearly the first cost when new. Such was the market-value of the book, in the year 1830. In the year 1835—only five years afterwards, the publisher sold off the remainder of the edition, issued at 24s, and the price be ob- tained for them was 5s. 9d. per copy Whether there exists a parallel case, of a work, previously considered to be of established fame, and yet thus utterly and almost instantly destroyed by an opposing theory, we are unable to say. CHAPTER VIII. THE SESSION OF 1830—MoTION FOR Poor LAWS IN IRELAND-DISSOLUTION.—NEW PARLIAMENT. MR. SADLER’s attendance on his parliamentary duty in the spring of 1830 was unremitting. We find his name in the debate on the address, Feb. 5. and on various other occasions in March, April, and May. But his mind now began to turn upon the best method of introducing to parliament those plans which constantly occupied his thoughts, and the prospect of bringing which under the attention of the legislature, had ever constituted his chief mo- tive for entering into public life. The regenera- tion of the industrious classes of the empire, required, he deeply felt, a series of remedial mea- sures; but mature reflection convinced him that the first in order must be, the equalization of Ire- land with England, in the matter of a national pro- vision for the indigent poor. On the 3d of June, therefore, pursuant to notice given, he moved the following wise and temperate resolution,--a resolu- Poor LAws For IRELAND. 201 tion which, in the course of the last two years, we have seen carried into full effect, by a positive enactment, solemnly agreed to by large and triumphant majorities in both houses— “Resolved, that it is the opinion of this House, that the establishment of a system of poor laws in Ireland, on the principle of that of the 43d of Queen Elizabeth, with such alterations and improvements as the course of time, and the difference in the circumstances of England and Ireland may require, —is expedient and necessary to the welfare of the people of both countries.” . - The speech in which Mr. Sadler proposed this resolution, and thus opened in parliament the first of his plans for the improvement of the condition of the industrious classes, seems to us a model of its kind. Its restricted extent, occupying in deli-. very little more than an hour, shewed that nothing was wasted on useless ornament or verbiage. The tone and general character of the composition is grave, earnest, and argumentative; and wholly free from what constituted the speaker's besetting temptation, a tendency to the florid and the over- wrought. And the substance of the address, its statements and reasonings, constituted a demon- stration of the undeniable justice and urgent ne- cessity of his proposition, which set all reply at de- fiance, and to which, in fact, none was attempted. 202 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. His opening observation was explanatory of his motive for placing this question in the foreground of all his plans for the amelioration of the condition of the labouring poor. The same consideration was also well calculated to arrest the attention of the British legislature. The subject was pro- pounded as an English and a Scotch question ; not at all as an Irish one exclusively. “The first argument, then, which I shall advance in behalf of this proposition, is founded on the absolute necessity of such a provision, as regards the labouring classes of England. Much has been said of late concerning the necessity of assimilat- ing as closely as possible the institutions of the two Islands; the necessity of so doing, in this respect, is abundantly apparent. The Union has not only identified the legislatures of the two countries, but has given far greater facilities to their mutual intercourse; and still more closely even than that great measure, have the invention and extensive adoption of steam-navigation united them, and placed them, indeed, in point of prac- tical effect, in closer contact than, for instance, are the great and populous northern counties, with this the metropolitan one—rendering the interna- tional communication, as respects the mass of the community, more easy, cheap, and rapid. The effects are abundantly plain, and in the present POOR, LAWS FOR IRELAND. 203 state of things irremediable. The institution of the Poor Law of England encourages the de- mand for, and increases the value of labour, as well as abates distress; in Ireland, in consequence of the want of such a law, labour is discouraged, and distress increased. The inevitable result is— the constant influx of numbers from the latter country, which nothing but a better and uniform system will ever prevent. “Other circumstances also conspire to make this defect a still greater evil. If we consider the necessary consequences of Irish absenteeism, and the great extent to which it is unhappily carried ; the want of labour, exorbitant rents, and the ruin- ous and oppressive system of underletting, to which it gives rise; if to these evils are added the clearing of farms, and driving forth the inha- bitants at the pleasure of those who are thus in- vested virtually, though not ostensibly, with the power of life and death, and who are the means too frequently of occasioning the latter; if we also recollect that steam navigation has, by facilitating the cheap and speedy export of cattle, been ano- ther cause of that increase in the size of farms, and comparative diminution in the tillage of the country, which has dispossessed so many little farmers and their labourers of their employment and their homes ; I say, if we take into conside- 204 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. ration these and other distressing facts, we are no longer at a loss to account for that mass of misery which is in constant existence, and which it is diffi- cult to overrate or describe. Numerous little cul- tivators, who, notwithstanding the parsimony of living to which they submit, are barely enabled to sustain life, are deprived of their last shilling, and sent forth at once, without the slightest pro- vision, upon a country which yields them no employment, and affords them no relief. Whi- ther can they direct their course ? Many who can proceed so far, find “a distant home be- yond the western main ;”—more still repair to this country, where they overstock the market of labour, and occasion in no inconsiderable degree that distress under which our industrious popu- lation now suffers. Such, then, are the undeni- niable consequences of the want of a provision for the poor of Ireland similar to that of this country. The case would be precisely the same in England, were the poor in one half of it adequately provided for, and were they in the other left totally desti- tute. The indigent in the latter part would most certainly take refuge in the former, even though not entitled to direct relief, in order to share in the general advantages which must ever result from such a system. The Irish do so, and in increas- ing multitudes—nor do I blame them. I condemn POOR LAWS FOR IRELAND. 205 those who refuse them in their own country that relief in their distresses which justice and huma- nity equally dictate, and which is rendered in every other civilized nation upon earth. Thus is it that the want of a legal provision for the poor of Ireland operates as a grievous injury on those of England. The proprietors in the former island, being under no obligation to sustain the unem- ployed, the destitute, and the distressed, have an interested and selfish motive, which may indeed be denominated a premium, for thus getting rid of them and driving them forth to utter destitu- tion, when many of them necessarily take refuge here. They come for employment and for bread. The market of labour here is consequently over- stocked, and its value greatly depressed by the unnatural rivalry of those numbers who are annu- ally obliged to make this country their asylum. Thus it is that in the field and in the factory, at the forge or at the loom, in every sphere of in- dustry, the Englishman finds himself interfered with, his wages greatly reduced, and himself in many cases thrown out of employment. The poor creatures who take refuge here, I repeat, I do not blame; absenteeism has deprived them of the means of subsistence, and, in effect, ex- pelled them from the country. I would there- fore receive and relieve them till a better system 206 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. is established. In the mean time, however, I cannot refrain from reprobating in the strongest terms the conduct of those who cause these con- stant deportations. The interests of our own poor imperiously demand that those of Ireland should be sustained ; nor are their interests alone con- cerned; so great and general have the evils to which I have referred become, that it will, I think, be found ere long, that the rights of property, as well as those of poverty, will alike prescribe the same remedy; and then indeed may the poor of Ireland confidently hope for redress.” - But from this secondary, though urgent argu- ment, the speaker proceeded at once to the higher ground of a claim of right ; asserting without he— sitation, but at the same time defining with the greatest accuracy, what he felt to be the just claims of the poor. “I approach,” he says, “the argument with the greater confidence of success, from having ob- served that the ground of all the several propo- sitions which have been lately submitted to this House, and some of them adopted, has been sim- ply that of justice,—alterations of the most mo- mentous nature, with some of which I had the misfortune not to concur; others of a like kind, which are still, it appears, contemplated : changes affecting, I may say revolutionizing, many insti- POOR LAWS FOR IRELAND. 207 tutions which had long been held sacred, have been all supported by the simple argument of jus- tice. No matter how ancient was the principle to be attacked ; no matter how deeply-rooted the prejudices which were to be encountered; no matter how nearly individual interests might ap- pear to be touched; all these, it was, and still is agreed, ought certainly to give way to the prin- ciple of human rights—to the undoubted claims of justice. I hail these appeals, however I may differ sometimes as to their application ; I hail them more especially as regards my present mo- tion, which is one, the justice of which is perhaps more apparent and demonstrable, however consi- dered, than any abstract legislative proposition ever entertained. And if to justice be added ano- ther plea, hardly less sacred, certainly not less touching,-that of mercy, I cannot but think that it must be successful : that it will prevail on this occasion, I cherish the strongest hopes; but that it will be finally triumphant, I am fully certain. A measure which is equally dictated by the prin- ciples of reason, and the feelings of humanity; by the institutions of civilization, and the rights and interests of society at large; which has been sanctioned by the highest authorities that have ever existed, and adopted by every civilized coun- try upon earth, cannot be withheld from that one 208 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. island which, though forming an integral part of the richest empire in the world, stands forth as one of the most striking examples of misery which Europe presents; and in which, therefore, a nati- onal system of charity is the most essentially ne- cessary. Before touching, however, upon this right of poverty, it may be proper to define what is meant by it. It is not put forth on behalf of the poor, as a right to a division of any part of the real property of the country; on the contrary, it is one urged in perfect consistency with all the just claims of property, however rigidly main- - tained, and by whomsoever expounded; it simply implies, a real and indisputable right, that, after the institutions of the country have sanctioned the monopoly of property, the poor shall have some reserved claims to the necessaries of life ; and that these claims shall be available in the case of those only who may be smitten with sickness, and consequently incapable of labour; disabled by age or incurable disease, and who can therefore la- bour no more ; of that infancy which, left parent- less and destitute, makes so touching a demand upon our care; of that state of wretchedness, so common in Ireland, owing to causes to which I have already alluded, when those who are most wil- ling, and even anxious to work, can nevertheless obtain no employment: that these should be re- POOR LAWS FOR IRELANI). 209 lieved in some humble degree, so confined, if you please, and limited, that the right thus recog- nised shall make but a small inroad on the amount of that wealth which shall be called upon to administer to these necessities; nay, on the contrary, when duly understood, should actu- ally increase its advantages. Finally, that all assistance should be administered in the form of remunerated labour, wherever the applicants are capable of it, to those who are willing and anxious to earn their humble pittance by the sweat of their brow. Such, then, are the narrow limita- tions of the right we assert in behalf of human in- digence;—the bare right of existence.” Having thus stated the principle, he naturally deals, in the next place, with its impugners. “But, Sir, it forms a distressing feature in some of the systems now promulgated, that this right, which for a succession of centuries has never been denied, now begins to be disputed. It lies at the foundation, however, of my proposition, and as such I shall attempt to uphold it; not indeed by any abstract arguments of my own, but by the unani- mous reasonings and declarations of the highest authorities that ever existed in the world, which I shall give in their own language. In doing this I shall not allude to the institutions of the legis- lators of the free states of antiquity, those of P 210 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, Greece and Rome, all of which it is well known recognised the right of their citizens to legal relief, and in a way so highly eulogized by many of their philosophers; nor shall I draw an argument at present from the still more liberal and far more imperative and direct institutions of Moses. I shall not appeal to the authority of the primitive church before it was legally established, nor to its laws when it became dominant, in favour of this right; it may suffice to state that it was ac- knowledged and enforced by all these, and by every argument, drawn from whatever source, human or divine. I will rather prove my position by the reasonings of those who have studied, in later times, the rights of mankind, and to whose exposition of them the world continues to appeal; only selecting, however, a very few of these, but those few of such an order as that numbers could add nothing to the weight and importance of their authority.” He then adduces the judgment of Grotius, Puf- fendorf, Montesqueui, Locke, Blackstone, and Paley, and alludes to others, as Tillotson, But- ler, Bacon, Hale, and others, whom time forbade him to quote ; and proceeds in the next place, to brush away some of the follies of modern wri- ters,—such as, that the provision for the poor ought to be optional,—ought to be left to the POOR LAWS FOR IRELAND. 2II voluntary system ;—that the poor ought to be taught frugality, and be obliged to provide for their own necessities by savings'-banks! &c. Having disposed of these puerilities, he returns to the main question, and proceeds to shew, that as all statists and philosophers of the least repu- tation have asserted these rights, so all civilized countries have recognized and provided for them. Having adverted to ancient history, he proceeds; “Can there be a doubt whether Christianity weakened the obligation to make a certain and adequate provision for the poor—that religion of which a writer so eloquently alluded to the other evening, Bolingbroke, said, “that charity was its very boast !” Wherever that religion has spread, there have legal institutions in behalf of poverty prevailed. In some of its forms it may be doubted whether the provision has not been carried to a culpable excess, increasing and perpetuating, by actual and permanent temptations to idleness and improvidence, that poverty it was intended only to relieve. History informs us how early a Poor Law was introduced amongst ourselves. It was established by the father of our monarchy, and the founder of our liberties—Alfred. He ordained, as one of our earliest law-books informs us, that the poor should be sustained by the parsons and inhabitants of the parishes, so that none should P 2 212 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. die for want of sustenance; a provision substan- tially the same as that which is now happily es- tablished amongst us. In all the Catholic coun- tries of Europe we know the extent and splendour of the endowments for the poor. In the Protes- tant ones, another, and I think, a preferable, sys- tem prevails, namely, a direct Poor Law, which connects moral superintendence with charitable relief. This is the case, for instance, in Switzer- land; in Sweden ; in Denmark; in N orway. Even Iceland, poor as she is, is not too poor to have a law for the relief of the indigent. Holland, it need not be said, had very early in its history the same institution, and has long been a pattern to the world for the exemplary manner in which the poor are there sustained. In the Netherlands there is a similar law in full operation. In France, where the spoliation of the Revolution ruined so many of the rich, and seized also upon the funds set apart for poverty and distress, the public revenue is be- ginning to be disbursed for the relief of indigence, and a regular system is gaining ground through- out the country. In the New World also, where we had been taught by some to suppose that no poor, nor laws for their relief, existed, we know, on the contrary, that the most liberal and efficient system of legal charity ever established is in full operation, involving, as far as our information POOR LAWS FOR IRELAND. 213 hitherto extends, an expense to which even Eng- land is a stranger. Thus, for instance, the poor of the city of New York cost the public not far short of 200,000 dollars annually, and those of Philadelphia upwards of 100,000; sums which strike us as surprisingly large when we consider the cheapness of provisions and the great demand for, and high price of, labour, and what vast tracts of uncultivated land of the most fertile description are every where found. In proof of the liberality with which our transatlantic brethren sustain their poor, Dr. Dwight may be appealed to, or Warden, who estimates the annual cost of their paupers as amounting to forty-five dollars each. “I might extend these proofs of the universality of a national provision for the poor even beyond the limits of Christendom. It exists in the East, and especially in the Mahomedan countries; nay, even in China, where, notwithstanding the pre- sent age has in extreme simplicity supposed the population to be so excessive as to render it neces- sary for the people to kill their children, and to eat almost any thing but each other from sheer want, in China, Sir, there are Poor Laws, per- fectly adapted to the condition and habits of the country, in full operation, and carried to an ex- tent unknown in the western world, affording a direct provision to all beyond a certain and not 214 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. very advanced age, and prescribing that lands shall be awarded on advantageous terms to those who want employment and subsistence; an insti- tution to which, perhaps, the unrivalled perfec- tion of their minute cultivation, while that on a large scale is confessedly so contemptible, may be fairly attributed. Whichever way we turn, there- fore, we see a system of national charity com- pletely established, except in one country, and that country is found, unhappily, in our own European empire; and, still more lamentable is the fact, in that part of it where such an institu- tion is more than in any other indispensably ne- cessary. But I shall not dwell further upon these instances,<-though embodying as they do the feel- ings, principles, and experience of mankind in . all ages and countries of the world, they are of the highest importance to the argument. It is enough to have simply appealed to the fact, that in almost every country under the sun where the rights of human beings are at all recognised, and where the public institutions are professedly foun- ded upon them, there is a legal provision made for poverty, which is the more efficient the fur- ther such nations may be advanced in knowledge and character. So true is the observation of our great moralist, Dr. Johnson,-- A decent provi- sion for the poor is the true test of civilization.’” POOR LAWS FOR IRELAND. 215 He then, at some length, proceeds to demon- strate the peculiar claims of Ireland to be thus “civilized,” and to trace the greater proportion of her sufferings and miseries to the want of such a legal provision, and concludes this branch of the subject as follows; - “Yes, Sir, notwithstanding the repeated and confident assertions to the contrary, there is not in the world a sphere where human labour might be more beneficially employed : whether on the millions of uncultivated acres, now wholly unpro- ductive, or on those which, though cultivated, are not, with reference to their potential produc- tiveness, half tilled; or in those inexhaustible mines of wealth beneath the fertile surface, hi- therto almost wholly unexplored—in many of the noble rivers of the island,-on all its shores,-and surrounding these, in those wastes of the ocean which offer their supplies with unfailing certainty, and in quantities literally inexhaustible, means, Sir, of profitable employment arise in every direc- tion; of employment, which would at once ad- vance the people in all the arts of civilization ; invest the country with additional health and beauty, and crown it with increasing plenty. Strange that while nature herself thus solicits us to engage in those magnificent tasks which await future generations, it should be the present policy 216 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. to slight the means by which they can alone be accomplished,—human beings; to pronounce these redundant in numbers, and expel them from the country on pain of starving them in it “Under all these circumstances, then, and after mature consideration, I have arrived at the conclusion that not only is a legal provision for the poor in Ireland the most just and necessary, but that it would also be the most beneficial, of all national measures. It would discourage idleness; it would raise the value of labour, now so distress- ingly low; it would promote economy and dis- pense comfort; it would ensure peace—nay it would diminish the expenditure, as well as the suffering and destitution of the country; it would not only be a blessing to the poor, but a boon to the benevolent, by compelling those who are the main cause of creating and aggravating the gene- ral distress, the absentees, to contribute to its relief; in one word, it would equally advantage every class of society, the benefactors and the benefited ; and, in the literal meaning of the term, it would be that mercy which is twice blessed, which blesseth him who gives and him who takes.’” He then left the question in the hands of the House, in the following appeal: “Sir, the poor of Ireland are this night at the bar of the Imperial Parliament. Many of the POOR LAWS FOR IRELAND. 217 more fortunate of their fellow-countrymen already acknowledge their claims, and are most anxious to concede them. The interests of the nation demand a concession of those humble rights which have been already recognized in every civilized country upon earth. An act of mercy and justice can never be contrary to true policy; and this, more especially, is one which conscience dictates, and the public. voice demands; and which, sooner or later, must therefore be conceded, even if now refused. May we better consult what is due to Our character, to our constituents, and to our coun- try, and not record our verdict against justice and mercy, because they are found in the garb of poverty and distress. If I could bring before the most callous and persevering opponents of this measure who now hear me, those wretched objects who so loudly claim our consideration and relief; if I could bid them, “Come like shadows, so depart Show their eyes, and grieve their heart—” then, Sir, I am sure their claims would be instantly acknowledged ; and, more than this, if it were possible, by an act of prescience, to look into futu- rity, and to summon forth those miserable victims of suffering and poverty, which the further with- holding of so just and necessary a law will as 218 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. surely consign to their melancholy fate, as the want of it has already so often done in times past; if we could know the sorrow, destitution, and death, that will be the inevitable result of our longer neglect, and depict the deeper anguish and long-suffering which the more wretched survivors will have to endure, then, Sir, could any man that bears the human form hesitate as to his vote on this occasion ? And, Sir, if ours cannot, there is an eye that does foresee these sufferings, and a Being that will record them—a Being who will not hold him guiltless, who, seeing his bro- ther have need, and knowing that he will re- quire assistance, shutteth up his bowels of com- passion against him ; and all from a deep and doubtful speculation, founded, as I contend, upon the grossest error and delusion, that the measure proposed may possibly somewhat diminish the revenue of the more affluent part of the commu- nity. Sir, I hope better things of this Parlia- ment, whose days we know but too well are few and numbered. May it illustrate its remaining span by an act of mercy, which shall immortalize this session, and render it, in one of its terminating deeds, worthy the gratitude and admiration of the country, and the applauding re- membrance of posterity 1" POOR LAWS FOR IRELAND. 219 Such was the opening of this great question in Parliament. Nothing beyond the statement of the case, could of course be looked for on this occasion. Denounced, as the very idea had been for years past, as preposterous, ruinous, and al- most treasonable, it was much to gain a patient hearing for a serious argument in its favor. No division took place; the Government not acceding to the proposition, it passed in the negative. But the blow had been struck, and the question was, in effect, carried. An unanswerable argument had been laid before the British Parliament, and through it, before the British people. The result was certain, its accomplishment was only a ques- tion of time. This was confessed, in a single twelvemonth after, by Mr. Secretary Stanley, who, in once more opposing, in 1831, Mr. Sadler's renewed motion, said, that “He could not con- clude without expressing his persuasion, that an opinion in favor of Poor Laws was every day gain- ing ground in Ireland ; and that to an extent which no government could, or ought much longer to oppose.” At the end of this month, (June) the death of George IV. terminated the existing Parliament, and Mr. Sadler proceeded to Newark, for which borough he was again returned, on the 6th of 220 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. August, after another fruitless opposition on the part of Sergeant Wilde. Immediately after his re-election, Mr. Sadler joined his family at Redcar, where he passed the next three months. CHAPTER IX. THE SESSION OF 1830-31.—THE REFORM BILL. THE first Parliament of William IV. opened on the 26th of October, 1830, and Mr. Sadler was, as usual, present in his place. Apart from the two great sections of the House of Commons,—the ministerial and opposition,-- that session shewed a third division, as completely organized and prepared for action as either of the other two. Those earnest and conscientious op- posers of Romish ascendancy, who had felt deeply aggrieved by the conduct of the Duke of Welling- ton and Sir Robert Peel, in adopting the Relief Bill urged upon them by their opponents, found their numbers increased by the recent elections ; while their wrongs remained unatoned, and their feelings of hostility unappeased. They began, therefore, to draw together in closer bonds than heretofore, and to wait for the moment when it might be in their power to punish those recreant 222 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. friends, whom they considered to have betrayed the Commonwealth. That desired opportunity was not long postponed. On the 15th of November, Sir Henry Parnell made his attack on the ministerial proposition for the Civil List of the new reign ; when the “coun- try party,” as they were termed, joined the oppo- sition with all their forces; the cabinet suffered a defeat by a vote of 233 against 204;-and the next day declared itself dissolved, by the resig- nation of the whole administration. The King 2 immediately called upon Lord Grey to form a government, and after a brief and hurried session of a few weeks, the House of Commons broke up, to meet again in the ensuing February. For the support of Sir Henry Parnell's motion, and consequent overthrow of the Duke of Welling- ton's administration, “the country party,” with whom Mr. Sadler acted, have often been visited with severe reproach. It therefore becomes our duty, in narrating these circumstances, to consider, for a few moments, the question of, upon whom the blame of destroying that Ministry, and “let- ting in the Whigs,” ought injustice to rest. After the fullest consideration we can give the subject, we are compelled to declare, that in our view, the blame of that whole catastrophe must rest upon the administration itself, and upon it alone. DISSOLUTION OF THE MINISTRY. 223 In the first place it is undeniable, that the highest degree of provocation had been given ; and that, as far as party ties and obligations were concerned, the sincere Protestants in Parliament had been fully released from all bonds to the Wellington administration. It is also perfectly clear, that the responsibility for their votes, attaching to a ministry, as such, and to a number of independent members of Parliament, is very different in kind and degree. The one class is bound to consider every probable and even possi- ble consequence which may arise out of a vote,_ the other needs only to look to the hones- ty of the vote itself. An “unattached” mem- ber may without hesitation assist in the over- throw of what he considers a bad govern- ment; leaving to others the question, of how that government is to be replaced. Even if, contrary to any expectations he could rationally form, a still worse should succeed, and if that worse administration should descend to crimes of which he could have formed no anticipation,-his vote, given in sincerity, simply for the removal of a Cabinet in which he could place no confi- dence, remains morally unimpeachable. But let us take a larger view. The real cause of the fall of the administration of 1829-30, is not to be found in a casual vote upon the Civil 224, LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. List. Nor is it just to its opponents to charge that dissolution upon them, which its own innate weakness rendered certain, even without their hostile movement. That Cabinet fell, because by its conduct during those two years, it had alienated in turn, both the great parties in the country, and stood, now,-or rather attempted to stand,-without any popular support whatever ! There are, were, always have been, and always will be, two great parties in England, - the Conservative, and the Progressive. All who take any active part in politics must range themselves under one of these two banners. The one embo- dies those who fear change more than they desire improvement: — the other, those who desire improvement more than they tremble at change. The first class properly appreciates the high state of liberty, security, civilization and happi- ness, at which England has already arrived; and consequently looks with some apprehension on propositions, which, it is feared, by tending to fundamental changes, would endanger all these blessings. The other, inclined somewhat to undervalue the benefits already realized, is ever reaching forward with eagerness to some further attainment. Both these principles of action are necessary to our political well-being. Without the check interposed by the first, the “move- DISSOLUTION OF THE MINISTRY. 225 ment party " would urge the machine of the state so rapidly forward as to endanger its very existence;—without the progression induced by the second, society would soon stagnate into utter corruption. A truly desirable government would rest upon the first, and borrow life and energy from the second. Now such had been the ill luck, or rather the fatuity of the Wellington administration, that it had contrived, within the short space of less than two years, to quarrel irremediably with both these great parties; and it consequently found itself depending, in Nov. 1830, solely upon mere official and family connection. In Parliament it had not a majority; out of Parliament it had not a single disinterested friend. The Cabinet had first contrived to offend, most needlessly and most absurdly, all the best and most conscientious portion of its own supporters. The Tory party was necessarily made up, as all large bodies must be, of some men thoroughly honest, and some only conventionally so; —of some who were led by prejudice, or habit, or long-esta- blished party connection; and of others who acted from deeply-rooted principle and conviction. Now the bulk of those who ought to have been the most cherished and honoured,—the Tories from principle and conviction,-were united in one Q 226 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. opinion, that the exclusion of the vassals of Rome from power, was necessary to the preservation of the liberties of England. Nor was this a mere idle bugbear, or woman's fear ; picked up no one knew how. It was the settled judgment of the authors and restorers of liberty in England, the men of the Reformation, and the men of the Revolution ;–it was the conviction of Milton, of Russell, and of Locke; the firm resolve of Somers and of Sydney. Now this settled principle of Toryism, rooted deeply in the minds,—with some few exceptions, —of all who most deserved honor and esteem among their own supporters, the Wellington administration decided to set at nought. And set at nought it was, in the most insulting and irrational way possible. Without any previous consultation or discussion, and without even the pretence of a conversion to the contrary principle, the honest supporters of the Cabinet received a sudden call to abandon all their old profes- sions and principles; and this, not in deference to superior reason or argument, nor even in un- willing obedience to some fancied state-necessity; but merely because it seemed to their official leaders to be most eagedient / And this “expediency,” about which so much was said, and upon which the whole question DISSOLUTION OF THE MINISTRY. 227 was made to turn, resolved itself into nothing more than this, that the leader of the house of Commons did not like, once a year, to be left in a minority of 2, or of 5 even upon a question called an “open one.” And the result of yield- ing to the dictates of this said expediency, was, that in less than two years from that time, he was left in a minority of 29, upon a question vital to his ministry; and was forced to resign his office In 1828, resisting the Papal encroach- ments, his government seemed so strong that none could have ventured to assign a term to its exist- ence; in 1830, having yielded to Rome, he found himself like Samson shorn of his locks; and fell, not again to arise until years had passed away in vain resistance to the evil spirit which he himself had unbound. However, by this first false step, his own party had been broken up, and all the most honorable and conscientious members of it, thoroughly alien- ated. The apparent gain, which, for the moment, seemed to counterpoise this loss, was the adhesion of the Whig opposition, who looked upon the Cabinet as converts to their own principles, and for a short period yielded them a delusive sup- port. And thus, in the false position, of being abhorred by their friends, and sustained by their Q 2 228 . LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, enemies, the Ministry stumbled through an un- easy dream of a few short months. This unnatural state of things could not have long continued to exist; but its inevitable ter- mination was accelerated by a second blunder, in extent and in folly nearly equalling the first. The Whigs had embraced the recreant Tories, as newly-converted adherents to the Progressive principle. They expected, and naturally and reasonably expected, that having taken the great- est and most hazardous step in the path of what was called “Reform,” the neophytes would pro- ceed boldly in the course on which they had so undauntedly entered. “This was looked for,”— and very reasonably looked for, “and this was balked.” The Administration had committed one grand error, in yielding to a demand which principle contemned, and only a supposed expediency counselled. They now fell into a still greater; in refusing a claim to which no principle was op- posed, and which a real and genuine expediency prescribed. They had earned their ruin by a want of steadiness; they were now to complete that ruin by an exhibition of irrational tenacity. There were boroughs in England,—and not one or two merely, but several,—in which, noto- riously and beyond all doubt, the constituencies DISSOLUTION OF THE MINISTRY. 229 had become so universally corrupt, as to be pur- chasable, en masse, at every election. Nothing could be clearer than that no principle whatever could be violated by at once depriving these guilty bodies of a right, which they only held as trustees for the public at large, and yet had abused to the sole and selfish promotion of their own private emolument. There were also several large towns, which had risen into wealth and importance since the last settlement of the electoral system, and which consequently were entirely omitted in the existing scheme of representation. The inhabitants of these towns were naturally discontented at their continued exclusion from the full benefits of the Constitution ; and the bulk of the people throughout England sympathized in their com- plaints, and earnestly desired their enfranchise- ment. Here, then, was an instance in which ex- pediency might lawfully, nay, ought solely, to have dictated a course. Whenever Principle speaks, Expediency has only to be silent; but where Principle interposes not, there a just Ex- pediency is the rightful guide. Now in this case Principle could oppose no objection to the dis- franchisement called for, nor yet to the enfran- chisement claimed. Expediency, therefore, ought to have been consulted, and that Expediency 230 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. would have counselled an immediate concession of these claims. No one, now, entertains the least doubt, that the suppression of ten corrupt boroughs, and the enfranchisement of ten of the large unrepresented towns, would have been a truly Expedient mea- sure. It would have satisfied the public; would have given the Administration that popular char- acter and support which it greatly needed,—would have rendered it impossible for the Whigs to have rallied their forces for an attack, and would thus have prevented the trial of that tremendous expe- riment, the Reform Bill. But the boon was re- fused. Expediency, which had been listened to in 1829, when its voice, in opposition to Principle, ought not to have obtained the least attention, was now, in a case peculiarly its own, roughly spurned; and an open declaration of the perfection of that system which the whole country knew to be stained with imperfection, was hastily volun- teered. Having driven away the élite of the Con- servative party, by the abandonment of Protes- tantism in 1829; the Ministry now broke off all connexion with its later friends of the Progressive opinion, by its unnecessary denunciation of all Reform. And it lost its present supporters, with- out gaining back its former ones. Many of the most honest and decided of the Conservative party DISSOLUTION OF THE MINISTRY. 231 had already declared in favour of some degree of Reform. Thus the Cabinet had contrived to be in each case thoroughly in the wrong. First yielding where it ought to have been firm as a rock;-then, standing firm when it ought to have yielded. To render the error complete, the Ministry so managed matters as not only to alienate and offend by turns the two great parties in the State; but also in each case to array itself in opposition to that third, not very definite, but certainly very important body, the non-political mass of the middle orders. This is a power which no wise or prudent statesman will ever leave out of his calculation. It includes that immense body of the middle classes, who, disliking extremes, and discerning some truth in both the Conservative and Progres- sive principles, e º, IL wº Y 2 324, LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. nor any individual, whatever be his pursuit, be incited to those becoming exertions, on which hu- man prosperity, individual and national, depends, without holding out further adequate induce- ments and rewards to successful efforts. I would then, propose as a reward and distinction to the deserving poor, what would indeed be to them no empty honour, but the highest possible advantage, though still it would involve no pecuniary sacri- fices whatever. I would restore to such the op- portunity of keeping on customary terms, their cow. These cottagers would have to be selected for their good conduct, industrious habits, and honest endeavours to bring up their families with- out parochial relief. They would have to be ad- mitted tenants of little intakes, or to depasture upon a general allotment, and having a meadow appropriated for the purpose of providing them with hay. Either of these plans might be adopt- ed, and both of them have been so, with great success; that, however, which gives the cottager his own share in severalty, is undoubtedly to be preferred. - “I have contemplated the difficulty which, in certain instances, the most industrious of our labourers would have, in raising sufficient money for this purpose. This difficulty, however, is more apparent than real, and may be obviated, as I will CASE OF THE AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS. 325 on another occasion shew, when I hope to enter more into the details, and less into the principle of the measure, with equal advantage to all par- ties. A point far more material to mention is, that the measure contemplates securing the ad- vantages proposed, whether for keeping the cow Or the garden, af the Current and usual terms of land of equal quality in the same district, and let by the same owners. And I am ashamed of ac- knowledging how necessary is this provision ; otherwise, that extortion to which the poor are now exposed, would pursue them again. I have ascertained, beyond all doubt, that in those few instances where the poor now obtain, or have been suffered to retain, the advantages in question, they too frequently pay for them, on the average, more than double what is demanded from the larger tenants in the immediate neighbourhood! This advantage secured to the little cultivator, I will engage for the effects. Happiness will be conferred on the class in question, and their superiors will also be rewarded ; for to the argu- ments which justice and generosity suggest, those which self-interest supplies may be fairly added. This plan would diminish the burden of the poor- rates, now so very heavily felt in many of the agricultural districts of this country ; and this most important consequence, I proceed to shew 326 . LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. would take place, from instances in which a simi- lar plan has been put into operation by means of private benevolence. The instance I shall first adduce is that which occurred in the parish of Long Newton, in the county of Gloucester, where the excellent and benevolent father of the present member for the university of Oxford, the late Mr. Estcourt, stated, that, out of 196 persons, thirty-two families, consisting of 140 persons, were poor, and indeed, in the depth of extreme poverty, to use his own words. The poor rates amounted to £324. 13s. 6d. In order to extricate them from this state of misery and wretchedness, he adopted a plan in some respects similar to the plan I now propose,_and what have been the consequences ! An immediate abatement in the misery of the poor ; the most gratifying improve- ment in their character and morals; and a pro- gressive diminution in the poor-rates, down to £135 in 1829 (the last year reported) amounting to 10d. in the pound only, on the valuation of the parish in 1815. In Skiptonmoyne, an adjoining parish, where the same course is pursued, I find the poor rates have diminished between 1813 and 1829, from £367 to little more than £209 on the last three years. In the small parish of Ashley, where the present excellent Member for Oxford University has also pursued the same course since CASE OF THE AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS. 327 1812, I find that the poor rates, which then stood at £89 in the year 1813, have now dropped to £55, or 10#d. in the pound. In other parishes the same effect is producing, under the same auspi- cious direction. “But, perhaps, it may be said, that every description, is found to answer under the warm and enthusiastic manangement of its patron. To show that this system of benevolence does not depend upon mere superintendence; I will, lastly, give another instance (the parish of Lyndon, in Rutland,) where the cottagers have been allowed these privileges for at least two hundred years; for at that time an inclosure took place, and the then owners had the good sense and humanity to reserve a small allotment for the purpose of letting it to the cottagers at moderate rents. A gentleman who communi- cated to the Board of Agriculture, about thirty years ago, through Lord Winchilsea, says, as a natural consequence of such a system—“We can therefore hardly say that there are any industrious persons here who are really poor, as there are in places where they have not this advantage.” This communication was made in 1796,” and I have * See Appendia (E.) 328 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. been anxious to see the effect of this system, imperfect as it is in some respects, on the poor- rates. I find that, on the average of the last seven- teen years, namely, during the period in which we have had annual returns, the amount averaged £25. 4s. 8d. only ; or, on the valuation of 1815, rather more than 4%d. in the pound; or perhaps a penny in the pound on the value of the whole produce of the parish. Would the most parsi- monious manager of the poor require a less de- mand upon the national or parochial funds than this? (The honourable member adduced two other instances, one of a village in Lincolnshire, and another in Worcestershire, where the same man- agement had produced equally beneficial results.) I had meant to have given some equally authentic proofs of the individual happiness this system cre- ates, wherever it has been partially introduced; but time will not admit. To the poor in particular, to use the language of a most intelligent corres- pondent of the Board of Agriculture, “the advan- tage is so great, as to baffle all description.” May it be the business of this house, as it is its evident duty, to make that happiness universal.” We shall add only Mr. Sadler's brief pero- ration, and then conclude the subject. “Sir, I would fain hope that in this house, the condition of the poor will still meet anxious con- CASE OF THE AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS. 329 sideration—that here, their wrongs will find re- dress. The suggestions of private benevolence, aided, indeed, by the soundest views of policy and interest, have long been urged in vain; their wrongs have gone on increasing, and will never be redressed, except this house interfere. Let it do so then, and without delay; let wealth al- low to industry which incessantly labours for its benefit, a comfortable abode, wherein to rest. Let those who demand their summer toil, give them the means of employment and subsistence in the winter season, lest the cry of them that have reaped our fields, come up before the Lord of the harvest; that Deity who is no respecter of persons; or, if He be, who is the respecter of the poor and needy. If feelings of justice and gratitude no longer sufficiently prevail, let those of just apprehension and awakened fear be added. Recollect the mighty power with which we have to deal. Like another Samson, we deem it blind, and doom it to grind at the mill, for our pleasure and convenience; but let the economists and politicians take care how they sport much longer with its unawakened feelings, lest the spirit of vengeance and of strength return upon it, and it bow itself mightily against the pillars of your unrighteous system, and destroy the social structure, though itself 330 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. perish in the ruins. Sir, I trust, this House will listen to the suggestions of kindness and be- nevolence; that it will support a measure which demands the permanent sacrifice of none of the property of the country, but which, on the con- trary, would greatly lighten the burthens it now sustains, and above all, would give prosperity and peace to our rural poor. Let the House then assume its noblest character, that of the protector of the poor, and seeing that the suggestions of hu- manity and the dictates of policy have long been disregarded, let the law once more interpose its sacred shield, and protect the defenceless and the wretched from the miseries which they have too long endured.” From this rapid review of one of Mr. Sadler's plans, two observations seem naturally to arise. 1. How total and universal is the opposition existing, between a really philanthropic system, such as that of Mr. Sadler, and the whole series of schemes and propositions emanating from the Malthusian or Economists’ school. Within the last twenty years a number of per- sons of the latter class, possessed of discernment enough to perceive the disorder and derangement which has been spreading among the industrious portions of the community, have tendered, in CASE OF THE AGRICULTURAL I, ABOURERS. 