The Sun.
London, England, 1831-06-14 00:00:00

In the country, is seldom to be pocuted without consider-' pcopte; ; but hitherto mi.), thing has been jobbed.
able delay, and often .does not arrive till all assistance is The time, however, is at length arrived when we
unavailing. These considerations make it obvious that must all of us put our shoulders to the wheel, or we
deaths laity be frequent and sudden in agticultural districts, shall all of us he exposed to dangers which we shud-
while by far the greater proportion of the living are in the
full enjoyment of hettlth and strength. der t'o contemplate.—Morning Chronicle.
"In manufacturing towns the case is widely different. This day that session of Parliament commences,
Few, if any, die from want of rre•dict.l assistance. They to the conclusion of which every oat' looks with
are supplied with every aid. v-..hich skill or charity can be- anxiety for the restoration Of the people's rights, and
stow. But the diseases which prevail are of a nature, he
which, withoat suddenly destroying life, or even shortening '
t establishment of the peace, tranquillity, and
it trsterially, deprive it of health and enjoyment, and P" of the country sPe'ritYon a more durable basis
render existence itself little else than a chronic malady. 'than we could hitherto have boasted of. After a
The disease which we Pod by Tar the most frequent among sufficient number of Members have taken the cus-
those engaged in roannfactures is a species of Gastritis, ternary oaths, the 'election of a Speaker will be pro-
or chronic inflammation of the membranes of the stomach, needed ;with : and on Monday next his Majesty will
or a morbid irritability of that organ which has been
formally open the session of Parliament, in person,
termed Gastralgi,::.!' This fact has been stated to us by
a Speech the which, tinder existing
several medical gent!emen, and is folly confirmed by a re- by
from
throne,
circurstanees, cannot fail to be a matter of the
f:rence to the records of niapensaries.t"
Their diet in ill-adapted to the preservejon of highest interest. In the mean time, while we know
health, and from the manner in v:liich the females that the Reform Bill will be brought forward with-
out the slightest delay, and that there is no doubt
ar'e brought up, thert '.s no such thing any where of its being, carried triumphantly through both
as domestic trorniort or domestic economy among Houses of Parliament, various rumours are afloat re-
them, Their wages are, he says, amply sufficient specting the course which is subsequently to be pur-
to supply them with a solid and substantial food, sued, the principal of which is that an adjournment,
were they well laid out. We are astonished that, and not A dissolution, will be resorted to immedi-
where there is so much manufacturing ingenuity, ii'':ely afterwards. There is but little question that
there should be so little ingenuity in thnt 'Most im- the adoption of such a course could not be productive
portant manufacture, the preparntitn of food. Res- of great harm, if, indeed, of any, on the eve of a
taurateurs, one should thitlk, might receive encou- dissolution, and an appeal by the Members of the
ragement to dispi:,•.‘,- their ingenuity in preparing House to their constituents; but, on the other hand,
nwritive, und at the same time palateahliii dishes, it tiqust strike every one as a highly ridiculous ar-
for tiee irritable stomachs of these unfortunate ener- rangement to proceed with the discussion of the
vated beings. After reading the Following melon- public business under a false system of representa-
choly account of the s"ste 'a the children of the ma- tion, when the same business might be gone through
nufacturers, see ',:, almost tempted to wish, for the by a Reformed Parliament of the people's choice.
sake of honvinity, that the mortality were even No, no—we do not believe in any arrangement of
greater among them : the kind. The Bill must be passed,—that's flat,—
. " The fourth cause of the ill-she/11th which prevails and the money Bills must be passed, and something
lamong the manufacturing rOputation may be traced to the will, no doubt, be said and done respecting Ireland ;
injurious influent which the weakened and vitiated con- but as to anything else, we believe we must wait
stitutien of the women has upon their children. They for a new Parliament. It would be highly desirable
ate often employed in factories some years after their mar- that the Bills of the Lord Chancellor, for the im-
riage, and (hiring their pregnancy, and up to the very provement of the administration of justice should
period of their confinement ; which all who hare attended
pass •• but we fear there will not be time to go
to the physiology of this subject know must send their off-
'i
spring into the world with a debilitated and unhealthy through them, anti that the Ministers will be obliged
frame, which the circumstances of their infancy are ill-
to put them off to another Session, in consequence of
ralculated to renovate ; and hence, when these children the impossibility of prevailing on Members to remain
begin to work themselves, they are prepared at once to sue- in town for a sufficiently long period.—Morning
climb to the cavil influences by which they are surrounded. Advertiser.
" In consequence, also, of the mothers being employed
from home, their children are entrusted, in a vast majority
of cases, to the care of others, often elderly females, who
have no infant family of their own ; and most of whom,
having in their youth had their children nursed by others,
have never formed those habits of attachment and assiduous
attention to their offspring, which could alone afford a
probability of a proper care of the children committed to
their charge. These women often undertake the care of
several infants at the same time ; their habits are generally

