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Show 278 APPENDIX TO NOTES. 3. Moral Condition. khnn tile Bostcn Jortrnal, of Marclt S, 1853. " (Foreign Correspondence of tho Journal.) (I.) "LETTERS J.'ROM EN"GLAND. "Manchester a11d 1'ls JVorking Populalion-J.'!teir .Amusements. •1\:f..,NCIIF.STER, J.<,cb. 17. \ 853, 'Amid the excitement and buHtlc of this stirring p la.cc, on" hns little time to collect his thou.,hts; nnd it is o~ly ~t 1\ Jato hour of the night, tho present time 12 o'c~ock-whon 1tli1S still, that I ca.n put a thought of, or n remark upon, whnt one sees, on pnfor.. In g?mg through the immense warehouses full of tho p1·oducts o skill and mdustry, ,,.0 n.re struck with tho magnitude of. Britain's tt·adc; we nr<: lost in cstimatiw• it8 extent and endless wmety; wo arc dazzled With the glare of wc~Jth lying in heaps throughout _them; wo nro ama1.?d ~t the recital of the fortunPs of self-made men, m some crrses ont,o:;lr1ppmg even the fortunes of Wbittin..,.ton n.nd his feline friend. But then. goinrr from these to view the i1~mcnsc machinery which produced all this, our amazement increases. Le:wing this nncl viewing: the human m:tchines which work the former, or n.t least a g-reat many of them, our amnr.cmcnt continues to increase, nnd in look in~ a·t these OYerwrotwht., hardwo ·.·kjng, degraded-looking specimen.'! of. humanity, we a.sk 0the f}lH.'!i· tion-nro these tltc ones who produce tins wealth ; arc they the posscsors of immortal souls like their employers, nnd do these employers know it? Where nrc they, nnd whith.cr at·e they ~oing:? I, of course, spcn.k now of the lower c!t\SS of opemhYCS her~, and 1.wt a(l ~l tltem-but a till tL very large proport•on. I know of notlnng winch .hngland should first look to of more importance to her own interest, and to the interests of humanity, than this question-the condition of the working classes. '\V ages here arc so low that the comforts of a home can 1e enjoyed by them in but few instances, and the dcsiro for n.muscment of some kind, which is tho ruling passion, drives them into the support, with their little earnings, of a. kind of it which is most pernieious and demoralizing. The great fault is, the want of early education, both of the head and heart. 'l'hc uneducated man, ha\'iug nothing in himself on which he can depend for the gratification of his desire for amusement, flecks it in a way which i~ most congenial to his owu feelings. An cntertt\inmcnt of n superior character he has no sym-ft~~~~ fc~~·~~~; n~J1~l~~ri~f!~~. 1~fn~,~~ 0!.~!~~ ;~,~~~~~~~~u~;:!;~iclat:s;:,'i:~·u~~ tion must be the fOundat ion-an education of the heart as well as the head-and then we may hope to raise a structnrc in which the fair proportions of true manhood may be developed. l\lccbanics' lnstitu· ~~~~~c1t~~;;et::~0~nfs0c~ ul\~tFc~ ~1•0Y ·l~~;; ~~~1~~;~0~~ n~~~~d'~.~~·t~:;h:~ some cducatian ; they arc like Greek or Hebrew to the lowest classes in English society. Ragged Schools arc one of the means now resorWd to, a.nd the working of these ha.vo been, so far, successful. But the effort is not general enough, and until it be so we will (shall) not have a better staLe of things. APPENDIX TO NOTES. 279 :These remarks nrc suggN;te(l by vi8its wl1ich, in company with 1\ fr10nrl, 1 made to ~he p_lac?~ of amu~crncnt, which nrc tho nightly resorts of thousands 1n t~llS c•ty. I went ~o four, for the pu•·po~;e of seeing for my~elf. I~1 tho first pbcc, we paul fourpcncc admission, which mcluded a glass of a.lc or porter. Tho performances consisted of d:1nccs of t h.e most obscene kiud-nnd partly by children of only twelve or thnt.cc'.t Y?ars of age-songs, &c., &c. The nudicnco IH're Wl\5 composed p;1ncJpal!y of young clerks of tho lower grade and their female comp:uuons; lJttlo family parties, fMber, mother, and a few ~oung shoots .of tho parent tree ; the old Indy now and then refrcslung herself m tho "drCi\dful 'ot place" with a d•·op of g:in anrl somo crachrs " :h!ch she g~ncrously n.ssists her dear Joe 1\nd the little JocR to. A ~US)HCIOU.~ look n~g g:cnt lcman, wearing garments of a seerly bl;\ck, but w1_thal rather wcilmformcd and apparently anxious to impart his informatiOn to "~rcen uus" like myself, who appeared to h:~ve the "~ut of:.\ frc.sb lmnd." ~I' hen ~here arc the operatives of:\ better class, w1th th~1r ":'vcs,.an.d then a~am poor palo-looking creatures, wea.ring out the1r cxJstcuco 111 tho cellars of damp warehouses, with blcachctl cheeks and sunken eyes, and sharp-pointed, red noses, chucklin~ to themselves-laugh they cn.nnot; they have for..,.ottcn how to do it· they used to laugh when they were chi ldren, but that was a long tim~ ago, and there have been many ch:mgcs since. . ']~ut we go into ;t,nothcr place; it _is no.t so hrge, but tho admisSI. on IS the same. lito performance ts gomg on; 1t must be a good ptece; roars of laughter are heard, but it is only n.t low jokes, aml vulgar buffoonery, and burle.\lque iw.itatious of a.n old Yorksh.i.rcman to n~t the part of.a negro. Here .tho audience are of a lower grade, and m tho drus ctrclo the gentlemen Me h:lbited in moleskin jackets nnd greasy caps, tho ladies in.corr~sp?ndin[; attire, and tho whole appct\ rance of. them ns human bcmg~ IS SICkcmng; n dull, heavy stare, or a sly,_ cunmng, lo\v look, .or a. heavy-breathing, wide-mouthed non·ex-h~ e:!~~~~~c~~; ~l:e~n ct;,\~~~~J~i~ w~~ai~8~~~~gt1::1\~a~~~:~c~{7o\~l;o~~~~~~O~l~ I could loo~ upon as something th:1.t might shed lustre upon the nnmo of man. 'I hero they were, mostly Yery young persons-tho children probably of those who were like the fh mily in the former place-whoso only comforts were found in tho i?in-bottle, whose lmppiness was only awn.y from home, at such place~, mslc:\d of at home, where only true pleasures cn.n be found. This way of spcndin..,. the even in~'~' is the fru it of tho parents' example, aud this fruit ripens ~uti! it is niPped by tho .gallows or tho hulks. '1'he other places nrc shades worse even ; and in all, the inducements to att-end n:ro held out i!1 this WilY: prices nrc low, say twoJ'cnce, four pence and stx pence, w1th tt glass of nlo or gin include . To show you the trade of these places, my friend informed me thn.t only the we~k before, tho lowest null poorest of them wns taken by :\ man who patd ~700 for the good will of the business, besides a large yearly rent;, and tt was thought quito a bargain. A visit to ono of these places, A.mong other things, to me at least. tnught one lesson more pow_er~ull,r than o~e~ I l~ea~d tho pulpit teach it-the duty of nC'cepting Chrtst.iawty and hv1ng m 1t-wcre Jt even for no higher object than |