331 various ways, their counsel, as to the best method of remedying these unquestionable evils. One of these boldly went the whole length of Malthu- sianism, and proposed, in Parliament, to enact a penal law against marriage; penal at least so far as this, that every poor man who ventured to marry after a certain day to be fixed, should do it on peril of seeing his children, in any period of distress, perish before his face; all claim to relief being, by statute, formally taken away. The recep- tion given to this proposal being but a cool one, another more charitably proposes to a Parlia- mentary Committee, to print heaps of tracts on “ the principles of population,” for distribution among the boys and girls of the working classes; sagely expecting, by these little books, to deter the said boys and girls from doing anything having a tendency “to burden the market of labour,” by augmenting “the already redundant population.” This wiseacre of course got laughed at; in spite of which, societies “ for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge” were formed, and a variety of stories and tracts against marriage were pushed into cir- culation. Later still, we have had Emigration- nostrums in abundance; and the latest fancy of all seems to be, to provide the poor with play- grounds and gymnasiums, (!) without, however, attempting to do any one thing to relieve them 332 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, from the necessity of working thirteen or fourteen hours a-day, to get bread for their children Now some of these schemes have emanated from men of talent, and some of them from men of humanity. And yet, such is the besotting in- fluence of the Malthusian theory, that the hu- mane men have been found to propose some of the most cruel,—the clever men some of the most absurd, of all schemes that ever have been concocted. And amidst the whole, including a great number of propositions, in the long course of twenty years, not one proposal was ever made, even in a quarter of a century, which so much as contemplated the giving to the poor man the solid value of a single shilling ! Various things were to be taken away ; marriage was to be made a prohibited thing; home and children were to be removed out of reach ; –or, if the schemer were kindhearted, he might propose to give the poor man “population-tracts,” or a “gymnasium :” but the first, and we believe the only person, in a quarter of a century, who so much as mooted the idea, of giving any substantial relief, any real boon, to the people, was Michael Thomas Sadler. One great practical difference between these schemers, and such a man as Mr. Sadler, consisted in this, that the tendency and drift of his mind ever was, to do something for, to bestow some- CASE OF THE AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS. 333 thing upon, those who were in need. Whereas the bias among the Economists seem to be, we speak of the masters of that school, and by no means of all their scholars,) to deal with the poor as with locusts, or vermin, and by every plan, to cut them short, and to reduce their numbers. Thus, when an examination of the several con- ditions of the labourer and the pauper were gone into, and it appeared that there was far too slight a difference between the two, the Malthusian and the Sadlerian would instantly propose re- medies diametrically opposed to each other. The follower of Malthus would exclaim, “How abo- minable ! that the pauper should fare as well as, or better than, the hard-working man. Let his provision be immediately reduced.” The disciple of Mr. Sadler, on the other hand, would say, “How shocking ! that the honest and industrious labourer, should fare no better than the idle pau- per Let us see whether something cannot be done, to raise his condition.” The one arguing from this unjust equality, in favor of taking some- thing from the pauper;-the other, from the same circumstance, in favor of giving something to the labourer. Such was the drift and governing principle of the proposition we have now been considering. Seeing the undeniable fact;-that many privileges 334 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. and advantages had been taken from the working man, in the course of the last half-century, and that by these reductions he had been left in a state of hopeless, helpless poverty, with no appa- rent way of raising himself, by any conceivable exertion or skill,—Mr. Sadler's first attempt was, to hold out a friendly hand, and to afford to the labourer some opportunity of extricating himself from the poverty with which he was on every side surrounded. His object was, to act on the poor man by the powerful motive of hope. The only motive ever used by the Economists, in their endeavours to improve the condition of the poor, is the opposite one of fear. Which is the most humane of the two, and which the wisest, it does not seem difficult to determine. - 2. And this naturally gives rise to another re- flection ; which we should rejoice to be able to convey to the minds of the great body of the in- dustrious classes;–namely, that it is a gross de- lusion and a fraud, which would impose upon them, as their real or their only friends, certain parties whose chief characteristic is, a noisy zeal on the democratic side on all political contro- versies. Now the broad fact ought to be generally un- derstood, and seriously thought upon ;-that not one of the mouth-pieces of this party—call- CASE OF THE AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS. 335 ing itself “liberal,”— has ever been found to propose, or even to second, with zeal and efficiency, any real boon to the people. Po- litical power, indeed, they are always ready to accord, or anything else that costs nothing. But tell these same patriots that the poor have per- sonal and pecuniary rights, as well as political ones;—that it is far better for a labourer to have a good cottage and garden, than to have a vote for the county; and you will speedily find that in helping the poor in this real and tangible manner, none are more backward than those who are always fond of proclaiming them- selves “ the friends of the working classes.” And, on the other hand, the man whose whole time and thoughts were given to plans and pro- positions of this kind, was one of those whom it is customary, in the ordinary slang of the “libe- ral” prints, to hold up to popular abhorrence as and a “high 2 a “bigot,” a “borough-monger,’ Tory.” CHAPTER XI. A. D. 1831—2. THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. WE have now arrived at an important period in Mr. Sadler's Life. In the matter of Irish Poor Laws, while he felt the progress actually made towards success, it was not permitted him to see, in his own days, the practical result of his la- bours. Nor, although he had an innate consci- ousness, amounting to perfect certainty, of his victory over the Malthusian system,--was his life prolonged to behold the utter vanishing of that system, as we have since witnessed it; until at present, no man is found of sufficient boldness to avow himself a disciple of the once honored master of political economy. But, in the matter of which we are about to speak, certain great and important steps, though falling utterly short of the whole necessity of the case, were actually THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 337 taken in his own life-time ; and a system of legis- lation, and of continual watchfulness established, which promised further advances in years to come. Hence we may naturally consider THE FACTORY QUESTION to be especially one of those subjects, upon which Mr. Sadler's well-earned fame main- ly rests. This topic was in no degree new to him. It had long been his fixed intention, immediately he had fairly opened the case of the Agricultural Labourers, to follow it by an appeal to Parlia- ment on the grievances of the Factory Operatives. But, on his return into Yorkshire in the autumn of 1831, he received such applications from various friends, on the subject of the oppressions suffered by the latter class, as induced him to betake him- self to a complete investigation of the existing state of the case; the results of which impelled him to bring the subject before the legislature at the earliest possible period. He accordingly asked and obtained leave, on the 15th of December 1831, to bring in a Bill “for regulating the labour of children and young persons in the Mills and Factories of this country;”—and having framed his measure, and had it printed, he moved its second reading, on the 16th of March 1832, in a speech of some length, and which, according to the practice of the House, Z 338 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, explained the necessity, and asserted the fitness of the proposition so submitted to it. - It is not too much to say of this address, that while a more closely-reasoned or convincing argu- ment never was produced,—none, even of Mr. Sadler's own productions, is more redolent of deep and strong feeling, excited, not by fancy, but by fact. We must, as before, offer several large ex- tracts; inasmuch as, without such, our readers would obtain but an imperfect view of one of the greatest efforts of Mr. Sadler's life. He opens, according to his usual habit, by re- viewing and clearing away, the main difficulties started by opponents. The first of these, is the current cry of the capitalist, “Let us alone—no legislation on matters affecting the market of labour.” With this objection Mr. S. thus deals:— “The Bill which I now implore the House to sanction with its authority, has for its object the liberation of children and other young persons employed in the mills and factories of the United Kingdom, from that over-exertion and long con- finement which common sense, as well as ex- perience, has shown to be utterly inconsistent with the improvement of their minds, the pre- servation of their morals, and the maintenance of their health ;—in a word, to rescue them from a state of suffering and degradation, which it is THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 339 conceived the children of the industrious classes in hardly any other country have ever endured. “I am aware that some gentlemen profess, upon principle, a great reluctance to legislate upon these matters; holding such interference to be an evil. So, I reply, is all legislation,-upon what- ever subject, and an evil only to be tolerated for the purpose of preventing some greater one ; I shall therefore content myself with meeting this objection, common as it is, by simply chal- lenging those who urge it to show us a case which has stronger claims for the interposition of the law; whether we regard the nature of the evil to be abated, as affecting the individuals, society at large, and posterity; or the utter helplessness of those on whose behalf we are called on to in- terfere; or, lastly, the fact—which experience has left no longer in doubt, that, if the law does not, there is no other power that can or will adequately protect them. - “But, I apprehend, the strongest objections that will be offered on this occasion, will be grounded upon the pretence that the very principle of the Bill is an improper interference between the em- ployer and the employed, and an attempt to re- gulate by law the market of labour. Were that market supplied by free agents, properly so de- nominated, I should fully participate in these Z 2 340 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. objections. Theoretically, indeed, such is the case, but practically, I fear, the fact is far other- wise, even regarding those who are of mature age ; and the boasted freedom of our labourers in many pursuits will, on a just view of their con- dition, be found little more than a name. Those who argue the question upon mere abstract prin- ciples, seem, in my apprehension, too much to forget the condition of society: the unequal divi- sion of property, or rather its total monopoly by the few ; leaving the many nothing but what they can obtain by their daily labour; which very labour cannot become available for the purposes of daily subsistence, without the consent of those who own the property of the community,+all the materials, elements, call them what you please, on which labour can be bestowed, being in their possession. Hence it is clear that, excepting in a state of things where the demand for labour fully equals the supply (which it would be ab- surdly false to say exists in this country), the em- ployer and the employed do not meet on equal terms in the market of labour; on the contrary, the latter, whatever be his age, and call him as free as you please, is often almost entirely at the mercy of the former; –he would be wholly so, were it not for the operation of the poor-laws, which are a palpable interference with the market THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 341 of labour, and condemned as such by their oppo- nents. Hence is it that labour is so imperfectly distributed, and so inadequately remunerated; that one part of the population is over-worked while another is wholly without employment; evils which operate reciprocally upon each other, till a community which might afford a sufficiency of moderate employment for all, exhibits at one and the same time, part of its members reduced to the condition of slaves by over-exertion, and another part to that of paupers by involuntary idleness. In a word, wealth, still more than knowledge, is power; and power, liable to abuse wherever vested, is least of all free from tyran- nical exercise, when it owes its existence to a sordid source. “But in showing how far even adults are from being free agents, in the proper meaning of the term, and, on the contrary, how dependent for their employment, and consequently their daily bread, upon the will of others, I have prepared the way for the conclusion, that children, at all events, are not to be regarded as free labourers; and that it is the duty of this House to protect them from that system of cruelty and oppression to which I shall presently advert. The common-place ob- jection, that the parents are free agents, and that the children therefore ought to be regarded as 342 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. such, I apprehend has but little force. It is, however, so often and so confidently urged, that I shall be excused for giving it some attention. “The parents who surrender their children to this infantile slavery may be separated into two classes. The first, and I trust by far the most numerous one, consists of those who are obliged, by extreme indigence, so to act, but who do it with great reluctance and bitter regret: them- selves perhaps out of employment, or working at very low wages, and their families in a state of great destitution ;—what can they do? The overseer, as is in evidence, refuses relief if they have children capable of working in factories whom they object to send thither. They choose therefore what they probably deem the lesser evil, and reluctantly resign their offspring to the capti- vity and pollution of the mill: they rouse them in the winter morning, which, as a poor father says before the Lords' Committee, they “feel very sorry” to do;—they receive them fatigued and exhausted, many a weary hour after the day has closed;—they see them droop and sicken, and in many cases become cripples and die, before they reach their prime: and they do all this, because they must otherwise suffer unrelieved, and starve, like Ugolino, amidst their starving children. It is mockery to contend that these parents have THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 343 a choice; that they can dictate to, or even parley with, the employer as to the number of hours their child shall be worked, or the treat- ment it shall be subject to in his mill ; and it is an insult to the parental heart to say that they resign it voluntarily : No, “their poverty, and not their will, consents.” Consents, indeed but often with tears, as Dr. Ashton, a physician familiar with the whole system, informed the committee; a noble member of which ob- served to one of the poor parents then examined, who was speaking of the successive fate of several of his children, whom he had been obliged to send to the factory—“You can hardly speak of them without crying?” The answer was “ No!” and few, I should suppose, refrained from sympa- thizing with him, who heard his simple but me- lancholy story. Free agents To suppose that parents are free agents while dooming their own flesh and blood to this fate, is to believe them monsters - “But, Sir, there are such monsters; unknown indeed in the brute creation, they belong to our own kind, and are found in our own country; and they are generated by the very system which I am attacking. They have been long known, and often described, as constituting the remaining class of parents to which I have adverted. Dead 344 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. to the instincts of nature, and reversing the order of society; instead of providing for their offspring, they make their offspring provide for them : not only for their necessities, but for their intemper- ance and profligacy. They purchase idleness by the toil of their infants; the price of whose hap- piness, health, and existence, they spend in the haunts of dissipation and vice. Thus, at the very same hour of night that the father is at his guilty orgies, the child is panting in the factory. Such wretches count upon their children as upon their cattle ;-nay, to so disgusting a state of degrada- tion does the system lead, that they make the certainty of having offspring the indispensable condition of marriage, that they may breed a generation of slaves. These, then, are some of the free agents, without the storgē of the beast, or the feelings of the man, to whom the advocates of the present system assure us we ought to entrust the labouring of little children | One of these “free agents,” a witness against Sir Robert Peel's bill, confessed that he had pushed his own child down and broken her arm, because she did not do as he thought proper, while in the mill ! The Lords' Committee refused to hear him ano- ther word. And shall we listen to those who urge us to commit little children to such guardian- ship ! We have heard, in a late memorable case, THE CASE of THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 345 a dictum, uncontradicted I believe in any quarter, stating that, by the constitution of England, the first law officer of the crown, representing the sovereign, is the guardian of all children, of what- ever rank, improperly treated by their parents; but that that court is limited in its interference by the circumstance of there being property under its control. Will it be contended, then, that in these extreme cases of cruelty and oppression, (for such I shall call them), where protection is far more imperatively demanded, mere poverty should be a bar against the course of British jus- tice? If so, let us boast no longer of the impar- tiality of our laws Why, if in a solitary instance a parent were to confine his child, or a master his apprentice, in a heated room, and knowingly keep him at his labour more hours than nature could sustain, and at length the victim were to die under the tyrannous oppression, and a coroner's inquest were to return a true and just verdict upon the occasion, what would be the result 2 . . . . . . . . And are the multiplication of such gradual mur- ders, and the effrontery with which they are per- petrated, to become their expiation ? If not, it is high time that the legislature should interfere and rescue from the conspiracy of such fathers and such masters, instigated by kindred feelings, these innocent victims of cruelty and oppression. 346 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, “There are other descriptions of children, also, whom I should be glad to know how the objectors to whom I am alluding make out to be free agents. I mean, first, poor orphan children—a class which the system is a very efficient instrument in multi- plying: very few adult spinners, as it is often alleged, and as I shall prove, surviving forty; in many instances, therefore, leaving their chil- dren fatherless at a very early period of life : indeed, so numerous are these, that a physician, examined on the occasion to which I have so often alluded, was painfully struck with the pro- portion. Are these orphans free agents? Again, there is in all manufacturing towns a great num- ber of illegitimate children, and these also are very much increased by the system in question. I am aware that a celebrated authority has said, these are, “comparatively speaking, of no value to society;—others would supply their place,”— yet still I cannot but regard these as objects of the deepest compassion. To this list of free agents I might also add the little children who are still apprenticed out in considerable numbers; often, I fear, by the too ready sanction of the ma- gistrates—whose hard, and sometimes fatal, treat- ment has been the subject of many recent com- munications which I have received from indivi- duals of the highest credit and respectability. THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 34.7 But, as the objectors to legislative protection for the factory children can make it out to be un- necessary, because their parents are “free agents” for them, when they have any surviving; so also it is quite as clear, probably, in their apprehen- sion, that the parish officer is as good a free agent for the poor orphan, the illegitimate, or the friend- less little apprentice, who may be under his special protection 1 “But I will proceed no further with these objec- tions. The idea of treating children, and espe- cially the children of the poor, and, above all, the children of the poor imprisoned in factories,— as free agents, is too absurd to justify the atten- tion I have already paid to it. The protection of poor children and young persons from those hardships and cruelties to which their age and condition have always rendered them peculiarly liable, has ever been held one of the first and most important duties of every Christian legisla- ture. Our own has not been unmindful in this respect: and it is mainly owing to the change of circumstances that many of its humane provisions have been rendered inoperative, and that the pre- sent measure has become the more necessary.” The next class of objections which he antici- pates, is of a more definite and practical kind. It is that which each description of manufacture 348 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. might be expected to make ; declaring that it especially, above all others, required no legislative interference. “The very same opposition that has so long and so often triumphed over justice and humanity, is again organized, and actively at work, and will proceed as before. Every branch of manufac- ture proposed to be regulated claims in turn to be excepted; a committee of inquiry is again de- manded, and, I fear, in order to postpone, if not finally to defeat, the present measure. The nature of the evidence that will be brought for- ward is perfectly familiar to those acquainted at all with the subject. Certificates and declara- tions will be obtained in abundance, from divines and doctors, as to the morality and health which the present system promotes and secures. I cannot refrain from giving a sample of what may be expected in this line, and I think it will pre- pare us for, and arm us against, whatever may be advanced in favour of so unnatural and oppressive a system. I mean not to impeach the intentional veracity or the learning of the witnesses who appeared in its favour, and whose evidence cuts a very conspicuous figure in these ponderous Reports: it furnishes, however, another proof of the strange things that may be, perhaps conscien- tiously, believed and asserted when the mind or THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 349. conduct is under a particular bias. They have said that the children who were worked without any regulation, and consequently according to their employer's sole will and pleasure, were not only equally, but more healthy, and better instructed than those not so occupied ; that night-labour was in no way prejudicial, but actually preferred; that the artificial heat of the rooms was really advantageous, and quite pleasant; and that no- thing could equal the reluctance of the children to have it abated ! That, so far from being fatigued with, for example, twelve hours’ labour, the chil- dren performed even the last hour's work with greater interest and spirit than any of the rest ! What a pity the term was not lengthened in a few more hours they would have been worked into a perfect ecstasy of delight ! We had been indeed informed that the women and children often cried with fatigue, but their tears were doubtless tears of rapture. A doctor is produced, who will not pronounce, without examination, to what extent this luxury of excessive labour might be carried without being prejudicial. I must quote a few of his answers to certain queries. “Should you not think (he is asked) that, gener- ally speaking, to a child eight years old, standing twelve hours in the day would be injurious !” The doctor reverses, perhaps by mistake, the 350 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. figures, but his answer concludes, “I believe it is not.” “Supposing (it was again demanded) I were to ask you whether you thought it injurious to a child to be kept standing three-and-twenty hours out of the four-and-twenty, should you not think it must be necessarily injurious to the health; without any fact to rest upon, as a simple proposi- tion put to a gentleman of the medical profes- sion ?” “Before I answer that question,” the doctor replies, “I should wish to have an exami- nation, to see how the case stood ; and if there were such an extravagant thing to take place, and it should appear that the person was not injured by having stood three-and-twenty hours, I should then say it was not inconsistent with the health of the person so employed.” “As you doubted,” said a noble Lord, “whether a child could work for twenty-three hours, without suffering, would you extend your doubts to twenty-four hours?”— “That was put to me as an extreme case,” says the doctor: “my answer only went to this effect, that it was not in my power to assign any limits.” This same authority will not take upon himself to say whether it would be injurious to a child to be kept working during the time it gets its meals. Another medical gentleman is “totally unable to give an answer” whether “children, from six to to twelve years of age, being employed from THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 351 thirteen to fifteen hours in a cotton-factory, in an erect position, and in a temperature of about eighty degrees, is consistent with safety to their constitution.” Another boldly asserts that he does not see it necessary that young persons should have any recreation or amusement; nor that the constant inspiration of particles of cotton is at all injurious to the lungs. Reports of the state of particular mills are also given on medical authori- ty, but the reporters seem to have totally forgot- ten that they had examined a body of persons constantly recruited ; from which the severely sick, and those who had “retired to die,” were neces- sarily absent; and not to have suspected that many of these mills were also previously and carefully prepared for such inspection. Still, I observe, it is allowed that “many of them (the children) were pale, and apparently of a delicate complexion;” but “without any decided symp- toms of disease.” What did that paleness and delicacy, in the rosy morning of life, indicate 7 Why, that disease, though not decided as to its symptoms, was fastening, with mortal grasp, upon its victims; that already early labour and confine- ment had, “like a worm i'th bud, fed on their damask cheek;” that the murderous system was then about its secret, but certain and deadly, work. In corroboration, however, of all that 352 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. these learned persons have advanced, and in full proof of the excellency of the entire system, bills of mortality of certain places and works were adduced, in some of which it was made to appear that, in a mean number of 888 persons employed, the annual mortality had, during eight years, averaged 3-##, or one in 229 only This sort of evidence suggests many ludicrous ideas; which however I shall suppress as unsuitable to the sub- ject: it will, doubtless, be again adduced in great abundance before another select committee. Physicians, divines, and others, will be still found to testify to the same effect. But I will take the liberty of showing, before I sit down, the true value of all such certificates. The Par- liament, indeed, did not much regard these cham- pions of the factory-system on a former occasion; and, after what I shall advance, I hope the House will not trouble them again.” From considering the objections raised, Mr. Sadler passed to the reasons which existed for such a measure. “And, first, in reference to one description of spinners, from some of whom I am now meeting with opposition of every kind,—I mean the spin- ners of flax,−I would seriously ask any gentle- man, who has himself gone through a modern flax-mill, whether he can entertain the slightest THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 353 doubt that the occupation, as now pursued, must, in too many cases, be injurious to health and destructive of life. In many departments of these mills, the dust is great, and known to be highly injurious. In those in which fine spinning has been introduced, the air has to be heated, as in some of the cotton-mills; the flax has also, in one of the processes, to be passed through water heated to a high temperature, into which the children have constantly to plunge their arms, while the steam and the spray from the bobbins wet their clothes, especially about their middle, till the water might be wrung from them; in which condition they have, during the winter months, to pass nightly into the inclement air, and to shiver and freeze on their return home. In the heckling-rooms, in which children are now principally employed, the dust is excessive. The rooms are generally low, lighted by gas, and sometimes heated by steam ; altogether exhibiting a state of human suffering the effects of which I will not trust myself to describe, but appeal to higher authority. “I hold in my hand a treatise by a medical gentleman of great intelligence, Mr. Thackrah of Leeds, who, in his work “On the effects of arts and trades on health and longevity,” thus speaks of this pursuit—“A large proportion of men in 2 A 354 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. this department die young. We find, indeed, comparatively speaking, few old persons in any of the departments of the flax-mills.”—“On inquiry at one of the largest establishments in this neigh- bourhood, we found that of 1079 persons employ- ed, there are only nine who had attained the age of fifty; and besides these only twenty-two who have reached forty.” “It may perhaps be here remarked, that this factory-census does not indicate the rate of morta- lity, but merely shows that few adults are required in these establishments. If so, then another enor- mous abuse comes into view ; namely, that this unregulated system over-labours the child, and deserts the adult; thus reversing the natural period of toil, and leaving numbers without em- ployment, or the knowledge how to pursue it if they could obtain any, just at the period when the active exertions of life ought to commence. Why I this is to realize, in regard of this victim of premature labour, the fate of the poor little chim- ney-sweeper, whose lot, once commiserated so deeply, is now, I think, too much forgotten, and whose principal hardship is not that he is of a degraded class, but that when he has learnt his busi- ness he has outgrown it, and is turned upon society too late to learn any other occupation, and has therefore to seek an employment for which he is THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 355 unqualified. So far, then, this unrestricted fac- tory system perpetrates the deepest injury, not only upon individuals, but upon society at large. “But to return to Mr. Thackrah. He says, that a visitor cannot remain many minutes in certain rooms without being sensibly affected in his respiration. Also, that “a suffocating sensation is often produced by the tubes which convey steam for heating the rooms.” He examined, by the stethoscope, several individuals so employed, and found, in all of them, “the lungs or air-tube considerably diseased.” He adds, that the coughs of the persons waiting to be examined, were so troublesome as continually to interrupt and con- fuse the exploration by that instrument. He says, “that though the wages for this labour are by no means great, still the time of labour in the flax-mills is excessive. The people are now (November 1830) working from half-past six in the morning till eight at night, and are allowed only an interval of forty minutes in all that time. Thus human beings are kept in an atmosphere of flax-dust nearly thirteen hours in the day, and this, not one, but six days in the week.” “No man of humanity,” he observes, “can reflect, without distress, on the state of thousands of chil- dren,-roused from their beds at an early hour, hurried to the mills, and kept there, with an 2 A 2 356 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. interval of only forty minutes, till a late hour at night—kept, moreover, in an atmosphere loaded with noxious dust.” “Health,” he exclaims, “cleanliness, mental improvement—how are they regarded ? Recreation is out of the question. There is scarcely time for meals. The very period of sleep, so necessary to the young, is too often abridged. Nay, children are sometimes worked even in the night! Human beings thus decay before they arrive at the term of maturity.” He observes elsewhere, “that this system has grown up by a series of encroachments upon the poor children ; that the benevolent masters are not able to rectify these abuses. A legislative enactment is the alone remedy for this as well as the other great opprobrium of our manufactures —the improper employment of children.” Such are the opinions of this medical gentleman upon this subject, written long before the present bill was before the House; and founded upon daily observation and experience. “I might add the opinion of another very excel- lent practitioner of the same place, Mr. Smith, respecting the cruelty of the present system, and the misery and decrepitude which it inflicts upon its victims; but his opinions, given with great force and ability, have, I think, been already widely disseminated by means of the press. The THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 357 other surgeons of the Leeds Infirmary—all men of great professional eminence—entertain, I believe, precisely similar opinions. One of them, Mr. Hey, a name that at once commands the highest respect in every medical society of this country, or indeed of Europe, presided as mayor of Leeds, at an immensely numerous meeting of the inhabitants of that borough, when a petition from that place, in favour of the bill, was unani- mously agreed to ; and afterwards received the signatures of between 18,000 and 20,000 persons. “In silk and worsted mills, and especially in the former, the nature of the employment may be less prejudical in itself; but then its duration is of ten more protracted, and it falls in a larger propor- tion upon females and young children. In many spun-silk mills, in which a different operation from that of silk-throwing—and one conducted upon Arkwright's principle—is carried on, the practice of working children at a very tender age, and of- ten all night, prevails. In some of these, I am informed, they commence at one o'clock on the Monday morning, and leave off at eleven on Satur- day night; thus delicately avoiding the Sabbath, indeed, but rendering its profitable observance, either for improvement, instruction, or worship, an utter impossibility. “In the worsted mills, the greatest irregulari- 358 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. ties, as to the hours of working, have existed, and therefore occasional oppression, in these depart- ments, has long prevailed. Let the following extract suffice, from a document drawn up by a gentleman in this branch of business, Mr. Wood, —-to mention whose name is to kindle at once the most enthusiastic feelings in the bosoms of the honest operatives of the north, and to whom is due the honour of originating and supporting this attempt to regulate the labour of children; and who, while he has conducted his own manufac- ture with the greatest humanity and kindness, has still earnestly sought to ameliorate the gene- ral condition of the labouring poor. This gentle- man gives the ages of 475 persons, principally females, employed at a worsted-mill, which, it appears, average about the age of thirteen; and adds— “Children of these years are obliged to be at the factories, winter and summer, by six in the morning, and to remain there till seven in the even- ing, with but one brief interval of thirty minutes, every day except Saturday, ceasing work on that day, in some factories, at half-past five, in others at six or seven P.M. Not unfrequently this la- bour is extended till eight or nine at night—fif- teen hours—having but the same interval for meals, rest, or recreation : nay, such is the steady THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 359 growth of this overworking system, that children have been confined in the factory from six in the morning till eight at night—fourteen hours con- tinuously, without any time being allowed for meals, rest, or recreation;–the meals to be taken while attending the machines; and this the prac- tice of years. “This picture, sufficiently appalling, has also to be darkened by the addition of frequent night- labour. Such is the practice at Bradford and the neighbourhood. But to show that these evils are not confined to any particular neighbourhood, and that they prevail wherever unprotected chil- dren are the principal labourers of the community, I shall next advert to their treatment in the flan- nel manufactories in the Principality of Wales. I quote the following account, which I have re- ceived from the most respectable quarter :— “With certain fluctuations in the degree of la- bour, resulting from the difference in the demand of manufactured goods, the children here work twenty-four hours every other day, out of which they are allowed three hours only for meals, &c. When trade is particularly brisk, the elder chil- dren work from six in the morning till seven in the evening, two hours being allowed for meals, &c., and every other night they work all night, which is still a more severe case : for this addi- : * > © . : © 360 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. tional night-labour they receive five-pence. There is another lamentable circumstance attend- ing the employment of these poor children, which is that they are left the whole of the night alone; the sexes indiscriminately mixed together; con- sequently you may imagine that the depravity of our work-people is indeed very great. The adults are employed in feeding the engines. Indepen- dant of moral considerations, the accidents that occur to these poor little creatures are really dreadful; the numbers of persons to be seen with mutilated and amputated limbs are quite distress- ing, and this will ever be the case till some better regulation is carried into effect.—There is not a single place of charitable education, for a popula- tion of about 8000 souls, beyond a Sunday-school. “As to woollen mills, they are not, generally speaking, injurious to health ; though such is the case in certain departments of them, especially since the introduction of the rotatory machines. Here I might argue that the lightness of the la- bour, which is the reason usually urged against an interference with excessive hours, no longer applies, as in woollen mills the labour is, in gene- ral, much more strenuous than that in most of the before-mentioned factories. But I disdain to avail myself of an argument, however plausible, which I believe to be fallacious, and I will here THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 361 observe, once for all, that it is not so much the degree of labour which is injurious to these work- children (how revolting the compound sounds !— it is not yet admitted, I think, into our language; I trust it will never be familiarized to our feel- ings);—I say, it is not so much the degree, as the duration of their labour, that is so cruel and destructive to these poor work-children. It is the wearisome uniformity of the employment, the constrained positions in which it is pursued-–and, above all, the constant and close confinement, which are more fatiguing to the body as well as mind, than more varied and voluntary, though far stronger, exertion. I dwell upon this point, be- cause it is the sole possible plea for the long and imprisoning hours of the present laborious system: though when properly considered, it is one of the most powerful arguments against it. Light la- bour ! Is the labour of holding this pen and of writing with it strenuous ! And yet, ask a clerk in any of the public offices, or in any private counting-house, when he has been at his employ- ment some half-dozen hours in the day less than one of these children, whether he does not think that he has had enough of this light labour—to say nothing of the holidays, of which he has many, and the child none. Ask the recruit recent from the plough, whether an hour of his 362 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. light exertion is not more fatiguing than any three he ever endured in the fields. Ask his ex- perienced officer how long he can subject even the veteran to this sort of slight but constrained exertion, though in the open air, with impunity. I might appeal to the chair, whether the lingering hours which have to be endured here, though un- accompanied with any bodily exertion whatever, are not “weariness to the flesh.” But what would be the feelings of the youngest and most active individual amongst us, if, for example, he were compelled to pass that time, engaged in some constant and anxious employment, stunned with the noise of revolving wheels, suffocated with the heat and stench of a low, crowded, and gas-lighted apartment, bathed in sweat, and stimulated by the scourge of an inexorable task- master ? I say, what would be his ideas of the light labour of twelve or fourteen hours in such a pursuit; and when, once or twice in every week, the night also was added to such a day ? And how would he feel, if long years of such light labour lay before him : If he be a parent, let him imagine the child of his bosom in that situation, and then judge of the children of thousands who are as dear to the Universal Parent as are his own to him Let him think of his own childhood, and he will then remember that this light labour THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 363 is the fatigue of youth, and that strenuous exertion, when the buoyant spirit exercises the entire frame, is its sport. I might quote authorities on this subject ; but it is unnecessary. Common sense and common feeling at once decide the point, and confute this disgusting plea of tyranny for the captivity of youth. Hence the late Sir Robert Peel in bringing forward his last measure, empha- tically observed, that “it was not so much the hardship, as the duration, of labour, which had caused the mischievous effects on the rising gene- ration.” But if, after all, honourable members choose to argue the question on different grounds, and wish to establish a variation in the duration of the labour of children in mills and factories, in reference to the nature of the employment,-be it so. Confident in my own mind that the bill proposes the utmost limit which the youthful con- stitution can safely bear, in any pursuit, or under any circumstances, I can have no objection to that period being abridged in the more pernicious and strenuous employments of the country. “I shall not attempt at present to give any pre- cise account of the length of labour generally borne in different mills and factories; it varies according to the humanity of the employer, and the demand for his goods at particular seasons. But let me here remark, that these variations con- 364 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. stitute one of the main reasons for a legislative protection; otherwise the humane masters will be driven out of the trade: for these, it is quite clear, cannot control others less feelingly disposed. They are indeed, in the present state of things, as little free agents as the children whom they employ ; and, moreover, the want of a due regulation throws the effects of those fluctuations to which trade and manufactures are subject, in an undue and distressing degree upon those who are the least able to sustain their effects. Thus, if the demand and profit of the employer increase, the labour of the operatives, most of whom are chil- dren, augments, till many of them are literally worked to death : if that demand diminish, the children are thrown partially or wholly out of work, and left to beggary and the parish. So that their labour, averaged throughout the year, as some mill-owners I perceive have calculated its duration, does not appear so excessive. For, at the very moment that a strenuous opposition is being made against the curtailment of infantile labour, the masters themselves, in certain flax- mills in the North, have curtailed it to some pur- pose—having, if I am not misinformed, diminish- ed the employment in some mills, and shut up others entirely. And I have no doubt but that, at this particular moment, abundance of evidence THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 365 might be adduced before a select committee to show that the hours mentioned in the bill are observed, and indeed a much stricter limitation enforced. But then if it be right that the owners should be allowed to throw out of employment all these children at a few days' notice, is it proper that they should be permitted to work them for an unlimited number of hours, the moment it suits their purpose? If the effect of this bill were, in some measure to equalize the labour of these poor children, and thereby prevent those fluctuations which are so distressing to them in both its extremes, it would so far accomplish a most beneficial object. It might, I think, trans- fer a little of the fluctuation from the factory to the stock-room, with great advantage to the oper- atives, and consequently to the public at large. “It is impossible to furnish any uniform account of the hours of labour endured by children in these factories, and I am unwilling to represent extreme cases as general ones, although it is the bounden duty of Parliament to provide against such, as it does, for example, with respect to atrocious crimes, which are extreme cases in civi- lized society. I shall therefore only give one or two instances of the extent of oppression to which the system is occasionally carried. The follow- ing were the hours of labour imposed upon the 366 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. children employed in a factory at Leeds last sum- mer:—On Monday morning, work commenced at six o'clock; at nine, half an hour for breakfast; from half-past nine till twelve, work. Dinner, one hour; from one till half-past four, work. Afternoon meal, half an hour; from five till eight, work: rest for half an hour. From half-past eight till twelve (midnight), work: an hour's rest. From one in the morning till five, work: half an hour's rest. From half-past five till nine, work : breakfast. From half-past nine till twelve, work: dinner; from one till half-past four, work. Rest half an hour; and work again from five till nine o'clock on Tuesday evening, when the la- bour terminated, and the gang of adult and infant slaves was dismissed for the night, after having toiled thirty-nine hours, with brief intervals (amounting to only six hours in the whole) for refreshment, but none for sleep. On Wednesday and Thursday, day-work only. From Friday morning till Saturday night, the same prolonged labour repeated, with intermissions, as on Mon- day, Monday night, and Tuesday; except that the labour of the last day closed at five. The ensuing day, Sunday, must, under such circum- stances, be a day of stupor; to rouse the children from which would only be to continue their phy- sical sufferings, without the possibility of compen- THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 367 sating them with any moral good. Clergymen, Sunday School-masters, and other benevolent persons, are beginning to feel this to be the case ; physicians, I find, have long observed it; and parents, wishful as they are that their offspring should have some little instruction, are yet more anxious that they should have rest. Sunday schools have long been rendered appendages to the manufacturing system, which has necessarily emptied the day-schools of the poor wherever that system prevails: but, not content with monopoliz- ing the whole week with protracted labour, the Sabbath itself is thus rendered a day of languor and exhaustion, in which it is impossible that due instruction can be received, or the solemn duties which religion enjoins duly performed; in fact, it is a mere fallow for the worn-out frame, in order that it may be able to produce another series of exhausting crops of human labour. If some limits therefore are not prescribed to these constant and cruel encroachments, our labouring population will become, ere long, imbruted with ignorance, as well as enslaved by excessive toil.” “I will however present, in as few words as possible, the effects, as described by medical men, of these long hours of confinement, without suffi- cient intervals for meals, recreation, and rest, and continued often through the night, in rooms artifi- 368 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. cially heated, and lit by gas; the atmosphere being otherwise so polluted and offensive as to render respiration painful, even for a few minutes. They describe the consequences to be, in many cases langour and debility, sickness, loss of appe- tite, pulmonary complaints, such as difficulty of breathing, coughs, asthmas, and consumptions; struma, the endemia of the factory, and other chronic diseases ;-while, if these more distressing effects are not produced, the muscular power is enfeebled, the growth impeded, and life greatly abridged. Deformity is also a common and dis- tressing result of this overstrained and too early labour. The bones, in which the animal, in con- tra-distinction to the earthy, matter is known to prevail in early life, are then pliable, and often cannot sustain the super-incumbent weight of the body for so many hours without injury. Hence, those of the leg become bent; the arch of the foot, which is composed of several bones of a wedge-like form, is pressed down, and its elasticity destroyed, from which arises that disease in the foot only lately described, but common in factory districts. The spine is often greatly affected, and its processes irregularly protruded, by which great deformity is occasioned. The ligaments also fail by overpressure and tension. Hence the hinge-joints, of which they are the main support, THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 369 such as those of the knee and the ancle, are overstrained, producing the deformity called knock-knees and lame ancles, so exceedingly common in mills. Thus are numbers of children distorted and crippled in early life, and frequently rendered incapable of any active exertion during the rest of their days. To this catalogue of suf- ferings must be added, mutilation of limbs or loss of life, by frequent accidents. The overworking of these children, occasions a weariness and leth- argy which it is impossible always to resist : hence, drowsy and exhausted, the poor creatures fall too often among the machinery, which is not in many instances sufficiently sheathed ; when their muscles are lacerated, their bones broken, or their limbs torn off, in which cases they are constantly sent to the infirmaries to be cured, and if crippled for life, they are turned out and maintained at the public cost; or they are some- times killed upon the spot. I have myself known, in more instances than one, the arm torn off,-in one horrible case both ; and a poor girl now exists upon a charitable subscription who met with that dreadful accident at one of the flax-mills in my neighbourhood. In another factory, and that re- cently, the mangled limbs of a boy were sent home to his mother, unprepared for the appalling spec- tacle: I will not describe the result. It is true 2 B 370 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. that a great majority of these accidents are of a less serious nature, but the admission-books of the infirmaries in any manufacturing district will show the number; and their accounts of the expense of buying irons to support the bending legs of the young children who become crippled by long standing in the mills, will also prove the tendency of over-confinement and early labour to produce deformity. Dr. Ashton and Surgeon Graham, who examined six mills in Stockport, in which 824 persons were employed, principally children, have reported the result individually, and the lists seems rather that of a hospital than a workshop. The particulars are deeply affecting, but I must only give the totals. Of 824 persons, 183 only were pronounced healthy; 240 were stated to be delicate; 258 unhealthy; 43 very much stunted; 100 with enlarged ancles and knees; and among the whole there were 37 cases of distortion. The accidents by machinery are not, I think, noticed ; but I find that Dr. Winstanley, one of the physi- cians of the Manchester Infirmary, on examining 106 children in a Sunday-school, discovered that no less than 47 of them had suffered accidents from this one cause. I have this morning re- ceived, from one of the most eminent surgeons of this metropolis, a letter, in which he informs me, that on making a tour through the manufacturing THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 371 districts some years ago, he was painfully struck with the numerous cases of mutilation which he observed, and which he attributed to this long and wearying system of labour in mills and factories. Of the mortality which this system occasions, I shall speak hereafter. “Can anything, then, darken the picture which I have hastily drawn, or, rather, which others, in- finitely more competent to the task, have strik- ingly pourtrayed ? Yes, Sir, and that remains to be added which renders it the most disgusting as well as distressing system which ever put human feelings to the utmost test of endurance. It has the universally-recognised brand and test of bar- barism as well as cruelty upon it. It is the fee- bler sex principally on which this enormous wrong is perpetrated 1 Female children must be laboured to the utmost extent of their physical powers, and indeed frequently far beyond them. Need I state the peculiar hardships, the disgusting cruelty, which this involves? I speak not, poor things, of the loss of their beauty,+of the greater physical sufferings to which their sex exposes them. But, again taking with me the highest medical autho- rities, I refer to the consequences of early and immoderate labour; especially at the period when the system rapidly attains its full development, and is peculiarly susceptible of permanent injury. 2 B 2 372 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. Still more are the effects felt when they become mothers, for which, I fear, their previous pursuits have little qualified them. It is in evidence, that long standing has a known tendency—how shall I express it?—contrahere et minuere pelvem, —and thereby to increase greatly the danger and difficulty of parturition, rendering embryotomy— one of the most distressing operations which a surgeon ever has to perform—occasionally neces- sary. I have communications upon this subject from persons of great professional experience ; but still I prefer to appeal to evidence before the public; and one reference shall suffice. Dr. Jones, who had practised in the neighbourhood of certain mills, in favour of which much evidence was adduced, which indeed it is rarely difficult to procure, states, that in the “eight or ten years during which he was an accoucheur, he met with more cases requiring the aid of instruments (that circumstance showing them to be bad ones,) than a gentleman of great practice in Birmingham, to whom he was previously a pupil, had met with in the whole course of his life.” Abundance of evi- dence to the same effect is before me. But I for- bear. I confess, therefore, that I feel my indigna- tion roused when I see papers put forth in which it is stated as a recommendation, forsooth, of the present system, and as a reason why it should by THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 373 no means be regulated, that in certain mills girls are principally employed 1 This a matter of exul- tation I would address those who so regard it in the language of the poet, “Art thou of woman born, and feel'st no shame!” . “Nor are the mental, any more than the physi- cal, sufferings of these poor young creatures to be overlooked. In the very morning of life, when their little hearts yearn within them for some relaxation and amusement, to be thus taken cap- tive, and debarred the sports of youth, is almost as great, nay, a greater cruelty than to inflict upon them thus early the toil of advanced life. Their fate, alas ! reverses the patriarch's pathetic ex- clamation, and their infant days are “labour and sorrow.” I perceive that I excite the risibility of an honourable gentleman opposite. What there is to smile at in these just representations of in- fantile sufferings, I am really at a loss to imagine. I will venture however to give him and the House a few more of these amusing facts before I have done with the subject. - “It may be thought almost impossible that children should be assembled so early, and dis- missed so late, and still kept through the whole period in a state of active exertion. I will attempt to explain this. First, then, their early and punc- tual attendance is enforced by fines, as are many 374, IIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. other regulations of a very severe character; so that a child may lose a considerable part of its wages by being a few minutes too late in the morning: that they should not leave too soon is very sufficiently provided against. Now, this ex- treme punctuality is no slight aggravation of the sufferings of the child. It is not in one case out of ten perhaps that the parent has a clock; and as nature is not very wakeful in a short night's rest, after a long day's labour, the child, to ensure punctuality, must be often roused much too early. Whoever has lived in a manufacturing town, must have heard, if he happened to be awake many hours before light on a winter's morning, the pat- ter of little pattens on the pavement, continuing perhaps for half an hour together, though the time appointed for assembling was the same. Even then the child is not always safe, however punc- tual; for, in some mills, two descriptions of clocks are kept, and it is easy to guess how they are occasionally managed. So much for the system of fines, by which, I am told, some mill-owners have boasted that they have made large sums annually. “Then, in order to keep the children awake, and to stimulate their exertions, means are made use of, to which I shall now advert, as a last in- stance of the degradation to which this system THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 375 has reduced the manufacturing operatives of this country. Sir, children are beaten with thongs prepared for the purpose. Yes, the females of this country, no matter whether children or grown up, —I hardly know which is the more disgusting outrage, are beaten upon the face, arms, and bosom, beaten in your ‘free market of labour,” as you term it, like slaves | These are the instru- ments.-[Here the honourable member eachibited some black, heavy, leathern thongs, one of them Jia'ed in a sort of handle, the smack of which, when struck upon the table, resounded through the House.]