It cannot be denied that the anti• Reform faction
labour in their vocation with a steadiness and zeal

which, but for its want of principle, it might not be
amiss for the Reformers to copy. There are, how-
ever, some portions of their tactics which we cannot
bring ourselves to admire. A person on the brink of
losing his life may safely catch at a straw to save it ;
but it does not follow that for the sake of self-

preservation he should endeavour to sink another
who is placed in equally perilous circumstances,
either directly or indirectly,—he has no right to in-
vent falsehoods, nor to resort to a system of bullying
which might endanger the life of his neighbour as
well as his own. We make these observations partly
in consequence of the gross falsehoods which have
been propagated of late by the Tory party to the
prejudice of their opponents, and partly in con-
sequence of the numerous attempts which the
former have lately made to involve the latter in a
species of warfare which gives no testimony either
to truth or falsehood. A singular case of this kind
occurred the other day, as testified by the columns
of a cotemporary, in which Lord Thomas Cecil was
plaintiff, and Mr. Tennyson was respondent. We
regret that we have not room for the correspondence,
which is of an unique character, and the tenour of
which would have amply satisfied the public respect-
ing the degree of frenzy and desperation to which
the members of the Tory faction are reduced by the
slightest allusion to their " invasion of the people's
rights ;" but we cannot quit the subject without
paying a just compliment to the gentlemanly con-
duct of Mr. Tennyson, and the judicious firmness
with which Colonel Maberly interfered to prevent
a duel, on a point respecting which the latter had
only exercised a proper and just " freedom of
speech." If Members were to be called in ques-
tion for words such as those uttered by Mr. Ten-
nyson, all but the silent Members would be shot in
a month.—Morning Advertiser.

indolent and gossipping : the children are restless and ire
table, from being deprived of a supply of their natura'
food (as, when the mother suckles them, they can only
perform that duty in the intervals of labour) ; and the
almost univers practice among them is to still the cries
of the infant by administering opiates, which are sold for
this purpose under several well-known and popular forms.
The quantity of opium which, from habit, some children
become capable of taking, is almost incredible, and the
effects are correspondingly destructive. Even when the
infants have a healthy appearance at birth, they almost
uniformly become, in a few months, puny and sickly in
their aspect, and a very large proportion fall victims to
bronchitis, hydrocephalus, and other diseases, produced by
want of care and the pernicious habits we have detailed.—
We may mention also that spirits, particularly gin, are
frequently given when the infants appear to suffer from
pain in the bowels, which, from injudicious diet, is very
common among them."
The writer thinks that the condition of the ma-
nufacturer milht be rendered more supportable by
shortening the hours of labour. What a picture he
gives us of the state of these wretched beings.
" At present (he says),in the cotton trade at least, which
is already restricted by law, the hours of work generally
extend from half-past five or six in the morning till half-
past seven or eight at night, with about two hours' inter-
mission, making in all about twelve hours' clear labour.
This we would reduce to ten hours (if such a measure
should be rendered practicable and safe by a removal of
all taxes on manufactures and provisions) ; and we again
express our conviction, after regarding the subject in every
possible point of view, that till this measure is adopted, all
plans and exertions for ameliorating the moral and do-
mestic:condition of the manufacturing labourer, can only
obtain a very partial and temporary sphere of operation.
We say this with confidence, because, in every project of
the kind which we have been enabled to form, in every
attempt for this purpose which our personal acquaintance
and habitual intercourse with the rople could suggest,
we have been met and defeated by the long hours (ab-
sorbing in fact the whole of the efficient day) which the
operative is compelled to remain at his employment. When
he returns home at night, the sensorial power is worn out
with intense fatigue ; he has no energy left to exert in any
useful object, or any domestic duty ; he is fit only (or
sleep or sensual indulgence, the only alternations of em-
ployment which his leisure knows ; he has no moral elas-
ticity to enable him to resist the seductions of appetite or
sloth ; no heart for regulating his household, superintend.
ing his family concerns, or enforcing economy in his
domestic arrangements ; no power or capability of exer-
tion to rise above his circumstances, or better his condi-
tien. He has no time to be wise, no leisure to he good ;
he is sunken, debilitated, depressed, emasculated, unnerved
for effort, incapable of virtue, unfit for everything but the
regular, hopeless, desponding, degrading variety of la-
borious vegetation or shameless intemperance. Relieve him
in this particular, shorten his hours of labour, and he will
find himself possessed of sufficient leisure to make it an
object with him to employ that leisure well ; he will not
be so thoroughly enervated with his day's employment ; he
will not feel so imperious a necessity for stimulating
liquors ; he will examine more closely, and regulate more
carefully his domestic arrangements ; and, what is more
than all, he will become a soil in which the religious
philanthropist may have some chance of labouring with
advantage. We do not say that a reduction in the hours of
labour would do everything, hut we are sure that little
can he done without it ; it is indisperfsible as a preliminary
treasure."
But the most alarming part of this state of things
is, that there are no connecting ties between masters
and labourers. There is no intercourse between
them. " The masters and their men (he observes)
occupy two distinct spheres of living, to the mutual
detriment of both. They are bound together by no
ties beyond those of pecuniary service ; and when
these are broken or suspended, the state of things
ensues which has lately been alarming and inflaming
the whole of the south of Lancashire, and spreading
doubt and dismay throughout the kingdom." lie
adds, that " unless some cordial, faithful, vigorous
and united effort is made on the part of the influen-
tial classes, to stem that torrent of suffering and cor-
ruption which is fast sweeping away the comfort
and the morals of so large a portion of our poorer
countrymen ; and which, if not checked, will soon
send them forth upon the world desperate, reckless,
ruined men—ruined both in their feelings and their
fortunes ; unless some such effort is made, and Oral
speedily, there are silent but mighty instruments at
work, like an evil that walketh in darkness, which
ere long will undermine the system of social union
and burst asunder the silken bonds of amity which
unite men to their kind." He calculates the number
of those who directly or indirectly derive their sub-
sistence from the cotton manufacture (the most un-
healthy of all), at four millions. One of the first
objects to which a Reformed Parliament ought to
direct its attention is a system of education for the
people. Some of the German States have set us
in this respect an example from which we might
profit. Education is compulsory, on the principle
that individuals ought not to be at liberty, by with-
holding education from their offspring-, to throw on
society beings insufficiently prepared for the dis-
charge of their several duties. There are in this
country immense funds for the instruction of the
See a valuable Paper, by Dr. Kay, in the second
Number of the' North of England Medical and Surgical
Journal.'
" t We may here observe,
also, that epilepsy appears to
be snore frequent
; and among the manufacturing labourers than'
1
in other classes that varicose enlargements of the
veins, and ulcers of the
among them, in consequence of etxhoteitt•ties'
a,..echidetinites, their
are common
so large a portion of the day. of oblige
obliged to stand
wounds heal slowly ; and all their diseases,
ell or surgical, are characterized by a deficiency ofire"net.gi;
in the system."

