selves with ale and beer; and, still oftener, with the more efficient stimulus of gin. It is customary for them in many of the towns to stop at the gin-shops, and take a dram as they go to their work in the morning, and another as they return at night; and where, as is frequently the case, the houses of the workpeople lie in a cluster round the factory, it is not uncommon for a wholesale vender* of spirits to leave two gallons (the smallest quantity which can be sold without a licence) at one of the houses, which is distributed in small quantities to the others, and payment is made to the merchant through the original receiver. The quantity of gin drunk in this way is enormous; and children, and even girls, are initiated into this fatal practice at a very tender age. Ardent spirits are not the only stimulus which this class of people indulge in. Many of them take large quantites of opium in one form or another; sometimes in pills, sometimes as laudanum, sometimes in what they call an anodyne draf, which is a narcotic of the same kind. They find this a cheaper stimulus than gin, and many of them prefer it.

These remarks apply chiefly to the improvident and dissolute class of workpeople. Others evince more sense and a better economy in their modes of life; but it cannot be concealed that there are numerous classes whose rate of wages is such that with the best management will not procure the comforts and conveniences of living. This remark is not confined to hand-loom weavers, whose depression has resulted from a well-known cause. At Garstang, labourers' wages average only 2s. a day in summer, and 1s. 6d. in winter. Their diet must

* An Inquiry into the State of the Manufacturing Population, &c. p. 11. Ridgway, 1831.

+ Extracts from the Reports of the Poor-law Commission, p. 371.

of necessity be mean and deficient in quantity; it consists, says Mr. Henderson, of "milk, potatoes, herrings, bacon, and oat-bread; very little wheaten bread is used." This was the condition of labourers in the fourteenth century. The competition of the Irish has acted most unfavourably on the state of the poorer classes. They have not only lowered wages, but the standard of living. In Manchester, the habitations of the Irish are described as most destitute. They can scarcely be said to be furnished. They contain one or two chairs, a mean table, the most scanty culinary apparatus, and one or two beds loathsome with filth. A whole family is often accommodated on a single bed, and sometimes a heap of filthy straw, and a covering of old sacking, hide them in one undistinguished heap debased by vice, penury, and want of economy. Frequently, two or

The following extract contains some curious particulars and shows that wages are still lower in Scotland than Lancashire:-"At Dumfries hiring market on Wednesday, healthy unmarried men, who understood their business, commanded readily 61. for the half-year, with board and lodging, and in some few cases the pounds were made guineas. Dairy-maids and others were hired at 50s. and 55s. according to character, capability, and experience; but the former was most common. From 1824 to 1832 the variations in the rate of wages have been exceedingly trifling, namely-for day-labourers, 1s. 4d. in summer, and from 1s. 2d. to 1s. 1d. in winter. In 1829-30, the wages of a cottar were 251.; in 1831, they mounted to 261.; and in 1832, fell to 251. A bonny lass may clothe herself in a summer Sunday's dress, from head to heel, for a pound note! Her winter work-garb will cost a little more, say from 25s. to 28s. and both suits, with care, will last considerably more than a twelvemonth. Making included, a ploughman may clothe himself decently on Sundays for less than 21. 10s. ; his working garb (mole-skin) costs about 16s.; and if to these we superadd a ploughing-coat and stout shoes (10s. each), his whole bill to the draper and tailor will not exceed 41. 6s. Portions of his wardrobe will last more than a twelvemonth, and, allowing for extras, his clothing expenditure may be kept within the limits of 61.--Dumfries Courier, April 6th, 1833.

more families are crowded into a small house containing only two rooms, one in which they sleep, in the other eat, and often more than one family live in a damp cellar containing one room, in whose pestilential atmosphere from twelve to sixteen persons are crowded. To these fertile sources of disease are sometimes added the keeping of pigs, and other animals with other nuisances of the most revolting character.

The state of some of the streets in Manchester, as described by Dr. Kay (p. 36), for want of drainage, space, and scavengers, is horrible. They remind one of the traditionary accounts of Edinburgh formerly, and the present state of Lisbon. It is to be hoped in the projected reform and establishment of municipal corporations, that they will be so constituted as to become effective instruments, not only of police, but of the general health and local improvement of towns.

Besides dissolute habits, bad diet, and local uncleanliness, another source of unhealthiness in the manufacturing districts is the severe and unremitting labour of workpeople. The employment of spinners and stretchers is among the most laborious that exist, and is exceeded perhaps by that of mowing alone, and few mowers think of continuing their labour for twelve hours without intermission. Add to this, that these men never rest for an instant during their hours of working, except while their mules are doffing, in which process they also assist; and it must be obvious to every one, that it is next to impossible for any human being, however hardy or robust, to sustain this exertion, for any length of time, without permanently injuring his constitution. A collier never works above eight, and a farm labourer seldom above ten hours a day; and

it is, therefore, wholly out of all just proportion, that a spinner should labour for twelve hours regularly, and frequently for more. The labour of the other classes of hands as carders, rovers, piecers, and weavers, consists not so much in their actual mauual exertion, which is very moderate, as in the constant attention which they are required to keep up, and the intolerable fatigue of long standing without being permitted to lean or sit down.*

It is almost unnecessary to remark on the low state of MORALS in factories. One who has the best opportunities for observing, remarks, "that the licentiousness which prevails among the dense population of manufacturing towns is carried to a degree which is appalling to contemplate, which baffles all statistical inquiries, and which can be learned only from the testimony of observers. And in addition to overt acts of vice, there is a coarseness and grossness of feeling, and an habitual indecency which we would fain hope and believe are not the prevailing characteristics of our country." The illicit intercourse and general licentiousness of the sexes, result from the circumstances in which they are placed. They are exempt from the restraints of other classes; they have few or no pleasures beyond those arising from sensual indulgence, and have hardly any motive for refraining from this indulgence; it involves no loss of character, for their companions are as reckless as themselves; it brings no risk of losing their employment, for their employers do not take cognizance of these matters.

* An Inquiry into the State of the Manufacturing Population, P. 13. + Inquiry into the State of the Manufacturing Population. p. 25.

XXIV.-POOR-LAW COMMISSION.

I was apprized of the chief facts disclosed by this commission, while preparing the chapter on the poor-laws, and purposely deferred a few remarks on their tendency to the Appendix.

The inquiries of the commissioners show that abuses are not confined to church and state, but that a sort of Green Bag or Black Book may be filled against paupers as readily as against offenders of higher degree. While, however, we seek to profit by the labours of the commissioners, it is important that we should not be hurried into hasty and exaggerated conclusions, which might originate measures as inconsistent with humanity as repugnant to sound policy and the general feeling of the community. Several considerations will serve to moderate the force of the impressions arising from the first perusal of the information communicated by the itinerant commissioners.

First, it must be borne in mind, that the number of persons annually relieved out of the poor-rate amounts to 1,250,000, averaging 120 to each parish; that the sum expended in their relief amounts to 6,500,000l., averaging 57. each; and that, as the number of parishes in England amounts to nearly 11,000, there is at least so many separate and independent bodies occupied in the administration of the poor-laws.

Now, considering the number of persons relieved, the magnitude of the fund disbursed, and the multiplicity of local jurisdictions, can it be matter of surprise that a great many irregularities have crept into the administration of the poor-laws? Had a number of barristers been selected to collect evidence of abuses in any other great department of the public