—They are quite equal to breaking an arm, but that the bones of the young are, as I have before said, pliant. The marks, however, of the thong are long visible; and the poor wretch is flogged before its companions; flogged, I say, like a dog, by the tyrant overlooker. We speak with execration of the cart-whip of the West In- dies—but let us see this night an equal feeling rise against the factory-thong of England. Is it necessary that we should inquire, by means of a select committee, whether this practice is to be put down ; and whether females in England shall be still flogged to their labour ! Sir, I should wish to propose an additional clause in this Bill, enacting, that the overseer who dares to lay the lash on the almost naked body of the child, shall 376 LIFE of MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. be sentenced to the tread-wheel for a month; and it would be but right if the master who know- ingly tolerates the infliction of this cruelty on abused infancy, this insult upon parental feeling, this disgrace upon the national character, should bear him company, though he roll to the house of correction in his chariot!” - Mr. Sadler then adverted to various collateral proofs of the necessity of the proposed measure;— such as the state of morals, and the scale of mortality in the manufacturing districts; and the protection which the legislature had seen fit to afford, in the case of the negro slaves in our colonies. He then closed as follows, . “I must now apologize to this House for having so long occupied its time and attention. I owe, however, a deeper apology to those whose cause I have attempted to advocate, for having, after all, left untouched many important claims which they have earnestly pressed upon my notice. But if honourable members will consult their own bosoms, they will find them there. We are about to deal with the strongest instincts and the holiest feelings of the human heart. The happiness and tranquillity of the present generation, and the hopes of futurity, depend, in no slight degree, on our resolves. The industrious classes are looking with intense interest to the proceedings of this THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 377 night, and are demanding protection for them- selves and their children. Thousands of maternal bosoms are beating with the deepest anxiety for the future fate of their long-oppressed and de- graded offspring. Nay, the children themselves are made aware of the importance of your present decision, and look towards this House for succour. I wish I could bring a group of these little ones to that bar, I am sure their silent appearance would plead more forcibly in their behalf than the loudest eloquence. Sir, I still hope that their righteous cause will prevail. But I have seen enough to mingle apprehension with my hopes. I perceive the rich and the powerful once more leaguing against them, and wielding that wealth which these children, or such as they, have cre- ated, against their cause. I have long seen the mighty efforts that are made to keep them in bondage, and have been deeply affected at their continued success; so that I can hardly refrain from exclaiming with one of old, “I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun, and beheld the tears of such as were oppressed; and on the side of the oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter i” “I trust, however, that this House, whose pe- culiar duty it is to defend the weak and redress the injured, will interpose and extend that pro- 378 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. tection to these defenceless children, which is equally demanded by the principles of justice, mercy, and policy. Many have been the strug- gles made in their behalf, but hitherto they have been defeated; the laws passed for their protec- tion have been avowedly and shamefully evaded, and have therefore had little practical effect but to legalize cruelty and suffering. Hence at this late hour, while I am thus feebly, but earnestly, pleading the cause of these oppressed children, what numbers of them are still tethered to their toil, confined in heated rooms, bathed in perspira- tion, stunned with the roar of revolving wheels, poisoned with the noxious effluvia of grease and gas, till, at last, weary and exhausted, they turn out, almost naked, into the inclement air, and creep, shivering, to beds from which a relay of their young work-fellows have just risen. Such, at the best, is the fate of many of them, while, in numerous instances, they are diseased, stunted, crippled, depraved, and destroyed, Sir, let that pestilence, which no longer walketh in darkness among us, but destroyeth at noon-day, once seize upon our manufacturing population, and dreadful will be the consequences. A national fast has been appointed on this solemn occasion; and it is well —let it be one which the Deity himself has prescribed,—let us “undo the heavy burdens, and let the oppressed go free.” THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 379 “Sir, I have shown the suffering, the crime, —the mortality, attendant upon this system;— consequences which, I trust, Parliament will at length arrest. Earnestly do I wish that I could have prevailed upon this House and his Majesty's government to adopt the proposed measure, with- out the delay which will attend a further, and, as I shall ever maintain, an unnecessary inquiry. Would that we might have come to a resolution as to the hours during which innocent and helpless children are henceforth to be worked in these pur- suits, so as to render the preservation of their health and life probable, and the due improvement of their minds and morals possible ! Would that we had at once decided, as we could wish others to decide regarding our own children, under like circumstances, or as we shall wish that we had done, when the Universal Parent shall call us to a strict account for our conduct to one of the least of these little ones | As the case, however, is otherwise, as we are, it seems, still to inquire and delay, I will now move the second reading of the bill; and afterwards propose such a Commit- tee as, I hope, will assistin carrying into effect the principle of a measure so important to the prosperi- ty, character, and happiness of the British people.” The opposition of the interested parties, it 380 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. will be seen, and their influence with the govern- ment, compelled Mr. Sadler to consent to the delay involved in a Parliamentary Inquiry. Nor was this delay the only evil connected with that concession. In its operation, this inquiry was unquestionably the means of shortening Mr. Sad- ler's own life. It necessarily devolved upon him to conduct the whole proceeding. During forty-three days, extending from the 12th of April to the 7th of August, he occupied the chair of that Committee. But this, though a serious task, was but a small por- tion of the whole labour. The inquiry was pe- culiarly his own. Hence it became his duty to seek for information from every part of the king- dom; to correspond extensively with parties Qualified to give information ; and to carry the whole body of evidence accurately through the press: and all this in the face of a determined, because an interested opposition. The toil of these combined operations was very great, making both food and sleep often unattainable comforts. The effects of that summer's work were visible to the very close of his life. It is certain that the exer- tion shortened his days: but it is gratifying to re- flect, that the sacrifice was not made in vain. The result of the whole was the laying on the table of the House, on the 8th of August, a mass of evidence, establishing a case of the most THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 381 unquestionable guilt against the Mill-owners, and making it clearly inevitable, that some remedy should at once be sought out. The weight of the accusation, with its accom- panying body of proofs, was so felt by the parties concerned, that, in desperation at the absence of all other pleas, they set up a cry of “partial” and “unfair,” against the Report of this Com- mittee. This excuse, however, could avail them nothing, with those who took the trouble to enquire into the facts of the case. That Committee was amply supplied, by the watchful care of “the Factory interest,” with zealous and able advocates of their views. It consisted of Mr. Sadler, Lord Viscount Morpeth, Mr. Strickland, Mr. Heywood, Mr. Wilbraham, Mr. Vernon, Mr. Benett, Sir Henry Bunbury, Mr. Roulett Thomson, Mr. Dixon, Sir John Hob- house, Mr. Horatio Ross, Mr. Robinson, Mr. Meynell, Mr. Perceval, Mr. Boldero, Lord Nu- gent, Mr. Sheil, Sir George Rose, Mr. Attwood, Mr. Ridley Colborne, Mr. Kenyon, Mr. Fowell Buxton, Mr. Estcourt, Mr. John Smith, Mr. Weyland, Wiscount Lowther, Mr. Hope, Mr. Moreton, and Mr. Lennard ; eight of whom, at least, were the earnest guardians of the in- terests of the Mill-owners. Most sedulous was their attention to the whole proceeding : That 382 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. any false or wilfully exaggerated statement could have passed them undetected, is clearly incred- ible. Nevertheless, this was the plea afterwards resorted to, and, on the next step being taken in Parliament, the manufacturers demanded a new enquiry, not before a Parliamentary Committee, but by Commissioners sent from London to col- lect evidence in the factory-districts. This occurred at the opening of the session of 1833; that of 1832 having been wasted in the enquiry conducted by Mr. Sadler. This first en- quiry was earnestly deprecated by him, as utterly uncalled-for. It answered, however, the purposes of the Mill-owners, in postponing all legislation for one whole year. No sooner, however, had its Report been made, than the factory interest impugned that very investigation which they them- selves had demanded. They now called for a fresh and further enquiry; an enquiry to be made on the spot, by Commissioners despatched from London for that purpose. Once more the government, which, at their re- quest, had forced the Committee of 1832 on Mr. Sadler,-gave way to this powerful body; and a further investigation was determined on. On the 19th of April, 1833, a Royal Commission was issued, to fifteen persons therein named, enjoining them THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 383 “to proceed with the utmost dispatch to collect information in the manufacturing districts, as to the employment of children in factories, and as to the propriety and means of curtailing the hours of their labour.” From Mr. Sadler's Committee, therefore, an ap- peal was granted; and that appeal was to a body more favourably constituted, it was conceived, towards the mill-owners, than the Parliamentary Committee of 1832. Of the great influence of the manufacturers with the Government, no doubt could be entertained; or that that influence would be used to prevent the appointment of any persons on the Commission, whose disposition might be annoyingly inquisitive. In fact it was seen in the working of this scheme, that several of the Com- missioners felt no repugnance at accepting the hospitalities of the wealthier Mill-owners, –of the very parties, in fact, touching whose alleged mis- conduct their enquiry ought to have been made 1 Yet, notwithstanding all these favourable cir- cumstances on the part of the manufacturers, what was the main result of this second enquiry 2 So important is it to understand this, that we must give at some length, the principal passages in the Report of the Commission of Inquiry, which was laid on the table of the House of Commons, on the 28th of June, 1833. 384 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. The Commissioners, whose general bias, be it remembered, cannot have been against the Mill- owners, thus sum up the facts collected in the course of their enquries. - - “Having thus considered the general treatment of children in factories, and the collateral circum- stances under which their employment is carried on, and which influence in no inconsiderable de- gree the effects of that employment, we come now to consider what those effects really are, as far as they are ascertained by the evidence collected under the present investigation. “The effects of factory-labour on children are immediate and remote : the immediate effects are fatigue, sleepiness, and pain; the remote effects, such at least as are usually conceived to result from it, are, deterioration of the physical constitu- tion, deformity, disease, and deficient mental in- struction and moral culture. 1. “The degree of fatigue produced on children by ordinary factory-labour may be gathered from their own account of their feelings, and from the statements of parents, adult operatives, over- lookers, and proprietors. “The statements of the children, and more especially of the younger children, as to their own feeling of fatigue, may be said to be uniform. The intensity of the feeling is influenced, without THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 385 doubt, by the age of the child, and the constitu- tional robustness or feebleness of the individual; but the feeling itself is always the same, and dif- fers only in degree. The expressions of fatigue are the strongest and the most constant on the part of the young children employed in the fac- tories in Scotland, because there the ordinary hours of work are in general longer by an hour or an hour and a quarter than in the factories of Eng- land. We have been struck with the perfect uni- formity of the answers returned to the Commis- sioners by the young workers in this country, in the largest and best-regulated factories as well as in the smaller and less advantageously conducted. In fact, whether the factory be in the pure air of the country, or in the large town ; under the best or the worst management; and whatever be the nature of the work, whether light or laborious; or the kind of treatment, whether considerate and gentle, or strict and harsh ; the account of the child, when questioned as to its feeling of fatigue, is the same. The answer always being “sick- tired, especially in the winter nights.” “So tired when she leaves the mill that she can do nothing.” “Feels so tired, she throws herself down when she gangs hame, no caring what she does.” “Often much tired, and feels sore, stand- ing so long on her legs.” “Often so tired, she 2 C 386 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. could not eat her supper.” “Night and morning very tired; has two sisters in the mill; has heard them complain to her mother, and she says they must work.” “When the tow is coarse, we are so tired we are not able to set one foot by the other.” “Whiles I do not know what to do with myself; as tired every morning as I can be.” “Young persons of more advanced age, speak- ing of their own feelings when younger, give to the Commissioners such representations as the following:—“Many a time has been so fatigued that she could hardly take off her clothes at night, or put them on in the morning; her mother would be raging at her, because when she sat down she could not get up again through the house.” “Looks on the long hours as a great bondage.” “Thinks they are no much better than the Israel- ites in Egypt, and their life is no pleasure to them.” “When a child, was so tired that she could sel- dom eat her supper, and never awoke of herself.” “Are the hours to be shortened ?” earnestly de- manded one of these girls of the Commissioners who was examining her, “for they are too long.” “The truth of the account given by the children of the fatigue they experience by the ordinary labour of the factory is confirmed by the testimo- ny of their parents. In general the representation made by parents is like the following:—“Her THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 387 children come home so tired and worn out they can hardly eat their supper.” “Has often seen his daughter come home in the evening so fatigued that she would go to bed supperless.” “Has seen the young workers absolutely oppressed, and un- able to sit down or rise up ; this has happened to his own children.” “These statements are confirmed by the evi- dence of the adult operatives. The depositions of the witnesses of this class are to the effect that “the younger workers are greatly fatigued ;” that “children are often very swere (unwilling) in the mornings;” that “children are quite tired out;” that “the long hours exhaust the workers, espe- cially the young ones, to such a degree that they can hardly walk home;” that “young workers are absolutely oppressed, and so tired as to be un- able to sit down or rise up; ” that “younger workers are so tired they often cannot raise their hands to their head;” that “all the children are very keen for shorter hours, thinking them now such bondage that they might as well be in a pri- son ;” that “the children, when engaged in their regular work, are often exhausted beyond what can be expressed;” that “the sufferings of the children absolutely require that the hours should be shortened.” “The depositions of the overlookers are to the 2 C 2 388 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. same effect;” namely, that though the children may not complain, yet that they seem tired and sleepy, and happy to get out of doors to play them- selves. That “the work overtires workers in ge- neral.” “Often sees the children very tired and very stiff-like.” “Is entirely of opinion, after real experience, that the hours of labour are far too long for the children, for their health and education ; has from twenty-two to twenty-four boys under his charge, from nine to about fourteen years old; and they are generally much tired at night, always anxious, asking if it be near the mill-stopping.” “Never knew a single worker among the children that did not complain of the long hours, which prevent them from getting education and from getting health in the open air.” “The managers in like manner state that “the labour exhausts the children ;” that “workers are that “children inquire 3. tired in the evening;’ anxiously for the hour of stopping;” and admissions to the same effect on the part of managers and proprietors will be found in every part of the Scotch depositions. • “In the north-eastern district the evidence is equally complete that the fatigue of the young workers is great. “I have known the children,” says one witness, “hide themselves in the stove among the wool, so that they should not go home THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 389 when the work was over, when we have worked till ten or eleven. I have seen six or eight fetched out of the stove and beat home; beat out of the mill however. I do not know why they should hide themselves, unless it was that they were too tired to go home.” “Many a one I have had to rouse in the last hour when the work is very slack from fatigue.” “The children were very much jaded, especially when we worked late at night.” “The children bore the long hours very ill indeed.” “Exhaust- ed in body and depressed in mind by the length of the hours and the height of the temperature.” “I found when I was an overlooker, that after the children from eight to twelve years had work- ed eight or nine or ten hours, they were nearly ready to faint; some were asleep; some were only kept to work by being spoken to, or by a little chastisement, to make them jump up. I was sometimes obliged to chastise them when they were almost fainting, and it hurt my feelings; then they would spring up and work pretty well for another hour; but the last two or three hours were my hardest work, for they then got so ex- hausted.” “I have never seen fathers carrying their children backwards nor forwards to the fac- tories, but I have seen children apparently under nine, and from nine to twelve years of age, going 390 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, to the factories at five in the morning, almost asleep in the streets.” “Some children do appear fatigued and some do not.” “I have noticed the drawers exhausted beyond what I could express.” “Many times the drawers are worked beyond their strength.” There is however a striking contrast in the state- ments of all the witnesses relative to the fatigue of the children in the factories of the western dis- trict, in which the hours of labour for children are so much shorter than in the other factories of the kingdom. 2. “Children complain as much of sleepiness as of fatigue. “Often feels so sleepy that he can- not keep his eyes open.” “Longs for the mill's stopping, is so sleepy.” “Often falls asleep while sitting, sometimes while standing.” “Her little sister falls asleep, and they awake her by a cry.” “Has two younger sisters in the mill; they fall asleep directly they get home.” “Was up before four this morning, which made her fall asleep when the mill was inspected at one to-day by the Factory Commissioners; often so tired at night that she falls asleep before leaving the mill.” “I always found it more difficult to keep my piecers awake the last hours of a winter's evening. I have told the master, and I have been told by him that I did not half hide them. This was THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 391 when they worked from six to eight.” “I have seen them fall asleep, and they have been per- forming their work with their hands while they were asleep, after the billey had stopped, when their work was over. I have stopped and looked at them for two minutes, going through the mo- tions of piecening fast asleep, when there was really no work to do, and they were really doing nothing. I believe, when we have been working long hours, that they have never been washed, but on a Saturday night, for weeks together.” “Children at night are so fatigued that they are asleep often as soon as they sit down, so that it is impossible to waken them to sense enough to wash themselves, or scarcely to eat a bit of sup- per, being so stupid in sleep. I experience it by my own child, and I did by myself when a child, for once I fell asleep, even on my knees to pray on my bed-side, and slept a length of time till the family came to bed.” Overlookers and mana- gers in innumerable instances depose to the same effect. 3. “Pains in the limbs, back, loins, and side are frequent, but not as frequent as fatigue and drowsiness. The frequency and severity of the pain uniformly bears a strict relation to the tender age of the child and the severity of the labour. Pain is seldom complained of when the labour 392 iIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. did not commence until the age of nine, and was not immoderate. Girls suffer from pain more com- monly than boys, and up to a more advanced age ; though occasionally men, and not unfrequently young women, and women beyond the meridian of life, complain of pain, yet there is evidence that the youngest children are so distressed by pain of their feet, in consequence of the long standing, that they sometimes throw off their shoes, and so take cold. “ Feet feel so sair that they make him greet.” “Was quite well when she went to the mill, but the confinement brought on a complaint in her head, and her left side is now pained.” “Many nights I do not get a wink of sleep for the pain.” “At first suffered so much from the pain that he could hardly sleep, but it went off.” “ Knee failed from excessive labour; severe pains and aches would come on, particularly in the morning; it was better in the evening; felt no pains in any other parts. There were two or three complaining at the same time of their knees aching.” “I have seen children under eighteen years of age before six at night, their legs has hurt them to that degree that they have many a time been crying.” 4. “Swelling of the feet is a still more frequent source of suffering. “Obliged to bathe her feet to subdue the swelling.” “The long standing THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 393 gives her swelled feet and ancles, and fatigues her so much that sometimes she does nae ken how to get to her bed.” “Night and morning her legs swell, and are often very painful.” That this affection is common is confirmed by the concur- rent statements of parents, operatives, overlookers, and managers. 5. “That this excessive fatigue, privation of sleep, pain in various parts of the body, and swell- ing of the feet experienced by the young workers, coupled with the constant standing, the peculiar attitudes of the body, and the peculiar motions of the limbs required in the labour of the factory, together with the elevated temperature, and the impure atmosphere in which that labour is often carried on, do sometimes ultimately terminate in the production of serious, permanent, and incura- ble disease, appears to us to be established. From cases detailed in the evidence, and the ac- curacy of which has been strictly investigated, we do not conceive it to be possible to arrive at any other conclusion. The evidence, especially from Dundee and Glasgow, from Leicester, Not- tingham, Leeds, and Bradford, from Manchester and Stockport, in a word, from all the great manu- facturing towns, with the exception, perhaps, of those in the western district, in which there is little indication of disease produced by early and 394 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. excessive labour, shows that grievous and incura- ble maladies do result in young persons from labour commenced in the factory at the age at which it is at present not uncommon to begin it, and continued for the number of hours during which it is not unusual to protract it. 6. “From the same evidence it appears, that the physical evil inflicted on children by factory labour, when commenced as early and continued as long as it now is, is not the only evil sustained by them. From the statements and depositions of witnesses of all classes it appears, that even when the employment of children at so early an age, and for so many hours as is customary at present, produces no manifest bodily disease, yet in the great majority of cases it incapacitates them from receiving instruction. On this head the statements of the children themselves must be ad- mitted to be of some importance; and it will be found that the young children very generally declare that they are too much fatigued to attend school, even when a school is provided for them. This is more uniformly the declaration of the chil- dren in the factories of Scotland than in those of England. The evidence of other witnesses, both as to the capacity of the children for receiving instruction, and as to their actual state in regard to education, is conflicting. Few will be prepared THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 395 to expect the statements that will be found on this head in regard to Scotland, where the educa- tion of the children is neglected to a far greater extent than is commonly believed; where only a very small number can write ; where, though per- haps the majority can read, many cannot; and where, with some honourable exceptions, it seems certain that the care once bestowed on the in- struction of the young has ceased to be exemplary. The reports of the Commissioners for Scotland, who will be found to have kept this subject con- tinually before their view, are decisive on this head. “Many of the persons sworn could not write nor sign their depositions. The reports mark the signatures in every case where the par- ties could write. I suspect the want of education so general on the part of these people, which has surprised me, is to be attributed to their being for so long a period of the day confined to the fac- tories.” “The overseers of the small mills, when the proprietors are absent, almost uniformly, as the Central Board will notice, declare their aver- sion to the present long hours of working, as inju- rious to the health of the workers, and as render- ing their education impossible.” “Still the em- ployment of workers in factories cannot, where proper regulations are attended to, be in most cases with propriety termed an unhealthy one ; 396 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. and it would therefore seem that the long confine- ment of labour is more injurious to them, in pre- venting them from being sufficiently educated, and of course sufficiently instructed in their moral duties, than in other respects. Here too, although there is abundance of evidence from clergymen, as well as from teachers, of a conflicting descrip- tion, I think it upon the whole impossible to doubt, that the young workers must be so much fatigued with the very long hours of labour, that they can- not be so fit to receive instruction as other young people, and that they have too little time for be- ing at school, even to enable them to learn to read, write, and to understand accounts tolerably. Want of education cannot fail to have an unfa- vourable influence on their morals.” “One of the great evils to which people em- ployed in factories are exposed is, the danger of receiving serious and even fatal injury from the machinery. It does not seem possible, by any precautions that are practicable, to remove this danger altogether. There are factories in which every thing is done that it seems practicable to do to reduce this danger to the least possible amount, and with such success that no serious accident happens for years together. By the returns which we have received, however, it appears that there are other factories, and that these are by no THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 397 means few in number, nor confined to the smaller mills, in which serious accidents are continually occurring, and in which, notwithstanding, dan- gerous parts of the machinery are allowed to remain unfenced. The greater the carelessness of the proprietors in neglecting sufficiently to fence the machinery, and the greater the number of accidents, the less their sympathy with the sufferers. In factories in which precaution is taken to prevent accidents, care is taken of the workpeople when they do occur, and a desire is shown to make what compensation may be possi- ble. But it appears in evidence that cases fre- quently occur in which the workpeople are aban- doned from the moment that an accident occurs; their wages are stopped, no medical attendance is provided, and whatever the extent of the injury, no compensation is afforded. “From the whole of the evidence laid before us, of which we have thus endeavoured to exhibit the material points, we find — “1st. That the children employed in all the principal branches of manufacture through- out the kingdom work during the same number of hours as the adults. “2nd. That the effects of labour during such are, in a great number of cases, “Permanent deterioration of the physical constitution : 398 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. “The production of disease often wholly irremediable : and “The partial or entire exclusion (by reason of excessive fatigue) from the means of obtaining adequate education and acquiring useful habits, or of profiting by those means when afforded. “3d. That at the age when children suffer these injuries from the labour they undergo, they are not free agents, but are let out to hire, the wages they earn being received and appropriated by their parents and guardians. “We are therefore of opinion that a case is made out for the interference of the Legis- lature in behalf of the children employed in factories.” Such, then, was the result of an investigation carried on—not by persons prejudiced against the master manufacturers, but by men whose selection was the act of those upon whom the mill-owners clearly exerted considerable influence. Admit- ting the Commissioners to have been fairly chosen and to have shewn no bias towards the masters, and this is a very large concession to make, -still it is quite certain that of any bias against the masters, they were wholly innocent. And their THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 399 report, let it be distinctly understood, fully esta- blished all the main propositions enunciated by Mr. Sadler, and shewed his proposed Bill to be, in the main, just and necessary. After such as a result as this, it was clearly im- possible for the government to avoid immediate legislation. In fact, if not too prompt, they were in one sense singularly hasty. A very strange course was taken. This commission was ap- pointed, professedly in order to ascertain whether or not an evil existed; and also, what would be the best remedy to apply. Yet, oddly enough, after sending forth this Commission, the govern- ment proceeded to legislate without waiting for its return A Bill was brought into Parliament, and some progress made in it, before the Commissioners had returned to town, or made their report. This singular step seemed to indicate two things; namely, first, a real anxiety, on the part of Lord Althorp, a man of a feeling and benevolent mind, to do something in a matter which he evidently saw to be one of clear and urgent necessity: and, secondly, a distinct admission, that the expedient of the Commission was chiefly intended to gain time; and not bona fide, to obtain information. It would not, however, be relevant to our pre- sent purpose, to pursue this subject much further. 400 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. It has been already seen that to Mr. Sadler it is owing, that the evil was placed in so strong and clear a light, as to render some movement in re- dress unavoidable. Had his whole parliamentary life produced no other fruit this, he would not have entered the House of Commons in vain. The measure finally adopted by Lord Althorp, in 1833, justified all the worst anticipations of the friends of the factory-children, It gave, it is true, some relief to a particular class of infants, L and, indeed, it would have been difficult to have framed any measure which should not have wrought some good ;-but, with its scanty mea- sure of protection, were combined provisos which deprived the labourers of divers of the safeguards which they had previously possessed. The pe- malties affixed to convictions for cruelty were in many cases absurdly and unaccountably lowered, so as to become altogether trivial to the wealthy mill-owner: the period within which informations were required to be laid, was limited : parties hav- ing a collateral interest in mills, were permitted to sit on the bench ; and in a variety of ways, facilities were given for the evasion of justice. The appointment of Inspectors, and the greater degree of attention now paid to the subject by the press, has doubtless wrought a considerable improvement within the last ten years : but of THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 401 the Bill of 1833, it may be almost doubted whe- ther it were more beneficial or injurious. In truth, the only really effective measure would be that, concerning the justice and necessity of which, Mr. Sadler never wavered ;-a Bill for restricting the labour of children and young per- sons to ten hours per diem. Of any real and sub- stantial improvement in the condition of the fac- tory-labourers, this must be the foundation. Starting from any other point than this, is to be- gin by denying the claims of humanity; and it would be an inversion of the natural order of things, if the setting out on a wrong path, should conduct at last to the right end. If our moral arithmetic commence by hesitating as to whether two and two make four, it will lead to the perversion of right and truth, in the affairs of thousands and tens of thousands. The common sense of mankind has long since decided, that twelve hours is a working man’s day of labour ; divided between two hours for meals and ten for work. The proposition is, that little children should be protected by law, from being tasked with a longer day's work than the full-grown man. This is what the Ten Hour Bill asks ;--it provides for ten hours actual labour, leaving two for meals. When the legislature of England has had to deal with malefactors at home, 2 D 402 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. or with negro slaves abroad, it has ever admitted, without difficulty, this principle. It has never tolerated the idea, that convicts in our hulks, or negroes in our colonies, should be borne down with more than a full and fair day’s labour. It is only to our own children,_to little girls and boys, born and bred up among us, untainted with any crime, and having the highest claim on our protec- tion,-that this justice is denied. It is only when these, worn out with ceaseless toil, their limbs bending and distorting under the burden, call to us for sympathy, it is only to these that we turn a deaf ear, and exclaim, “Trade must not be interfered with !” But their cause must finally prevail. It is the fashion to exclaim, almost with cuckoo-note, of many a nostrum in politics, “It is only a question of time :-sooner or later the point must be con- ceded.” With how much more truth and reason, may we adopt this language in the present case ; and say : “ The common feelings of humanity will not permit us to relax in our pursuit of this object: Persist we must, until justice be done. Nor can we doubt of the final result. That love of justice, and that sympathy for the oppressed, which distinguish Englishmen, afford us a certain hope of ultimate success. The question can only be one of time. There can be but one termina- tion of this controversy.” * THE CASE OF THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 4:03 We have also great cause to be thankful, that when Mr. Sadler's retirement from Parliament, and his failing health, rendered it impossible for him to do more in the cause, the duty was assu- med by one in every way qualified to discharge it. In Lord Ashley, these poor children have an advocate of the most single-hearted faithfulness, and the most unshrinking perseverance. It is, necessary, however, that the public support should be promptly and earnestly given to his Lordship's endeavours ; and that the case, in itself so clear and unanswerable, should be con- stantly pressed upon the notice of the legislature It would hardly be right to forget, in this place, a short and simple ballad, written by Mr. Sadler during the Parliamentary discussion, and founded entirely on a fact given in evidence before the Committee of which he was chairman. THE FACTORY GIRL'S LAST DAY. “’Twas on a winter's morning, The weather wet and wild, Three hours before the dawning The father roused his child; Her daily morsel bringing, The darksome room he paced, And cried, ‘The bell is ringing, My hapless darling, haste l’ 3 D 2 404 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, “Father, I’m up; but weary, * I scarce can reach the door, And long the way and dreary,< O carry me once more 1 To help us we’ve no mother; And you have no employ; They killed my little brother, Like him I’ll work and die l’ Her wasted form seemed nothing,- The load was at his heart; The sufferer he kept soothing Till at the mill they part. The overlooker met her, As to her frame she crept, And with his thong he beat her, And cursed her as she wept. Alas! what hours of horror Made up her latest day; In toil, and pain, and sorrow, They slowly passed away : It seemed, as she grew weaker, The threads the oftener broke, The rapid wheels ran quicker, And heavier fell the stroke. The sun had long descended, But night brought no repose ; Her day began and ended As cruel tyrants chose. At length a little neighbour Her halfpenny she paid, To take her last hour's labour, While by her frame she laid. THE CASE of THE FACTORY CHILDREN. 405 At last, the engine ceasing, The captives homeward rushed; She thought her strength increasing— 'Twas hope her spirits flushed : She left, but oft she tarried; She fell and rose no more, Till, by her comrades carried, She reached her father's door. All night, with tortured feeling, He watched his speechless child; While, close beside her kneeling, She knew him not, nor smiled. Again the factory's ringing Her last perceptions tried; When, from her straw-bed springing, ‘’Tis time !” she shrieked, and died That night a chariot passed her, While on the ground she lay; The daughters of her master An evening visit pay : Their tender hearts were sighing As negro wrongs were told, While the white slave lay dying Who gained their father's gold!” With his earnest and laborious advocacy of this great question, closed Mr. Sadler's public life. The Reform bill received the Royal Assent on the 7th of June, 1832; on the 16th of August, the Houses were prorogued; and on the 3rd of the following December, the Dissolution took 406 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. , place. The borough for which he sat, had been included in Schedule A, and in the next Parlia- ment Mr. Sadler had no seat. - It might easily be made a ground for much grave reprehension of the Reform Bill,—that a man like Mr. Sadler, who, to a remarkable extent, devoted his whole time and powerful talents, not to his own aggrandisement, or the further- ance of the views of his party; but to the great object of the improvement of the condition of the great mass of the people, it might, we repeat, be made to redound greatly to the disgrace of that measure, that such a man should have been, by it, exeluded from a seat in the legislature. But, con- sidering dispassionately all the circumstances of the case, we are not inclined to lay this charge at the door of the Reform Bill. We believe that Mr. Sadler might have been returned, in the most gra- tifying and honourable manner, for many different constituencies; had not circumstances fallen out, more than once or twice, in a peculiarly unfortu- nate manner. He was led, again and again, to de- cline most desirable offers, and to close with others which ended in failure. At the general election which took place in December 1832, he was induced, by the entreaties of great numbers of his neighbours, to offer himself for his own town of Leeds, then just enfranchised. In their eyes, and CLOSE OF HIS PUBLIC LIFE. 407 in the eyes of all the better part of the community, their town would have been greatly honored by the acquisition of such a representative. By these solicitations he was induced to neglect other offers, more than one of which was of a promising character. But the contest for Leeds, though gal- lantly fought, never presented more than a faint hope of success. In the way of his success, as a candidate, there were peculiar difficulties. Al- though his efforts in behalf of the poor, and especially in behalf of the Factory-children, had enlisted a warm feeling in his favor among the working classes; yet these, unfortunately, could offer him but few votes. On the other hand, the greatmanufacturers, whose influence in such a town as Leeds must necessarily be quite the predominant one, were for the most part alienated from him, by those very efforts which had gained him friends among the poor. His Bill for the protection of the infant labourers was regarded by them as a mea- sure of restriction and annoyance, and almost of pains and penalties; and its provisions were consi- dered to be levelled directly against them. It natu- rally, therefore, became a prominent, if not an avowed object with many of them, to keep its author and principal promoter out of parliament. The bitterest animosity was exhibited towards 408. LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. him.* The Whig and Dissenting interest of the town thus became really, though silently streng- thened by the aid of many who were actuated by the lowest and most degraded personal motives. And the contest ended in Mr. Sadler's obtaining 1596 votes, while his competitor, Mr. Macaulay, received 1984. * As one instance of this, we copy the following public apo- logy, advertised in May 1833, in the Leeds papers, by two of his principal local antagonists, “PUBLIC NOTICE.” “A Paragraph headed “Caution to Manufacturers,” having “appeared in the Leeds Mercury of the 18th inst. imputing to “a gentleman (Mr. S.) late Candidate for the Representation “ of this Borough, that he had threatened a Manufacturer in the “following words,-viz.-‘‘Sir, if I met you on A DARK NIGHT, and having 3. “with a pistol in my hand, I would shoot You,' “received from that gentlemen, an assurance that we gave an “entirely false representation of the conversation ; we have “made such enquiries, as have satisfied us that the imputation “conveyed by the paragraph, is wholly FALSE ; and we beg “therefore to apologize to him, for the insertion of the para- “graph, and to express our regret that we have been led by the “information we had received to publish it.” “We were prepared to have given a further public expression “ of our regret for the injury which such a paragraph was “ calculated to inflict on his character; but have to acknowledge “his forbearance in waving it.” Edward Baines & Son. Proprietors and Publishers of the Leeds Mercury.” “ Leeds, May 22, 1833.” CLOSE OF HIS PUBLIC LIFE. 409 Thus was Mr. Sadler sent back into private life. But the want of his presence in the house of Com- mos was so generally felt by great numbers of the people, in every part of the kingdom, that on every opportunity schemes were agitated, for again call- ing him from his retirement. Marylebone was one among several constituencies so applying. But he acceded to none of these entreaties until the opening of the year 1834. At that period the two boroughs of Leeds and Huddersfield each besought him to become a candidate. For a short time he hesitated,—Leeds seeming to have the prior claim ; but Huddersfield appearing to offer a certainty of success. The constituency was but small; the town was treated as a nomination-borough by the chief proprietor, Sir John Ramsden, and both Tories and Radicals desired to throw off his yoke. The union of these two parties would have given a clear majority of the electors; and they offered to combine, to return Mr. Sadler. Upon this un- derstanding Mr. Sadler relinquished all thoughts of standing for Leeds, and accepted their invitation. Suddenly, however, on the very eve of the election, the Radicals deserted him, started a candidate of their own, and thus ensured the success of Sir John Ramsden's nominee. The poll closed with these numbers, 410 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. "-- Mr. Blackburne. 234 Mr. Sadler. - 147 Capt. Wood. 108 And thus, a second time, Mr. Sadler was foiled in his purpose of reentering Parliament. After this he never again became a candidate. - The general election which took place in Janu- ary 1835, brought him anew, a variety of appli- cations. The people of Birmingham were particu- larly urgent; but from South Durham he received offers of support from quarters which could have ensured success. At this period, however, his health had decidedly given way, and the disorder which ultimately ended his life, was already mak- ing rapid inroads on his constitution. He was therefore obliged, however reluctantly, to concede to the representations of his medical advisers, and to return a negative answer to all applications of this description. - In May 1834, having paid a visit to Belfast, at which place the firm with which he was connected had extensive works, he was greatly pleased with the town and neighbourhood, and resolved on fix- ing his future residence there. Here the short re- mainder of his life was spent,-chiefly in projecting and carrying forward various literary plans, connect- ed with the great subject which was ever uppermost in his mind,-the wrongs and the necessities of CLOSE OF HIS PUBLIC LIFE. 411 the labouring poor. The advances of disease, however, prevented the completion of any of them. Two of these, of which he had sketched the out- line, would have been of great and lasting value. The one was, an address to the people of England, on the Rights and Wrongs of the Poor;—intended to exhibit the gradual, but unceasing encroach- ments of Capital upon Industry, during especially the last three or four centuries. The other was, a Commentary on the National Institutions given by Moses, under Divine inspira- tion, to the Jews. On some of the leading ideas of this work, we may, perhaps, hereafter venture to dilate. In the remaining chapters, our chief duty will be, to exhibit Mr. Sadler's views and principles on one or two important topics which have not yet been adverted to. CHAPTER XII. THE NEW Poor LAW OF 1834. It now becomes our duty, in endeavouring to sketch an outline of Mr. Sadler's character and principles, to explain, before we pass on to the termination of our narrative, his views on one or two subjects of paramount importancé, which occupied his thoughts in the interim between his leaving Parliament, and the close of his life. Among these, perhaps the most prominent, and that which most intensely agitated his mind, was, the Act for the Amendment of the Poor Laws of England, proposed by Lord Althorp, and carried through Parliament in the year 1834. No other subject could have so deeply interested him; and no other discussion would have caused equal regrets at his seclusion from Parliament. His cor- respondence at this period shewed how entirely THE NEW POOR LAW, 413 his mind was occupied with the question; and how repugnant the leading features of the new measure were, to every feeling of his soul. . In alluding to this subject it is necessary to guard against misconstruction and misrepresenta- tion, on two or three preliminary points. Mr. Sadler never thought, and never would have said, that the existing law, as it stood in 1834, covered as it was, with patches and excrescences, many of which had been fabricated in a Malthusian spirit, —he never would have argued that the law as it stood was perfect and faultless; still less would he have denied that in its administration, particu- larly in some agricultural districts, it had been rendered odious by the introduction of divers gross abuses. That a very great change was abso- lutely required, is fully admitted, and dwelt upon at some length, in his lectures on the Poor Laws, already adverted to, the MS. of which now lies before us. That the government of 1834, then, did right in grappling with the subject, and in boldly proposing a searching and extensive measure, may be readily and fully conceded. This admission, however, forms no justification of their having pro- posed what in itself was positively wrong. A necessity for doing something cannot be admitted to be identical with a necessity for doing mischief. In the next place Mr. Sadler would doubtless 414 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. have readily admitted, the personal humanity and good intentions of the propounder of the measure, Lord Althorp, and some of its chief promoters. Among the names subscribed to the Report which introduced and recommended the measure, were those of two prelates of the highest character. Nor ought we to forget that in all they said and did on this question, they only acted precisely as one of the brightest ornaments of the Scottish church would have counselled ;-they only carried out a portion of the plans and recommendations of Dr. Chalmers' These considerations cannot, indeed, change right into wrong, or induce us to give up the word of God for the dogmas of Mr. Malthus ; but they should teach us moderation in censure, and caution in its application. We may feel assured that these great and good men were wrong, lamentably wrong, but their support of even the atrocities of Malthus should teach us “not to be high-minded, but rather to fear.” If they have erred, who among the sons of men can claim to be infallible 7 And, while we are thus discharging the duty of just concession, let us add, what Mr. Sadler did not live long enough to witness, that it is unques- tionably true that in many individual parishes and districts, great benefits have followed the introduc- tion of the new system. A reasonable and reflect- THE NEW POOR LAW. 415 ing man will understand that this admission is not at all inconsistent with an utter disapproval of the system as a whole. To grant that a tyrant, as in the recent case of the French usurper, may achieve many great and admirable works,—in no way disturbs our verdict, either against despotism in the abstract, or against the individual tyrant in particular. There were, unhappily, in 1833, several parishes, perhaps we might say many parishes in England, in which by long misman- agement; by forcing all the labourers into pau- perism; by putting them up to auction, week by week; and by depriving honest industry of all mo- tive and all reward, the whole mass of the labourers had become hopeless, reckless, and destitute alike of energy and all self-respect. In such a state of things almost any possible change must have operated an immediate improvement. We have seen instances in which, by at once draw- ing the line between the labourer and the pauper; and compelling the latter class to seclude them- selves within the walls of the Workhouse, while all who remained free, were enabled to demand and to obtain at least wages enough to support their existence,—we have seen instances, we repeat, in which even the mere introduction of this simple and obvious rule has at once revolutionized a whole village. Under the former system, all were 416 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. receiving parish pay; all were half-idle; careless, thankless, and ready for any evil purpose. Under the new one, those who laboured, were paid by those for whom they laboured; eat the bread which they themselves had earned; were furnish- ed, by those who hired them, with sufficient occu- pation; and had thus been raised no inconsidera- ble step in the scale of society; while on the other hand, those who were compelled to claim pa- rochial relief, were shut up from the public gaze, and suffered the privation of a portion of their own freedom. Thus the pauper was no longer an idle stroller in the market-place; but, if not utterly incapacitated, or utterly worthless, he became an- xious to gain employment, and glad to escape from the ranks of pauperism. g We readily admit, then, the absolute necessity which existed, for a change; the unquestionable philanthropy of several of those who counselled, and especially of the nobleman who proposed the new system; and also the great benefits which have, in many places, instantly followed its adop- tion. And yet, notwithstanding all this, we must maintain, with Mr. Sadler, that the New Poor Law was a cruel and unjustifiable enactment. 