The Great Council of the Nation assembles this
day, and although a short period will of necessity
he devoted to business of mere routine before the
awful question of Parliamentary Reform can regu-
larly come under discussion, this is the day which
history will mark as the epoch of the meeting of
that Parliament, by the decision of which the fu-
ture weal or woe, prosperity or declension, of the
British Empire is to be determined. We have called
the question an awful one, not in the spirit or tem-
per of partisans, but under the influence of a feel-
Mg, which must, we think, be common to all men
whom the spirit and temper of party has not utterly
deprived of reason. The same language should be
our were we even as much convinced of the ne-
cessity of a new construction of the Legislature as
any of our contemporaries. It must he the language
of every man who is qualified to understand the very
terms of the question. What is it to construct anew
the Legislature of an extensive empire like that of
Great Britain,consisting of a multitude of parts,diver-
sified in their several interests as they are widely sepa-
rated by their geographical position? It is to call into
play a variety of impulses and feelings, with respect
to which we have no experience, and of which
neither the direction nor the momentum can be the
subject of accurate calculation. It is to place the
great masses of society in a new position with re-
spect to each other—in a position which, fur any
experience we can have to the contrary, may lead
to strife rather than to harmony, to destruction
rather than improvement. It is an experiment
which once begun must pursue its full course, and
upon the ultimate success of which depends the wel-
fare and happiness of myriads of human beings for
countless ages. The questions which the new Par-
liament will have to discuss, then, aro not whether
abuses have existed in the British Government, or
whether the Constitution of the Legislature has
been free from anomalies, incongruities, or defects;
but whether, admitting the existence of these prac-
tical abuses and organical imperfections, they have
risen to such an enormous and mischievous height
as to warrant, with a view to their correction, an
experiment of which every man fit to take any
share in such a discussion must see the danger, and
whether the specific experiment it is proposed to try
be that which presents the best chance of success,
and guards most cautiously and effectually against the
dangers inseparable from every such experiment ?
It is not by the influence of personal or party
feelings—it is not by the recollection of a popular
clamour, artificially excited, ephemeral, already ex-
tinguished—it is not by any reference to pledges,
unconstitutionally extorted and given upon the
hustings, in the presence and under the terror of
furious mobs—it is not by deference to the personal
wishes of any individual, however exalted, even if
the wishes of the most exalted individual of the
realm could (which is impossible) be authentically
and constitutionally known, that any conscientious
or intelligent man will be guided to a decision upon
the great and awful questions we have described.—
We have been led into these remarks in conse-
quence of the suggestion of some of the more ardent
of our reforming contemporaries, that the Speech
by which his Majesty will open the Session of Par-
liament ought to contain some very striking and pe-
culiar expression of his Majesty's personal wishes
with respect to the Reform question. The sug-
gestion is no doubt a very foolish one. This, how-
ever, does not diminish the probability of its adop-
tion. The Speech of his Majesty, whatever it may
contain, will be the speech of his Constitutional
Advisers, who may, by resorting to any unusual ex-
pedient of this nature upon the present occasion,
diminish, but certainly cannot increase, the confi-
dence of Parliament in their discretion, in their in-.
tegrity as Ministers of the Crown, in their fitness
to sway the decision of the Legislature upon a
question the most important in its consequences
which perhaps a British Parliament ever had to con-
sider.--Morning Post.