1. It was conceived in a wrong spirit. This was especially observable in the Report of certain commissioners of enquiry, whose repre- THE NEW Poor LAW. 417 sentations, when laid upon the table of Parliament, became the basis upon which the measure itself was founded. -- -- . . The duty of these Commissioners was abun- dantly clear. Their first object should have been, to discover in what districts the existing law worked satisfactorily ; and what were the features which especially characterized those districts. They should then have contrasted these with other parishes, in which a different and an unsatisfac- tory state of things prevailed ; and they should have carefully searched out the causes of the differ- ence. In this way, and in this way only, they would have made the path clear to a real and practical improvement of the whole system. Had they taken this obvious course, they would have found certain parishes in England in which pauperism scarcely had any existence; in which the contribution paid by the rich was so light as to be quite trivial ; and in which the poor, with- out any considerable aid from the wealthy, were all comfortable and happy. And they would have found the main cause of all this to be, that the landlord, in each instance, felt and acted towards the poor as a fellow-creature “of the same blood:” That he cared for them ; and loved to see them hap- py: That he took care that each should have a com- fortable dwelling; with a sufficient garden; thus 2 E 418 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. affording them present comfort, and holding out a possibility of advancement; while hope excited industry; and kindness rewarded good conduct. But such facts as these were not sought out by these Commissioners; or rather, we should say, they were positively avoided. The Malthusian sys- tem utterly contemned all kindness to the poor, as tending to encourage the growth of a “surplus population.” Dr. Chalmers had already ridiculed and accordingly, º “the cottage-and-cow-system,” whenever that system came in the way of the Commissioners, it was invariably slighted, or misrepresented. The following passages from a periodical work which appeared in 1833, very shortly after the pub- lication of this Report, will spare us the trouble of going more at length into this part of the question. “The Poor-law Commission was well described, a few months back, in Cobbett's Magazine, in the following passage:— “These men have gone off, bearing with them a fund of philosophical prejudice against poor-laws, ‘population,’ ‘improvident marriages, and all the whole system and routine of nature ; and their object has been to furnish the grounds for imputing all sorts of crimes to the labouring people ; grounds for calling them idle, malicious, improvi- THE NEW POOR LAW. 419 dent, riotous, fraudulent, and prolific; for calling the old-fashioned overseer, unskilful, incautious, and unworthy of trust; for charging the magis- trates with unnecessary profuseness; and for the other purpose of connecting all these bad results with the unavoidable practice of the poor-laws. We believe there are two classes of persons who would hunt down our poor and our poor-laws to- gether. The first is, that class who suffer in their pockets from poor-laws; who have pawned their property to the fundholders; and have had the en- gagement doubled by Peel's bill; these find that there is nothing left for them so long as the poor have their share of the produce of the earth, and the fundholders have their share. This makes people of property wince under the burden of the poor-rates. The other class consists of frantic speculators, who live for the greater part in Lon- don; and have become “possessed of a devil,'—an idea that the earth does not, and cannot, produce food enough for us who are upon it; and who have found that little children are the greatest of curses ; that early marriages are among the greatest of crimes; that to give the means of existence is to give a “stimulus to population;' that laws for the relief of the poor, which have been in existence upwards of two hundred years, have, within the last forty, begun to make the labouring people first 2 E 2 420 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. poor, then idle, then prolific, then fraudulent, then riotous, and that they are proceeding to lead to no one knows what, unless they be timely checked by laws founded upon the suggestions of this set of Commissioners.” :}; $ $ 3% 2% “In this strong and pernicious bias (ofthe Com- missioners,) we find merely what we had previously expected. But, certainly, in their official acts we meet with a more unblushing manifestation of that bias than we could have calculated upon. The whole volume of “Evidence published by authority,” is nothing more or less than a broad, open, barefaced attempt to establish certain assumptions of the Mal- thus party, by evidence picked and culled with the greatest care, and from which is excluded with equal anxiety, all the principal facts which would tend to destroy those assumptions. “One of the most vital questions, as it regards the peasantry of England, that can possibly be named at the present moment, is that of “Cottage Allotments.” We, on our part, are perfectly satis- fied of their great utility. But we are aware that some persons of intelligence and respectability have taken up a different view. We are therefore quite willing that the facts of the case should be inquired into ; only desiring a fair and impartial investigation, and being ready to abide the issue. THE NEW POOR. L.A.W. 421 “But how have these Commissioners conducted this enquiry 2 Scores, may hundreds, of cases might have been met with, in which this method of ameliorating the condition of the poor has been adopted, and in which the results might have been ascertained. Especially, and above all others, ought they to have reported the facts connected with Mr. Estcourt's estates; on which estates, by means of this very system, the poor-rates, in a parish of 3,000 acres, had been reduced to 17 ll. in 1829, although in 1801 they had been 3321. “But no l this would have ill-suited their purpose. The Board itself, and its agents, the travelling Commissioners, are all of the same opinion with the amiable Miss Harriet Martineau,<-namely, that “cottage allotments are very bad things;” for that “nothing tends so much to increase popu- lation.” Therefore their eyes were closed against a multitude of similar cases, and they do not allude to the subject, in the whole of their volu- minous “extracts,” above four or five times. “These few times, however, they could scarcely avoid its introduction. But how do they handle the facts which are presented to them ż In a very curious manner ; in a manner curious for its men- dacity and effrontery. “Immediately we opened the volume we turned instinctively to this point. We knew that the 422 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. Allotment system was pre-eminently hated and dreaded by the Malthusians, and we naturally felt a little curiosity to see how they would deal with the facts which would every where present them- selves, at variance with their favorite theory. We found that the volume opened with an Inder; which is not quite the ordinary arrangement, as indexes are usually placed at the end. But we soon dis- covered the object of this innovation. This index is both descriptive and explanatory, and not only informs the reader what he may expect to find on any given page, but also what deductions he ought to draw from the facts therein contained. Beyond doubt, it is the most officious and didactic “index” that we ever had the good or ill fortune to en- counter. “Under the head of “Cottage Allotments,” we found, as we expected, a “plentiful lack” of information. The topic, all-important as it was, was only alluded to four or five times. Among these notices, in the index, we observed the two following:— “Small gardens for the mere occupation of after- hours, as a mere amusement, morally good ; 41.” “ Ultimate bad effects of large allotments, hid- den by small immediate advantages; 16, 40, 43.” “So said the index. We turned to the pages “41, 16, 40, 43 ;” and were certainly not a little THE NEW POOR LAW. 423 astonished—even knowing, as we did, the lengths to which “economists” will sometimes go, -to find that all the important matter described in this ar- gumentative index, was neither more nor less than a downright fabrication / Certain facts are said to be stated in certain pages of the work ; but when you turn to those pages, no such facts are there, nor anything in the least resembling them. “The index tells you, that at page 41, small gardens for mere amusement are proved to be good. The fact is, that at page 41, not a word is said of small gardens, or of mere amusement, but, on the contrary, allotments of land are shewn to be really useful and valuable to the poor as means of sub- sistence. At the other three pages, you are in- structed to expect something about the “ ultimate bad effects;” but when you turn to those pages you find not a single syllable of the kind;—not a word about any bad effects whatever ! “Small imme- diate advantages” are spoken of in the index, and when you read the page referred to, you find that these “small advantages” consist in a great re- duction of the poor-rates, even in the short space of two years; and an entire change in the conduct and character of thc poo miserable incendiaries into a comfortable and in- dustrious peasantry, ready to guard instead of des- troying their master's property. These are the converting them from 3 ** w * * * * * 424 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. things which this index-maker calls “ small ad- vantages.” And this is the sort of “Report” which the nation is to pay for, and which it is to be insulted by seeing “published by authority.” This brief example sufficiently exhibited the ani- mus of the Commission : And this animus governed the whole proceeding, down to the final enact- ment of the Bill ; and onward to the constitution of the Board, and its general system, as gradually matured and carried out. Two grand errors were perceptible throughout : Theory, and that a most false and baseless theory, was consulted instead of fact : and the chief reliance of the framers of the measure, for the governance of the poor, was placed upon Fear, rather than upon Hope. But this leads us to observe, that 2. The new system proceeded, in its dealings with the poor, upon a wrong principle. In Mr. Sadler's Lectures on the Poor Laws, delivered in Leeds in the year 1825, of which we have already spoken, he both fully recognized the evils of the existing system; and also indicated the true way in which the poor ought to be dealt with. “That idleness has resulted, and to a great ex- tent, from the Poor Laws as they have been adminis- tered, I shall not attempt to deny ; that it is one of the greatest demoralizers of human beings is THE NEW POOR LAW. 425 equally incontrovertible; hence it is hardly possi- ble to overrate the pernicious consequences that have ensued. But these might have been avoided in many cases, even under the present system, which I acknowledge to be very defective on this point, especially in reference to the exist- ing state of society. Instead of which, the paro- chial officers, as the easiest method of getting through their temporary duties, have too frequently supported the poor when out of employment, with- out setting them to labour; and have thereby offer- ed such a temptation—indeed, literally speaking, bounty,+to idleness, as it is impossible for human nature, in many cases, to withstand. Add to this; the practice, especially in agricultural districts, of eking out wages absolutely insufficient for sub- sistence, by parochial additions; and furthermore, the improper interference of the Magistrates, in innumerable instances, with the duties of the parochial officer, either from mistaken humanity or more questionable motives; so as to destroy at once the proper authority as well as mutual feeling which should subsist, between the two ranks of a parish ; and we perceive the degradation to which the whole system has been unjustly sunk; till its very principle is rendered obnoxious to numbers of the community. “Having now pointed out the evils, whether 426 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. necessarily or accidentally attaching themselves to our present system, I proceed to the far more important and difficult part of my subject, that of proposing adequate remedies; without doing which, I feel that all that I have previously advanced would be worse than useless, and could not even have the apology of having been dictated by a proper or benevolent motive. “The disease of this system, as has been stated, is the confounding in one mass, the deserving, and the profligate or idle poor; and, by treating all alike, extinguishing the hope, if not the possibility, of the former ever distinguishing themselves from the latter. The remedy, therefore, can only be found in the restoration of some motives, the exhi- bition of some advantages, to those who would then, in many instances at least, rise again in character and in condition ; and with themselves would as certainly elevate the mass of that numerous and interesting class. “I therefore lay it down as my initiatory maxim, that in any attempt to better the character and condition of the poor, you must present to them some motive beyond mere argument; the disinte- restedness of which they will always justly ques- tion, and which alone, will never generally or ultimately produce any beneficial effect. The plan proposed may be never so promising: the THE NEW POOR. L.A.W. 427 theory as beautiful and well-proportioned in all its parts as the creative wisdom of man can make it; but if it have not Hope, as its inspiring principle, it can never move ; it can never live.” Nothing more true, nothing more certain, was ever uttered; and in the present case the predic- tion has been instantly and entirely fulfilled. Not- withstanding the good which the wholesome seve- rity of the new law has in many districts effected; and which we shall not for an instant attempt to deny;—still, as a whole, and viewing the country as one mass, it must be admitted to have substanti- ally failed; inasmuch as instead of having satisfied the poor themselves, or having attached them to the institutions of the country,–it has created a deep and settled disgust, from one end of the country to the other; and forms, at this instant, one of the greatest grounds of disquietude, in the minds of those who are acquainted with the work- ing-classes, and know their feelings and their senti- ments. Such are fully aware, that instead of helping to bind together in unity and confidence, the different classes of the community, the new system has vastly augmented the alienation and distrust which before existed. And the root of aii this mischief, is, that the law proceeds by force, not kindness; that it appeals to the motive of Fear, not to that of Hope; and that it offers no- 428 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. thing, provides nothing, gives nothing, to the poor man; but rather takes away. *::: Every one now understands, that this law is generally regarded with aversion by those who are likely to fall under its operation; and that to re- enact it in its full extent, would be to risque the peace and tranquillity of the realm. But perhaps we may reasonably be expected to go beyond these generalities; and to point out those features in the system, as usually put in operation, which render it hateful to a large part of the population. In an instance or two, merely as an example, we will endeavour to do so. Among the first points of objection to the new system, may be named, The great eatent of the unions formed under it; from which massing toge- ther of large districts, many evils inevitably spring. One abuse which the framers of the Bill naturally desired to abate, was the absolute and ill-used power, which, in small agricultural parishes, ne- cessarily fell into the hands of a few large farmers. To guard against their despotic acts, it was thought advisable to form Boards of Guardians, by calling together one or two representatives of some twelve or twenty parishes, and thus constituting a more numerous body, by which it was supposed that all unjust or illegal acts would be avoided. Had these Unions been made smaller,-say of & THE NEW POOR LAW. 429 six parishes each ; and had the resident pastor of each parish been made an ex-officio member, together with every inhabitant householder whose dwelling was rated at 50f per annum, the pro- bability is, that great good would have resulted. More public spirit, more Christian sympathy, and more pecuniary liberality would have been intro- duced into the management of the poor; the labouring classes would have felt their condition improved ; and by that feeling their regard for the institutions of the nation would have been sensibly augmented. - But a board consisting of twenty farmers, one from each of twenty parishes, even though two or three magistrates should add their names, and sometimes give their attendance, is scarcely an improvement on the older Select Vestry system. Very little “fresh blood" is introduced. The same “separate caste” spirit still prevails. The personal knowledge of, and sympathy for, each individual pauper, is far less than before. The aggregate, too, of labour, imposed upon the Board, is vastly increased ; and of course the work is more hastily and cursorily done. One bad consequence connected with this exces- sive extent of the Unions, consists in the inevitable hardships thereby inflicted on the poor. Not only does a poor labourer, reduced to want, lose nearly 430 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. all the advantage of previous character, in being obliged to appeal for sympathy to a board con- sisting chiefly of strangers; but in many cases frightful suffering is inevitably caused, by the dis- tance of the place of relief, from the persons to be relieved. “A man starving for food applies to the over- seer for assistance ; he is told to make an applica- tion to the board of guardians. To effect that pur- pose, this poor creature has to walk a distance of twelve miles. Owing to the pauper having miscal- culated his time, he arrives too late ; he finds the board broken up, and he is compelled to retrace his weary steps without having received even a promise of relief.” " A second ground of complaint is found in the ex- tent to which the separation of children from pa- rents, and husbands from wives, has been carried. No one will contend, that an idle man and wo- man, in the prime of life, are to be taken into the workhouse, there to live in indolence and breed paupers. But why extend this prohibition to aged couples, who having lived in industry and harmony for 30 or 40 years, are now reduced to poverty, and find their sole remaining comfort in each other's society ? What is it but pure gratuitous cruelty, to * Debate in the House of Commons, Sept. 28, 1841. THE NEW POOR LAW. 431 insist upon tearing them from each other, for no conceivable public end ? So of mothers, and their young children. Con- ceding that at a certain age, boys and girls should be sent to school or to labour, still, where is the utility of taking the very young, and even infants from the breast, and cooping them up apart from their mothers ? A third grievance has arisen from the refusal of out-door relief; or in the diminution of such re- lief to a point which is tantamount to half-starva- tion. The recent modifications agreed upon by the commissioners, may reduce the hardship first alluded to,-but the penuriousness of the relief given, will, it is to be feared, still continue. What is it but cruelty to force a poor old woman,—as is often done,—to drag her weary limbs, some twelve or fourteen miles, going and returning, merely to re- ceive a single loaf as her whole allowanceforaweek! While this page is before us, the following sam- ples of the working of the new system offer them- selves. “On Sunday week, at the parish of Brans- by, near Stow, William Presswood, a labourer and cottager, was found by his wife in a shed near to his house, hanging to a beam ; her Screams were heard by Mr. Tayler, the constable, who imme- diately ran to the place, and cut the poor man down, but life was quite extinct. Mr. Hitchins 4.32 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. ſº held an inquest on the body on Monday. The picture of real distress which presented itself was of the most painful nature, the widow in the agony of despair, surrounded by seven children, the eld- est not more than ten years of age. The evidence went to show, that the deceased was an industri- ous, honest, and persevering man, who was desi- rous, if possible, of bringing up his family by the labour of his own hands. Some time back, he was afflicted by Providence with an illness which deprived him of the power of working. He appli- ed reluctantly for relief; he belonged to Welton, in the Lincoln Union, but he lived out of the union, and in that of Gainsborough. It being a case of emergency, Gainsborough gave him relief, but on his getting better, the relief was taken off, and the deceased and his family were left in a state of des- titution; he applied to Lincoln Union, but having a cow, which by industry he had saved, and a pig, which was to support his family, the test, the work- house, was applied, and he and his wife and seven children came into the workhouse. After a time they again went out, but no further relief was given them,-the deceased struggled hard against ad- verse fortune, but as one of the witnesses express- ed it, “ the iron had struck deep into his soul,” and he could not get over the degradation of ha- ving been in the workhouse ; it preyed upon his THE NEW POOR LAW. 433 mind, and at length he fell a victim.—The jury, in recording their verdict of Insanity, expressed it as their unanimous opinion, that if the parish of Wel- ton had contributed even a little to assist him, he might have overcome the difficulty, and have been still the protector of his now destitute family.” A second case is as follows ;- “Mary Lane, aged 25, has recently been left a widow, with two boys ; one two years old, the second ten weeks old : the eldest of them being a cripple. The mother is a woman of unquestion- ably good character. At the sitting of the Board of Guardians of the Hampnett union, this widow applied for the small allowance of 2s. per week ; with the aid of which she could maintain herself and her two children. The application was refu- sed, and an order of admission to the house ten- dered, instead of any allowance, however small. The effect of this would be, that the elder boy, the cripple, would be parted from his mother en- tirely: the younger would be brought to her three times a day to be suckled, till the time for weaning should come : and the mother herself would be thrown into the promiscuous mass of the inmates.”f A third instance is to the following effect:— In the parish of Donnington, Berkshire, before * Boston Herald, July 6, 1841. f Correspondent of the Times, Oct. 28, 1841. 2 F 434 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. a coroner's inquest, Harriet Alder stated, “My husband had only been able to do a day's work this summer, being so ill. For that he received a shilling. That was the last time he went to work. Having a child myself, of eleven weeks old, besides others, I was not able to go out. My husband went to the relieving-officer three or four times within the last six weeks, and stated the distress we were in, but was refused relief. He went again last Friday, and got an order for two gallons of bread. On Tuesday I went to the board of guardians, and received an order to go into the house on Saturday next, Oct. 9. On the Thursday my husband died.” The verdict was, “That Alder's death was accelerated by the want of the common necessaries of life.” Now we feel no hesitation in declaring our con- viction, that the harshness shewn in all these cases, and which is as unwise, as it is unfeeling,-belongs to the new system. Such things seldom, if ever, took place under the old law;-now, it is to be fear- ed that they are far from being of rare occurrence. A fourth evil, of a very serious description, con- sists in the shameful manner in which the health of the indigent poor is (nominally) provided for. This feature in the case is also important as betokening * Times, Oct, 20, 1841. THE NEW POOR LAW, 435 9 the lowered moral feeling of the “Union,” pared with the “Parish.” Formerly, when each parish provided itself with a medical officer whose duty it was to attend on the poor, the provision made was generally a fair and proper one ; sup- plying an effective superintendence of the health of the poorer classes, and remunerating the officer COIIl- employed, in an equitable manner. But the general practice of the “Unions” pre- sents an entire contrast to the proper feeling before apparent. Both parties,—the poor, and the medical profession,-suffer greatly from the change. Animated by a senseless rage for “eco- nomy,” derived from the central Board at Somer- set House, the Unions have generally adopted the cruel and irrational plan of taking “the lowest tender.” How many of the Guardians would like to provide their own families with medical atten- dance after this fashion ? * The working of this new system was thus de- scribed in a recent debate in the House of Com- II].OIAS · “In former times the poor man could easily obtain medical assistance when it was needed. If the man was honest, industrious, and deserv- ing, his neighbours were always ready to afford him every assistance, without the necessity of applying to the overseers or guardians of the poor. 2 F 2 436 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. The parish doctor was on the spot, and was al- ways willing to give his advice in cases of illness. If these happy days are ever to be restored, the preliminary step must be to restore parochial go- vernment, but in such a manner as to obviate the abuses which existed under the old system. The present Unions are so large and extensive, that it is quite impossible for the poor to obtain the necessary relief in cases of sickness. Take a sin- gle instance:—In the Basford Union, a medical gentleman, who has only recently passed his ex- amination as a medical practitioner, holds two districts, consisting of 12 different parishes, in- cluding a population of 12,410 persons (according to the census taken ten years ago, since which it has considerably increased), situate in an agri- cultural and manufacturing country; the salary which he receives for fulfilling the medical duties in the whole of those two districts being only 871. a year. He resides at Bulwell, and before he reaches three of the parishes—namely, Wood- borough (population 717), Lambley (population 690), and Calverton (population 1,064) each of which is seven miles distant from his own resi- dence—he passes, in order to visit his patients, through Arnold, containing 3,572 persons, at a distance of four miles; and in Arnold there resides a legally-qualified medical gentleman, who has THE NEW POOR. L.A.W. 437 practised there for at least 23 years, a man of excellent conduct, and I believe universally re- spected. He has a strong objection to the “tender’” system, which he has pledged himself never to adopt. He attended, several years previous to the formation of the union, the parishes of Arnold. Calverton, and Woodborough ; and applications have since been made to him for a renewal of his services, but the “tender” system forms the objec- tion to his consenting. He held one district in the Union for three years, but finding that the amount of remuneration was inadequate to the duties required of him, he resigned it; and be- cause he would not tender, the district was award- ed to an unqualified person ; who, after three months' trial, was dismissed for incompetency and neglect of duty. The district is now held by the young man above referred to, who has just commenced practice, and who already holds ano- ther district in the same union. The extreme parishes of the two districts are at least 12 miles asunder; so that if a patient living at either of the three parishes requires medical attendance, he has to send seven miles for the medical officer, of 14 miles to be travelled, almost daily, and fre- quently a distance of 28 miles (if two visits be required in a day), before medicines can be ob- ~438 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. tained, and supplied to the sick person.” “It is important that the poor should receive medical relief with the least possible delay. In many cases of accident, such as fractures, wounds, rupture of blood-vessels, or inflammations, delay is fatal. The difference of five minutes often, in such cases, made all the distinctions between life and death.” So serious a grievance is this, and so vast must be the injury inflicted on the poor by thus stint- ing them in medical aid, that it may be questioned whether this one disadvantage does not more than counterbalance all the advantages which may fair- ly be admitted to have occurred from the new system. In these four particulars, then, among others, for we have scarcely glanced over the subject, the new law acts prejudically and injuriously to- wards the poor. But not the poor only have ground of complaint ; for we must consider that 3. It unnecessarily, and therefore unjustifiably, intrenches on the principle of self-government. This is a point worthy of the consideration of any man aspiring to the character of a Statesman. All who really merit that title will be quite sen- sible, that it is not merely their duty to tolerate the existence of liberty among the people of this country; but rather, that it should be their pride * Debate in the House of Commons, Sept. 28, 1841. THE NEW POOR LAW. 439 and pleasure to foster and encourage it. The de- cay of a spirit of freedom would be inevitably ac- companied by a similar decay of all that is noble, or that leads to national greatness or happiness. Now a main element and preserving cause of the spirit of freedom, is found in the extensive use of plans and systems of self-government. A tyranny undertakes to do every thing for the peo- ple, save their daily toil. It tells them to mind their plough and their loom; while it guards their streets, and cleanses their sewers. But a free government knows it to be both right and wise, to give the people as much public business to do, and as much influence and authority in the regulation of their own local government, as it is possible for them conveniently to undertake and to exer- cise. While everything, therefore, which cannot be local, but in which the whole commonwealth must be dealt with and provided for at once,—as the Army, the Navy, the Church, the Law,-is undertaken by the Executive Government ; every- thing which the people can conveniently do for themselves, the watching, lighting, and cleans- ing their streets, the selection, in large towns, of their own local authorities, &c. is purposely left to them. This sort of power is left to them on two grounds: 1. That they frequently can regulate these affairs better than some higher authority at 440 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. a distance ; and 2. That it is desirable to exer- cise them, and to give them employment, in public business. - * Now of all things which properly belong to the people of a particular locality, the care of their own poor is the last which ought to be taken from them. This is abundantly obvious, from the very nature of the case. The poor cannot be dealt with as sewers or gaols may be. Nothing requires more personal knowledge, sympathy, patience, or consideration, than the care of the indigent and distressed. No set of general rules can be laid down, which shall not inevitably be attended with great suffering, and great injustice. Just as rea- sonably might a physician hand over his whole list of patients, to be prescribed for on some broad, general principles, by a Commission sitting twelve miles off, as a parish expect that their poor can be feelingly and sympathizingly dealt with, by a Board of Guardians, consisting of those who are nine-tenths strangers, and acting under the stern dictation of a central power in the metropolis. We will describe an actual case, as far as a whole parish was concerned, which has fallen under our own observation. A town parish, of a reasonable size, having 3,400 inhabitants, was the subject of the change. The care of the poor, as far back as the memory THE NEW POOR LAW. 441 of the oldest inhabitant could carry him, had al- ways been considered a subject of general interest and concern. Each Easter, as it recurred, two respectable inhabitants were selected at a public meeting of the householders of the parish, and in- vested, as Overseers, with full power to raise the ne- cessary funds by rate, and to expend them on the indigent and deserving poor. These officers were aided by a permanent Vestry-Clerk, and by a “Poor-Committee " consisting of past Overseers. It was held to be a matter of duty and conscience with them, to become personally acquainted with the cases of those applying for aid. Usually, not only those residing within the parish, but those at a distance also, were individually visited at their lodgings. The number of paupers in the workhouse was generally between 50 and 70, chiefly consisting of aged women. These were bountifully fed, their provisions alone costing the parish 4s. 4d. per head, weekly. On three days in the week they had half a pound of cooked meat to each person ; on the other four, good soup, pud- ding and potatoes. Yet, so far from this abun- dance attracting paupers, it was very rarely in- deed that any but the really disabled or decrepid, could be induced to enter the workhouse. The shield of the parish against the impositions of the profligate, was always found to be, an order to go 4:42 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. into the House. “I will give you an order for the House, but no money, ” was the usual reply of the Overseer, when he had a bad opinion of an applicant; and it was almost always effectual. But, to the deserving, or those who wished to strive for a living, out-door relief was freely given. As much as 3s. 6d. a week was often allowed to a poor widow, who made out the rest of her living by a little washing or needle-work. In all this, there was no lavish or idle waste of the public funds. All was done on a knowledge of the par- ties; from a proper feeling of their necessities; and in consonance with the well-known wish of the inhabitants, that their poor should be kindly and liberally treated. And the poor-rate, on this liberal system, and with 60 or 70 in-door poor, and 200 out-door fami- lies requiring relief, was usually about one shil- ling or eighteen-peace in the pound, per annum ; or from five, to seven and a half per cent, on the actual rent of the houses. But soon there came a change. By a mandate from Somerset-House, the New Poor Law was in- troduced. The parishioners were generally averse to it,-no abuse could be pointed out to require such a remedy. For mere uniformity's sake, and because some other parishes might require such a THE NEW POOR LAW. 443 specific,+the ancient parochial system was abol- ished, and all that the parishioners were hereafter to know of their own poor, was limited to a gene- ral idea that they had been carried off to a large house situate at a considerable distance, and that they, the inhabitants, were in future empowered to appoint two guardians, who would sit at a Board with twenty strangers, and have a slight and insig- nificant voice in the general management of the Union. The result has been, that the intercourse which formerly existed, and sympathy which naturally flowed forth, between rich and poor, has been wholly destroyed. If a man or woman is now in distress, he must go, not to any neighbour, - but to a “relieving officer,” who is a mere ma- chine, indurated by the mass of misery continually passing before him; knowing nothing of the par- ties, and acting on rigid instructions, which seem to consider pauperism and half-starvation as things which ought to be indissolubly connected. Very soon, except under peculiar circumstances, the poor wretch is immured within four walls, with scarcely the possiblility of escape, except it be to encounter utter starvation in the streets. In the old work- house he was frequently visited by various parish officers, who had always an open ear for his com- plaints. In the “Union” he is scarcely ever seen, 444 1IFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. —the “guardians” having no individual power; and each guardian feeling that he has only a fractional interest in the crowds there assembled, among whom he can scarcely discriminate his own parishioners. With the poor widows, who cannot reconcile themselves to this imprisonment, the case is still worse. Such an one, earning a poor eighteen pence, two shillings, or half a crown, weekly, by her needle, would often receive, if her respecta- bility and worth was fully ascertained, 3s. or 3s.6d. per week from the old “Poor Committee.” Now she has to appear before the “Union Board,”—the solitary guardian who happens to be present from her own parish “cannot hope to make her case an exception to the general rule,”—and she is ordered, after wasting a whole day in waiting to sue for it, “a shilling a week and a loaf" Many of these poor creatures have we seen, since the introduction of the New Poor Law into the district, tottering about the streets, the living pictures of a slow starvation. “But who hath required all this?” Wherefore should the Legislature thus step in between the in- habitants of a parish and their poor,<-without the existence of any previous complaint; and com- mand that all the poor widows shall be gradually starved to death;-no one person contributing to THE NEW POOR LAW. 445 their support, having expressed, or felt, the least desire for any such diabolical economy But even this plea of economy is a false one. It is more than doubtful whether, in the case of well- governed parishes, any permanent saving, on an average of years, will accrue. In the case above described, an old workhouse was given up, at a great sacrifice; a very large sum expended in enlar- ging another, to meet the wants of the “Union;” several new salaried offices created ; and thus, after a slight reduction for the first year or two, a gra- dual rise begins, which promises to bring the an- nual charge quickly up to its former level. But even were a lasting and considerable re- duction to take place, again we ask, why should the Legislature interfere to prevent a parish from merely showing kindness and sympathy to its aged and deserving poor ? Check, if you will, any foolish waste of money which tends to foster pau- perism; but do this by a few simple restorative enactments. In the main, allow the people to regulate these, their own affairs, by their own feel- ings, and attempt not to insistu pon their grinding the faces of the poor, against their own inclination. These brief and cursory remarks may suffice to indicate the course which we would desire to see taken, in any further legislation on the New Poor 446 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. Law. We would not, with many, demand the abolition of the Commission;–preferring, with Mr. Wakley, to turn it to a good account. Let that Commission continue to exist, but with an entire change in its object and occupation. The member just alluded to, said, in the recent debate, that “he was not for the total abolition of the law; for he thought that the interests of the poor were so vast, and that the nation generally was so mixed up with the question of the poor, that it was advisable that a court of appeal should be consti- tuted. To preside at this court he would have a man in whose judgment and humanity he could place implicit reliance; he would appoint a man who should be designated the “ the Poor Law Judge.” He would also suggest the appointment of a Poor Law advocate, whose duty it should be to support before that tribunal the claims of the poor and distressed. If Her most gracious Majesty had her paid advocates, he did not see why the poor should not have theirs.” Now to some desirable purpose of this kind, the existing Commission might surely be directed. Up to the present period the Commissioners seem to have mistaken their duties; and to have thought that the chief end of their creation was, to reduce the Poor-rates, and to protect the pockets of the Rate-payers. But the Rate-payers of England con- THE NEW POOR. L.A.W. 447 stitute a body of abundant acuteness and abundant power, and they require no aid, nor any suggestion, from a central Board, to induce them to look after their own interests. The continual efforts of the Commissioners, to force the rate-payers, and the Boards of Guardians, into a lower scale of diet and relief for the poor than they were generally willing to adopt, have been rendered necessary, not by any blindness of the rate-payers to their own inter- ests; but by a natural and righteous feeling of their obligations to God, and to their poorer bre- thren. Let us, then, ask for a restoration of the old parochial system,--wherever there is a public to work the law. Little knots of managers, whether farmers or manufacturers, will always be open to the temptation of “jobbing;” which seems pecu- liarly to belong to small select committees of self- appointed and self-responsible functionaries. Such compacts ought to be broken up; for out of such no good can possibly arise. But then the other extreme is not at all preferable. The immense parish,--such as Birmingham or Marylebone, in which the recipients of relief will often amount to thousands,--is an abuse at least equally deplorable. The rate-payers cannot, in such a district, fitly manage their own affairs, for they cannot meet without constituting a mob; and a mob must, of 448 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. necessity, mismanage every thing it undertakes. It is the old English parish, that we want,-with its own parson, known by, and knowing, every family within his bounds:–its publicly-chosen overseers, undertaking the care of the poor as a duty to God and to their neighbour: and whose parochial assemblies, of from fifty to an hundred reasonable beings, “inhabitant householders,” knowing and respecting each other, are too limited to present any field for the demagogue, and too extensive and open for the intrusion of jobbers. We want the people formed into bodies of this sort, wherever practicable;—by subdivision, in the large towns; by union of such as are near at hand, in the villages; and being so organized, we want them then to be intrusted with the care of their own poor, and the expenditure of their own money. The principal remedies required to cure the de- fects of the former system, were two: 1. A better organization of the people, subdividing large pa- rishes, and uniting small ones; so as to provide, every where, really useful and reasonable bodies of people, into whose hands the care of the poor might safely have been committed ; and 2, the means of separation ; and of discriminating be- tween the idle and the industrious poor. - Every working overseer, a dozen years back, fully felt THE NEW POOR LAW. - 449 the need of some new regulations of this kind. For the construction of such regulations; and for the trial of many experiments, in the manage- ment of the poor, the existence of some central authority was, and is, clearly desirable. But no reason can exist, why that central au- thority should possess the despotic power it now does, or why it should be permitted to go on, making harsh and cruel laws, which the whole realm abhors. Obtaining, first, large and intelli- gent bodies of the middle classes, for the manage- ment of the poor, the chief authority and responsi- bility, in all essentials, ought to be left with these assemblies. No Somerset-House Commission should have the power, which is now possessed, of enacting strict and sweeping laws against all kind and liberal treatment. A power to improve or suggest improvements, in matters of detail, does not of necessity include a power to prohibit out-door relief, or the use of a tolerable diet in workhouses. These are matters which may and ought to be left to the providers of the poor-rates; who, if they choose to give tea and sugar to their old women, and small ale to their aged men, and do not grudge an additional penny in their rates on this account, ought not to be coerced into harsh and cruel measures, by a foreign and un- interested central authority. 2 G 450 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER . We were just closing the present chapter, when the newspaper of the day (Nov. 6.) happened to fall into our hands. On opening it, we found, 1. A report of a public Meeting at Liverpool, called by a requisition subscribed by above 150 of the principal firms in that, the second town in England. All parties had concurred in this manifestation of disgust at the New Poor, Law. Eighteen of the guardians of the poor for the town had signed this document; and in that place, di- vided as it is on all other questions, perfect unan- imity prevailed in resolving, “That, after the expe- rience already gained, of the working of the New Poor Law, it is the decided opinion of this meet- ing, that the system is more cumbrous and expen- sive than the former parochial system; and is not so efficient or satisfactory either to rich or poor : And that the Churchwardens and Overseers be instructed to apply to Parliament for a local act, for the future administration of the affairs of the poor in this parish.” 2. A report of a public meeting of the town of Woolwich, over which the Rector of the parish presided ; and at which it was resolved to apply to the Court of Queen's Bench to dissolve the Union established by the Poor Law Commission- ers, and to leave the people of Woolwich at liber- ty to manage their own poor. - THE NEW POOR. L.A.W. 45I At this meeting, the Rev. Chairman stated that a principal motive for his interference was, a conviction of the hardships the poor were suffer- ing under the new system. He observed, that the poor of the parish of Woolwich, when in distress, were obliged to attend the board held at Green- wich, a distance of three miles, for relief. A jour- ney of three miles and a return of the same dis- tance, was, to the aged, the sick, and the infirm, no small grievance. But when arrived at Greenwich, the mass of applicants was so great, that many of the poor had to wait from two in the afternoon to nine o'clock at night; and then would be told that the Guardians were not able to get through the business, and they must come again that day week 1 Now it could not be supposed that they would have come that distance, and waited all those hours, if they had not been in real want. What, then, must be their sufferings before the return of the day of meeting ! Another gentleman stated, that on a very recent occasion, there had been three hundred and seventy cases for the weekly meeting of the board; and in consequence, very many of the poor, after waiting from two in the afternoon till past ten at night, were told to return home, a distance of three miles, at nearly midnight ; without a morsel of bread, or a bit of firing, and without having even been heard! 2 G 2 452 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. Is it to be supposed that a country can possibly be peaceful or happy, in which this is a specimen of the settled administration of the laws 7 3. A third Meeting is reported on the very same day, which took place at Sevenoaks in Kent, to enquire into gross mismanagement said to prevail in the management of the poor in that Union. A nobleman who moved the first Resolution, stated as facts, 1. That on the 22nd of April last, 75 boys were sleeping in 16 beds, and 86 girls in 19 beds. That on the 29th of April it was found that there were 42 boys with enlarged glands; and 63 girls. That the children were not properly washed from the month of May to the month of November; in consequence of which the itch generally pre- vailed. And that on one occasion five lying-in women were confined in two beds ; “not receiv- ing even the ordinary attention which the poor re- ceive in their own cottages.” - Such was the public testimony borne, in the course of a single day, to the working of the New Poor Law, by the three different and widely distant towns of Liverpool, Woolwich, and Seven- oaks. All agreed, with the most entire unanimity and earnestness, in reprobating the system, as cruel and oppressive to the poor, and harassing and in- sulting to the rate-payers. Can it be, that, in the face of such remonstrances as these, coming from THE NEW POOR. L.A.W. 453 all parts of the kingdom, and from men of all shades of political opinion,-any government will dream of maintaining the present Poor Law ; or any enactment at all resembling it ! Should such an insane attempt be made, it will un- questionably be seen, before many months elapse, that the same folly which has already shipwrecked the Whig administration, will most impartially ruin the prospects of their Conservative successors. CHAPTER XIII. THE CORN LAWS. It would do injustice to the portrait we are en- deavouring to sketch, were we to omit a distinct notice of Mr. Sadler's views on so vital a ques- tion as that of THE CoRN LAws. In his first con- siderable publication, his work on Ireland,-he very distinctly and strenuously advocated a full and permanent protection for British Agriculture. But in doing this, he preserved an entire con- sistency with his general line of argument; by most emphatically declaring, that it was not with a view to the interests of the great proprietors, or even to those of the large agricultural occupiers, that he took this view ; but mainly, and almost exclusively, on the ground of the importance and necessity of such protection, to the great body of the people. It is with the most explicit avowal of THE CORN LAWS. 455 this kind, that he thus addresses himself to the consideration of the question :- “But this proposition of giving an efficient, not a nominal protection to the agriculture of Ireland, I am anxious to state, in limine, is not for the pur- pose of securing a large national rental. I shall not, however, concede to any modern theorist that this is not an essential advantage:—it has always been regarded as such by all our best writers, even when the reasons for supporting it were not a hun- dredth part as strong as they are at present. But it is not, I repeat, for the purpose of securing the pre- sent rental of a Duke of Devonshire, or an Earl Fitz- william, nor yet to serve the interests of the great cultivators;–it is in behalf of an infinitely more numerous class, whom the arguers on this question generally find it convenient to lose sight of, that the proposition of a continued and efficient protec- tion of Irish agriculture is now urged. It is for the purpose of continuing in work the cottiers; and of preserving the property of the innumerable little freeholders of Ireland; who have, most of them, if not all, obtained and purchased their interest in the soil under the operation and guarantee of laws which determined in great measure its value ; laws which, however modified, have for the last century and a half professedly protected agricul- ture ; a protection which, according to Dalton, (no 456 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. mean authority), is even part of “the common law.' To abrogate these, then, or render them inefficient, would be to commit as direct a robbery upon such proprietors, as though the legislature were to con- fiscate their possessions, and deliver them over at once to universal idleness and starvation.” “But in proceeding to consider this part of the subject, it is evident that the interests of the cultivators of Ireland cannot be discussed apart from those of Britain ; nor shall I attempt to do so. They are, as to this question, completely identified ; and it would be no consolation to the Irish labourer thrown out of employ, to learn that the English one was likewise starving ; nor any compensation to the little Irish freeholder to know that the same act which had ruined him, had likewise destroyed the property of the same-class throughout the empire. For that such must be the case, at least to a very great extent, and in no long time, is demonstrably plain. The cool proposition of Ricardo, and others of his school, that the poorer lands of the country should go out of culti- vation, involves, however worded, loss of employ- ment and destruction of property to multitudes. Such lands confessedly require the most labour; they are the possessions of the smallest proprietors; and are, generally speaking, as inferior in quality as they are limited in extent, compared with the THE CORN LAWS. 457 rich abbey-lands and ancient inclosures of the great land-owners. The proposition, then, is one of direct plunder, as it regards tens of thousands of the peasantry of Ireland, and of the yeomanry of England ; whose lands must be abandoned, and their labour at the same time be rendered equally valueless, altering at the same time all the relative values of the country—in order that the stock-job- ber's pound-note may pass for thirty shillings | * * He adds, too, this distinct disclaimer of all per- sonal interest in the continuance of protection. “One circumstance may render the succeeding defence of British agriculture a matter of some curi- osity; it is urged by one totally unconnected with that interest, and who can say with Cecil—“I do not dwell in the country ; nor am I acquainted with the plough ; but I think that whosoever doth not maintain the plough, destroys the kingdom.” He proceeds, “The experiment of allowing foreign growers to glut our markets, to the extinction of many of the home ones, has been anciently tried : at first, indeed, it beat down the prices to almost nothing, but afterwards invariably heightened them, and sometimes into actual (not theoretical) famine. But to look to more modern times: In Queen * Ireland, its Evils, &c. p. 320–322. 458 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. Elizabeth's days, Lord Bacon informs us, that “it drained much coin of the kingdom, to furnish us with corn from foreign parts; ” and yet what did this importation do for the country : Its ultimate effect was, by thus discouraging and putting down the home grower, to raise the price of grain so much, that the latter part of her reign was almost a continued dearth. That great man’s advice on the occasion was thus expressed: “I may truly say to the English, Go to the pismire, thou slug- gard.” In the succeeding reign, notwithstanding there was still not nearly half, if much more than a third, of the present population, this system con- tinued, to the great hindrance of internal indus- try, and the consequent damage of the public in- terest. There was still a selfish faction that ar- gued, as at present, in favour of turning the country into a sheep-walk; asserting, as now, that England could not sustain its people with bread : or, rather, that it was more profitable to be sup- plied by others ; and, in spite of such men as More and Bacon and Raleigh, they prevailed. From the former of these I have already quoted at large ; the last, memorializing King James, states, that “corn had in some years cost England two mil- lions sterling; ” and, speaking of such ruinous im- portations from foreigners, he says, “It is to the dishonour of the land that they should serve this THE CORN LAWS. 4.59 famous kingdom, which GoD HAS So ENABLED witHIN ITSELF.” He says, elsewhere, and how truly, succeeding times have shown, that “all na- tions abound with corn; ” hence the interest and duty of each is manifest, to increase the products of the earth as they become necessary, and that by encouraging internal industry instead of super- seding it. As to the desideratum of our modern school, he thus expresses himself: “If corn is too cheap, the husbandman is undone, whom we must provide for, FoR HE IS THE STAPLE MAN OF THE KINGDom ?”—an opinion which we have been attempting to prove as true at the present mo- ment, as it was when he uttered it.” " To repeat, however, Mr. Sadler's main argu- ments, in the terms in which they are given, would be fatiguing to the reader, inasmuch as they have since been adopted by fifty other writers, and pre- sented in as many different forms. It will be pre- ferable, on every account, to endeavour to condense his views, as developed both in his printed works, and in the course of many conversations, in a brief but connected view of the whole controversy. What, then, is the question which at present divides the whole British community ? On the one side we see the Agricultural interest, —landed proprietors, farmers, and all connected * Ireland, its Evils, &c. p. 346, 347. 460 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. with them,-earnestly intreating the continuance of the existing system, which provides, that until the rise of price denotes a short supply at home, no foreign-grown corn shall come into England. On the other, the greater part of the manufac- turers, with many of the mercantile and trading classes, treat the sustaining operation of this rule, keeping the price of corn generally from 25 to 40 per cent above the continental average, as a positive grievance. They claim it as an in- nate right, to be permitted to buy the necessaries of life at the cheapest market. They also assert, that our exclusion of foreign corn leads foreigners to exclude our manufactures: and that thus they are deprived of various and extensive markets. Now, how is this controversy to be satisfactorily determined 2 Obviously, there is no great difficulty in re- pelling most of the assumptions of the complaining party. It is difficult to conceive of a case resting on data more uncertain or unsound. Every one of the facts on which it relies, may be safely and resolutely questioned. That corn is cheaper in Poland than in England, is true of the present moment. But of course every one must reckon on an immediate equaliza- tion, as the natural result of the opening the Eng- lish market to the foreign corn-grower. The THE CORN LAWS. 461 price of Polish or Prussian corn would rise to the level of the English market, minus the cost of conveyance: the price of British corn would fall to the level of Hamburgh, plus the charges for freight, &c. * The competition, then, would necessarily render it unprofitable to grow corn in England, except on lands naturally productive and adjacent to a good market. All moderate men, on whatever side, agree, that the tendency of the change must be, to throw much land in these islands out of cultivation; or at least to reduce it to pasture, which employs a far smaller amount of labour. The result then, is, that because the Polish land-owner, tilling his land by serfs, can send corn to market at a lower rate than the British farmer, who pays rent, and high rates and taxes, and from 9s. to 14s. a week to his labourers, we are to “buy where we can buy cheapest,” and let our land go out of cultivation, and our labourers flock into the workhouse, or beg on the highway. But here comes in the rejoinder of the free traders. “Only give us liberty to buy corn from other nations, and those nations will buy our manufactures from us, and thus a new source of * It is needless to embarrass the question by introducing the medium plan of a fixed duty ; inasmuch as that plan is now repu- diated by both the two great contending parties. 462 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. employment will spring up, which will absorb and set to work, all the agricultural labourers whom you expect to cast loose.” - When, however, we call for evidence in support of this assumption, nothing of the least validity is forthcoming. We see foreign nations earnestly giving protection to their own manufactures; and constantly exhibiting their anxiety to foster every branch of native industry; and we ask, on what ground the expectation rests, that they will aban- don this their favourite system, merely because England consents to admit their corn? Often has this enquiry been made ; but never has it been satisfactorily answered. We conclude, therefore, that it is the dictate of the merest common sense to stop short at this point; and to say, ‘Before we can even think of sacrificing one branch of British industry to promote another, you must shew us, clearly and satisfactorily, that that other branch will be benefitted ; and that there is some disposition, at least, to reciprocate con- cessions of this kind, among foreign powers.’ This may be called the present state of the question. There is, however, a higher and more permanent view, which the statesman ought fixed- ly to adopt ; and by which, as by a first principle, all his reasonings and movements on this great question, ought to be regulated. THE CORN LAWS. 463 ſº “The greatest happiness of the greatest num- ber,” we have already stated to have been the ob- ject of Mr. Sadler's settled aim ; and the very phrase itself to have been adopted by him, long before he had been made aware of its use in other quarters. Following this principle to its results, we would endeavour to imagine a statesman, for- getting the rich and wealthy individuals, whether land-owners or manufacturers, who may be enabled by their position to address their arguments to his own personal ear; and thinking almost solely of the multitude ;-of the myriads whose very existence may depend on the course of policy he adopts. The permanent principles on which alone a state can satisfactorily proceed, must be identical with those on which it ought to be originally based. Let us set aside, then, for a moment, all the tem- porary circumstances which now distract the view, and let us contemplate the foundation of a -new state, on territories so advantageously circum- stanced as to enable a free choice to be made. Let us imagine a formerly populous, but now de- serted province, on the shores of the Mediterranean, as chosen to be the birthplace of such new common- wealth. Give scope and room enough for the exper- iment; land of an average quality; sea-coast and ports to a convenient extent; and people ready to congregate from other parts of Europe to occupy it. 464 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. And what would be the first object (economi- cally speaking,) of a really wise contriver of the whole design : Can there be a doubt that the leading aim of a really prudent man would be, to get the whole territory under cultivation as fast as possible ; and especially to promote the growth of corn, so as to render the staff of life naturally, and not artificially, abundant among the people? Every possible consideration, possessing the least weight, would lead him to this conclusion. The obvious insecurity of the state, while de- pending for its very food upon foreign supplies, would naturally press upon his mind. The healthy character of agricultural occupation, both for mind and body; and its safety, as insuring an unfailing return to those who devote themselves to it, would all tend to the same conclusion. Imagine, then, an advocate of the manufac- turing interest, rising in council to oppose these views. “You are wrong; he would argue, ‘to de- vote so much attention to the mere culture of the soil. Nothing is more common, nothing more universal, than the growth of food. You may have supplies from every part of the world whenever you need them. Agriculture neither offers scope for ingenuity or enterprise; nor will it give em- ployment to the myriads who will flock to your new settlement. Leave, then, these matters to shift THE CORN LAWS. 465 for themselves, and turn your attention to the founding a great manufacturing and commercial emporium.’ ‘I dare not,’ would be the reply of a prudent le- gislator, ‘I dare not venture on so hazardous an experiment. Let me but plant the people, village by village, and farm by farm, over the whole face of the country ; so that every man may raise his own subsistence and something more; and general plen- ty and social prosperity must be the result. Then will manufactures spring up, as comfort grows and increases, and luxury begins to find an entrance: but let the factory only rear itself when a suf- ficiency of food has already been provided for the subsistence of those who labour therein. A course like this is encompassed by no hazards; every- thing naturally follows in its order, and no open- ing is left for any violent dislocation of the social system. But would this be the case on the opposite plan 2 Were we to raise factories and mills, and fill them with our people, leaving the land untilled, and relying on supplies from other countries, how obvious would be the risk of frequent calamity and convulsion Two concerns of vital moinent would be left open to frequent disappointment:—l. Our produce would chiefly consist of manufactured goods, which must be sold to buy food, or the work-people would starve. 2. 2 H 466 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. Sufficient supplies of corn must always be at- tainable, or a famine might ensue. Thus, either by a glut of goods in the market, or by a pre- ference given by foreigners to the products of some other country, the whole reliance of the people for subsistence might suddenly fail. Or, in the second case, a shortness of the harvests throughout Europe might induce a closing of the ports by seve- ral or by all the sovereigns; and thus a positive impossibility of procuring food, might for a season take place. Hence nothing can be more clear, than that any ruler who desires to banish anxiety of mind, must adopt the obvious course, of leading the people to supply themselves, first, with the necessaries of life, and then, and only then, to complete their system by the addition of manufac- tures.’ We doubt whether any, even the most ardent ad- vocate of the commercial interests, will deny this proposition ; but we can easily imagine that some might be inclined to limit it to the case of a new state. Such an one would reply, that in a coun- try like our own, already fully cultivated, and in many parts over-peopled, a totally different policy ought to be adopted. Admitting, he would say, that in the first instance the people ought to be spread over the country, and the cultivation of the land encouraged ; still, a time must be expected THE CORN LAWS. 467 to arrive, when all the really fertile land would be occupied ; when the people would continue to increase ; and when it would plainly become an imperative duty, to seek for new means of employ- ing and sustaining them. We are prepared to withstand this argument without any reserve, and to deny it the least vali- dity. We contend, that the governing principle of a statesman can no more change, in this matter, than it can become either right, or wise, in a private individual, to modify his adherence to truth, or justice, or humanity. The course of policy we are advocating is not one belonging only to a cer- tain arrangement of circumstances; or which can become less wise or necessary by the lapse of time or the increase of population. Its truth is as ob- vious, and as indisputable, when there are five hundred people on every square mile, as when there are only five. Many persons, it is true, are perpetually seen snatching up the bare fact, that “ population has increased,” and rushing at once to the conclusion, that we must now mainly rely upon manufactures ; for that the people have become too numerous to be supported out of the land. This is only one among many instances in politics, in which a something is put forward in lieu of an argument, and eagerly adopted by the unthinking, without at - 2 H 2 468 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. all stopping to enquire whether the new allegation is of the least use in proving that which it is sup- posed to establish. - In what way is it, that the increase of popula- tion is supposed to make it manifest, that we must leave off thinking so much of agriculture, and place all our reliance on manufactures 2 To our view, the necessity would appear to lay in a to- tally opposite direction. Does the increased amount of our population, and the consequent difficulty of providing suffici- ent food, render it more prudent than before to neglect our native supply of provisions ; which, to whatever extent it may reach, must always be in our own power ;—and to lean in an increased degree upon the casual and uncertain supplies we may get from abroad; which supplies may, at any moment, be suddenly diminished, or wholly withheld, by the edict of an absolute monarch, or a warlike freak of our transatlantic rivals : Or does the growing density of the masses al- ready congregated in our large towns, and which fill every thoughtful mind with anxiety, lead us to desire to drive thousands and tens of thousands of our present agriculturists into those dangerous hives; to lower wages, to increase the bitterness of the existing distress, and to render it still more doubtful whether such masses can much longer be kept in any state of subordination? THE CORN LAWS. 469 Or do the obvious dangers, already existing, of utter starvation to myriads,--either from sudden panics, improvements in machinery, orother causes; which, at a stroke, reduce multitudes to hopeless misery, and bring the state into urgent difficulty, —do these appalling perils offer much induce- ment to us to increase the numbers of those who are thus hazardously circumstanced ? On the con- trary, do not all these circumstances throw their weight into the opposite scale, and warrant us in considering the growth of population as an argu- ment for, and not against, an increased and more sedulous protection to agriculture ? For our part, when we hear, as we are now perpetually doing,-of new automaton-machinery, which promises in a few months to throw out of employment all the cotton-spinners in Lancashire ; —of discoveries in metal-working, which must quickly supersede manual labour in great branch- es of that class of manufactures ; and of applica- tions of galvanism to engraving and its kindred arts, which must dismiss other thousands,-we exclaim, as such tidings flow in, each, like Job's messengers, more fearful than the last,-" Well, the comfort is, that the spade still remains ! That, at least, is a resource which will never fail us ; and which is equal to every emergency.” Who can traverse this beautiful island, and see 470 1.IFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. millions after millions of available acres laying wholly idle; * while on that which is said to be cultivated, you may frequently pass over miles without coming to a single cottage ;-and remem- ber that nearly every plot of five acres is equal to the maintenance of a peasant, with his wife and children;–without feeling his wrath burn with- in him at the profane and wicked usurpation of the men, who, while they themselves wallow in luxury, talk to us of “the evil of a surplus po- pulation l’” There would be little difficulty in point- ing out mill-owners, the very names of whose grandfathers are unknown, (if, indeed, they ever had any) and who have amassed by the agonies and early deaths of myriads of little children, wealth enough to purchase an earl's domains; and who now cry out, “It is idle to think that agricul- ture can employ this immense population l’— whereas, they might, if they pleased, settle hap- pily and in comfort, on one of their estates, the * Mr. Porter, in his Progress of the Nation, v. 1. p. 177,-cal- culates these to be as follows;– “Wastes capable of improvement.” England - tº a sº 3,454,000 acres Wales tºº ſº º 530,000 66 Scotland - tºº gºs 5,950,000 & & Ireland - tº e tº 4,900,000 & & Brit. Islands - sº 166,000 & © 15,000,000 6 º' THE CORN LAWS. 471 whole unemployed population of Bolton or Stock- port l But no, such a thought never enters their minds ! But we must return to the argument. We assert, then, that the man who, in settling a new colony, or organizing a new state, did not direct his main efforts to bring the land into cultivation, —did not strive to the utmost to promote the growth of sufficient food for the people, would be regarded by all rational men, as blind to his foremost and most urgent duty. We cannot doubt that the theorist, who, in such a position, contrived the employment of the population in factories; leaving their very existence dependent on their being able, first, to sell their goods, and secondly, to buy food, instead of raising it for themselves, around their dwellings, we cannot doubt, we say, that such a speculator would be universally contemned, as incurring great and needless perils. But that it is safer to venture on such an exper- iment with five-and-twenty millions of people, than it would be with five-and-twenty thousand; is a supposition about as rational as it would be, to deprecate trifling with squibs, but to be utterly heedless over a barrel of gunpowder. A mistake in Canada or New Zealand may be retrievable; but what would the man deserve who could in- 472 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. cautiously experimentalize on the supply of food for the whole population of Great Britain : These speculators are very ready to assert, that England cannot grow her own food. That this is utterly untrue, in years of average fruitfulness, is sufficiently proved by the fact, that in the course of three years, 1833, 1834, and 1835, only 175,480 quarters of foreign wheat found a market among us. The failure or partial failure of an harvest naturally produces a need for a foreign supply; and this supply we have hitherto found attainable at a moderate advance of price. Still, a bad harvest, and consequent rise of price, always have been, and always must be, calamitous to the extent to which they reach. But what shall we say to the men, who, on the fact that in bad years our home sup- ply is insufficient, would found a proposition which must give us a short supply every year, and make the calamitous necessity of importation a thing of constant occurrence 1 Yet such must be the result of what is called a “free trade in corn.” The opening of the ports, at all times, to Polish corn, must, it is universally ad- mitted, discourage the British farmer, and throw much corn-land out of cultivation. The home supply would thus be continually and permanently lessened ; and our supply of food, and the price of that supply, would grow, year by year, more THE CORN LAWS. 473 contingent on the pleasure and convenience of foreign powers. That America can send us any considerable quantity, at a low price, is clearly out of the question. Hence, when once we came to depend upon a Polish or Prussian supply, as a necessary feature in our system, it must be obvious that a war with Russia or with France would in- evitably double the price of bread in England, and plunge our working population into the deepest suffering. This, however, is but one branch of the subject; and not the most important branch. The grand and governing fact of the whole question is, that the main destiny and settled employment of man was fixed, nearly six thousand years since, by an All-wise and All-beneficent hand. “The Lord “God sent him forth, to till the ground from whence “he was taken.” There is nothing trifling or unmeaning in the words of Scripture. We do not strain this passage beyond its legitimate intent, when we maintain, that we here find described, that employment and aim, which Wisdom itself has marked out for the great bulk of the human race, as the fittest, hap- piest, and best. Obviously, an expression like this is not to be carried to an absurd length, or strained into a positive enactment. No rational man would 474 IIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. argue from it that artificers are rebels against the Divine design; but without thus exaggerating the intent of the passage, we may reasonably draw from it the fair and moderate conclusion; that the business and occupation thus assigned to the first human family, must be, and ought to be, the foremost and most indispensable in all those gathered and congregated families now called na- tions. In every such society the first economical object ought to be, the tilling of the ground. In that occupation there will ever be found, both full employment for all the people; and abundant pro- vision for all their wants. It is at once the most necessary, the most salutary, and the most peace- ful. The best proof of this is found in the fact, that the more this branch of industry is promoted, the more will the earth be brought into resemblance to that Paradise which commenced the world's history; and to that “holy city” which will close it. In the most thickly-peopled spots on our globe, such as Lucca, Belgium, and some parts of Switzerland, the common description of the country is, that “it resembles a garden.” If we could scatter our own five-and-twenty millions over the land of these three kingdoms, so that each family should have its five or ten acres, the result would be, an orderly and happy population, and the land “resembling a garden.” THE CORN LAWS. 475 And such a state would approach the nearest to the Paradisaical bliss. Before sin or sorrow en- tered the world, “the Lord GoD planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.” This was man’s original state of happiness. It will never return until we again be- hold “the Paradise of God.” (Rev. ii. 7.) Mean- time, while we readily admit, that mere external circumstances or occupations cannot remove or remedy the great Upas-tree of human life, innate corruption;—still it can neither be unreasonable nor harmful to keep these things in mind; and to remember, that God's intent was, that man should “till the ground; ” and that the more thoroughly and carefully this is done, the nearer do we ap- proach, in that one particular, the original Para- dise, in which man was both innocent and happy. Our conclusions, then, from the whole investi- gation, are to the following effect:— . That merely to remove our custom from the English corn-grower to the Polish one,—thereby throwing labourers out of employment at home, and giving their wages to foreigners, would be doing nothing else than evil :— - That the supposition, that, in return, the Rus- sians and Germans would leave off protecting or preferring their own manufactures,--and would 4.76 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. open their markets to our goods,-is, at present, altogether destitute of proof; and, in itself, very improbable:— That legislation based on such a mere assump- tion, would be a near approach to lunacy:- That in all countries, the first and indispensable object, in economy, with the statesman, should be, the inducing a home cultivation of a sufficient amount of food :— That, remembering the absence of importation into England in years of average fruitfulness, and looking at the 15,000,000 of acres still uncultivated, the possibility of an abundant home-supply for a far larger population than England at present possesses, is evident and indisputable :-and That a preference for agricultural pursuits is inculcated, alike by the lessons of experience, and by the recorded intentions of HIM who formed man, and who “ knew what was in man.” Finally, to repeat the wise adage already quoted, let us support the plough, for “he who does not maintain the Plough, destroys the kingdom.” CHAPTER XIV. THE CURRENCY. WE pursue our task, of giving an outline, however rapid and imperfect, of Mr. Sadler's views on all the great questions of the day; because we feel that a wrong would be done to his memory, were he regard- ed as a “man of one idea,” or as if absorbed by his researches into the Law of Human Increase. Those who enjoyed the happiness of his acquain- tance, were constantly surprised and delighted by the richness and variety of his mental stores; and by the evidence he was constantly giving, in the passing conversations of the day, of his intimate acquaintance with the true bearings of almost every question which could come under a states- man's consideration. One of the foremost and most important of these topics, was that of the CURRENCY. And it was 478 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. assuredly one mark of the sagacity of Mr. Sadler's mind; that he constantly assigned to this ques- tion the very first rank in the scale of state-neces- sities. It is this circumstance which has mainly influenced us in especially alluding to this topic. Sufficient is it, alone, to establish one claim on behalf of Mr. Sadler, to the rank of a statesman, to observe, that while many men of talent and cele- brity (such as Mr. Canning and Lord Liverpool,) were content to leave the monetary system in all its mingled follies and absurdities; merely patch- ing up the shapeless and crazy machine, as sheer necessity might compel;—he ever regarded it with a wiser and more reasonable appreciation ; and held the subject to be one on which no govern- ment had ever yet either fully understood, or adequately discharged, its true and weighty responsibilities. In truth, the history of the monetary system of England, if carefully and graphically sketched, would present a picture which must recal to every reader's mind the exclamation, “See with how little wisdom the world is governed 1” Throughout the whole narrative, it would constant- ly be observed, that the prevalent feeling with actual legislators and supposed statesmen had ever been, that the governance and regulation of the money of the country, was a matter concerning CURRENCY. 4.79 which they either could not, or need not, give themselves any concern Confining our attention mainly to our own times, —to the last twenty or thirty years, this has been most clearly and manifestly the case. Through- out the various discussions of 1819, 1823, 1826, and the allusions to the question which have since occurred, we may search in vain for any just or accurate appreciation of the real magnitude of the subject. Scarcely ever does it seem to have entered into any of the debaters' heads-that in calmly enacting, for instance, a reduction of the currency, according to some fancy of the bullion-philoso- phers, they were, in practical effect, resolving, that so many thousands of merchants, traders, and manufacturers should be ruined ; so many hun- dreds die of broken hearts; and so many tens of thousands of the labourers, of slow starvation and lingering disease. Such is the state of things at the instant at which these lines are written; and the cause of all this ruin and misery is as palpa- ble and unquestionable as the existence of day- light; in the plain fact, that the country is now suffering the wretchedness of a more contracted currency than it has known for probably fifty years. And the most extraordinary feature in the whole business is, that while our legislators seem to feel it incumbent upon them to regulate by statute 480 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. almost every other circumstance affecting the being or well-being of the people; this, the chief and governing point of all, is constantly left, by consent of all parties, to hap-hazard As an illustration, it is strictly true to assert, that just as the rise of the thermometer denotes the spread of a genial warmth over nature, causing fruitfulness in all places within its influence; while the fall of the mercury shews the approach of chilling frost, binding up all nature in icy chains;– so does a rise of the currency con- stantly betoken activity and prosperity; and a diminution, stagnation and distress. The practi- cal view, however, is generally the best. As a plain matter of fact, then, but one which is con- stantly forgotten or overlooked,—let it be observed, that every increase of the quantity of money afloat immediately produces a rise in the value and price of all commodities. This rise offers to all traders a new profit. It thus instantly tempts to speculation ; and leads to hope and to confi- dence. Orders are freely given for all goods which shew a tendency to rise in value. Trade forthwith becomes brisk ; and a career of what is called “prosperity,” is immediately commenced. Just as certain, as general, and as immediate, is the effect of a diminution of the currency. A fall in the value of goods is the instant and inevit- THE CURRENCY. 481 able result. Losses are thus inflicted on all who hold goods; or who are in the act of importing or receiving commodities. Alarm is excited : no one knows how far the decline may go. Trade is in- stantly paralyzed, for no one will buy more than a few weeks' or days’ consumption. Workshops stand still ; the masters are perplexed to meet their engagements; the men are discharged; and pauperism and misery increase on every side. If we could properly understand and appreciate the extent and power of the operation of the Cur- rency on all the affairs of life, we should feel the vast importance of making two points quite secure; — 1. the sufficiency of the circulating medium ; and, 2, the steadiness of its supply. The misery caused by a deficient quantity may perhaps be in some measure understood, by merely watching the various sufferings of a dozen traders, all cramped by shortness of capital. The wretched- ness of their state is sure to destroy the health, if not the reason, of some of them. Now, to a certain extent, this sort of misery is inflicted on the whole trading portion of the community, and on all con- nected with them, whenever the Currency is re- duced and kept below its proper level. Not the insolvent only, or the heedless, are the sufferers; but the difficulty of obtaining payments which are fully due, and the still greater difficulty in mak- 2 I 482 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. ing sales with safety, inflict both loss and anxiety upon the most solid and prudent. Still greater, however, is the injury inflicted, and the ruin inevitably caused, by rapid enlargements and sudden contractions of the Currency. These often bring absolute ruin on the most innocent, and the most free from speculative excesses. Take a re- cent and a well-known instance. A merchant succeeds his father in business, and in a solid capi- tal of £100,000. When he comes into the possession and management of both, he finds the cotton- market, in which his business chiefly lies, in an apparently healthy and buoyant state. Who is to warn this young man, that much of this apparently fair appearance, is owing to the operations of the Lancashire Joint-Stock-Banks : He cannot calcu- late their effect; nor tell how soon they may find it necessary to change their course. He imports, as his father had done, large quantities of cotton. The Banks begin to be perplexed; and to withdraw their advances. Cotton immediately falls in price. He does not like to sell at a loss of 10s. per bag. He therefore holds on. Meantime fresh consign- ments come ; and, hoping for better times, he accepts for the amount of their invoices. His stock increases; but now the price is still lower ; and he cannot bear to lose 20s. per bag on 15,000 bags. Still, therefore, he maintains his ground, THE CURRENCY. 483 more reluctant to sell, as, week by week, the price gives way. At last, he is brought to a stand- still; and finds, on winding up his affairs, that he has more than 30,000 bags of cotton, on each of which he is a loser of £3,-and, finally, that he is a beggar ! The plain and indisputable cause of the whole, being, that certain makers of paper- money had raised the price of cotton, in 1837 and 1838, by their large and free issues; and that when they were compelled to withdraw those issues, cotton necessarily fell ; and thus his whole fortune, like the fortunes of scores and hundreds of others, has been sacrificed by these juggles of the paper-money dealers; the legislature standing by, all the while, and seeing the people thus prac- tised upon Bearing these things in mind, then, and ob- serving, from thence, how vastly important it must be, to keep the Currency as far as possible in a fixed and tranquil state ; neither encourag- ing rash speculations by large and sudden aug- mentations of the circulating medium ; nor plung- ing the country into wretchedness, by rapid and painful contractions;–observing, we say, these things, let us take a glance at what has been the actual state of our circulating medium, in this country, during the last five and twenty years. First, let us set down the Paper Currency of 2 I 2 484 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. England and Wales, yearly, from 1814 to 1841. Year Bank of England Country Banks Total 1814 26,901,000 22,709,000 49,610,000 1815 26,886,000 19,011,000 45,897,000 1816 26,574,000 15,096,000 41,670,000 1817 28,274,000 15,894,000 44,168,000 1818 27,220,000 20,507,000 47,727,000 1819 25,657,600 15,701,338 41,358,948 1820 24,553,160 10,576,245 35,129,405 1821 20,443,320 8,256,180 28,699,500 1822 18,326,430 8,416,830 26,743,260 1823 19,582,348 9,920,074 29,502,422 1824 20,293,326 12,831,332 33,124,658 1825 19,290,570 14,930,168 34,220,738 1826 22,255,222 8,656,101 30,911,323 1827 21,512,491 9,985,300 31,497,791 1828 21,078,327 10, 121,476 31,199,803 1829 19,640,000 8,130,327 27,770,327 1830 20,494,850 7,600,000 * 28,094,850 1831 19,070,824 7,300,000 * 26,370,824 1832 + 17,605,720 - 1833 18,829,750 10, 152, 104 28,981,854 1834 : 19, 126,000 10,154,112 29,280,112 1835 18,240,000 10,420,623 28,660,623 1836 18,147,000 1 1,733,945 29,880,945 1837 18,716,000 10,142,049 28,858,049 1838 19,359,000 11,364,962 30,723,962 1839 17,612,000 11,084,970 28,696,970 1840 17,231,000 9,981,286 27,212,286 1841 17,481,000 9,080,077 26,561,377 ,, Dec. 16,292,000 8,936,023 25,223,023 * Marshall's Tables, p. 63. t We find no returns of the Country-Bank issues of this year. f The returns from 1834 to 1841 are all of the October quarter. THE CURRENCY. 485 We find then, between the years 1840 and 1841. the enormous reduction of twenty-three millions of paper-currency. The main fact to counterbalance this, is, the extensive coinage and issues of gold which have taken place in the intervening years. These have been as follows;– 1817 £4,275,337 1818 2,862,337 1819 3,574 £7,141,284 We draw a line here, because it is matter of record that in the latter year, 1819, the value of the sovereign was admitted in acts of parliament to be above 20s. Of course in such a state of things, this gold currency could not remain afloat; and it is quite certain that the bulk of it was either clan- destinely exported, or melted down by jewellers and other artists at home. But a very small portion of this, then, ought to come into our pre- sent calculation. We proceed,— 38. 1820 949,516 1821 - 9,520,728 1822 5,356,787 1823 759,748 1824 4,065,075 1825 4,580,919 1826 5,896,46] 1827 2,512,636 486 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. 3. 1828 1,008,559 1829 2,446,754 1830 2,387.88] 1831 587,949 1832 3,730,757 1833 1,225,269 1834 66,949 1835 1,109,718 1836 1,787,782 1837 1,253,088 1838 º 3,376,569 1840 tºmºe £52,623,175 Now if we could suppose for a moment that this large sum, or even the half, or the third part of it, were afloat, the argument would be at an end. A certain amount of paper-money would have been called in, and a like value in gold substituted for it, and that would be all. But it is perfectly certain that this is very far indeed from being the case. During the last, twenty years, it has hap- pened at least four or five times, that the market price of gold became so high, that the value of the sovereign, at Paris and Hamburgh, was more than 20s; and continued so for a considerable period. Whenever this occurred, nothing could possibly prevent a flow of gold from England to those places where the sovereign thus bore a premium. In THE CURRENCY. 487 the last two years this has been especially the case, from a failure of the harvests. No one doubts that several millions of gold have been transmitted in payment for corn. Besides all this, there is the constant drain of the currency, by the melting-down which takes place at home ; for, very frequently, the sovereign is, to the working gold- smith, the best material he can throw into the melting-pot. A further abstraction takes place, in the little bags of coin which are continually passing out of England; both to the continent, by travellers; and to our immense colonial pos- sessions, by the swarms of emigrants which weekly leave our shores. In these various me- thods, no one can hesitate to admit the probability, that, in these twenty years, at least two-thirds of the whole amount coined must have been abstrac- ted. This would leave about seventeen millions as a real addition to the circulating medium. But there is another large deduction. In the days when bank-notes were a legal tender, no one, whether banker or trader, had the least necessity to retain by him any quantity of gold. Now, how- ever, the case is quite altered. The Bank of Eng- land strives to keep eight or ten millions of gold shut up in its coffers; at the present moment it has nearly six millions. Every private or joint- stock bank in the three kingdoms must also keep 488 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. its own stock of gold. Add to these amounts, the hoards of individual misers; and the stocks of the bullion-merchants; and it becomes clear that an estimate of ten millions thus employed, and there- fore not in circulation, is a very moderate one. Our final conclusion, then, is, that, with the £25,200,000 of paper, at this moment, (Dec. 1841) in circulation,-there may be from eight to ten millions of gold; making, together, less than thirty- sia millions—probably, less than thirty-four. But even so recently as in 1818, the paper currency alone amounted to nearly forty-eight millions; ex- ceeding our present circulation, of gold and paper combined, by about one-fourth ! This, however, is only a partial view of the case. The nation has been prodigiously augment- ed since that period. Its population has increased, and its trade has still more rapidly grown and en- larged itself. The population of England and Wales in 1814 was under eleven millions ;-in 1841 nearly sixteen millions. In 1814 our ex- ports were fifty-three millions; our imports thirty- three. In 1840 our exports had risen to one hundred and sixteen millions; and our imports to sixty-seven millions. Let us place these figures side by side, and at once the wretched inadequacy of our present currency will strike every mind. THE CURRENCY. 489 1814. 1840–1. Population* 10,700,000 15,911,725 Exports #53,573,234 #116,479,678 Imports 33,755,263 67,432,964 Currency 49,610,000 37,000,000 ! One circumstance, then, to which Mr. Sadler often adverted, and with which his mind was deep- ly impressed, was that of the insufficiency of the existing monetary system. But there was a second point, to which he fre- quently called attention;–namely, the prodigious evils caused by the uncertainties and fluctuations of the present system, or rather, want of system ; —the hap-hazard way of dealing with the question, which has for so many years prevailed. In order to be generally understood, we will briefly exhibit the ebbs and flows of the last five- and-twenty years; together with the effects of these high and low tides on commercial affairs. Year Bank Paper Effects 1816 £41,670,000 Distress. 1817 44,168,000 1818 47,727,000 Prosperity. 1819 41,358,948 Distress. 1820 35,129,405 1821 28,699,500 Great Distress; i822 ...} ºr a v 3 º' i <> 3 - 5-75. UCăiiiIig for relief. * We include England and Wales only, because, in giving the currency, we can only specify the English and Welsh circulation. 4.90 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. Year Bank Paper Effects 1823 29,502,422 1824 33,124,658 Great prosperity 1825 34,220,738 y } and speculation 1826 30,911,323 1827 31,497,791 1828 31,199,803 1829 27,770,327 ( Great distress; burn- 1830 28,094,850 – ings, and meetings 1831 26,370,824 U to petition 1832 1833 28,981,854 1834 29,280,112 1835 28,660,623 Return of prosperity. 1836 29,880,945 1837 28,858,049 1838 30,723,962 1839 28,696,970 1840 27,212,286 1841 26,561,077 to Distress and com- 25,223,023 y plaining. These figures cannot adequately exhibit the whole of the facts. They do, however, direct our attention to these obvious points:— That in 1822, the paper-currency having fallen below twenty-seven millions, such distress was felt, that about one half of the counties in England met to call for relief; and at some of these meet- ings, propositions for a compromise with the na- tional creditor were received with favor: Yielding to this pressure, Parliament passed the small note-Bill ; thus again returning to the paper- THE CURRENCY. 491 system. The bank-note currency soon rose to thirty-three and thirty-four millions; (1824-5) and vast “prosperity” instantly appeared: - In 1825 this produced the usual result of “a panic.” Parliament once more determined to restrict the paper-currency; and the small notes were again ordered to cease, from April, 1829: This return to restriction immediately operated, and in 1829, 1830, and 1831, the currency fell to twenty-seven and twenty-six millions, and severe distress was again felt. The commencement of this distress was the main cause which drove the Minis- try of 1830 from office, and produced the Reform- Bill. Shortly after, the new Joint-Stock-Banks began to work another enlargement of the currency. In 1832 the issues of these Banks had not reached one million sterling;—in 1835 they amounted to four millions. Hence, in the course of 1835 and 1836, the whole paper-currency afloat repeatedly exceed- ed thirty millions ; while at the moment at which these lines are written, it is scarcely twenty-five / Doubtless, to some persons the question will instantly occur, Can the mere addition or ab- action of three or four millions to or from the paper-money afloat, work all the difference which is visible, between the prosperity of 1836, and the deep distress of 1841 ? 492 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. We answer,-most undoubtedly it can,—and the question merely betrays a want of reflection and of observation. For the fact is, that the dimi- nution or increase of the currency is not to be considered as a diminution or increase of the whole, to the mere extent of perhaps a sixth or an eighth; but as a reduction of a certain part of the circulat- ing medium, to the fearful extent of probably one fourth or one third --- Is it not obvious, to any one who gives the least reflection to the subject, that there are cer- tain large classes of the community which are wholly unaffected by either the increase or the diminu- tion of the circulating medium. The entire mass of annuitants, whether deriving their incomes from the national debt, the army, or the navy, or from property invested in bonds and mortgages of various descriptions; the judges, and the leading members of the legal profession; the clergy, and several other large classes of the community;— all these may hear of a scarcity of money, or of a glut, but they feel it not, or so slightly as to be scarcely worth the mention. Each half-year sees its fourteen millions of money paid from the Bank to the fundholders; and whether money be scarce, or plentiful, the amount which they receive is pre- cisely the same. In like manner another very large class, called THE CURRENCY. 4.93 “ the landed interest,” may be, and at this mo- ment is, very little affected by the diminution of the currency. Prices are just now at a remuner- ating level for the farmer. He sells his produce at a fair price; and pays his rent with punctuality. Neither he, therefore, nor his landlord, feel any- thing, of the depression which at this moment pervades the “commercial interests.” Again,- ask such establishments as Mess. Hoares, in Fleet Street, or Mess. Coutts or Herries, in Westminister, what they know of “commercial distress,” and they will reply, “Just what we read in the newspapers.” In such circles as these, everything proceeds just as it would if the issues of the Bank of England were five or six millions larger than they now are. It matters nothing to them whether money be scarce or plentiful; their stock of gold or of bank-notes remains the same, whatever be the “pressure * or the “buoyancy” felt in “the money-market.” In all such quarters, whether we turn to the no- ble, of fifty or an hundred thousand a year; or to the retired holder of consols; or to the judge, or the general, or the bishop, whose income is always the same ; or to the banker or agent who “never speculates,”—in all these classes there is no de- pression, there is no excess; their share of the currency is at all times nearly the same. Hence it follows, that when we observe a difference of 4.94 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. five millions,—as will be found between the paper afloat in Oct. 1838, and that in Dec. 1841—we may be sure that this five millions is deducted, not from the whole paper-currency, but from that portion of the bank-note circulation which is usual- ly employed in trade and commerce. If we con- clude that half of the £30,723,962 which was afloat in October 1838, was employed in trade, then we may safely calculate that, as there is only £25,223,023 afloat in December 1841, the whole, or nearly the whole, of this reduction of five mill- ions, has been drawn from that portion of the currency which was employed in commercial trans- actions; and that in lieu of £15,000,000 so em- ployed in 1838, there is only £10,000,000 now. And is not this a startling fact 7 Can we be sur- prized to find a sudden paralysis seizing on every branch of trading, commercial, or manufacturing industry? Is not such an affliction fully accounted for ? Need we turn, as some are idiotically doing, to the Corn Laws for a solution of our pre- sent difficulties; trying to make it appear consist- ent and rational, that the same Corn Laws which co-existed with “great prosperity” in 1835 and 1836, should yet be the sole cause of great distress in 1841 ! Does not common sense shew us, at a single glance, that a system of prohibition of foreign corn which has lasted, in various forms, THE CURRENCY. 4.95 for five-and-twenty years, and has not prevented the occurrence in that time of several periods of great prosperity, can never be the cause of the depres- sion we now see. On the other hand, nothing can be plainer, nothing more indisputable, than the fact, that whenever we have a full and overflowing circulating medium, then trade and manufactures flourish ; while, on the other hand, whenever a reduction of the currency takes place, a depres- sion fully answerable is instantly felt throughout all our marts and exchanges. The familiar knowledge of this fact, however, is too little diffused among the people. Were it not so, they could not be befooled into be- lieving, as many now do,-that the corn-laws have wrought the existing depression. Mr. Sadler, fully comprehending the importance of the ques- tion, in all its bearings, would have desired to see both the government and the people more familiarly conversant with its leading principles. He felt convinced that by neither the one nor the other was its intrinsic weight properly appreciated. The government, busied with other affairs, left the monetary system to shift for itself; and the peo- ple, driven to and fro by every fancy of the theorist, bawled for or against the Bank-Charter, or for or against Joint-Stock-Banks, as the case might be ; but never appeared thoroughly to understand, 496 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. and to insist upon, the two, grand, necessary points, —that the circulating medium should be sufficient; and that it should be equally and steadily supplied. To provide for the nation in these two indispen- sable points, Mr. Sadler held to be the duty of the government. We cannot assert him to have been the favorer of this or that particular scheme; but on these two main objects his eye was always fixed. Whether they would not be most entirely and securely attained by a National Bank, or a State paper-money, issued by a distinct government office ; only on the security of funded property ; and without variation in amount, except within strictly-defined limits, may be matter of opinion. Could some such scheme be devised, and could any government summon up courage enough to propound it, it is clear that two benefits would re- sult. First, an annual profit to the government, of about one million, minus the expense of the estab- lishment ; and secondly, an equable state of trade; the establishment and maintainance of which, would, of itself, be one of the greatest benefits that could be conferred on the whole country. The first and most lamentable want, however, evidently is, that of a clearer and better under- standing of this matter among the people at large. THE CURRENCY. 497 We are not desiring to inculcate any new or strange doctrine, when we assert, in the words of the Bullion Report of 1810, that “an increase in the quantity of the local currency of a particular country will raise prices in that country, exactly in the same manner as an increase in the general supply of precious metals raises prices all over the world.” Thus, for instance, a sheep, six hundred years ago, might be bought in England for one, two, or three shillings. The purchase of the same kind of animal would now require twenty, thirty, or forty shillings. The cause of this advance is not to be found in the greater scarcity of sheep, leading to an enhancement of price ; but to the influx of the precious metals, and the consequent greater abun- dance of money. - In like manner, observes Dr. Johnson, “If eggs are a penny a dozen in the Highlands, it is not because eggs are many, but because pence are few.” - The augmentation of the money of Europe, and of the world, arising from the discovery of the American mines, has raised prices throughout the globe; probably fifteen hundred per cent. If new mines could be discovered, which, in the next ten years, should treble the quantity of gold and silver now in circulation, the consequence would 2 K. 498 THE LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. necessarily be, that prices, generally, would rise to three times their present level. The same effect would be produced, if this or any other country could isolate itself, and could then augment its currency by means of paper- money, keeping that paper-money in good credit. This we may observe in the years between 1810 to 1818. We had then often nearly fifty millions of paper-money in circulation. The ne- cessary consequence was, that prices were, gene- rally, about twice what they now are. We are accustomed to speak of “war-prices;”—the more accurate description would be, “paper-money prices.” In 1819, the legislature resolved on changing this system. They declared, that every person issuing a bank-note should be compelled to ex- change it, whenever called upon, for a certain fixed amount of gold. This involved the dis- continuance and destruction of nearly one-half of the existing paper-money. Now, as the issue of that paper-money had raised prices at least from sixty to one hundred per cent., it necessarily followed, that the recal of it reduced prices in an equal degree. This we have already shewn in a former chapter.” * See p. 38. THE CURRENCY. 499 Hence, by the return to cash payments, in 1819, we did in effect reduce prices about one-half, leaving the National Debt unaltered; which was tantamount to a practical doubling of that burden. It is important that this operation of “low prices” should be understood; and that the peo- ple should learn how much their commercial pros- perity depends upon the state of the currency. We have already seen, again and again, by the changes which took place between 1819 and 1822, and between 1822 and 1824, and between 1824 and 1826, and between 1830 and 1836, and be- tween 1838 and 1841,–how fearfully the addition or subtraction of four or five millions, to or from the currency, may raise or depress the whole trading and manufacturing interests of these king- doms. Surely, then, the people should keep their attention steadily fixed on this point; and not be led into foolish and endless fancies about “free- when the fact 3. trade” and “commercial tariffs; ” is, that with an insufficient circulating medium, no imaginable tariff which the wit of man could devise, could make trade prosperous, or prices remunerating. There is another kind of folly into which the English people have been recently led, and which seems to be becoming more and more rife, daily, from the absence of opposition ;—we allude to 2 K 2 500 THE LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. the passion for cheapness ; the encouragement given to competition ; and the perpetual assump- tion that a lowering of prices must be a public good. Now even such a political economist as Smith, had sense enough to see and to declare, that “High prices and plenty are prosperity; low prices and want are misery.” And nothing can be more certain than the fact; that if we seek out those spots of the earth where prices are the lowest, there we shall always find, as a never- absent concomitant, a great degree of misery and want among the people. But surely if ever there was a people who were bound in a peculiar manner to eschew low prices, the English are that people. Imagine, for a moment, a village containing twelve heads of families and employers, (besides servants and labourers,)—ten of whom are pro- ducers, growers, or artificers; while the other two live upon fixed rents or interest of money, paid to them by the former ten. Suppose, then, that a mania for cheapness seizes upon these people; encouraged, of course, by the two per- sons who are non-producers ; and imagine that by competition, and the fear of competition, all their produce and the fruits of their industry are equally and simultaneously reduced one-half; or, at least, so reduced, as to bring down their pro- THE CURRENCY. 50l fits, and also their expenses, by a clear fifty per cent: Is it not abundantly obvious, that the only real gainers by the change, would be, the two who lived on their fixed incomes ; and whose in- comes would now be, by the change, practically doubled; while all that the producing class would realize, would be, the privilege of doing more bu- siness for the same incomes 2 And where is the difference between this fan- cied case, and what we now see passing around us? Could we single out the case of a holder of Consols, who drew a dividend of £1000. a year in 1818, and who draws the same dividend now ; and could we call for the particulars of his expendi- ture; we should assuredly find, that the very same house,” food, clothing, &c., which he ob- tained in 1818 for £1000. a year, he could have now, for £600., probably for £500. He is there- fore either saving £400. a year by the change, or else living in a much more luxurious manner. But what do the producers of his luxuries gain by the change : Just the pleasure of doing much more business than before for the same aggregate profit. We have lately heard, through the public press, that the manufacturers in Manches- * House-rent has suffered less reduction than many other items; but dwellings which let for £130. to £150. in 1818, are now generally to be obtained at from £80, to £100. 502 THE LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, ter are now giving thrice as many goods as they did in 1818, for the same money. And yet, strange to say, this infatuated course is gloried and exulted in by many, and still greater cheap- ness desiderated ! Not content with having dou- bled the National Debt once, they would gladly quadruple it; and still fancy that they were doing the people of England good service. How many degrees of lunacy do these people require, to com- plete their qualification for Bedlam : CHAPTER XV. ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. ALTHough we feel bound to advert to the topic which we have chosen for the present chapter, we are quite aware that it is absolutely impossi- ble that it should receive any thing like justice at our hands. The subject is so large ; it is one so little understood and so seldom handled ; and the materials before us are so slender, that we might well decline all allusion to the subject, were we not conscious that such an omission would operate as an act of injustice to Mr. Sad- ler's memory. The matter is so important; it occupied so large a space in his thoughts, and was so frequently adverted to in his conversation, that an entire silence with reference to it could not fail, with those who knew him, to bring our whole 504 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. narrative into discredit. Much to be regretted is it, on every account, but especially on that of the public, that his long-cherished intention, of draw- ing up a distinct Essay on the subject, was post- poned from time to time, till neither strength nor mental force remained to him. All that we can do, in the absence of such a document, is briefly to indicate the general tenor of his thoughts, and to commend the topic to the serious investigation of those who are competent to the inquiry. Generally, then, we would say, that Mr. Sad- ler wholly dissented from the common opinion,-- that the natural economy which was divinely prescribed to Moses for the governance of the chil- dren of Israel, was in its nature distinct from, and opposed to, what sound judgment would have dictated for any other nation. Certainly, the usual spirit in which men read the civil and political laws and institutes of Moses,—apart alike from the moral law of the ten commands, and the ceremo- nial worship of the temple, is that of wonder and ignorant curiosity. That such enactments can be at all adapted to the rest of mankind, they never dream. They look upon them as very strange and almost impracticable injunctions; which must, they suppose, have had some meaning, considering that they came from God himself;-but which never could have been intended to extend to any but ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. 505 Israelites; or, in fact, have been possible in their application, had they even been so intended. Such readers of the books of Moses forget that these laws were prescribed, not to the children of Jacob only, but to all those, also, who joined them as proselytes; and, that, beyond all doubt, the happiest thing that could have befallen all the other nations of the earth, would have been their conversion to Judaism, and their being thus brought under these very laws. Mr. Sadler wholly rejected the customary notion. So far from reading the institutes of Moses as mere records of laws wholly inapplicable to any existing society,+he read them for instruction : thoroughly receiving them as the dicta of the highest wisdom, and the lessons of the purest benevolence. So far did he carry this conviction, that we believe he would scarcely have hesitated to re-enact the whole Mosaical code, for any civi- lized and Christian nations of the present day. Throughout his published writings, he constantly appeals to the institutes of Moses, as to the highest possible authority. In his book on Ireland, he thus rapidly but emphatically calls in the autho- rity of the Jewish lawgiver:- “In the institutions of the Jewish legislator, which, as Montesquieu somewhere observes, were to the Israelites positive laws, though we read them 506 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. only as precepts, the legal provision for the poor holds a most conspicuous place, and has, probably, been the foundation of all similar institutions throughout Christendom. The tithe of every third year, stored for the purpose; the remnant of the crops of every year (fixed at one-sixtieth part); the share of the entire produce of every seventh year; independently of sundry other benevolent ordi- nances, of much importance, made in their behalf, —formed a provision for the poor of Israel which has, as yet, never been equalled in any country of the world. On the lowest possible computation, were that institution transferred to England, it would treble the amount now raised amongst us. And this ample provision was carried into effect and penally enforced. Besides all this, it ought to be remembered that the fundamental institutions of the Theocracy, such as the minute division of pro- perty, and its restoration to the original owners or their descendants, every fiftieth year; preserved perhaps, a vaster mass of the population in equal and easy circumstances than was ever the case with any other people. The learned Selden has written on the provision for the poor of Israel, and to him I must refer for further information on this interesting subject. I shall not, however, omit confronting by this divine institution a modern objection to our own poor-laws, and certainly the ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. 507 most absurd, notwithstanding its prevalence, of any that has hitherto been advanced. It is now said that a public provision for the poor is totally subversive of the very principle and nature of charity. Such might as well affirm that the voluntary fulfilment of those other duties of social or public life, which happen to be recognised and enjoined by law, (and they are many,) likewise loses all its value. But to the point. Is not voluntary charity connected with this public pro- vision for the poor, in these sacred records? Let those who doubt it, turn to the laws and exhorta- tions of Moses and the prophets, and they will soon be satisfied on this head. Notwithstanding the legal relief prescribed, still the duty of per- sonal charity, the liberality with which it should be dispensed, and the generous feelings with which its exercise was to be accompanied, are solemnly dictated; “Thou shalt surely give him ; and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him : because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land. There- fore, I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide to thy brother, to thy poor, and thy needy in the land.” (Deut. xv. 10, 11.) “I shall not refrain from going further into the 508 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. subject, as it respects the institutions of Moses. We have seen that the right of the poor, and their “business to be where they are,”—-are there fully recognised : even the term itself is sanctioned in holy writ. And only suppose that the Deity has the same merciful consideration for an Irishman as for an Israelite, and then some of the passages may, perhaps, be found striking. God is repre- sented there as the bestower of this right:—“ Be- hold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any ; he is mighty in strength and wisdom : he giveth RIGHT to the poor.” (Job xxxvi. 5, 6.) As the upholder of it :—“The Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the RIGHT of the poor.” (Ps. cxl. 12.) As its awful vindicator:-"Woe unto them that take away the RIGHT of the poor: ” (Isa. x. 2.) The ground of this right is likewise revealed to us; and an awful and unalienable one it is l— “The land is MINE, and ye are the strangers and sojourners with me!” (Lev. xxv. 23.) It is founded on the sufficiency of divine providence :-‘‘ Thou, O God, hast prepared of thy bounty for the poorl” (Ps. lxviii. 10.) On the feelings of human kin- dred —“Thy poor brother!” (Deut. xv. 7.) On respect for human misery:—“Thou shalt not vex him; thou shalt surely give him ſ” (Deut. xv.) On the vicissitudes of human life :—“Love ye therefore the strangers, for ye were strangers I” ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. 509 (Deut. x. 19.) On the grateful remembrance of past mercies:—“It shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless and the widow; and thou shalt re- member that thou wert a bondman in the land of Egypt:” (Deut. xxiv. 21, 22.) On the certain prospect of human suffering:—“Blessed be the man that considereth the poor and needy: the Lord will deliver him in his time of trouble ; will preserve ; will comfort; will strengthen him, when he lieth sick upon his bed,” (Ps. xli. 1–3). It is guaranteed by the promises of God;—“For this thing the Lord thy God will bless thee :” (Deut. xv. 10.) By his denunciations:—“If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; and my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows and your children fatherless!” (Exod. xxii. 23, 24,) It is further represented as a right, for the neglect of which the observance of no other duties, however sacred, will atone :—“ Incense is an abomination to me !— Relieve the oppressed; judge the fatherless; plead for the widow !” (Isa. i. 13, 17.) “Is not this the fast that I have chosen —to deal thy bread to the hungry ! and that thou bring the poor that are cast out, to thy house ! when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh !” (Isa. lviii. 6, 7.) And lastly, 510 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SAI) LER. and above all, the Deity has connected this right of the poor with the highest and most distinguished attributes of His nature, and placed His pity for them amongst His brightest perfections and sub- limest titles:—“Sing unto God, sing praises to his name, extol him that rideth upon the heavens, by his name JAH, and rejoice before him. A father of the fatherless, a judge of the widows, is God, in his holy habitation.” (Ps. lxviii. 4, 5.) Hear Moses’ last sublime description of him : “The Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty and a terrible !—He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger in giving him food and raiment! Love ye therefore the stranger 1" “Institutions like these, and so guaranteed, had doubtless a wonderful effect on the people on whom they were imposed. We are told, now, that this care and preservation of the poor would increase population; this, however, was regarded by the divine philosopher and legislator of Israel as a sig- nal mark of the divine complacency, and experi- ence proved it such. Hence he exultingly adds to the passage last quoted: “Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons, and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude l’’” * * Ireland, its Evils, &c. 8vo. pp. 212–217. ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. 511 Again, among the papers which Mr. Sadler had prepared for a continuation of his work on Popula- tion, the following rapid sketch of this part of the argument appears:— “There is one authority of antiquity to whom Mr. Malthus has declined making any appeal; the motive of which neglect, however, it is not very difficult to assign. It is not because of the want of sufficient antiquity; for it concerns the most ancient legislator in the world, of whom we have any cer- tain account;—it is not because his institutions are imperfectly known to us; for we know them now more minutely, than any nation did the regula- tions of their lawgivers thousands of years ago. It is not because they were never carried into effect, —on the contrary, they remained the unalterable code of a numerous people, for a longer period than any other nation upon earth retained their customs. Nor can it be, because when put into practice, they were found to be imperfectly adapted to the prosperity and welfare of the people to whom they were given ; for we know, on the contrary, that never were any people similarly circum- stanced, who attained to so high a pitch of national prosperity, as those on whom they were conferred. It is not because they have no reference to the subject at issue; for it is contemplated in them more fully, and provided for more efficaciously, than 512 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. by any code upon earth, existing, or that ever did exist. Lastly, it cannot be, because that they are too antiquated to have any reference to modern times, or the present condition of society; for they were the precursor, if not the foundation, of that sacred religion which influences the opinions and institutions of the civilized world. Touching our own laws, our unrivalled legislator, the great Alfred, made them the foundation of that code which is the admiration of the earth :—I mean the laws of Moses. “To this sacred authority, from which the learn- ed believe that the best philosophers of antiquity derived their highestillumination; and to which the most eloquent of those writers appealed, as afford- ing the highest example of sublimity of expression, Mr. Malthus has made not the least allusion He “hears not Moses and the prophets.” That legis- lator and philosopher, was not one of Mr. Mal- thus’s “thinking persons;” though the “smallness of the state,” to which he had to lead the multi- tude committed to him, and still more the twelve divisions into which he was to apportion it, one might have thought would have “brought the subject home to him;” at all events, if Mr. Mal- thus's view of the principle of population had been true, it would have been brought home to every person, feeling as well as “thinking,” who had the ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. 513 misfortune to be confined within the narrow limits assigned to his tribe, and subject to those institu- tions which had a constant and necessary tendency to multiply their numbers; and consequently (on the footing of this theory) to perpetuate and in- crease human wants beyond endurance, and spread their concomitants, wretchedness and profligacy. “In looking at the legislative theories of the phi- losophers, or at the institutions of the legislators, of antiquity; and giving them full credit for a sincere intention of securely providing for the subsistence of the people, in a comfortable and sufficient me- diocrity, it is impossible not to be struck with the great difficulty they had to encounter,-inseparable, indeed, from their fundamental principle,—that of an original division of territory into primary and integral parts, assigning one of these to every citizen; and the constant preservation of them in that form of equality. They thus at- tempted what was a palpable impossibility,+to make the number of children coincide exactly with the number of these unalterable shares. Their expedients were numerous, in order to obviate this difficulty, but they were all inefficient. But, again, had they succeeded in doing so, the consequences would still have been most pernicious. Nothing could have encouraged more fatally that sloth which is inherent in our natural constitution, and 2 L 514 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. all the demoralizing and fatal consequences it pro- duces, than the certainty of this support; connected with the system of slavery which their insti- tutions invariably recognized. Excitements might remain, under such a state of things, to the heroic and ambitious passions; but there could be but little room for the social or domestic virtues, or that happiness which they alone can constitute. This territorial division was doubtless intended to furnish the citizens with a certain support, and to maintain as large a community of them as might be practicable, on a system approaching to equa- lity; and to repress that undue accumulation of property which is conceived to be injurious at all times; but which, when so few sources of human industry were developed, must have been more peculiarly so. But the difficulties attending these schemes were insurmountable, and the chief portion of Aristotle's work is taken up in pointing them Out. - “It is here that the superiority of the Mosaic legislation is most conspicuous. Many parts of that system would shew its author to have been one of the profoundest philosophers that ever existed, even were we to assign to him no higher charac- ter;” but in this instance he has evinced the most * For instance; his prescribing rest to the land of Canaan, at least every seventh year. It was the dream, for awhile, ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. 515 intimate knowledge of human nature and human interests, and the deepest attention to human rights. He accomplishes in behalf of his people more than all the legislators of antiquity attempted; yet so as to avoid all those fatal consequences which were deemed inevitable, and found to be so. He divides the land, circumscribed as the whole was within narrow limits, into twelve parts; and these divi- sions were to be parcelled out amongst the heads of families; but here the partition stops. Room is left from human industry; its motive and its scope are both continued. But above all, he still allowed the fluctuation of property for a limited time ; after which it was again to revert back to its original heirs. This term was fifty years ; sufficiently long to afford all the advantages (and important they were,) resulting from the fluctuation of property, and from the stimulus and reward of exertion ; but not long enough to inflict an irreparable mis- chief upon all the innocent heirs of the improvident of our modern agriculturists, that there might be a perpetual succession of crops; this, however, it was found, could never be pur- sued with impunity without extraneous manures; which at once shewed its impossibility as a general system. But that a legisla- tor from Egypt, where no fallows ever take place, in consequence of the fertilizing inundations of the Nile,_should institute a sep- tennial fallow, might be, adduced as an unparalleled instance of sagacity and wisdom ; even supposing it to have proceeded from no higher source. 2 L 2 516 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. and profligate, and finally to derange the beautiful simplicity and benevolence of his system. Wealth, therefore, could not be greatly monopolized, (a tre- mendous evil in a strictly agricultural country,) nor yet could the country ever be withoutit,(which next to that would be its greatest curse ;)—the per- mission to purchase and to hold any quantity of land that might be offered for sale, until the year of Jubilee, would leave abundant scope for the exer- cise of the faculty of accumulation. But where there is wealth, there must also be poverty and distress; indeed there will be the latter, whether the former exists or not, in every country, and at all times. The axiom of the inspired legislator touching these, was this: “The poor shall never cease out of the land.” These he recommended, under the most touching considerations, and by the most solemn exhortations, to the constant and unwearied attention of the prosperous; exhibiting the character of that JEHow AH, whose worship and service he established, as their friend, their supporter, their avenger. Nor did he stop here: greatly differing from our modern philosophers and divines, he joined together, in his system, what no man can with impunity put asunder,-voluntary charity and compulsory relief. His system of poor- laws is the most admirable that can be conceived : —their nature, both with regard to the burden they ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. 517 enforced, and the way in which it was exacted, will form a small portion of the subject of a subsequent work; * in the mean time, I beg leave to refer the reader to the learned Selden on this interesting and seldom-considered subject. “On the subject of marriage, and the increase of the species, it is surely unnecessary to say, that never was there a legislator so explicit. He announces this duty, as from the mouth of the Creator, and records, as His primary command :- “Increase and multiply.” He represents the same Eternal Being as reiterating this law at the renova- tion of the species. Constantly does he represent God as conferring fecundity as His special bless- ing; not merely on individuals, but on nations. In a word, he makes the unlimited multiplication of the species, a test and token of the Divine com- placency. “But did he, after thus directly promoting popu- lation by all possible means—invent or prescribe any “checks;” whereby to pull down with one hand, what he built up with the other ? There is nothing of the kind to be found in his legisla- tion ; there is nothing that can be twisted or tortured into such a meaning ; otherwise we may rest assured the attempt would have been made. * Referring to his projected Essay on the Mosaic Economy. 518 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. “Rather may it be asserted, that the whole system was in consonance with the first and universal command before mentioned. The post- ponement of the period of marriage in either sex, so as to balance the effect of its universality, —is now constantly recommended,—assuming prolificness to be naturally excessive. On the contrary, the expounders of the Mosaic law, the Rabbins, not only held the original command to be imperative on all, but fixed the period of obedience for both sexes very early,–that of the men at eighteen,* the females at twelve, which was deemed a ripe age.f They might marry sooner, but were not allowed to postpone it later, and very harsh constructions were put upon the conduct of those who did. Finally, celibacy was regarded as a reproach;$ and to build up the house of their fathers, and keep the name alive in Israel, an honourable duty. It is therefore reasonable to believe they would universally marry, and such we know to have been the fact. “If the institutions of Moses did not place any limitation to increase, either by restraining marri- ages, or by prescribing the periods at which they * Leo of Modena. Cerem. des Juess. p. 3. f Selden, Uxor. Heb. c. ii. p. 3. † Calmet's Dissertations. Sur les Mar. des Juiss, p. 1. § Isa. iv. 1. ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. 519 should take place, or continue prolific ; much less did they tolerate the idea of rectifying the prolific- ness and increase of the species by child-murder. Moses is the only ancient legislator in the world, of whom we have any distinct knowledge, who forbids, under all circumstances whatsoever, this atrocious and detestable crime. His people were fully made aware that it was for this very offence, amongst others, that the nations whom they were to dispossess of Canaan, were devoted to destruc- tion; it was represented as so enormous, that the land itself was defiled with it, and ready to vomit forth its cruel and polluted inhabitants. They were threatened with equal chastisements, if they participated in the like offence. So much for the fairness of those who ascribe cruelty and partiality to the maxims of this great legislator. That these laws were effectual, we cannot doubt; even pro- fane history records the fact. The candid and accurate historian before quoted, says of them, that “to kill their infants is thought by the Jews to be a heinous sin.”” “The system of slavery, it is well observed, is exceedingly hostile to the multiplication of the species; especially that sort of slavery which prevailed amongst the Greeks and Romans; invest- ing the haughty master with the command of the * Tacitus. Hist. l. 5. 520 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. life of his wretched victim in many cases; and in most others with ‘rights,” as they were termed, totally incompatible with his well-being. Per- petual servitude, to a certain extent, was certainly permitted by the Mosaic system; some of the in- bitants of the land were allowed to remain under bondage; and it is no stretch of imagination to be- lieve that the change of masters, to such, was most happy : it would not, however, have been prudent to have granted to them that influence in the community, which might have endangered the institutions established amongst the chosen peo- ple, and which it required all the vigilance of the legislator to preserve. But the number of these bond-servants must have been exceedingly lim- ited, * and could have had no effect whatever on the growth of the general population. Perpetual servitude, too, was allowed among the Hebrews themselves, but it was to be voluntary ; after long experience of the state to which the party had to submit, and the master to whom he submitted himself; and under prescribed public formalities. But this servitude, or, if you please so to call it, Slavery, amongst the Hebrews, had nothing in com- mon with the system used amongst the heathen nations. Even as it regarded the lowest state of * Patrick on Exod. xxi. ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. 521 it; “thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, or the stranger that is within thy gates,”—none of the duties of humanity were to be withheld, much less outraged; needful rest was ordained ; necessary support, even to the poorest and most unprotected, was prescribed; nor even were their feelings to be wounded : “Thou shalt not vex him, for thou shalt remember that thou also wast a stranger in the land of Egypt.” The laws of Moses were not those of Draco; but they most scrupulously protected the person from wrongful treatment, and severely retaliated when the rights of the people were infringed; much more so when life was endangered or taken : but those laws were to extend to those in whose behalf they were the most wanted. Those who quote Moses on behalf of slavery, it is to be wished, would please to confine the slavery for which they plead to that of Moses. There was no toleration for barbarity to the meanest or the most unprotected of the human race : even if one of these wretched beings fled from a cruel and oppressive master, they were interdicted from delivering him up again. “He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he liketh best. Thou shalt not op- press him " These, their servants, were, it need not be added, permitted to marry; it is taken for granted in these laws, that they would, and that 522 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. they would be prolific.” Even the father of this wonderful people, Abraham, could arm 318 of his servants—not captured in war, not seized by piracy, by which the ranks of slavery were re- plenished amongst the polite nations; (for we find him disdaining such means of aggrandisement,)f but born in his own house. “May I add, that this sacred legislator.did not confine his consideration to human beings; he ex- tended it even to the animal creation: he forbade any outrage upon even their feelings and appe- tites: he enjoined, at short and stated intervals, a total cessation from the otherwise perpetual labour of those which are doomed to a state of toil; as well brutes as human beings; so that his institution of the Sabbath is perhaps even yet more an institution of mercy than of devotion : he respected life indeed in its humblest form, but especially maternal life; of which instances must instantly rise in the reader's mind, of exquisite sim- plicity and pathos;S all doubtless having a special and further end in view; to inspire those to whom his laws were promulgated, with the strongest con- sideration for the like portion of the human race, especially under similar and unprotected circum- * Levit. xxv. 41. f Gen. xiv. † Gen. xiv. 14. § Ex. xxiii. 19; xxxiv. 26. Deut. xiv. 21 ; xxii. 6, 7. ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. 523 stances. But I forget myself: I am contending with a system which despises such feelings—which can look upon the prolificness of the matron as a proof of her self-indulgence merely; and which sees in the child (pure or impure) an object of, compa- ratively speaking, little value to society—“others would supply their place l’ But to return :— “We find, then, here, the historical test of Mr. Malthus's system. A country confessedly of small extent; and that extent not nearly all cultivated, or even cultivatable; though somewhat larger and far more prolific than Mr. Gibbon allows it to be, who describes it as “a territory scarcely superior to Wales, either in fertility or extent.” ” Yet the inhabitants of this country, so early as the reign of David, amounted probably to nearly seven millions of souls, independently of the strangers who still partially inhabited the territory; and we have reason to suppose that it was afterwards even yet more populous. Without entering into any minute calculation, it was doubtless more than thrice as thickly peopled as Great Britain, and more than six times as much so as China! That “the preven- tive check” did not operate at all, norindeed found entrance amongst them, we have already given * Templeman however only estimates it at one-sixth of the extent of England. . 524 LIFE of MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. abundant proof; and that the grand positive one, War, from which it is true they were not exempted, though less exposed to its ravages probably than many of the surrounding nations,—did not materi- ally thin their population, we have the evidence of numerous facts to shew. Unwholesome occu- pations they had none, and one would suppose their numbers must have effectually prevented those excesses which are still more fatal. Nearly the whole business, then, of “keeping down the numbers” of this wonderful people “ to the level of their means of subsistence,” must have devolved upon pestilence and famine. Visitations of this kind their sacred historians seem never to have omitted recording; they were too intent on resolv- ing them into judicial punishments from Jehovah, on a faithless people transgressing his revealed laws. But we find fewer instances of famine in the long period which their authentic history embraces, stretching onwards over nearly two thousand years, than have often occurred in this country in half a century. The most grievous of them occurred in the first stage of their his- tory; when there were not so many hundreds of them, no nor tens of hundreds, as there were afterwards millions. Pestilences amongst them are represented as still rarer. But perhaps what will be deemed more satisfactory proof as to ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. 525 the sufficiency of the supply for this immense population, and consequently that neither of these scourges were necessary to thin their numbers in order to their being fed,—is afforded by those inci- dental evidences which are scattered through every part of their history, plainly indicating a state of plenty and happiness ; while the language of their prophets, inveighing against the luxury of the na- tion, may be held as conclusive evidence that they were not, as a nation, suffering from want. In like manner, in the Scriptures of the New Testament, we find not the least indication of general suffering from want of food, nor any evidence that the other check, pestilence, was in operation. We have abundant reason, nevertheless, to believe, that at this period the population was exceedingly numerous, compared with any thing now known in the world ; though we have no documents whereby to calculate with any degree of exactness its amount. The story of the siege of Jerusalem, and the immense number of Jews engaged in de- fending their capital, who fell by sword and famine during the siege, or were slaughtered or dispersed after it was taken,_though the Christian part of the population, then exceedingly numerous, had, on the faith of the prophecy of Christ, previously withdrawn, affords abundant evidence of the astonishing populousness of Judea in reference to 526 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. its extent. This indeed is a fact to which cotem- porary heathen authors bear abundant testimony, and it has, I believe, never been disputed. “Now, that this population, immense as it was, subsisted themselves on their own territory, we have the best of all possible proof; namely, because they had nothing wherewith to procure or purchase supplies from other countries. They had no mines to open ; they engaged in no manufactures; but, as Josephus informs us, were entirely employed in agriculture ; and under such circumstances, and by a similar course, it is no hyperbole to assert, that the present produce of the earth would in this, or any nation where, heretofore, so much of the labour has been directed to other objects, be increased many fold, and perhaps with an equal accession of human happiness. “The Mosaic law was certainly the best cal- “culated to make a people happy, by obliging “every man to live by his labour, without luxury “ or ambition, and free from the danger of being “totally ruined, from the temptation of becoming “excessively rich, or from too great a desire after “change and novelty. Every man cultivated his “own vine, field, or orchard, and could indifferent- “ly handle the plough and flail, or the sword and “bow, as occasion required; but preferred still a “quiet life under his vine and fig-tree. This is ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. 527 “what their law-giver enforced, not only by the “example of the old patriarchs, but much more “ by the blessings promised to their obedience; “ these were neither gold, nor silver, nor precious “stones; stately houses nor sumptuous furniture; “but the former and the latter rain, regular sea- “sons, plenty of corn, wine, and oil, increase of “ cattle, multitude of children, with a quiet peace- “ful enjoyment of them, and victory over their “enemies; all which, joined to the natural fertility “ of the soil, proved such powerful encourage- “ments to agriculture, that there is scarce any “known people that gave themselves more en- “tirely and universally to it, than the Jews. “Accordingly, from the most opulent families of “ the tribe of Judah, to the most indigent of that “ of Benjamin ; from the oldest to the youngest, “we find them either ploughing, or sowing, or “reaping; at the threshing-floor, or feeding their “ numerous herds.” “ Their whole history, and literature, bears abundant testimony that such was their state. “Behold,” says their royal bard, “Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord, and “walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the “labour of thine hands; O well is thee, and happy “shalt thou be. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful * Universal Hist. Antient, ed. 1747. vol. iii. p. 186. and note. 528 THE LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. “vine upon the walls of thine house; thy children “like the olive-branches round about thy table. “The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion, and thou “shalt see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the “ days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy chil- “dren's children, and peace upon Israel.” + “Nothing can well be supposed more interesting, than the consideration of the effects of the laws of Moses, in promoting the prosperity of the Jewish nation for so vast a period of time as that compre- hended in their history. Nothing can be more conclusive, as to the great argument of the im- puted tendency of mankind to an undue increase; which this history brings to the test of experience more fully, and for a far longer period, than that of any other nation that ever existed upon earth. The circumstance of Mr. Malthus having rejected all consideration of it,-appealing, as he does, to most other ancient and modern nations,—ap- pears a most singular and doubtless a designed one; for he specially alludes to the history of the Israel- ites during their bondage in Egypt; exemplifying the prolificness of the human race by their increase there, which is distinctly declared to be a conse- quence of the miraculous interposition of God; and nevertheless dropping all mention of their growth * Psalm crxviii. ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. 529 and its effects, when it is presented to us in the usual light of ordinary events. In the former case we have some warrant from profane writers, in attributing a supernatural fecundity to the Is- raelites; those writers' observations indeed apply generally to the Egyptians, with whom it is most probable they were confounded, as they knew nothing of the Jews as distinct from the former. Afterwards, however, we never hear of anything supernatural connected with their multiplication; their institutions and habits were known to con- tribute to that result: and, as we have before shown, whether taking the population of Pales- tine from the sacred writers, or gathering our information from other sources, it was confes- sedly so great as to have demanded the spe- cial consideration of Mr. Malthus: and above all, it seemed to demand of him an explanation, how, with their known habits and institutions— affording every possible facility to increase; and in the absence, to a great degree, of his “checks,” one and all,—what prevented that population, after it had attained to a certain height, from doubling according to his ratios ? “I meant only to have spent a very few words in my appeal to the greatest legislator of antiquity, and the effect of his institutions on that which is as- suredly the most ancient people now existing 2 M 530 THE LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. upon earth; but the subject became so interesting, that I could not dismiss it so hastily as I in- tended, and now I feel that the great points on which I ought to have dwelt, have been very in- adequately handled. Enough, however, has been said, if we credit either sacred or profane his- tory, to have some considerable effect in the great question before us. The moral institutions of Moses, whom we still revere ; and those of a greater than Moses, of whom indeed Moses was but the precursor; and whom we profess “to hear in all things,”—both propound to us certain duties, (amongst which the ‘preventive check ’ has no place whatsoever,)—to the observance of which is annexed, the promise of a certainty and sufficiency of support and sustenance; and amidst the promised rewards of this obedience, it is some- what singular that an immunity from the “posi- tive checks,” (famine, pestilence, &c.) is unequi- vocally promised,—in a word, happiness is the reward of unreserved obedience. The effect of these institutions in increasing the number of human beings, so far from having been over- looked, is expressly and emphatically declared; and again, instead of this anticipated increase being deemed adverse to, it is identified with, en- larging prosperity and happiness. How does Mr. Malthus's theory agree with this system 2 Not ON THIE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THIE ISRAELITES. 531 at all,—it flatly contradicts it. Speaking of the “prudential check,”—which is a virtue of his own creation, and in his theory of morals is the para- mount one ; but which, as betraying the mass of mankind into vice, is, under a flimsy mask, vice itself-he fearlessly says, “An attention to this “ obligation is of more effect in the prevention of “misery, than all the other virtues combined ; “ and if in violation of this duty it were the gene- “ral custom to follow the first impulse of nature, “ and marry at the age of puberty,’” (which the Jews ever did,) “the universal prevalence of every “known virtue, in the greatest conceivable degree, “ would fail of rescuing society from the most “ wretched and desperate state of want, and all “ the diseases and famines which usually accom- “ pany it.” ” I leave him to reconcile this state- ment with either Jewish history or Jewish law ; to say nothing of the spirit of Christianity : could he even do so, I shall shew him hereafter, that he would still have to reconcile it to sound philoso- phy and universal experience. “In the mean time it is a merciful and pleasing consideration that we have the experience of past times, as well as the ever-present and sufficient mercies of the Deity to repose upon, amidst these * Malthus, 4to. p. 493. 2 M 2 532 THE LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. threatening systems, so adverse to the best feelings of our nature. Seeing, as we do, a country proba- bly far less fertile than our own, sustaining a population so much more crowded, and sustain- ing it in plenty and happiness, and continuing so to sustain it for a long period of succeeding centuries, let those that are incapable or in- disposed to look deeper into the secret causes and effects by which these results are accomplished, take courage; let them not fear, either for them- selves or their posterity,+let them, as their fathers have done before them, “Trust in the Lord, and be doing good;”—“ dwell in the land, for verily they shall be fed.” We have given these two extracts, in order to shew how earnestly and enthusiastically Mr. Sad- ler's mind entered into this great topic, and how much it is to be regretted, that his purpose of a thorough investigation of it was frustrated. Two points, especially, in the Mosaic system, had im- pressed him with great force ; and his remarks in conversation, with reference to them, were often exceedingly striking. These were, the law restor- ing to every family its original possessions, at the opening of every fiftieth year; * and the absolute prohibition of the taking interest upon money lent.f * Levit. xxv. 8–16. f Levit. xxv. 35–37. ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. 533 tº- Most of our readers will probably exclaim with astonishment when they are told, that he regarded each of these regulations as most wise and benefi- cent; and as calculated to promote the happiness, alike of that or of any other people. But had he lived to complete his design, he would assuredly have put it out of any one's power to deal lightly with either of these propositions. We hesitate,<- and yet we cannot wholly decline, to offer some faint outlines of his views on these points. It will be seen at once, that both these provisos, —the restoration of lands at the commencement of each fiftieth year; and the prohibition of all charge of interest for money loaned to the neces- sitous, are most stringent and powerful checks on that which is perhaps the favourite vice or pas- sion of the present day,–namely, accumulation. This is at once admitted, but let not this view of the case be exaggerated. There is nothing in these provisos, which could tend to produce a dead level in society, or to destroy an aristocracy, or to render a rich man a rarity among us. No such result is likely to follow ; no such result did follow among the Israelites. In constituting his commonwealth, the Jewish ruler committed no violence on the universal order of human society. There were at all periods “ princes,” and “great men’’ among the children 534 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SAIDLER. of Israel; and as such were they planted in the promised land. We observe one instance in the case of Caleb ; (Josh. xv. 13–19.) Another in the case of Joshua ; (Josh xix. 50.) Another, in Boaz, “a mighty man of wealth.” (Ruth ii. 1.) Another, in Nabal, who “was very great.” (l Sam. xxv. 2.) And again, Barzillai, “a very great man.” (2 Sam. xix. 32.) Throughout the books of Moses we meet with “princes,” and “heads of houses;” and to such, a princely portion was given, in the promised land. The question, then, might well be asked, whe- ther an irreversible law of entail on the families of the principal as well as other possessors, might not rather be looked upon as an aristocratic, than a democratic proviso. In truth, it conceded somewhat to each of these opposing principles; and worked, alike, in each direction. It maintained a succession, an hereditary line of “princes of the people,” far more effectually than any modern system. The annals of European peerages will show how evan- escent is human greatness, amidst all the efforts continually used, to preserve each ancient line. “Where, now, is Bohun ? Where is Mowbray ? Where is Mortimer ? Or, which is more than all, —Where is Plantagenet !” Of each, and all, how true has the saying been found,-‘‘ Man, being in honour, abideth not.” And in what race, save that ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. 535 of Israel, could a man even of low station as to worldly wealth, trace his lineage through captivity and invasions, name by name, through four thou- sand years ? - But while this law so maintained and preserved a genuine aristocracy, for “gentility is nothing else than ancient wealth ;”—it greatly checked that which is contrary to the public weal,—the absorp- tion of the land among a few possessors. This was especially condemned and prohibited by the Divine lawgiver, in the messages of various of His prophets. “Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place; that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth.” (Isa. v. 8.) In fact, this was obviously one great end of the whole enactment;-the precluding the absorp- tion of the lands of the weaker and less careful, by their avaricious and grasping neighbours. And a parallel object was clearly kept in view, in the prohibition of the receipt of interest for money. The principle involved was this, -that he who had more than he required, should freely impart to him who lacked. Economically consi- dered, however, the drift of the prohibition was to this effect:—The welfare of the whole community is best consulted, when all,—the whole of its popu- lation,-are actively engaged in production. But to admit the practice of usury, (or interest,) is to 536 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. release one person in each transaction, from the necessity of labour; and to compel another, the borrower, to labour for both. A class of usurers or takers of interest, must be a class of drones or non-producers. This class is, in itself, an injury or dead weight to the community; and the mis- chief so inflicted, must extend with the numerical extension of the class. There is nothing in this theory which does not en- tirely commend itself to everyman's understanding, when properly understood : but it will not be easy for us, in this brief mention of the subject, to bring it fairly before the reader's mind. The events, however, of the last seven years, may aid us in approximating somewhat towards a just conclusion. The laws of Moses altogether prohibited the employment of “Capital ’’ in such a manner, as that the possessors of it, without the least trouble or exertion, might be enabled to subsist in indo- lence, probably even in luxury, upon the labours of others. The possessors and the worshippers of “Capi- tal,” on the other hand, now argue, that its holders should be left at perfect liberty; not only to exact what is called by Moses “usury or increase;” but also to do this to any extent that might be in their power; to levy, in short, as ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. 537 heavy an imposition upon the necessitous, as they possibly could obtain. - The laws of England, until within the last ten years, adopted a middle course : permitting inte- rest to be taken, but limiting it in extent. Five per cent was made the legal bound or maximum ; beyond which no obedient subject was to carry his exactions. It is obvious that the same principle which justified this limitation, would equally have justified the confining the rate to three per cent, or even to two. The exact point at which the line shall be drawn, is a mere matter of detail, not affecting the justice of the enactment in any way. Within the last few years, however, this proviso has been given up, and “Capital * has been allowed the freest scope, to assert its own value and potency in any manner its owners pleased. Has this experiment answered ? Has the change been a beneficial one for the country at large 7 Most assuredly not. The general voice of the industrious classes may distinctly be heard ; com- plaining that the repeal of the old limitation has established a tyranny of Capital, and a thraldom of industry. And does not this result of the ex- periment afford ground for a strong impression, that as a still further departure than had before existed, from the Mosaic law, has so clearly pro- duced great evils, it is probable that a return to 538 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. the scriptural principle ; an adoption of, or at least an approximation to the Jewish system, might lead to the opposite benefits 2 The whole policy of the Jewish lawgiver plainly tended to the widest possible diffusion of plenty and happiness, and to the counteraction, as far as possible, of the vicious exercise, to excess, of the passion of accumulation. And can any one, however aristocratic may be his lean- ings, who is sincerely desirous of the happiness of his fellow-creatures, refuse his cordial approbation to such a system : - - It is abundantly clear, that the condition of the serfs of a Polish or Russian estate, whereon some two or three thousand labourers toil severely, and live worse than the beasts of the field, is not a prosperous one for the mass : whatever it may be for the diamond-vested prince, who revels in luxury at Paris, Vienna, or London, on the pro- duce of their toil. Equally certain is it, that the predicament of the slaves on a West Indian estate in 1830 or 1831, was vastly inferior to their state in 1840 or 1841,–although the income of the planter, living in Portland Place or Grosvenor Square, may have been larger at the former period. The question is, whether we admit the princi- ple, that the greatest good of the greatest number, ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ISRAELITES. 539 is a legitimate object of pursuit? If we do, then the state of society in Poland or Russia will appear to us to need alteration; the change effected in Jamaica will appear a blessed one ; and we shall be prepared to value and appreciate the laws of the Israelites, which precluded the rise of any such creatures as the Russian prince or West-Indian-planter among them. CHAPTER XVI. CLOSE OF HIS LIFE—PERSONAL CHARACTER. HAVING now, in such sort as we might, essayed to sketch a rough and hasty outline of the labours and opinions of Michael Thomas Sadler, it only remains to narrate the closing scenes of his life; and then to endeavour to furnish a connected view of what may be justly termed “his System.” We have already remarked, that having, in May 1834, paid a visit to a relative at Belfast, with which place he was also connected by his interest in the extensive linen-works carried on by his firm, he was so much pleased with the town and its neighbourhood, as to determine to fix his future residence there. He first took a house at the pleasant watering-place of Hollywood, distant about four miles from Belfast; from whence he removed in the winter to his relative's abode, in CT, OSE OF HIS LIFE. 541 College Square, Belfast; and in March 1835, fixed his abode at “the New Lodge,” a pleasant residence about a mile from the town; where, in a few short months, his earthly existence came to its close. Allusion has already been made, in an early chapter of this work, to a most distressing and alarming malady, which shewed itself, first in 1814, and in a slighter degree, at various other periods of his life;—the symptoms of which were, a great irregularity of pulse, pain about the region of the heart, and distressing palpitations. The writer of these lines well remembers a fearful attack of this kind, which suddenly inter- rupted a journey taken by Mr. Sadler and him- self, in December, 1831, into an agricultural dis- trict, which was considered likely to furnish some striking illustrations of the defects of the existing management of the poor. Without any previous indisposition, in the midst of an interesting but quiet conversation in a post-chaise, so sudden and violent a paroxysm came on, as to excite the greatest alarm even for the sufferer's life. Mr. Sadler of course did not contemplate, when he involved himself in the trouble and expence of a removal from Yorkshire to Ireland,—the pro- - bability that his own tenure of any earthly dwelling would prove so extremely short. But a sudden 542 THE LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. exertion, drawn forth by one of those circum- stances which men call “ accidental,”—in the course of this removal, brought on so violent and lengthened an attack of his complaint, as to make it clear that his own enjoyment of his new abode for any lengthened period must be regarded as at least very doubtful. During the whole of the summer of 1834, which was spent at Hollywood, the disease hung about him; but no considerable alarm was yet excited, either in his own mind or those of his friends. Still an irregularity of pulse, with frequent difficulty of breathing, was generally perceptible; and his state of health became matter of just anxiety. Unquestionably the thing most needed, was, regularity of habits, and calmness of mind. The disease had been greatly augmented by his par- liamentary labours, which frequently kept him almost without food, and to a great degree with- out sleep, for days together. His last year's labour, on the Factory question, was sufficient to shorten any man's life by three years; and it pro- bably shortened his by ten. Still, however, though conscious of his indisposition, he could not be induced to give up his habits of close study, in- sufficient exercise, and hasty and irregular meals. And while in this doubtful state, the dissolution of Parliament, in December 1834, came suddenly CLOSE OF HIS LIFE. 543 upon him, bringing him the most pressing en- treaties from various places, especially from Bir- mingham and South Durham ; for the latter of which places his return was represented to be all but certain. To a mind like his, earnestly devoted to a great public object, such applications could not but be deeply agitating. Feeling his own bodily weakness on the one hand, he yet felt a great desire, on the other, to lift up again, if possible, his voice in Parliament, in defence of the rights of the poor. The conflict was most in- jurious to him. He felt it his duty finally to decide upon remaining in private life ; but the mental struggle visibly added to his rapidly- advancing indisposition. This circumstance, coupled with his constant application to study, and neglect of exercise, soon brought on an entire derangement of the digestive organs; which naturally operated to the increase of the former alarming symptoms, and a drop- sical swelling of the extremities began to shew itself. He was now settled at the New Lodge; but the difficulty of breathing had so increased, as to render the exertion of going up stairs painful; and for the remaining weeks of his life his sleep was taken in an apartment on the ground-floor. A sudden attack of inflammation of the heart 544 THE LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. shortly after came on ; and, although it quickly yielded to the usual remedies, it left him so much reduced in strength, and so little able to bear up against his previous and still-remaining ailments, that a settled persuasion now began to take pos- session of his mind, that the end of his life drew near. Nor could any temporary relief, which again and again was afforded, remove this convic- tion from his mind. We now see Mr. Sadler, then, in those circum- stances which nearly all men expect and calculate upon being placed in at some time or other; but which, in point of fact, come upon very few. Almost every man looks forward to a period when he shall feel and know that death is near, and shall be able to make up his “dread account,” before the hour for giving it in arrives. But how few, how very few, do ever, in point of fact, realize such a position! How preponderating the proportion of those who are taken off by sudden death, or in delirium, or who are deluded into the belief, even up to the last moment, that they are about to recover, and not to die. Mr. Sadler, however, was one of the very few, who, long before his death, felt a firm conviction, that he “should die, and not live ; ” and whose mind was so unclouded, up to the last, as to enable him rightly to examine into both the end before him, and his own preparation for it. CLOSE OF HIS LIFE. 545 We have already seen, that from his very boy- hood he had been made acquainted with the great realities of religion; and there is abundant evi- dence that, at various periods of his life, he deeply felt their truth and importance. Many of his private diaries, during his residence at Leeds, in the middle portion of his life, have come under our notice, and a very large propor- tion of their pages is occupied with reflections and remarks on religious topics, which were evidently meant for no eye but his own. It is not, however, to be denied, that the vehe- mence of his disposition, during the few years of his public life, and the earnest sincerity with which his whole soul was thrown into the philan- thropic plans he had formed, led him to pursue his various objects in parliament with so great an ab- sorption of mind, as to leave too little room, during this period, for quiet reflection or occupation on still higher topics. But the solemn pause now graciously accorded to him, previously to his departure, did not find him, like many others, either uninformed or un- convinced, as to the all-important truths of Chris- tianity. All that he needed was their faithful application to his own case; and in this, “the patient ministered to himself,” with no deceptive or reluctant hand. 2 N 546 LIFE of MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. The last few months of his life were spent in a self-examination and repentance the most deep, self-abasing, and fervent. An excellent clergyman who constantly visited him, often exclaimed, that “ he went to learn, not to teach.” Doubtless there will be many, among those into whose hands this volume may fall, who will ask, with unfeigned surprise, what there was to call for such penitential grief and self-condemnation, in the case of one whose life, to human view, had been spotless; and whose chief object and pursuit, almost to a fault, had been, the improvement of the condition of his fellow-creatures 7 But we have already described Mr. Sadler as one who sought after truth, with a laborious and honest endeavour. Such an one could hardly remain under the influ- ence of the baseless and irrational notions by which, it is to be feared, great numbers of men delude themselves. He could not, for instance, like many others, rest on a vague and indefinite idea of “the mercy of God;” and yet neglect the study of that Revela- tion which God has himself given to man, for the express purpose of informing him in what way the Divine mercy is bestowed. - Nor could he, with the word of God in his hand, still continue, like multitudes, to disbe- lieve the positive declarations therein contained, CLOSE OF HIS LIFE. 54.7 —that a state of fearful wretchedness awaits, in the next life, those who have not laid hold upon God's mercy, in His own appointed way, in this. Neither was he likely, with this mirror of truth before him, to adopt another false hope, too fre- quently relied upon, by those who are but half-awak- ened to their real state;—namely, that against some indefinite amount of sins, which they will admit that they have committed,—God will place their good deeds and charitable actions; and that, finally, the atoning sacrifice of the Great Mediator will suffice to balance the account. His mind, as we have already said, had been too accurately informed, from youth, to permit him to take shelter in any of these “refuges of lies.” He knew the language of the Church of England, which he had been in the habit of using, to be strictly true:–That he “ had from time to “ time committed manifold sins and wickedness; “ provoking most justly God's wrath against “ him :”*—while even his best works, “could not “ put away his sins, or endure the severity of God's “judgment.” Thus “the remembrance of his te tº & ** sinc haranna oriavrov is to him - and #h a hºrd on of *J.J. J.J. ºº Aº vºº ºf Wºº [.. [...º. ºf 5 * ... * * * * *- : * > Wºvº J.J. J. L. J. J. 2 *A* ALL VA, W. R.J. W.' Lº Wºº ºl, *-*. L. L. * * “ them intolerable ; ”f and it was only by being enabled to appropriate to himself, by faith, * Communion Service. + Art. xii. # Communion Service. 2 N 2 548 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. the meritorious efficacy of “the full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice,” made upon the Cross, that he finally “found rest for his soul.” His sole occupation during all this period, was of a character suited to his circumstances. The Scriptures were seldom out of his hand ; his con- versation was filled with the one topic ; and ear- nest and vehement prayer absorbed him day and night. That his petitions were indeed heard and answered, became apparent to his afflicted rela- tives, by several unequivocal signs. Among these we may specify, 1. A perfect calmness, and indifference to things which had for many years past almost monopolized his thoughts. As one instance of this may be men- tioned, a fresh and very earnest application for permission to use his name as a candidate for a large borough in a midland county of England. The application was not only declined on the instant,--which, indeed, was a matter of course ; but it was put aside without a single sigh, or so much as a quickening of the pulse. 2. Having always been of an impetuous and irritable temperament, the silent endurance of pain had never been a feature in his character in former years. Now, however, although ease wholly for- sook him, and his sufferings were constant and unremitting, his patient endurance was quite re- CLOSE OF HIS LIFE. 549 markable, and his mind seemed swallowed up by a feeling, that all his pains were infinitely less than his deservings; and by an intense desire to realize that interest in the greater and truly availing sufferings of the Saviour, which might enable him to exclaim, with the apostle's exulting confidence, “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh out for us a far more exceed- ing and eternal weight of glory.” 3. Another most evident and remarkable change took place in him. When in health, the confidence he felt in the truth of his own princi- ples, and the vehemence with which he main- tained them, constantly led him to speak of his opponents, especially of those who had written “against the poor,” in terms of unsparing seve- rity. It was not any personal feeling which prompted this; he merely adopted too dogmati- cally, the language applied in holy writ, to the oppressors of the poor and the needy. But now a total change took place in this respect. The greatest meekness and gentleness displayed itself, whenever opposing controversialists were alluded to ; and he was quite as ready to find an exculpa- tory plea or charitable supposition, as he had for- merly been to hurl anathemas at “ the enemies of the poor.” By these and other equally significant tokens, 550 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. evidence was abundantly given, of a real and rapid- ly-progressive work of Divine grace in the heart. In the month of July (1835,) a sudden rally took place, and he appeared for a time decidedly better; his worst symptoms abated; he was able to sit up during part of the day; and for a moment the hopes of his friends revived. But this pleasing prospect disappeared as suddenly as it had sprung up ; a relapse came on, aggravated by the additional symptom of constant and violent sickness, which quickly reduced him to the lowest state of ex- haustion. Two days of this suffering, Friday and Saturday, July 24 and 25, brought him evidently to the last extremity. On Sunday and Monday he remained nearly speechless. On the Tuesday morning he himself, and his friends, alike prepared for a close which all hourly expected. Whenever not dozing, he was engaged in earnest prayer. Towards evening he appeared gradually sinking away ; but about three o'clock on the Wednesday morning, he a little revived, and recovered sen- sation and speech. One of his watching friends earnestly asked, “If he felt the presence of God, supporting him in this hour of need ?” He instantly replied, “I know that my Redeemer liveth; and “ that though in my flesh worms destroy this body, “yet with mine eyes shall I behold him; whom I “shall see for myself and not another, though my CLOSE OF HIS LIFE. 551 “reins be consumed within me.” His friend re- plied, by quoting the promise, “Thou wilt keep “ him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed “ on Thee ; because he trusteth in Thee.” He gratefully acknowledged the faithfulness of God, adding, “Though I walk through the valley of “ the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for “Thou art with me, and Thy rod and thy staff, “ they comfort me.” + He then, in a few broken sentences, most touch- ingly expressed his sense of his own utter unwor- thiness, and his entire dependence on the atoning sacrifice of the great Propitiator; adding a verse of a favourite hymn ; “Take my poor heart, and let it be “ For ever closed to all but Thee ; “Seal Thou my breast, and let me wear “That pledge of love for ever there.” These were almost the last syllables he uttered ; for he shortly afterwards sunk into a doze, and gradually passed away; expiring about six o'clock on the morning of the 29th of July, being then in the 56th year of his age. “On Tuesday, August 4, the remains of this ines- timable man were interred in Ballylesson church- yard. The gentry, and an immense number of 552 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. the respectable inhabitants of Belfast and the sur- rounding country, evinced their respect for his memory, by accompanying him to the grave. After the service, a most impressive sermon was preached by the Rev. Thomas Drew.”” On the 13th of August a public meeting was held in Leeds, Henry Hall, Esq. (the senior alderman,) in the chair, for the purpose of adopt- ing such measures as might be thought appro- priate, to express the respect and attachment felt for his memory, by his former fellow-towns- men and friends. At this meeting, after agreeing to several Resolutions of condolence and regret, a subscription was set on foot, to which the Duke of Newcastle, the Earl of Lonsdale, Lord Feversham, the Hon. W. Duncombe, and Mr. Fountayne Wilson became contributors, and which speedily amounted to about £700, for the erection of a statue of Mr. Sadler in the parish church of Leeds. The work was committed to the care of Mr. Park; and it now stands at the entrance of the splendid new church lately raised in that town ; bearing the following inscription : * Belfast Guardian, Aug, 8, 1835. MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, F. R. S. BORN AT DOVERIDGE, IN THE COUNTY OF DERBY, FROM EARLY YOUTH AN INHABITANT OF THIS TOWN ; ENDOWED WITH GREAT NATURAL TALENTS, A FERVID IMAGINATION, A FEELING HEART, AND AN INQUIRING MIND : HE CULTIVATED WITH SUCCESS AMID THE DISTRACTIONS OF TRADE, THE ELEGANCIES OF Polite LITERATURE, AND THE SEVERER STUDY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL ECONOMY, AS EXHIBITED IN HIS WORKS ON IRELAND AND ON THE LAW OF POPULATION. THE DISPLAY, ON VARIOUS ocCASIONs, OF A COPIOUS ELOQUENCE PECULIARLY HIS OWN, IN DEFENCE OF THE PROTESTANT FAITH, OF THE RIGHTs of HUMANITY, AND of THE BRITISH constLTUTION, SECURED HIM, UNSOUGHT FOR, A SEAT IN THE Hous E OF commons; AND HE REPRESENTED THE BOR.O.U.G HS OF NEWARIK AND ALDEOIROUGH IN THIREE SUCCESSIVE PAIRLIAMENTS : HE I) ISTINGUISHED HIMSELF IN THE SENATE As THE BOLD DEFENDER OF THE INSTITUTIONS OF HIS COUNTRY, AND BY STREN U OljSLY ADVOCATING MEASURES TO SECURE A LIEGAL PROVISION FOR THE POOR OF IRELAND, AND THE AMELIORATION OF THE CONDITION OF FACTORY CHILDREN. HE DIED AT BELFAST, JULY 29, 1835, AGED 55 YEARS. HIS REMAINS REST IN BALLYLESSON CHURCH - Y ARI). BY HIS NUMEROUS PRIVATE AND POLITICAL FRIENDS THIS MONUMENT HAS BEEN ERECTED, TO HAND DOWN TO POSTERITY THE NAME OF A SCHOLAR, A PATRIOT, AND A PRACTICAL PHILANTHROPIST. 554 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. Having thus brought our narrative to a close, it will naturally be expected that we should attempt a brief sketch of the leading points in Mr. Sad- ler's character. In discharging this part of our duty, we shall confine ourselves, in this place, to what may be considered his personal character; re- serving for a concluding chapter, the consideration of his System,-those leading principles of na- tional economy, which it was the great object of his life to inculcate. Turning, then, to the recollection of Mr. Sadler as a man, apart from the great truths of which he was the unwearied advocate, we shall first advert, desiring to speak the whole truth, to the blemishes and defects, which, in the course of a friendship and personal intercourse of nearly ten years, pre- . sented themselves to our notice. To slur over this part of the subject, would neither consist with our sense of propriety and truth, nor with our views of sound policy. We know of no other safe way of handling any subject, than that of frankly ad- mitting and setting down all the facts of the case. Nor need we fear, in the present instance, to make the fullest and most explicit admissions. Had we not valued and revered the character of Mr. Sadler as an honest and upright and earnest man, as well as a profound and intelligent one, this Memoir would never have been commenced. But, PERSONAL CHARACTER. 555 entertaining that conviction in the fullest degree, why should we hesitate to state in the plainest language, the few points which we could have sometimes wished to have been otherwise? We are not professing to paint “a faultless monster whom the world ne'er saw ; ” but a genuine, and necessarily imperfect specimen of humanity. The main drawback to his acceptability and usefulness, then, was one which arose out of the circumstances in which he had been placed for the first five-and-forty years of his life. It was well indicated by one of the most accurate observers in the old House of Commons, Sir James Mackintosh. In the spring of 1829, when the eclat of Mr. Sadler's first appearance in that assembly brought his name and pretensions into daily discussion in every society, Mr. Zachary Macaulay, happening to meet this veteran critic and orator, immediately put the question, “This Mr. Sadler, whom all “men are talking about, what sort of a man is “ he, Sir James —What is your opinion of him : “Why,” replied Sir James, “there is no doubt “ that he is a great man; but he appears to me “ to have been used to a favourable auditory.” Sir James had here, with an intuitive Saga- city, both hinted at the defects in Mr. Sadler's mode of address, and had suggested most truly their real cause and origin. Unlike such men as 556 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. Canning, and Brougham, and Peel, who were brought, as youths, upon the noblest arena in the world, and forced to train themselves, cautiously, and step by step, in the presence of the Nestors of the senate, until all exuberances were pruned away, all weaknesses remedied, and a style formed by practice, exactly suited to the place and the auditory; unlike, we repeat, these happier com- petitors, Mr. Sadler dwelt and moved, until mature age, amidst the society of men who were, almost universally, his inferiors both in mental powers and acquirements. It was impossible that this circumstance should fail to produce an inju- rious effect. He became accustomed, as a matter of right, and of course, to declaim, to lecture, to expatiate. On every side he grew accustomed to meet the gaze of admiring and delighted audi- tors; but scarcely ever had he the advantage of grappling with an equal. It cannot be necessary to dilate on this point; or to explain or prove, what every man of discernment will see at a glance, that an education and training of this kind was a most unfavourable and disadvantageous pre- paration for such an arena as the House of Com- mons. But our remark is not limited to that place; it extends to the whole circle of Mr. Sad- ler's public life. He was not conceited, nor dicta- torial; but he was often declamatory, and fre- PERSONAL CHARACTER. 557 quently prolix; not indeed with the dull prolixity of mere verbiage, but with the redundance of a full and almost overcharged mind, pouring itself forth without dread of causing weariness or offence. A second source of weakness was one of very un- usual occurrence. It was, the singular transparency of his character. So guileless was he, so fearless in his honesty of purpose, that he was constantly in the habit of “thinking aloud; ” and many were the difficulties and dilemmas in which this practice involved him. One well-known attack of a disappointed aspirant, who revenged himself for a fancied slight, by sending divers libels to the newspapers, was based almost wholly upon the advantage afforded him by this singular prac- tice. The man who said that “ Language was “given us for the purpose of concealing our “ thoughts,” was just at the very antipodes (in morals,) to Mr. Sadler. All who were familiar with him would attest, that the concealment of his thoughts “would have been impossible had “it been attempted; and would have been foolish, “ had it been possible.” He lived in London, an ºrº Zºº (Tº cºllava-5 zans, and the brilliant but insincere devotees of fashion,-himself the greatest contrast to them all; a simple-hearted, earnest, and uncompromising enthusiast. We have called this a drawback, and the wily diplomatists, the scheming parti- ſº 2 * * * * * * * * * 558 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. so, in one sense, it proved. The sagacious policy which is indicated by the saying, “If I had both “my hands full of truths, I would open but one “finger at a time,” would more effectually have served his high and noble ends. But it was not in his nature ; to have attempted it, would, as we have just said, have been “foolish "; still the ab- sence of it was a weakness and an imperfection. But now, having honestly noticed these two points, in which his friends often longed for a change, we come to the more important and lead- ing features of his character. And here, to speak the truth in the simplest and plainest language, is to furnish his best eulogy. . . The leading characteristic of his mind,—that which was always, and on all occasions, apparent, —was that of a seeker after truth. Much intercourse with him, continued through several years; marked by the greatest confidence; and including within its range almost every con- ceivable topic,-enables us to testify, that what- ever might be the subject in hand, however in- volving party connections, or political or religious prejudices;–never could even a suspicion enter, that Mr. Sadler was opposing or evading what he knew to be the truth; or that he followed any other pole-star than that of sincere conviction. Frequent differences of opinion might and did PERSONAL CHARACTER. 559 arise; and long and warm might the contention grow ; but never could it be for an instant doubted, that what he was maintaining so strenuously, he believed most firmly. But he was more than this ; he not only sought after truth, but he sought after it most perse- veringly and most laboriously. There are many men who mean honestly; but do not feel a sufficient interest in finding out the truth, to toil and weary themselves much in its dis- covery. But Mr. Sadler's whole life was a life of labour, -not for wealth, or aggrandisement, or party triumph, but for the discovery and vin- dication of truth. Nor was it the mere delight of a controversalist, in maintaining the theory which he happens to have espoused ;-the prevalent mo- tive which urged Mr. Sadler forward, through toil- some days and sleepless nights, was a deep con- viction that the truths he desired to assert, were truths essentially connected with the welfare of his fellow-countrymen. The amelioration of their condition was the object at which he aimed; and the accomplishment of this object, in any degree, would have been considered by him a full and ample reward. The unvarying, unyielding devotion of his whole soul to these labours, formed another remarkable feature in his character. What multitudes of 560 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. public men do we behold, who take up a matter of national concern for a time; and labour as if their hearts were really engaged in the cause;— but, return to the field at the end of some two or three years; and enquire for those who seemed so earnest in the people's interest; and where will they be found ! Some, wearied and cast down by the toilsome character and apparent hopeless- ness of the undertaking; others, carried away by some new fancy; and a few, submitting to the welcome fetters of official bondage. Only now and then, only once or twice in a century, do we meet with men, who, like Wilberforce and Sad- ler, take up a question from heartfelt conviction, and adhere to it, through evil report and good report, while life or hope or even possibility of success remains. J The main secret of this untiring and devoted perseverance, is, a real and solid disinterestedness. These men have taken up the cause, not as a means of distinguishing or elevating themselves ; nor merely as an occupation for leisure hours; but from a deep conviction of its real importance—of its higher importance than party interests, or their own personal advantage, Hence, if temptations are thrown in their way, the natural reply is, “You can offer nothing that will bear any compari- son, in my view, with the business which I have in PERSONAL CHARACTER. 561 hand.” In Mr. Sadler's case this disregard of party and personal considerations was pre-emi- nently conspicuous. Before he had been two full years in Parliament, the greatest controversy of modern times sprang up. The question of the Reform Bill was, in fact, the question of a New Constitution. Now, there were not five men in the House of Commons who were Mr. Sadler's equals, in a large and accurate acquaintance with this whole question. He was also, at all times, a ready and powerful speaker. To have taken a conspicuous part in this mighty struggle would have been to ensure himself a foremost place in a Conservative government, whenever his party might be recalled to office. Why, then, was it, that Mr. Sadler, after the first encounter, did far less than might have been expected of him, in this momentous controversy ; It was because he had already entered upon the business in which his heart felt the deepest interest — the advo- cacy of the rights of the poor; and, from this great object, neither party sympathies nor the prospects of ambition could prevail to lure him away. He left the mere party-men to contend for * The reader's mind will naturally revert to a recent instance of this rare virtue, displayed by Mr. Sadler's noble successor,< noble, indeed, in every sense,—in the advocacy of the cause of the poor factory-children. 2 O 562 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. their nomination-boroughs; while he gave his days and nights to a desperate struggle in behalf of the poor little factory-slaves. Nor was he at all ignorant or indifferent to the sacrifices he was thus making. He knew that by adopting this course, he was injuring all his prospects as a politician. He was well aware that the subjects on which he loved to dwell, were tire- some to the “honourable house;” that he himself would be voted “a bore,” and his influence in that assembly all but destroyed. He saw, also, that the leaders of his own party disliked being forced to vote on such questions; “committing themselves,” if they voted in the affirmative; and incurring unpopularity if they voted otherwise. Even his own expectations of a seat in the new Parliament were almost destroyed by the very line he took; arousing, as it did, the enmity of the mill-owners—the most powerful class among the new constituencies. All these obvious dangers he braved, simply because he was thoroughly in earnest ; and had made his choice, deliberately, either to remain a public man with the power of doing good; or not to remain a public man at all. The truth was, that his heart was in the task to which he had devoted himself. It was, with him, no pet theory merely; but a grand, absorbing object. How truly devoted he was to it; how PERSONAL CHARACTER. 563 absolutely enthusiastic ; how deeply in earnest; only those could tell who were in the habit of associating with him in his more retired hours. It was then that his whole soul was poured forth without reserve; and he would dilate upon wrongs that he had seen inflicted, and sorrows which he had tried to assuage; till, often, utterance was stopped by emotion, and fears for the nar- rator overpowered the interest felt in the nar- ration itself. To compare such a man with the speculating statesmen of modern times, the Sheridans, the Plunketts, the Cannings, would be simply absurd. He had no more resemblance to them than a loyal patriot leader bears to a “soldier of for- tune;"—a Collingwood, for instance, to a Bona- parte. In mere talent—the machinery only, the “steam-power” of the character, he might be exceeded by some of this class; but in moral worth and intrinsic value, the inspiring genius of the whole, he rises to a far higher sphere. It is to be feared that the time has hardly yet arrived, for the full and just appreciation of such a character. There is still too much, among us, of the idolatry of mere talent, and of admiration called forth by success, without regard to the means em- ployed, or the personal worth of the successful gladiator. Higher and sounder principles, which, 2 O 2 564 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. it may be hoped, are quietly growing and extend- ing themselves, will wean us from this childish fondness for glittering tinsel, this vulgar delight in dragging the car of whomsoever may happen to be victor. Is it not humiliating to witness earnest and sincere men, often assisting to raise to the pin- nacle of fame and power, one who, in private con- verse, they freely admit to be nothing more than a selfish and ambitious schemer, advocating, per- haps, for the moment, their views, because such a course tends to his own advancement? Yet how often, within the last forty years, has this been a matter of notorious occurrence How often have public leaders been vehemently and pertinaciously supported, who possessed not the respect or confi- dence of one in twenty of their professed followers. A most revolting instance of this, is, at the present moment, passing before the public eye. The very latest number of the leading Whig journal, deliberately adopts the following language:— “While the present policy of the government is dictated by motives so childish, it is in vain for them to devise schemes of permanent operation and utility (for Ireland). All will be frustrated by the opposition of the one person who now, and most naturally, wields alone the entire confidence of the people who he has elevated into a nation. And we shall think such plans as the one now PERSONAL CHARACTER, 565 before us worthy of serious support, when we find the proposal of them preceded by the conciliation of the only man who can give them a chance of being carried into effect.” It is impossible to help suspecting that advice like this is only tendered in the Satanic view, of tempting your opponent to that which you know would prove his sure destruction. The two main causes of the recent downfal of the Whigs, un- doubtedly were—their refusal to do anything for the great mass of the people; and their base and despi- cable pandering to O'Connell. And their present policy—the motive for which is obvious enough,- seems to be, to encourage and persuade, as much as possible, the Conservative government to follow in their footsteps—by maintaining the New Poor Law—by refusing protection to the infant-labour- ers in our factories,—and above all, by cringing to the universally despised and abhorred Irish mendicant. The manoeuvre is perhaps too gross; and any set of men, calling themselves statesmen, who could be entrapped by it, would fall, not only right speedily, but without a single voice to regret their overthrow. We do trust, however, that the progress of religion, and of a higher tone of * Edinburgh Review, Jan. 1842, p. 496. 566 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. morals among us, will gradually elevate the cur- rent sentiment of society in these matters. And, whenever the time arrives, of the prevalence of a thoroughly correct and healthy mode of estimat- ing character; not by mere talent or power, but by moral principle and elevation of purpose,— then will the names of such men as Mr. Sadler receive that degree of honour which justly belongs to so rare a union of both. Thus much of the distinguishing features of his character. Of the rest, it may suffice to say, that he was an amiable and accomplished man; ex- emplary in every relation in life; beloved as much as he was admired. Both as a poet * and as a musician, he held a high rank. He was a fascina- ting as well as an improving companion ; possess- ing a great variety of attainments, in languages, science, and the arts; without the alloy of either pedantry or conceit. But these are commenda- tions which, happily, may be bestowed on many men, who are still not gifted with the higher and nobler attributes which distinguished the charac- ter of MICHAEL THoMAS SADLER. * For some specimens of his Version of the Psalms, see Appendia (F.) CHAPTER XVII. SUMMARY OF MR. SADLER'S SYSTEM. THE history of the Life of Michael Thomas Sadler has been, of necessity, the history of his opinions; in fact, it was chiefly to assert and main- tain his system, that this Memoir was undertaken. It would be wrong, however, to confound him with the swarm of theorizers of the present day; who frame schemes of political economy for lack of other occupation, and would fain, if they were able, play at chess with mankind. There never was a simpler, more earnest, or more strictly practical mind, than that of Mr. Sadler. The idea of build- ing up a system never entered his head. His plans were suggested, one after the other, by the errors and necessities which he saw around him ; and thus, gradually, matured by years, and confirmed by experience, the whole results of a life spent in 568 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. patient investigation and earnest reflection, mould- ed and formed themselves into something of a systematic form. His first steps, in early life, were taken in the safest of all paths, reverence for, and implicit belief in, God's word; and pity for the poor. Proceed- ing in this course, observing and comparing all he saw around him, he soon began to be penetrated with concern at the workings of cupidity and sel- fishness on every side; in some cases visible in the neglect, in others in the oppression of the poor : but most especially did he abhor that reign- ing theory of the day, which inculcated hardness of heart upon principle, nay, as a positive duty. Constant thought and laborious researches into the question, soon fixed in his mind a firm and rooted attachment to the old English system of care for the poor; and a thorough detestation of the modern opposers and contemners of that sys- tem,-the Malthuses, Martineaus, Marcets, et hoc genus omne. But he was too wise and too honest a man to condemn any theory from mere impulse or antipathy: hence his well-grounded aversion, (well-grounded because originating in the Divine word,) led him into a deep and earnest investiga- tion of all those assumed facts, upon which the Malthusian theory claimed to be founded. l. One by one, with ceaseless toil, but indomi- SUMMARY OF MR. SADLER's SYSTEM. 569 table perseverance, he tracked each fallacy or fabri- cation to its source, and finally left no one princi- pal or important fact in all Mr. Malthus's statements undemolished. He shewed that the grand fallacy of the whole, (the two ratios, Geometrical and Arithmetical,) was a dream, destitute of even a semblance of reality: That the assertion, that population always followed production, was the reverse of the fact : That the alleged increase of population in America, which was said to be “irrespective of immigration,” was, in fact, caused by immigration: That the representations of misery in China, arising from over-population, were con- tradicted by all the best and latest authorities: * * Ever since Mr. Sadler's death, and up to the present hour, all kinds of confirmation continue to flow in from every quarter, to the truth of his system. Witness the latest accounts of the Chinese empire. China was Mr. Malthus's favourite instance of the misery inseparable from a crowded population. But what is the fact, as attested by the best witnesses in the present day P Listen to one of the most recent :— “Care-worn and half-starved faces are rare things in China. A plumpness of feature, cheerfulness of mein, and a gait full of animation, bespeak a condition of mind that looks on to-day’s supply with complacency, and forward to to-morrow's chances without apprehension. The happiness and general prosperity of the Chinese are conspicuous.”—The Chinese as they are. By G. Tradescant Lay. London, 1841, p. 260. Yet Mr. Lay does not deny the fact of the crowded population of China. On the contrary, he traces its prosperity and happi- ness to this very fact, as a principal cause. 570 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, That the doublings of population in certain coun- tries, said to have actually taken place, were pal- pable and monstrous impossibilities, as the least examination made manifest: That the postpone- ment of marriages does not tend to lessen popula- tion in the way, or to the extent alleged : And that the early marriages, laid to the charge of our poor, do not, in fact, take place; nor do they, when occurring, augment population as supposed. In short, as we have already observed, absolute- ly encumbering his work with the multiplicity of his well-established facts, he left no single material assertion in Mr. Malthus’s two octavo volumes, in existence. The whole fabric was reduced to a shapeless mass of ruins and rubbish. 2. We have here anticipated the appearance of his great work, in 1830, and have spoken of the labour as in substance completed several years before. He had matured his views, and estab- lished the main principles of his theory, when he first came forward in 1825, and enunciated his leading views in public, in his Lectures on the English Poor Laws. In those papers, the manu- script of which now lies before us, the rough out- line, in all its leading features, of his whole sys- tem, is easily discernible. 3. His next step was occasioned by the circum- stances of the times, which brought the state of SUMMARY OF MR. SADLER's SYSTEM. 57.1 Ireland frequently and prominently under discus- sion. As the establishment of the rights of hu- manity in that country, and the consequent relief of England and Scotland from the burden of Irish mendicity, were points on which he had formed a clear opinion, and felt very deeply interested; he was induced to turn aside, for awhile, and to detach a portion of his general scheme of national economy, to take its share in the general discus- sion. That the most complete success attended this effort, is sufficiently proved by the fact, that up to the year 1827 scarcely a voice dared to make itself heard on the affirmative side of the Question; and yet in 1838 we find a Poor Law established by Parliament in Ireland, to the wonder of many who doubted how so great a change could have been so rapidly brought about. 4. Returning from this excursion, Mr. Sadler resumed his main employment, and in a short time completed the grand labour of his life, the work which destroyed Malthusianism as an acknow- ledged and defended system. Individuals will doubtless still be met with, who continue to cling to the defunct abomination ; but as the creed of a party the mischief is extinct. In 1825, it ruled and reigned ; and its disciples vaunted its immorta- lity —in 1835, “I sought for it, and it could not be found; and the place thereof shall know it no more.” 5. Having now established his main and central 572 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. position, and having been raised to a seat in the Legislature, Mr. Sadler began immediately to trace out and exhibit the necessary and natural results of his system. Resolutely maintaining the justice and policy, in all times and in all countries, of a law for the relief of the indigent poor;-it followed of necessity that the very first step to be taken, was, to insist on justice being done to Ireland in this matter. Nor was it only for her own sake, that Ireland required this application of an immutable principle ;-the disorganization of England could never be effectually remedied, until the two islands were placed on one footing in this respect. The market for labour must necessarily be constantly and seriously encumbered in England, so long as no refuge against starvation existed in Ireland. Hence it became absolutely indispensable, before any cure for England's domestic evils could hopefully be ap- plied,—that this burden should be taken off. Mr. Sadler, therefore, having first established his case to demonstration in his work on Ireland; now laid his arguments before parliament; returned again to the attack, on the following year, carrying the question to a division; and, defeated only by an exceedingly narrow majority, had still the consolation, in his retirement, to see the cause go forward, by its own momentum ; and thus was enabled calmly and hopefully to anticipate the inevitable, and in fact, speedy result, of its entire success, SUMMARY OF MR. SADLER's SYSTEM. 573 6. Having given the needful impetus to this great work of national justice and civilization, Mr. Sadler felt now at liberty to proceed onwards in the task to which he had devoted all the powers of his mind ;--The redress of the wrongs, and the improvement of the condition,-of the great mass of the labouring population of England. This task naturally divided itself into two lead- ing heads; although minor divisions, and subsi- diary points, often came into view. The agricul- tural labourers, and those employed in manufac- tures, embraced a very great proportion of the English poor; and almost the entire of those in whose condition Mr. Sadler saw so much to lament and to remedy. Not that he was ignorant of much that was to be deplored, among our mining districts, among various departments of trade in London, and in other isolated branches of industry. But, without forgetting these, it was clearly right first to deal with those two great leading classes by whose wrongs more than half of our whole population was injured; and by whose deliverance, more than half of the entire mass would be benefited. Rightly, therefore, did he commence his labours, by bringing forward plans for ameliorating the condition of the agricul- tural and the manufacturing poor. The latter of these two happened to occupy the 574, LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. larger portion of his time, during his last year in parliament; and this circumstance, which was quite unpremeditated on his part, has given his labours somewhat of a party aspect ; and made him appear like the promoter of a case against the mill-owners, and therefore for the agricul- turists. Nothing, however, was further from his own views or wishes. Few things, we believe, would have pained him more, than to have seen these great questions, so involving the well-being of the people, used as mere party-engines to rally tories against whigs, or whigs against tories. It may not be easy to form an opinion at this mo- ment, as to which of these great branches of in- dustry he would have pronounced to be most defiled by abuses and corruptions ;-but there is no danger in affirming most confidently, that his deep and well-grounded conviction was, that among both these classes,—the agricultural and manufacturing labourers, great evils, and most cruel oppressions, did most extensively, and to the imminent peril of the state, prevail. His own choice led him first to take up the case of the Agricultural Poor. Circumstances, indeed, especially the urgent pressure of various friends, induced him soon after to bring before parliament the case of the infant-labourers in factories; and this question, once opened, soon threw the former SUMMARY OF MR. SADLER'S SYSTEM. 575 subject into the shade. A real and earnest strug- gle was commenced, for the improvement of the Factory-system; and in this contention the preced- ing topic has been, for the time, forgotten; but no such preference was dictated by Mr. Sadler's own mind. He was truly impartial in this matter; constantly asserting the existence of great evils and fearful wrongs in both departments; and quite as ready to struggle for the amelioration of the one class, as of the other. We have felt the more desirous that this should be explicitly understood; because we have re- cently observed instances of a disposition to deal with these topics in a party spirit ;-putting for- ward the miseries of the factory-labourers as an argument, (not indeed without some force,) against those who would make the manufacturing system the main reliance of the nation :-and, this view, again, met by recriminatory statements of the hardships of the agricultural poor ; intended to shew that the Corn Laws conferred no boon of comfort on the labourer. Little practical benefit is to be expected from reasonings conducted in this spirit. The unquestionable truth is, that selfish cupidity has long been at work, and is now incessantly and remorseless engaged, alike among farmers and mill-owners, in bearing down the poor; in warring against the independence and 576 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. comfort of the workman; in reducing him as much as possible to the condition of a serf;-or, which is worse, to the state of a “roundsman,”—to be made use of when wanted ; and sent to the work- house when not wanted ; but to be cared for, not at all ! Mr. Sadler's earlier years were spent among the agricultural poor ; and for them his warmest sympathies were excited. He saw them, even within the thirty or forty years of his own period, continually losing ground before the encroach- ments of the classes immediately above them. Their very dwellings were grudged them ; and a general but silent warfare against cottages was car- ried on ; while all occupation of land, even to the little patch of garden-ground, was generally with- drawn. The enclosures deprived them of their commons, without even the shew of compensation. The advance of the manufacturing system rendered the former home-employments of their wives and daughters almost unprofitable. Increasing hordes of Irish labourers deprived them of the advantages of the harvest-season; and machinery took their places on the barn-floor. Then came in the “select vestry,” and the “ roundsman * system ; and thus, at last, the poor farm-labourer, in many parts of the country, was reduced, not merely to poverty, but to the most utter helplessness and SUMMARY OF MR. SADLER's SYSTEM. 57.7 hopelessness ;-to a state, indeed, so necessarily reckless, as to render poaching, or rick-burning, or any other kind of warfare on the rich, just the fittest sort of temptation to his state of mind. And, while he saw these fearful and still in- creasing evils, he saw, also, that the short-sighted selfishness which produced them, could neither plead the temptation of immediate gain, nor the urgency of paramount necessity. In one particular instance referred to, the facts of which were given with praiseworthy care, by the estimable Vicar of Alford,” the cottage-destroying, pauper-making system had raised the poor-rates of 15 parishes, lying within the range of his inquiry, from £1 120 7s. 8d. per annum, to £6296 6s. 3d. We give a few of the particulars; collected by this clergyman in his own vicinity:— HUTTOFT. Cottages demolished between 1770 and 1830 . . 29 Cottages built between 1770 and 1830 e & ſº O Poor and County Rate, 1774 . . . £95 15 i Ditto 1830 . . . 511 15 11 BILSBY. Cottages demolished between 1770 and 1830 . . 10 - Cottages built between 1770 and 1830 . . . . 1 Poor Rate, 1770 . . . . . . £69 11 4 Ditto 1830 . . . . . . 550 10 4 –sº-sº * The Causes of Pauperism and Distress. By the Rev. E. Dawson, Vicar of Alford. 2 P 578 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. ALFoRD. . . . Cottages demolished between 1770 and 1830 . . 11 Cottages built between 1770 and 1830 a tº Poor Rates, 1770 . gº tº e . . £96 17 7 Ditto 1830 . . . . . . 1003 || 6 MALTBY-LE-MARSH. Cottages demolished between 1770 and 1830 9 Cottages built in same period . s & © l Poor Rates, 1770 . . . . . . £19 19 7 Ditto 1830 . . . . . . 234 8 3 WITHERN. Cottages demolished between 1770 and 1830 . . 15 Cottages built in same period e e e s º O Poor Rates, 1770 . . . . . . £31 18 9 Ditto 1830 . . . . . . 407 16 2 We have here selected five out of fifteen, not to be tiresome to our readers. But the general result of the 15 parishes shewed— Cottages demolished . 175 Cottages built . . 12 The population meanwhile, having increased from 4000 to 6000, and the poor-rates having been more than quintupled ! Now, seeing that this folly, as cruel as it was senseless, was still proceeding in all parts of the country, surely it was time, as Mr. Sadler pro- posed, for the Legislature seriously and vigorously to interfere. - SUMMARY OF MR. SADLER's SYSTEM. 579 Nor could there be any rational doubt or diffi- culty as to the remedy. The same gentleman who has just shown us both the lamentable fact, and its results, of the cottage-destroying system, shall now, in the briefest and simplest style, exhibit to us the happiness and prosperity which that system has in a great measure destroyed, but which it is perfectly possible to restore. “William Houlden, of Rigsby, near Alford, aged 55 years, occupies a cottage, with suitable appurtenances, and 10a. 27. 26p. of land attached thereto, belonging, as owner, to Miss Manners of Bloxholm, at the yearly rent of 10l. 10s. His ancestors and himself have occupied the same cottage for more than a century: three acres of the land are of very inferior quality, the rest good. He applies about a rood and a half to gardening purposes. The rent has always been punctually paid. But on two occasions a whole half-year's rent was returned to him. This was done in con- sideration of some severe losses among his live-stock. The rent averages what is paid by the farmers in the same parish. His usual employment is working for the farmers or in the neighbouring woods. His wife has borne him eleven children, ten of whom are now living. Four are in respectable services, or otherwise able to provide for themselves. He has for a long time supported, and still supports, in 2 P 2 580 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. decency and comfort, a worthy mother now bend- ing beneath the load of eighty-one years. This man, who has had a family of ten children to rear, only four of whom are able to provide for them- selves, and an aged mother to support, never once received parochial relief. Some time ago the churchwarden of Rigsby observed to me, ‘that if there was an honest man in the world, Will Houlden was.’ ” ” But this, it may be said, is merely an isolated case: take, then, a whole parish :— “The parish of Raithby, near Spilsby, contains 1149 acres, and 175 inhabitants. The expendi- ture in the year 1832, on account of the poor, was £126. 9s. 1d. being about 2s. 1:d. per pound on a rack-rent rate of about £1180. This parish contains four cottages having not less than one rood, but under five acres; eleven having five acres, but under ten : four having ten acres, but under fifteen; total, nineteen. The rent averages, or is not more, than what is paid by the farmers in the same pa- rish. Mr. John Hobson, of Raithby, to whose kindness I am indebted for this information, re- marks in his letter now before me. “With re- spect to my own observations on the cottage-sys- tem, I must beg leave to say, that the comfort of * Dawson's Causes of Pauperism, p. 3, 4. suMMARY OF MR. SADLER's SYSTEM. 581 the lower class of society in Raithby is entirely to be attributed to that system. I can assure you (being one of the largest occupiers in the parish) from my own observation, the benefit is incalcula- ble.” I shall only add, that the observant travel- ler, who may chance to pass through the village of Raithby, can hardly fail, while marking the modest unpretending neatness of these time-honoured cottages and their premises (the best indea of com- fort within), to be impressed with a sentiment alike favourable to the owner, and the occupiers of the property. The very moderate rates of the parish of Raithby, notwithstanding the number of its cottages, go far to refute the heartless doctrine, that cottages aggravate the poor-rates.” We may add to this testimony, that arising from our own observation, in the case particularly described in Appendix E. of the present volume. Struck with that description, given, however, nearly half a century since, we recently visited the parish in question, with a view to ascertain whether any change had taken place in its then happy condition. On our arrival at the village, we sought out the Guardian of the Poor; and acquainted him with the object of our visit—namely, to inquire into * Dawson's Causes of Pauperism, p. 5, 6. 582 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. the present condition of the poor of that parish. His answer was, “Sir, we have no poor.” “How “ is that ?” was the rejoinder, “Do you mean to “say that you have no poor-rates, nor any demand “on the funds of the Union ?” “They make us “raise a poor-rate of 6d. in the pound every year,” replied he, “but we have at present no charge what- “ever on the funds of the board.” “How, then, do “your labourers contrive 7” was the next question, —“ that they never want help ?” “The cottagers, “Sir, have all of them a bit of land, at a moderate “rent; and so, what with working for the farmers “when they are wanted, and working in their “own gardens at other times, they manage to do “very well. We scarcely ever have any applica- “tion from them.” “And what are the wages of “farm-labourers, hereabouts tº “Two shillings “a day, Sir, everywhere in this country.” Here, then, was a purely agricultural commu- nity, properly distributed and adjusted. There were no serfs; for the poor cottager with his four or five acres of ground, and a right to send a cow into “the cow-pastures” for 12s. per annum, pos- sessed just that degree of independence which was right and desirable. All was orderly and happy, because all was humane and Christian-like. But through how many parishes of equal extent and population might we pass, in Wiltshire, SUMMARY OF MR. SADLER's SYSTEM. 583 Hampshire, Sussex, or Buckinghamshire, before we came to such another community? In most parts of these, and of many other counties of England, a covert war has been made upon the poor. Whenever it was possible, their little dwellings have been thrown down; and now we often find two families in one miserable hovel ; a father, mother, and several sons and daughters, all sleeping in one room. The least scrap of garden is in most cases denied.* The same mean and selfish policy is seen in the management of the farms. As small an outlay of labour as possible is bestowed upon the land. Thus, having no gardens to fill up their unemployed hours, the whole mass of labour- ers are thrown upon a reluctant market; and the farmer has no difficulty in beating down wages to ls. 2d. or 1s. 4d. a day. But it is obvious, that a labourer in Rutland, with four or five acres of land, and access to the parochial cow-pastures, and earn- ing 2s. per day when at work for the farmer, is fully twice as well off as one in Buckinghamshire, at 1s. 4d. a day, without even a foot of garden- ground. The difference is just that between com- * A clergyman in Buckinghamshire once remarked in our hearing, that when, in one instance, some cottage-allotments had been given to the poor, –most of the labourers, when they dug up their potatoes, had no place to put them in, but under their bedsteads ! 584 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. fort and misery; between humble ease and inde- pendence, and hopeless, reckless penury and half- starvation. The “bane and antidote,” then, are “both before us.” It is scarcely possible for any one thing to be made more clear and indubitable, than is the way in which our agricultural poor may be raised from their present too general depression. But to do this, legislative interference is abso- lutely essential. That short-sighted selfishness which has spread suffering and discontent over half the counties of England, will not suddenly change into kindness and sympathy ; or hasten, in a strange and unprecedented repentance, to undo its own work. Hence it was that Mr. Sadler urged this great question on the attention of the British parliament, and would unquestiona- bly, had he remained in the House of Commons, have continually renewed his appeal. His speech and motion for leave to bring in a bill, was fol- lowed by a draft of the measure itself, which was printed, and distributed among the members, with a view to future discussion. But shortly afterwards he was forced by the government to send the case of the factory-labourers to a com- mittee; of which committee he himself became of necessity chairman ; and this protracted in- vestigation rendered it impossible to take another SUMMARY OF MR. SADLER's SYSTEM. 585 step in the agricultural question during that session. His bill embraced three main objects, together with sundry minor points: The three chief were, 1. The providing everywhere, a sufficient number of cottages to accommodate the labourers: 2. The giving to all the deserving poor, in the agricultural districts, an opportunity of occupying small plots of ground, for the employment of their leisure hours: 3. The institution of a new class of officers, one being allotted to each parish ; under the title of 25 “ protectors of the poor ; ” with powers to carry into full effect the two objects just stated.* Such was his measure ;-simple, but of the most straight-forward and effectual kind. Had it been adopted, the New Poor Law would never have been required ; and at the present moment England would have been both a stronger and a happier realm than she now is. At present the evil still exists; and, until something very nearly tantamount to his plan is adopted, that evil will continue to exist. The three widely-differing modes of dealing with the poor, which are advocated by the three main divisions of the British public, are these :— * An office somewhat resembling this, has recently been created in many of our Colonies, under the title of “Protectors of the Aborigines.” 586 LIFE of MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. 1. The Malthusian; which boldly proposes to treat poverty as a crime; and to enact “the pre- ventive check” to the fullest extent. Every un- employed and indigent man is to be told, that “ he has no business to be where he is ;” and that “ at Nature's great feast there is no vacant place for him.” Of course all laws for the relief of the indigent are declared to be vicious in prin- ciple; and to be entirely repealed as quickly as possible. Any man, after such repeal, daring to marry without a prospect of being able to maintain a family, (the word “prospect” here is shewn by the penalty attached to mean “certainty ;”— a certainty which no one who subsists by daily labour can possibly attain) is to be held a crimi- nal ; and if sickness or want of employment over- takes him, he is to be “left to the punishment of “Nature, the punishment of severe want.” " 2. Next, we have, the New Poor Law system, which is based upon the Malthusian principle, but is accommodated to the circumstances of the times; its authors rightly judging, that pure Malthusian- ism,in the shape of law, would not be tolerated for a moment by the people of England. This mode- rated system, therefore, only proposes to “elevate the character of the poor,” by “throwing them on * Malthus, Essay, 4to. p. 539. SUMMARY OF MR. SADLER's SYSTEM. 587 their own resources; ” teaching them prudence, forethought, &c. &c. Practically, however, it seeks to tighten the system of relief; to make assistance difficult and disagreeable to the poor man; and to clog its aid with such hateful condi- tions as to induce many rather to starve than ac- cept it. Throughout the whole of this scheme, while it differs from Malthus in admitting the right of the indigent to relief in want, there is still not one single breathing of sympathy or kindness towards the poor. -- - 3. Differing from both these, Mr. Sadler's system at once professed to regard the poor as “ more sinned against than sinning;” as those who, though not faultless, had been driven and drawn into fault by the mismanagement of their rulers. Yet he proposed no reckless or lavish distribution of alms. All he wished was, to approach them as friends, and as wishing to do them good. Thus, to excite hope, to lead them onwards and upwards by encouragements to industry, to rebuild their demolished cottages, to restore their stolen gar- dens; and to replace those rounds of the ladder, immediately above their own, which it had been the constant effort of selfish men for half a cen- tury to break away. - As we have already said, England will not be herself again until some system based upon this 588 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. principle be publicly and nationally adopted. Meanwhile, however, the evils of the existing state of things may be partially and locally checked, by the adoption of Mr. Sadler's system, in their own neighbourhood, by those who have power over land. We again quote from Mr. Dawson — “ The conclusions which I draw from the fore- going statements are, that there is a great fond- ness on the part of industrious persons, whether in moderate or indigent circumstances, to culti- vate, on almost any terms, a little ground on their own account; that such cultivation would be very beneficial to them, could they obtain land at the average price paid by the large occupiers; that facilities in this behalf are not afforded, otherwise the high prices stated above could not possibly have been obtained ; that a cottage strictly agri- cultural as far exceeds in value what is called accommodation land, as burnished gold surpasses glittering tinsel; and that an increase in the num- ber of such cottages would greatly tend to produce an increase in the number of worthy rural charac- ters. The author of the Vicar of Wakefield has feelingly observed, ‘ that the nakedness of the indigent world might ‘be clothed from the trim- mings of the vain.” Permit me to adopt and to extend the idea, (unaccompanied, however, by reproach, either open or insinuated,) by observing, SUMMARY OF MR. SADLER'S SYSTEM. 589 that the hems and fringes of the estates of the large landed proprietors would be amply sufficient, not only to clothe, but also to feed the industrious but “indigent world;’ and this, without any diminution of income, without any injury to the property, and without any encroachment on the just and legal rights of ownership.” We believe that there is a great disposition among the larger landed proprietors, to act in this manner towards the poor. Indeed, in the various efforts which are now making, in various parts of England, to revive the spirit and character of the peasantry, it is almost always seen that a large proprietor, whether peer or commoner, is the mainspring of the improvement. The opposition arises chiefly from those who fancy their own interests interfered with ;-the farmers and ma- nagers of estates. The former generally object to the occupation of land by the labourers, on the ground that “it makes the men saucy ;”—in other words, it lifts them one stage above that utter helplessness which is most convenient for the selfish employer. The manager or steward, too, often sympathises with the man of his own rank; and finds it easier to collect rent from ten great farmers, than from nine farmers and fifty cot- tagers. Hence, the land-owner who desires to make an effort to regenerate the pauper-peasantry 590 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. of his neighbourhood, must resolve on encounter- ing and overcoming much trouble; and overbear- ing numberless obstacles which will strangely and suddenly spring up in his path. Let him, how- ever, persevere, and that not for one or two years only, but for ten; and he shall ultimately reap a rich reward for his labour. But it is time we proceeded to the consideration of the circumstances of the other great section of the national industry, that devoted to Manufac- tures. It so happened that circumstances drew Mr. Sadler so much more prominently forward in this matter, than in the former, as in some mea- sure to associate his name in perpetuity with “The Factory question.” - The demands made by him on the justice and humanity of the legislature, on behalf of the infant labourers in the factories, were, prima facia, such as could neither be questioned nor resisted. It was asserted, and established by abundant proof, that the general practice of the mill-owners, in all branches, and in all parts of the country, was to run their machinery, chiefly tended by young children, thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen hours a day, and in many cases even to a greater extent. The effects of such protracted labour on the infant frame, were deeply and permanently inju- rious, weakening and crippling the bodily frame ; SUMMARY OF MR. SADLER's SYSTEM. 591 often inducing disease and death ; and universally preventing all mental or religious instruction. These evils, -so inevitably following over-labour, that the minute and particular proof of them ought never to have been required,—were fully proved before a Committee of the House of Com- mons; and again established by the personal enquiry in the factory-districts, of a body of Com- missioners, chosen by a government favourable to the mill-owners, and therefore not themselves likely to be prejudiced against that powerful body. The wrong done being thus made clear and certain; redress ought to have followed without delay. But it has not yet followed. Even to this moment, the influence of the mill-owners prevails, and justice and mercy still linger in their course. Pleas are offered to stop the application of the remedy. All that remains for us to do, then, is to examine for a few moments, the validity of these pleas. It is said, that the facts established may make an impression on the feelings; but that “sound policy,” and “more enlarged views,” would bring to light other considerations, chiefly of an econo- mical kind, which ought to make us pause before we yield to mere impressions in this matter. That children should be worked beyond their strength, is admitted to be an evil; but it is said that other 592 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. evils, and perhaps still more serious ones, would arise from not so working them. These are gene- rally hinted, in somewhat vague terms, to be the loss of those children's wages to the parents, by their being thrown out of work; (though why a law reducing the hours of labour to ten daily, should throw them out of work, is not explained,) —also, the possible injury to our manufacturers generally, if foreigners, extracting more labour per diem from their work-people than we do, should thereby undersell us in all open markets. Now, to go into these minute points, as to pos- sible evils, would be a most endless and hopeless task; inasmuch as all must be vague speculation as to future results, concerning which no certainty could by any means be attained. But it seems to us not at all difficult to shew, to any really unpre- judiced and dispassionate mind, that one of the main doctrines of the modern school of political economists, even of the most ultra-Malthusian cast, ought, if fairly carried out to its results, to lead to the very limitation of labour for which Mr. Sadler pleaded. We repeat, that meeting these reasoners on their own ground of economical policy, and quite postponing, for the moment, the claims of justice and humanity, they are bound by their own principles to join us in demanding a “Ten-Hour Bill.” SUMMARY OF HIS SYSTEM. 593 It will not require much time or space to ex- plain what we mean. We begin with Mr. John Ramsay M*Culloch, who, in his remarkable evi- dence before a Committee of the House of Com- mons in 1825, advised, “The introduction into parish-schools of books “teaching the plain and elementary principles “about population and wages : ” so as to teach the children “that their condition depended upon “ the wages they could earn ; and that those “wages depended upon the proportion which their “ numbers bore to the numbers that were in de- “mand, to be employed.” And thus, by “ex- “ plaining to the children of the poor the princi- 6 ‘ples which determine the extent to which they 6 “shall be able to command the comforts and “ necessaries of life,” to “remove habits of impro- & ‘ vidence with respect to early marriages.” Next, we open the work of another oracle of the same party, Mrs. Marcet, who puts this sort of reasoning into her village Solon's mouth : “John then went on to show that if the labourers “took care to have small families, () they would gain “another and a still greater advantage : not only “would they have fewer children to clothe and “feed, and therefore their money would go farther, “but also their wages would necessarily be higher. “The rich, instead of having too many workmen, 2 Q 594 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. “would have too few. His wife thought that this “would not mend matters, for that the fewer the “labourers, the more work would each have to do. “But John replied very properly, ‘Nay, nay, we “are not slaves, and cannot be forced to work more . “ than we are willing. Now, continued he, “if “we were fewer in number, the rich would be look- “ing out for workmen, instead of workmen looking “out for employers, as is the case now. And if “ there was a want of hands instead of a want of “work, those who wanted work to be done would “be ready enough to pay higher wages. We might “say to our employers, “If you do not choose to “give us a better price for our labour, we will go “elsewhere to others who will.’ But if any of us “were to say that now, when there are so many all “wanting employment, we should starve in idle- “ness, for others would consent to work at the low “prices which we had refused.” - Again, on a supposition of a reduction of labour- ers, and consequent advance of wages; “Then,” said his wife, returning to her favourite subject, “when the labouring people were so well “off, they might marry young, for they could afford “to provide for a large family if they chanced to “have one.” John readily agreed to this, observing at the same time, “that people must take care, “however, not to overshoot the mark; for that, if SUMMARY OF HIS SYSTEM. 595 “they increased and multiplied so much, that in “the end the market were again overstocked with “labourers, wages would naturally lower again, “ and then the poor would be in no better plight “than they were before the plague. And that “is the plight we are in now,” continued John.” Once more; “Many years ago a cotton-manu- “facture was set up in the neighbourhood, which “afforded ample employment for the poor; and “even the children who were before idle, could “ now earn something towards their maintenance. “This, during some years, had an admirable “effect in raising the condition of the labouring “classes.” # :}; #: 3% “But this “ prosperous state was not of long duration; in “ the course of time the village became over- “stocked with labourers, and it is now sunk into “a state of poverty and distress worse than that “ from which it had emerged. Thus this manu- “facture, which at first proved a blessing to the “village, and might always have continued such, “ was, by the improvidence of the labourers, converted “into an evil. If the population had not increased “beyond the demand for labour, the manufac- * John Hopkins's Notions of Political Economy. By the Au- thor of “Conversations on Chemistry.” pp. 60, 65. 2 Q 2 596 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. “ture might still have afforded them the advan- “tage it at first produced.” ” Lastly, we turn to a third teacher of the same school, the equally famed Miss Martineau, who thus counsels, L - “What, then, must be done, to lessen the num- “ber of the indigent now so frightfully increasing? #: # :: :}; :}; “The number of consumers must be propor- “tioned to the subsistence-fund. To this end, all “encouragements to the increase of population “should be withdrawn, and every sanction given “to the preventive check.” + And, in another place, addressing the work- people, she asks,— “Could so dreadful a reduction (of wages) have “ever taken place, if you had not undersold one “ another ? And how are the masters to help “you if you go on increasing your numbers and “underselling one another, as if your employers “could find occupation for any number of millions “ of you, or could coin the stones under your feet ‘‘ into wages, or knead the dust of the earth into ‘ bread : They do what they can for you, in in- “creasing the capital on which you are to subsist; * Conversations on Political Economy. 1817. p. 151, 152. t Cousin Marshall: By Harriet Martineau, p. 132. SUMMARY OF HIS SYSTEM. 597 “ and you must do the rest, by proportioning your “ numbers to the means of subsistence.” ” - Thus do we find each of these great teachers of Political Economy insisting upon the same points, —that the rate of wages mainly depends on the quantity of labour in the market;—that if the market of labour be “overstocked,” wages must inevitably be depressed ;-and that the pres- sure on the market of labour, by which wages are so lamentably reduced, is to be mainly or even solely attributed to “the improvidence of the working classes,” in “increasing their num- bers : ” So that the only remedy to be looked for must spring from the work-people themselves; by their general adoption of “the preventive check,” and their thus “proportioning their num- bers to the means of subsistence.” . But this is, most clearly and undeniably, a one-sided and atrociously unjust view. It is far more easy for the masters to “overstock the labour- market,” than for the workmen: It is quite capable of proof that this evil has originated with the for- mer, not with the latter : And it would be much more rational to look for a cure in this direction, than to expect it in the other. Let us examine the matter in the most practical * Manchester Strike : By Harriet Martineau, p. 101. 598 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. way. We will take the case, for example, of a Leicestershire or Nottinghamshire town; in which hosiery of various kinds is the staple manufacture. Let us assume that one thousand work-people of different classes have been for years employed in this town, at fair wages; and that this appears to be about the number of hands that the stocking- trade of that town can conveniently and profitably maintain. Now, say the M*Cullochs, Martineaus, and Marcets, if, in the place where these 1000 hands, and no more, are required,—there offer themselves in the labour-market, some 1200 or 1300,—it is certain that the competition for employment will materially reduce wages; and thus a great step towards poverty and distress will be taken. This position no one will think of denying. But then these three kind-hearted persons insist on going further, and assuming at once that the work- people have, by improvident marriages, thus brought 1300 hands into the marketin which only 1000 were needed ; and have thus, by their own folly, caused, and brought upon themselves, all the misery which now exists The first and most obvious objection to this bold assumption, is, that it not only takes for granted some very strange and important things, which ought not and cannot be credited without the SUMMARY OF HIS SYSTEM. 599 clearest proof;—but that it entirely contradicts all that established series of facts which usually form the basis of all such calculations. We are now speaking of the increase of a manu- facturing population,-not by immigration, be it observed, but, by “improvident marriages.” It is to these that Messrs. M*Culloch and Co. attri- bute the overflow of the labour-market ; and it is of this fault only that we have to speak. Now there is perhaps scarcely any one fact more thoroughly established than this, that a manu- facturing population,—the labourers in a factory- town, so far from increasing too fast by “im- provident marriages,” would, if not fed by constant immigration from without, fail of keeping up its own numbers. Most assuredly, the most that any person can possibly assume of such a population, is, putting immigration out of the question,-that it might grow correlatively with the whole popu- lation of the realm ;—so that if the kingdom ad- vanced ten per cent, in seven years, it would advance as much. We doubt if there be a manu- facturing town of any size, of which, excluding immigration, even so much as this could safely be asserted. But what can be more clear than this, that a population only augmenting itself at an equal rate with the whole population of the realm, can- 600 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. not be chargeable with “overloading the labour- market?” If the 1000 stocking-weavers had grown into 1 100 in seven years, the legs of the nation, to clothe which they laboured, would also have grown, in the same time, from 10,000,000 pairs, to 11,000,000. And thus all would remain cor- relatively the same as before. - The charge against the poor work-people, then, of causing their own distress by their own improvi- dence, is unfounded; and being unfounded, it is most unfeeling, cruel, and oppressive. Our present object, however, is to shew, that it ought to be alleged, not against the workmen, but against the masters ; and that in a way which strongly bears upon the question of the “Ten-Hour Bill.” The work-people are represented by all the writers we have just quoted, as “overstocking the market of labour" by their excessive numbers, caused by improvident marriages. Yet nothing can be more obvious than this, that no 1000 labour- ers that ever yet lived, could, by their “impro- vident marriages,” overstock the market of their town with competitors for labour, in less than a period extending over some ten or twenty years. On the other hand it is quite undeniable that the masters of the supposed town can, if they please, produce the very same result in the course of a few months. And this, irrespective of SUMMARY OF HIS SYSTEM. 601 immigration ; by simply increasing the hours of labour. In the town we have supposed, 1000 work- people have been comfortably supported; proceed- ing (we are of course looking back a few years) on the old-fashioned notion, that “a day's work” included twelve hours ; out of which two were allowed for meals; leaving a net labour of ten hours. Now we have already conceded, that the appearance of 200 or 300 more labourers in the market, without any answerable increase in the demand for goods, must “burden the market of labour” and greatly depress wages. But is it not quite obvious that exactly the same consequences must follow from a determination, on the part of the masters, to work their hands twelve or thir- teen hours per diem, exclusive of meals ; instead of ten, as heretofore? - If the masters should thus, employing the same number of hands, make 1200 or 1300 pairs of stockings where they previously made only 1000; without, however, having any increased demand; they would quickly glut the market with goods; de- press prices; and thus compel the lowering of wages. But if they only aimed at making as many goods as heretofore, this they would be able to do with 800 hands instead of 1000 ; and thus 200 hands would be thrown out of work ; would press upon 602 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. the labour-market; and would thus, in another way, bring about a lowering of wages. What can be more obvious, then, than that it is far more in the power of the masters to “overstock the labour-market,” than of the workmen ; that they are also more likely to do it, than the latter; and that, in fact, the pressure on the market which has recently taken place, and under which wages are at present so lamentably depressed, is their work, and ought not to be laid to “the improvi- dence and early marriages” of the workmen. Let any one try to conceive, if he can, what would have been the state of this kingdom, at the present moment, if, for the last seven years, the manufacturers, instead of urging on their work-peo- ple to a toil of fourteen, fifteen, and often sixteen hours per diem, had contented themselves with the moderate business, and moderate gains, which might have been realized by “a fair day's labour.” We may concede, indeed, that probably some three or four Marshalls or Cobdens would have failed to realize the enormous fortunes which they have made in those years; but except in this one respect, what other parties could be named, who would not have been gainers by the lower and more moderate system 7 We should not have seen the scores of head- long men, whose hopes, excited by the wealth so SUMMARY OF HIS. SYSTEM. 603 rapidly realized by a few individuals, drew them into a vehement career in the same path ; which, in nine cases out of ten, has ended in ruin to them- selves, and heavy losses to all connected with them. We should not have seen the hundreds of new houses rising up in a few months, at Stockport, Nottingham, Ashton, &c. for the accommodation of the myriads of new work-people brought into the labour-market; not by the “improvidence” and early marriages of the workmen already em- ployed; but by the greedy, ravenous cupidity of the Gregs and Ashworths; and which dwel- lings are now either standing unoccupied, or filled only by the starving victims of that cupidity. We should not have seen the markets of the world so glutted with English goods, as to return one general answer from every quarter of the globe, “They cannot be sold even for two-thirds “ of the cost of manufacturing them.” Instead of all these things, we should have beheld a quiet and steady growth of trade, spring- ing out of, and answering to, the growth of popu- lation. We should have seen wages rise rather than fall; and the condition of the working classes become gradually better and more hopeful. These results would unquestionably have flowed from any measure which could have secured the limitation, seven years since, of the “day's la- 604, LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, bour,” whether in factory or workshop, to the old-fashioned, common-sense extent, of ten hours’ actual work, exclusive of two for meals. May we not, then, reasonably assert, that if it had been possible for any government to have obtained these results without any vicious interference with trade, it ought to have felt the greatest desire to do so. We say, then, that on the principles of M*Cul- loch, Martineau, &c.—which show us how the rate of wages is depressed by any “burdening of the labour-market,”—any proposition which had a ten- dency to hinder such a burdening, ought to be regarded with favour by a paternal government. We do not, however, overlook or underrate the objections which must always exist, to any legis- lative interference between workman and em- ployer. However desirable we may deem it, to place a strong curb upon that “haste to get rich,” which produces such misery and confusion; we readily admit the impolicy and impropriety of intermeddling with men in the conduct of their affairs, so long as no positive offence against equity or morals is committed. Hence, we can- not counsel the least attempt to fix a minimum of wages; or to interpose in any way between the employer and his adult and responsible workman. But the case is different when the helpless and unprotected call upon us to guard them from SUMMARY OF HIS SYSTEM. 605 cruel oppression. We would hasten to their assis- tance without scruple and without delay ; and all the more willingly if such interference appeared likely to effect also that other object, of checking excessive labour, impartially, whether of adults or of children. The general conclusions, then, at which we ar- rive, are of this kind :— 1. That an excessive amount of labour may be brought into the market, and wages thereby be reduced, more certainly, and more readily, by the employer’s increasing each man's work, than by the workmen increasing their own numbers by improvident marriages: - 2. That this depressing weight thrown upon the labour-market, of late years, by the cupidity of the masters, has mainly brought about the pre- sent want of employment, and consequent low rate of wages : * 3. That the disposition of the Legislature ought to be, to look with a jealous eye on this result of excessive competition; and to embrace every opportunity of checking it: 4. That the bodily and mental injuries inflicted on the infant-labourers in factories, are denied by no one; and the redress of these enormous wrongs is called for by the whole community, excepting only those persons who profit by them. 606 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. And, 5. That thus both classes of motives, the economical and the moral, unite in urging us to the immediate adoption of a measure like “the Ten-Hour Bill; ” which, while it protects the infant-labourers, on the one hand; has also a ten- dency to check all over-work, on the other. We have now, we believe, developed the main features of Mr. Sadler's system ; which may per- haps be made more intelligible, and more easily embraced by the eye, in the following form:— His first principle involved a direct denial of the Malthusian scheme, and the assertion of an oppo- site theory: - He shewed the “geometric ratio,”—the founda- tion of Mr. Malthus's system,--to be a fiction, atterly at variance with every known fact: He shewed that the tendency of the Divine com- mand, “Increase and multiply,”—was towards happiness and prosperity, and not, as Mr. Malthus asserted, towards misery and starvation:* * We have already adverted (in Note, p. 569) to the tes- timony of Mr. G. Tradescant Lay, one of the latest residents in China, touching the condition of the people of that country. The evidence of that gentleman is conclusive as to the question of population. From Mr. Malthus down to his latest disciple in the present day, the universal dread appears to be, the increasing numbers of the people. This is the main evil which, according to their view, afflicts our globe. All other evils might be recti- fied, if only this dreadful growth of population could be stayed 1 SUMMARY OF HIS SYSTEM. 607 He shewed that “the Preventive check,”—the main reliance of Malthus and his followers for the From these theorists, it is delightful to turn to the language of a man who has himself lived in that populous empire; and who thus describes his impressions :— “The prosperity of the Chinese tempts me to frame a system “ of political economy, which lays Population as the founda- “tion whereon everything in the way of social comfort and “ personal affluence is reared. If the valleys and plains be “covered with inhabitants, the opportunities of living by the “chase or the spontaneous gifts of nature are soon reduced, “ and the soil must be turned over for a crop, and the “sea be summoned to yield its finny stores. The necessity of “tilling the ground and investing the water with nets, prompts “men to set about the manufacture of implements of husbandry “ and the building of boats. Here we have the first germs of “art and enterprise. The skill employed in the forging of a “ spade to stir the ground, or a plough to part the clods, may “ be diverted into a hundred channels, and ultimately give rise “to as many discoveries.” “The wealth of the community “grows out of man, and not out of the soil, except in a “secondary and subordinate sense. This we see demonstrated “ in countries where the means of living are secured without “ industry; for the people have nothing beside. If the tenants “should all on a sudden be so far multiplied that much labour “ and assiduity were needful to obtain a livelihood, that would “prove the birth-day of plenty. I look upon man as the great “capital of a nation—a view which is based upon what I see in “China, where a swarming people are incircled by a swarm of “ comforts. In no country do the inhabitants crowd every habi- “ table spot as in China; in no country do the poor people “abound with so many of the elegancies and luxuries of life.” “Early marriage encourages fertility and augments the popula- “tion, already vast, and, consequently, the means of living, 608 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. salvation of the country, was utterly fallacious as to its results ; while, at the same time, it was full of cruelty in its operation.* - He shewed, therefore, that the dictates of God's word, and of every man's conscience, were to be “which bear a ratio to that population. Thus we are carried “round in a circle, and brought back to man, with this bene- “ diction, “Be fruitful and multiply,” as the corner-stone of all “ the stores of plenty. . “Were I about to graduate a scale in accordance with the “theory I have advanced, I should begin with Borneo Proper, “ the fairest land that couches beneath a genial sun, and say, “‘ See, here, amidst all the capabilities of a fertile soil, a favour- “ing climate, and ample territories, is a wretched apology for a “ market, — consisting of a few vegetables, a little fish, with here “ and there a fowl; and as for the men, a child might number “ them ' '-Let this Borneo be considered as zero in our politico- “...oeconomic scale. In China, the natives throng all those parts “which are susceptible of tillage, till there is not room enough “to hold them. Here we behold an assortment of comforts for “ the poor, such as no other country can parallel:—Let this be “ the maximum height of our scale.”—Pages 262—264. * The phrase, “Preventive Check,” may, to those who have only slightly studied the subject, merely convey the idea of pru- dence or foresight ; and such may wonder why any repugnance should exist towards so indispensable a point in morality. Let us, then, briefly shew what those who inculcate this same “Pre- ventive Check” really mean by it. We will shew this entirely in their own words. * .. The Edinburgh Review, after insisting that “measures ought “ to be taken to check the undue increase of labourers; ”—in- stances, as one such step,-that “ something decisive ought to be done “to check the practice of building cottages for paupers.” (Vol. SUMMARY OF HIS SYSTEM. (309 obeyed, and not overruled, as Mr. Malthus would have counselled, by a hard and relentless system of “philosophy, falsely so called :” That to pity liii. p. 58.) The same writer adds, that no farmer who under- stood his own interest, would “suffer " a labourer to possess any land “beyond a moderate-sized garden.” Miss Martineau obliges us with some further details. In the same work,+* Cousin Marshall,”—in which she lays it down as a first principle, that “all encouragement to the increase of popu- “lation should be withdrawn, and every sanction given to the “ preventive check,”— she thus particularizes the withdrawals she recommends : “The cottage system will not bear the test. Under no system “does population increase more rapidly.” (p. 115.) “The more support you offer them, the more surprisingly “ they will increase. Surely you do not mean to go on giving “coals and blankets l’’ (p. 117.) “The absence of Dispensaries and Lying-in Hospitals would be “ the absence of evil to society.” “The Lying-in Charity the “worst in existence;—so direct a bounty on improvidence,— “So high a premium on population.” (p. 35, 37.) “Almshouses for the aged are very bad things. Numbers of “young people marry under the expectation of getting their “helpless parents maintained by the public.” (p. 42.) Thus we see that, according to their own explanation of the term, “the preventive check,” when thoroughly enforced, goes to repress the building of cottages; to deprive every poor man of all holding of land beyond a “moderate-sized garden;” to put down almshouscs for the aged; dispensaries and lying-in hos- pitals for the sick and destitute ; and the distribution even of clothing and fuel to the shivering poor in winter's inclemency! In fact, as Lord Althorp plainly stated in the House of Commons, this principle, fairly carried out, prohibits both legal relief, and all kinds of private charity / Need we say any more to prove 2 R 610 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. and assist the poor, both individually and nation- ally, was sound policy, as well as “true religion;” And, finally, that the only efficient “Preven- tive Check ’’ was that supplied by Hope, and in- culcated by kindness: for that while a limitation to cold potatoes and water, and a cheerless hearth, that the “Preventive Check” is a direct inspiration of the Father of lies, –of him whose grand occupation and delight it is, to render earth a foretaste of hell. Neither is this miserable nostrum a whit more rational than it is Christian-like. As an expedient to “keep down population ” it is a sheer absurdity; setting at nought all experience. It as- sumes that whatever offers to the poor any aid or comfort, “tends to “increase population; ” and that only the dread or the actua infliction of starvation, can “keep down their num- bers!” And this in the face of facts which present themselves hourly of the following kind : — In the Times of Jan. 7, 1842, we observe a report of an in- quest held on Charlotte Walters, the wife of a poor Bethnal- Green weaver, whose days had been passed in the greatest want and misery. She had been frequently in the deepest distress; without food or firing ; and begging a few half-pence to preserve life. Yet she died at the age of 31, three weeks after being confined of her twelfth child; and the medical attendant attributed her death to constant child-bearing. And while this perfectly agrees with what is always going on in Ireland, and wherever there is a particularly poor popula- tion ; we find in the English peerage no fewer than eleven dukes, who have among them only nine children : Yet it is a fundamental maxim with the “Political Econo- mists,” that men always “breed up to the level of food; ” and that to give food is to encourage the growth of a surplus popu- lation 1 SUMIMARY OF HIS SYSTEM. 611 has often taught, and is daily teaching to multi- tudes, Despair and utter recklessness; the best means of inculcating prudence and forethought, have ever been, the actual experience of Comfort, and the prospect of Advancement. From these main and governing principles, he then proceeded to deduce the following practical propositions:— 1. That the indigent poor of Ireland should no longer be excluded from the pale of hu- manity; but should be acknowledged to be as justly entitled to relief in periods of want and destitution, as the same class among the people of England. 2. That the Legislature should next take cognizance of the depressed and demoralized state of many of the agricultural poor of England. Most of the wrongs under which they were suffering had been inflicted by Acts of Parliament, taking from them their commons, and continually patching and altering their original charter, of the 43d of Elizabeth, so as reduce them, step by step, to some still lower and more degraded state. The remedy was equally within the powers of Parliament. It could enact that cottages should be raised, sufficient to lodge the labouring poor; and that plots of garden-ground should be set apart for 2 R 2 612 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. them. All this was quite feasible, without any violent stretch of power; and it was not only feasible, but necessary, if the agricultural poor were to be raised out of their present state of suffering and despair. 3. That the inordinate spirit of competition, exhibited by the great manufacturers, should be checked, in so far as it trampled down, not only the adult but the youthful labourer, and even the tender and defenceless child : that the most obvious dictates of humanity, and also the suggestions of a sound policy, demanded that the day's labour of children and young persons in factories should be limited to ten hours. These were his three main propositions in Parliament; and it is sufficiently clear that, as they embraced in their operation the great bulk of the British people, he could scarcely have added any others of like importance. His fertile mind, however, was stored with va- rious schemes for the improvement of the condition of the people ; and, whether in propounding plans himself, or in supporting or opposing those of others, his one object, his ceaseless aim and endeavour, was, to raise and comfort and benefit the poor. On this ground he gave his most determined opposition to the Anatomy Bill of Mr. Warburton; SUMMARY OF HIS SYSTEM. 613 well knowing that it would tend, as the fact has since proved, to repel the poor both from hospitals and workhouses ; and to induce them rather to die among their friends, of want and disease, than to go where, after death, their bodies would be cut into fragments for the amusement of juvenile stu- dents of surgery. On this ground he looked with jealousy at the advance of the Free Trade system; well knowing that its ultimate tendency was, to bring the English labourer into direct competition with the continen- tal workman; and thus, as the latter generally fared harder than the Englishman, and lived under lighter taxation, it must necessarily follow, in most cases, that the British labourer must either be thrown out of employment, or else descend to the level, or even below the level, of German or Polish wages and fare. On this ground he felt the greatest disgust at several of the leading provisions of the New Poor Law ;—not from any irrational attachment to the patchwork system which existed prior to 1833; but from a conviction that the new measure pro- posed to deal with the poor coercively, instead of paternally; aiming to drive them to forethought and provident habits by the fear of want, instead of drawing them by the inducements of hope, and the prospects of advancement. 614 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. On this ground, lastly, he disapproved of the measures adopted to restrict the paper-currency, which, up to 1819, and, in a smaller degree, up to 1829, gave such an impetus to the trade and industry of Britain. He discerned at a glance, that the ten- dency of such measures of restriction must be still further to augment the power of real capital, already too great among us; and to deprive the poorer ranks among the middling classes, of those means of advancing themselves which they had long enjoyed. Had he lived at the present mo- ment, he would neither have been found among those who absurdly attribute our existing depres- sion to the operation of the Corn Laws ; nor among those who, with equal irrationality, talk of “ those occasional fluctuations and seasons of de- “ pression which must always be looked for in a “commercial country.” Turning to the appalling fact, that the paper-currency of England and Wales was, in Oct. 1838, £30,723,962, and on Jan. 8, 1842, only £24,813,386, he would have here detected the main and sufficient cause of all the depression and suffering which now exist ; and would have held it to be the duty of the Government, to take some means to prevent the continuance or recurrence of so fearful an evil.” * See Appendia (G.) suMMARY OF HIS SYSTEM. 615 So much of the past. But it is now almost ten years since Mr. Sadler trod the floor of St. Ste- phen's Chapel. Shall we not, then, turn for a moment to the present position of public affairs, and endeavour to apply his principles to the state of the nation in our own day ? These years, as they have passed, have only confirmed and made more certain, the truth of Mr. Sadler's principles, and the wisdom of his plans. The physicians of the state, forced, how- ever reluctantly, to adopt the first of his proposi- tions, and to commence, at last, the civilization of Ireland, have yet fixedly refused to proceed another step in the course which he marked out. They have kept England in the evil predicament in which he showed her to stand ; or rather, have preferred certain nostrums of their own, for pull- ing down small workhouses and building large ones; and improving the character and dispositions of the poor by shutting up the indigent,-the fathers in one workhouse, the mothers in another, the girls in a third, the boys in a fourth ! All over the realm we see large and costly buildings rising, some for the close confinement of paupers, some for lunatics, some for criminals; the proportion of the last two classes to the whole population being rapidly on the increase. And whence the direful necessity for all these expensive receptacles for 616 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. idle labourers, and broken hearts, and ruined characters and souls 7 It all arises from one shameful cause—the resolute refusal to treat the people with kindness and paternal care. What is it that Mr. Sadler asked ; and that we shall continue still to ask ; and must ask, till either the realm be saved by doing justice, or lost by “shutting its ear to the cry of the needy ?” Was it any new and strange and extravagant thing? It was as far as possible from any such folly. It was the plainest, simplest, most prac- tical, and most approved by experience, of all things. It was, that the poor agricultural labourer should be permitted to have a cottage to dwell in ; instead of being, as at present, crammed, often with a wife and five or six children, into a single room of some miserable hut. It was, that after taking from him his right of common, you would restore him a sufficient plot of garden-ground; which makes, in most cases, just all the difference between hopeless misery and comparative comfort, It was, that when seduced or driven into the manufacturing towns, either by the fallacious pro- mises held out by the mill-owner's crimps, or the utter hopelessness of his former condition,-his offspring, taken from the fresh air of a country SUMMARY OF HIS SYSTEM. 617 village, may not be immured in the heated fac- tory, inhaling “cotton-fuz,”—for more than ten hours a day ! Were these extravagant demands ! Are they so now ! Is once happy England, and still proud and wealthy England, so situated, that she must keep all her village labourers on the verge of pauperism; all her town-labourers toiling worse than slaves 2 The New Poor Law, - the Sub-Malthusian panacea, has now had its full and fair trial. No one denies that it has done a certain amount of good ; as, indeed, any measure on that subject must have done ; but will any one venture to affirm that it has contented or quieted the country, or restored the happy peasantry of times gone by ? How should it;-turning, as it did, a hostile face to the indigent and oppressed; and mainly aiming to benefit the rate-payers; those, in fact, who were chiefly to blame for all the abuses of the old system? This nostrum, then, has failed. Has failed, we mean, to quiet and content the people. And when we now take up a public journal, of almost any politics except servilely ministerial, we are sure to be reminded that the great point of all, still remaining to be decided, is, “the condition-of- England question.” Nor do those who have so long refused to do 618 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. justice, and substituted any nostrum or excuse for their plain duty, seem to have any other shift left. The first session of a new Parliament has just been opened; remarkable, too, for this, that it is the first opportunity since the passing of the Reform Bill, that the Conservative party has had, for fully and fairly disclosing their own policy; with abun- dant power to carry that policy into effect. The country at large is fully aware of this : sick of whiggism and of the Whigs, mainly for this peason, that they refused to do anything for the people, the great body of electors throughout the nation have deliberately and resolvedly given the helm to the Conservative leaders. They now wait with eagerness and much expectation, to see some good result from this important change. In one respect they will doubtless be pleased and satisfied. There is little doubt that the affairs of the nation will be better administered by the pre- sent, than by the late cabinet. There will be more talent displayed ; more of business-habits observable; and less of recklessness in adopting and casting off plans and principles. The finances of the country will be brought into a more satis- factory state, and divers practical improvements will be made in various departments of the law. All this is well ; and it would quite suffice, if that were true, which seems to be taken for SUMMARY OF HIS SYSTEM. 619 granted, that the condition of the mass of the people is already one of comfort and happiness, and one needing no improvement. Were this indeed the case, then truly a discreet and intelligent adminis- tration,--a government which would simply keep all things in the same satisfactory course, would fully meet the wants and wishes of the nation. But, unhappily, this is far from being the case. That man must be lamentably ignorant of the real state and feelings of the industrious classes of this country, who can imagine that the labourers in either our villages or our towns are in a state of comfort, or a mood of contentment. And who will be so foolish as to dream that the country is in a safe or wholesome condition, when the mil- lions are unhappy and discontented ? It was wisely said in our hearing by an intelli- gent and most estimable village pastor, “Keep the feet warm, and all will go well with you.” It was of this question,- of legislation for the poor, that he was speaking. We come back, then, to the great topic of this volume. The plans of Mr. Sadler were neither vague, nor visionary, nor extravagant. Nothing more practical, nothing more entirely supported by all past experience, could have been offered to the public notice. They have every recommendation which the cautious and practical statesman ought 620 LIFE OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. to require; and further, they have no rivals. No other theory now disputes the field. The question is, between doing this for the poor, or doing nothing ! Once more, then, we ask for justice and mercy for the poor of England. Denied even a decent dwelling; denied the use of even a rood of land; driven from the commons; hunted into the towns; there pent up in noisome cellars, and forced to live upon the toil, the death-inflicting toil of their children; we ask for them, their cottages, their gardens, a protection from those who would over- work or defraud them ; and lastly, a church and a pastor of their own. Give them these, and you prac- tise the truest economy. Make it possible for the peasant to practise the virtue of “providing for his own,” and you may spare the cost of your spacious Union Workhouses. Give him some little frag- ment of each day, for mental and religious culti- vation, and restore to him his sabbath, now, among our factory-labourers, often lost in sleep from excessive fatigue, and he will learn some- thing of his duty towards God, and his duty towards man. To aid him in this, take care to supply your six millions of additional population with churches and pastors. Do this, and to your first saving you may add a large proportion of the Jails and Lunatic Asylums, which an ill-used, SUMMARY OF HIS SYSTEM. 621 discontented, ignorant, and irreligious population now render absolutely necessary. In short, deal paternally with your people, and they will repay your care. Feel for them; supply those wants which they cannot supply for them- selves; guard them from the oppression of those who would “make haste to be rich;” and you will reap an abundant harvest of internal strength and permanent tranquillity. Such was the constant object of all the schemes and all the labours, and and such would be the result of following in the footsteps, of MICHAEL THoMAS SADLER. A PPEND IX. NotE A. p. 2. That a tradition had always existed in the family, handed down by the father and grandfather of Mr. Michael Thomas Sadler, of a direct descent from the famous Sir Ralph Sadler, the favourite minister of Henry VIII. and Eliza- beth, we have ascertained from the oldest members of the family now living, themselves senior to Mr. M. T. S. by many years. This tradition ran thus, “that their des- “cent was from Sir Ralph Sadler : that their name was “ properly spelled Sadlier ; and that they came out of ** Warwickshire.” There was, unquestionably, a degree of internal evi- dence in the mere existence of such a tradition ; for it hardly appears likely that an obscure country gentleman in Derbyshire, in the middle of the last century, should even know of the existence of such a person as Sir Ralph Sadler; much less that he should invent details as to the spelling of the name, and the settlement of a part of his family; both of which prove, when examined, to be strongly corroborative of the tradition. Still, it appeared desirable, if possible, to discover whether any further evidence was accessible, in proof or disproof, of the allegation. As no records were extant in the family as to their location in Warwickshire, or re- moval from it, it became necessary to begin at the upper 624, APPENDIX. end of the genealogy, to see what degree of probability might be found to exist, in that direction. At the first glance, a reference to Warwickshire seemed to furnish evidence in the negative ; for of all the great possessions of Sir Ralph, who was reputed “ the richest commoner in England,” scarcely anything was held by him, at the time of his death, in Warwickshire; and his three sons were settled,—the eldest, Thomas, at Standon lord- ship in Hertfordshire ; the second, Edward, at Temple Dinsley, Herts, and Aspley Guise in Bedfordshire; and the third, Henry, at Everley in Wilts, and Hungerford Lodge, Berkshire. A little further search, however, turned this apparent inconsistency into a confirmation of the claim. In Clifford's Sadler Papers, Vol. II. p. 612, edited by Sir Walter Scott in 1809, a note presented itself, to the effect that there were “three families, descendants of Sir Ralph “Sadlier, one of which is settled at Aspley Guise ; one in “ Warwickshire; and the third in Hampshire.” Proceeding a little further, we found in Berry's Ency- clopaedia Heraldica, the following notice:— “SADLER, or SADLIER, [Temple Dinsley, Standon, “ and Sopwell, Hertfordshire, and Phillingley, Warwick- “shire] or, a lion, rampant, per fesse, az, and gu. Borne “by Sir Ralph Sadlier, Kn. Bann. temp. Q. Eliz.” Here, then, a positive location of some descendants of Sir Ralph in Warwickshire, was asserted. And on search- ing the parish registers of Phillongley, divers entries appear of a family whose name is always carefully spelt “Sadlier,” and who are styled “gent,” or “armig.” Further, we may add, that some of these entries agree very well with other entries in the registers of Aspley Guise ; at which place the family of Edward, the second APPENDIX. 625 son of Sir Ralph, was settled. The grandson of Edward— Thomas Leigh Sadlier, had twenty-four children; only thirteen of whom appear on record in the Heralds' Col- lege ; or are mentioned by any of the various writers who have traced the descendants of the great Sir Ralph. One of these, “John Sadlier,” was baptized on the 30th of April, 1638, and of him we find, at Apsley Guise, no further trace. But at Phillongley in Warwickshire, about sixty- nine years afterwards, we find a “John Sadlier, gent,” among the burials. It becomes, therefore, a matter of some probability, that a portion of this large family became settled at Phil- longley, (as Berry in his Encyclopaedia Heraldica distinctly asserts it did,) and when we find, sixty or eighty years after, persons in a neighbouring county, Derbyshire, who cherish the tradition, that their name is properly Sadlier, that their descent is from Sir Ralph, – and that they had migrated from Warwickshire, we must at least admit, that there is both probability and consistency in the claim. 2 S 626 APPENDIX. NotE B. p. 166. THE main fact relied on by Mr. Malthus, and upon which his whole system is founded, is this, that the human race increases in a geometrical ratio; or from 2 to 4, from 4 to 8, from 8 to 16, and upwards, without any other hindrances than those caused by vice or misery, or by “ the Preventive Check.” The position taken by Mr. Sadler, and upon which his whole system is founded, is, that the human race does not increase in this regular geometrical ratio; but in a ratio perpetually diminishing, according to the increasing den- sity of the population. In support of his view, Mr Sadler adduced— 1. The table of the English counties, which is given at page 163 of the present volume. 2. A table, occupying six pages, of the departments of France; the general result of which is as follows:— In the two departments having from four to five hectares to each inhabitant, there were, to 1000 marriages, births 5 130 In the three departments in which there were from three to four hectares to each inhabitant, there were, to each 1000 marriages, births . e {º © e © In the thirty departments having from two to three hec- tares to each inhabitant, to each 1000 marriages, there were, of births . º tº e º . 4250 In the forty-four departments in which there were between one and two hectares to each inhabitant, there were, to each 1000 marriages, births te wº e In the five departments in which there were less than one hectare to each inhabitant, to each 1000 marriages, the births were tº ſº ſº & © . 4.146 In the metropolitan department, there were, to every 1000 marriages, births . tº e . 2557 4372 4234 APPENDIX. 627 3. Various tables of the population of Prussia, shewing the following results: That in two provinces having less than 1000 inhabitants to the square mile, (Germ.) the births to 100 marriages were 503 That in four provinces having from 1000 to 2000, the births to 100 marriages were & e te e . 454 That in six provinces having from 2000 to 3000, the births to 100 marriages were tº tº wº ſº . 426 That in two provinces having from 3000 to 4000, the births to 100 marriages were * - © e * . 394 Again, testing the fact by the increase of population between 1820 and 1827, he found per cent. That where the inhabitants on the square German mile were less than 1500, the annual increase had been 1.1912 From 1500 to 2000 1. 675 2000 to 2500 & e • * > . 1 . 524 2500 to 3000 g e § * . 1 .. 304 3000 to 4000 1. 299 4000 to 5000 1.299 5000 and upwards 1. 114 4. The census of Ireland; the results of which we have given at p. 179; and 5. That of the United States; which is noticed at p. 180. 6. The kingdom of the Netherlands furnished the fol- lowing results : - Three provinces having less than 50 inhabitants to 100 hec- tares, mean increase on six years g * . . 0793 Eight provinces having from 50 to 100 inhabitants to 100 . . hectares, mean increase '. e ſº tº . . 0663 Three provinces having from 100 to 150 . * . . 0646 Four provinces having from 150 to 200 . * . . 0627 One province having 200 and upwards . e . . 0510 2 S 2 628 APPENDIX. 7. Passing over a variety of other tables, containing many incidental and collateral proofs, we give next a re- markable one, exhibiting the diminishing fecundity of marriages in England, as its population has increased: Periods. Population. Births to a Marriage. 1680 5,500,000 4.65 1730 5,800,000 4,25 1770 7,500,000 3.61 1790 8,700,000 3.59 1805 10,678,500 3,50 The above are some of the chief cases adduced in his main work. In his reply to the Edinburgh Reviewer, he added the results of several further censuses which had reached him in the interim. Such as, 8. That of Russia, of 1825, which shewed, Sixteen provinces having less than 50 inhabitants to the square mile ; in which the births to 100 marriages were 489 Sixteen provinces in which there were from 50 to 100 on the square mile, and the births to 100 marriages were . 480 Four provinces having from 100 to 150 on the square mile, and the births to 100 marriages were e º . 461 9. That of Naples, where the annual increase, per cent, was as follows: In one province having less than 100 on the square mile . O142 In six provinces having from 100 to 200 . e . . 0140 In three provinces having from 200 to 300 e . . 0137 In three provinces having from 300 to 400 º . . 0100 In one province, the capital º º † . . 0071 10. That of Denmark, 1828; which was as follows: . In one diocese, having less than 50 on the square-mile, the , baptisms to 100 marriages were . . . . . . 441 In two dioceses having from 50 to 75 º & , 402 APPENDIX. 629 In two dioceses having from 75 to 100 º * 395 In three dioceses having 100 and upwards . e 391 In one diocese, the capital . tº º º 372 11. And lastly, Austrian Lombardy, which presented the following facts: One delegation, having less than 100 inhabitants on the square mile ; in which to 100 marriages, the births were 532 One delegation, having from 200 to 250, the births . 518 Four delegations, having from 250 to 300, the births . 499 Three delegations, having 400 and upwards, the births . 449 We have selected these eleven instances, from a mass of more than one hundred; because they are sufficient, and because to give more would encumber our few remaining pages. These tables embrace a grand total of more than 150 millions of the civilized nations of the earth. They were taken without selection; in fact, nothing could ex- ceed the avidity with which Mr. Sadler seized upon any fresh tables or returns of censuses, which fell in his way, or the delight with which he instantly analyzed their con- tents. Most readily would he have admitted any returns which might have appeared inconsistent with his theory, and would have laid them before the public, with such ex- planations as he might have been able to offer. But never was he thus tried. Never once did a return, no matter from what part of the world, fail to contribute its quota of proof to the main argument—fail to show that Mr. Mal- thus, in his geometric ratio of increase, had propounded a fiction only worthy to rank with the astronomical inventions of Tycho Brahe ; or that the fact, first asserted by Mr. Sad- ler, was universally true, that the ratio of increase in every population, varied with the density of that popula- tion. 630 APPENDIX. NotE C. p. 189. The mean and paltry sort of manoeuvering by which the appearance of an answer to Mr. Sadler’s arguments was got up in the Edinburgh Review, can only be made intel- ligible by the actual production of an instance. We are compelled, therefore, to trouble our readers with a specimen. - - It is well known, that in all fair and honest statistical accounts, the practice is to proceed by regular periods or divisions; usually lustral or decennial. A census is made up thus, in distinguishing ages, from 1 to 5, 5 to 10, 10 to 15, and so forth. If the progress of any population is to be examined, we proceed in like manner, from 1801 to 1810, 1811 to 1820, 1821 to 1830, &c. And if we found any theorizer varying from this universal practice, and offering us unequal and arbitrary divisions, as from 1 to 6, 7 to 18, 14 to 23, and so forth, we should immediately suspect him of “packing the cards.” Now Mr. Sadler, throughout his work, invariably sub- mits to the fair and admitted practice. In all cases he applies a regular and fixed gradation of scale, and is con- tent to let his system abide this test. The reply of the Edinburgh Reviewer on the other hand, wholly depends upon an evasion of this fair test, and a recourse to the system of “packing.” And yet, as many a dishonest person had done before him, he is very ready to be the first to cry “stop thief,” and to accuse Mr. Sadler of that very “packing,” to which he himself, and he alone, had just had recourse. We will now give an instance, which we select chiefly because the Reviewer himself declares it to be the most “decisive” of all. We will give his own argument in his own words. APPENDIX, 631 “But we will make another experiment on Mr. Sadler’s tables, if possible more decisive than any of those which we have hitherto made. We will take the four largest divisions into which he has dis- tributed the English counties, and which follow each other in regular order. That our readers may fully comprehend the nature of that packing by which his theory is supported, we will set before them this part of his table. 5 g| E .E. . . s: 5 e 8 - |''< * #| 3 |gā āśā| ### （ COUNTIES. ##| # |33 |##3 | ##3 ### ##| #3 | ##| ###| | # ### ##| 3 | ##| z #3 | ###| |### 64 cº R. 3. Gº > p-t tº " & Lincoln 105|288,800 2748 |20,892 87,620 Cumberland . 107|159,300|| 1478 || 10,299 || 45,085 Northumberland . 108,203,000 1871 12,997 45,871 Hereford º 122|105,300|| 860 6,202 || 27,909 Rutland 127| 18,900|| 149 1,286 5,125 Huntingdon 134|49,800; 370 3,766 13,633 Cambridge . 145||124,400| 858 9,894 37,491 Monmouth . 145||72,300 498 || 4,586 13,411 Dorset . . 146|147,400 1005 || 9,554 39,060 From 100 to 150. 79,476 315,205 396 York, East Ridin 151 |194,300||1280 15,313| 55,606 Salop . . . 156 (210,300||1341 || 13,613| 58,542 Sussex e G 162|237,700 1463| 15,779| 68,700 Northampton . 163|165,800| 1017 | 12,346 || 42,336 Wilts . . . . . 164|226,600| 1379 15,654 58,845 Norfolk 168|351,300|2092 || 25,752| 102,259 Devon º 173|447,900|2579 || 35,264 130,758 Southampton . 177|289,000 | 1628| 24,561 | 88,170 Berks . 178||134,700|756 || 9,301 38,841 Suffolk 182|276,000 | 1512| 19,885| 76,327 Bedford 184|85,400; 463| 6,536 22,871 Buckingham 185||136,800 740 || 9,505 37,158 Oxford . 186|139,800) 752 || 9,131 39,633 Essex . 193|295,300|| 1532| 19,726 79,792] Cornwall 198262,600||1327 17,363| 74,611 Durham |199|211,900 1061 14,787 58,222 From 150 to 200. 264,516| 1,033,039| 390 Derby. 212|217,600 1026 14,226 58,804 Somerset 220,362,500|1642 || 4,356 95,802 Leicester 221|178,100 804 || 13,366 47,013 Noitingham 228,190,700. 837 14,296 55,517. From 200 to 250. 66,244 257,136|| 388 Hertford 251 |132,400| 528 7,386 35,741 Worcester . 258||188,200, 729 || 13,178 53,138 Chester 262|275,500| 1052| 20,305 75,012 Gloucester . 272|342,600| 1256 28,884 90,671 Kent . 282|434,600| 1537 33,502| 135,060 From 250 to 300. 103.255. 390,322. 378 632 APPENDIX. “These averages look well, undoubtedly, for Mr. Sadler's theory. The numbers 396, 390, 388, 378, follow each other very speciously in a descending order. But let our readers divide these thirty-four counties into two equal sets of seventeen counties each, and try whether the principle will then hold good. We have made this cal- culation, and we present them with the following result : The number of children to 100 marriages is— In the seventeen counties of England in which there are from 100 to 177 people on the square mile e & . 387 In the seventeen counties in which there are from 177 to 282 people on the square mile . e te º . 389 “The difference is small, but not smaller than differences which Mr. Sadler has brought forward as proofs of his theory. We say, that these English tables no more prove that fecundity increases with the population, than that it diminishes with the population.” And very soon after, this same honest Reviewer adds, “We have nothing more to examine, the tables we have scruti- nized, constitute the whole strength of Mr. Sadler's case. Any ordinary reader would of course take for granted,— not having Mr. Sadler's work within reach,--that he had here a fair specimen of one, at least, of Mr. Sadler's proofs ; and, that that proof might be so easily made to assume another aspect, as to be really worth little or nothing. But would any such reader imagine, that the table in question, as it stood in Mr. Sadler's work, was as follows;– APPENDIX. 633 • . | g 8 5: .5 "2 S. $c f