The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-08 00:00:00

NAVAL IN

PLYMOUTH, JAN. 6.--lOYAL MALlNES._Lieutenant/
„,
Alexander, and J. E. Lawrence have been this week 40/
pointed to the Royal Marine Artillery, in cons( q woe°
the certificates of their high attainments in mathemootl,
and other studies, awarded them by the Professor t
Royal Naval College.
The Britannia, 120, Captain Drake, (with the fl 'gor,
Sir J. Onimanney), and the Howe, 120, Captain Sit '
0. Pell, arrived at Malta on the 16th December.
The Roberts, East Isdiaman, arrived at Portsuiouth
Monday evening from Calcutta, in 125 data, and blade
her passengers.
The Netley, tender, ,riled for Bristol ou Thursdays fof
volunteers.

The Lightning, steamer, sailed on Thursday fJr Porti'
month and the river.
The Inconstant arrived on Friday from the westwal*,
The Camels lighter, arrived from Pembroke on Fri°s'
with old stores.

The Viper, schooner, sailed on Friday for Portsmoutlij
The Ferret arrived from Ireland on Saturday, 2frde
came into Barnpool on Tuesday, to have her defects mad
good.

•
Tho Tortoise, lighter, arrived on Saturday, witk 10/a•
lids from Falmouth.
The Emerald, tender, sailed on Saturday for PortsmoutS
The Rochester, lighter, arrived on Sunday, %Fick st°r"
from Deptford.

The Adventure, naval transport, arrived on Wedue3cl°'
with stores from Deptford.
Remaining in flamosz,!—Caledonia, San Josef, Eri,,dAr
mion, Raven, Sylph, Carron steamer, Comet steamer, /1".•
venture, N.T., Rochester lighter.
In Barnpool—Ferret.
In the Sound—Impregnable, Belleisle, and Inconstant.

1:11 ENING EDITION

OUR iIIANUFACTUI-UNG SYSTEM.

A recent number of the Westminster Review
contained two Letters to Leonard Horner, Eq., on
the " Capabilities of the Factory System, com-
bined with a series of observations on the elevation
°f the labouring classes. At the time the article
was published it attracted much attention, and re-
ceived much praise, which have probably induced
IVIr. Hooper now to publish it as a separate pamph-
let. It treats of two subjects intimately connected
with the present and future welfare of the country.
England is doomed for many years to come to be a
„Manufacturing nation, or to be annihilated ; and
while the condition of the masses engaged in manu-
factures can never cease to he interesting to the
statesman and philanthropist, it is palpable that it
cannot remain what it now is without danger and
:tmnralisation to the whole community. The eleva-
," °f the laboinina classes in our manufactures is,
therefore, a subject of the deepest interest to the
Whole community.
/;Pith the observations of the Reviewer, we have
no intention to meddle, except that we must ex-
press our dissent from the proposition, that " the
Melioration of the physical and moral state of the
great body of the people is one of the duties of
Government. When their moral and physical state
isanuch worse than that of some small portion of
the peaple--particularly if that small portion ex-
clusively administer the Government—there arises a
great presumption that the Government has grossly
neglected its duty. ; but from that evidence, not
merely of its inutility, but its mischief to the
great body of the people, we cannot, with the Re-
viewer, jump to the conclusion that it is the duty
of Government to meliorate their condition. They
must do that themselves. The first step to their
imProvernent' is their independence. The moral
and physical condition of a people is good or bad
by comparison, and what is now considered good
may half a century hence be extremely bad. The
Present condition,. for example, of the bulk of our
gentry and middle classes, both morally and physi-
cally, is far superior to the condition of those classes
half a century ago. Society has a principle of pro-
. Press inherent in itself ; Government hag, on the
Contrary, a tendency to be stationary ; and if we
Make it the duty of Government to provide for the
Melioration of 'the physical and moral state of the
great body of the people, we shall authorise it to
divide the nation into castes, and fix the labouring
classes, with some petty improvements, contrary to
the course of society, in a permanent condition of
inferiority. We do not think that desirable ; while
it is. very desirable, both for the ease of rulers and
the'i4lvantage of the ruled, to limit the sphere of
the duties of Government as much as possible. If
Govern
mein limit its duties to protecting the rights
,of individuals from encroachment, it will best serve
the Purpose for which it is said to be instituted.
The two Letters are written by a benevolent in-
.dividnal, but he seems to us, like the bulk of
persons in a similar situation, to expect a great deal
top much from drilling the people, and to rely a
great deal too little on the people helping them-
' selves. There is a sort of diseased desire on the
part of benevolent educationists to make the work-
lacn like the gentry in their habits, tastes, opinions
and amusements. For example, the kindly autho,
of these Letters no sooner got his factory hands
about him than he provided gardens- in the fronts
ofahe cottages, in which the men might dig at
their leisure and cultivate flowers. Now that gen-
tlemen` who toil not may find pleasure in digging
and cultiVating a flower garden is very natural ;
but that a man, bent all day over a loom, or over a
mule, shut up in a heated room, should find no
more agreeable occupation for his leisure than
digging in a garden, is not to be expected. Some
Of the workmen may ; and the great evil of the
benevolent man thus laying down a standard of
excellence, as it were, by no means suitable to each
individual, is, that lie who neglects his garden be-
cause
, he prefers sauntering in the fields with his
children after his toils are over, gathering wild
flowers, or observing wild animals, or perhaps corn-
'lathing with his own heart, or with Nature, is se
down as an idle, thriftless man, and is very likely
to he dismissed from his employment, and become a
bad one. That a poor man should be enabled to
highly proper ; but it is
riot desirable that
gardens should be provided for all factory workers,
so that any one of them who does not act up to the
itit,neY of the proprietor, having rational pursuits of
the, is Own, should be set down as less worthy than
gardeners.
Again, the benevolent factory owners, as soon as
he got his people about him, established schools.
Far be it from us to sneer at any kind of learning,
but book learning is not for all dispositions. Some
persons like investigating machines, or making
ttn't ttuments ; and the same objection that we have
thatade to the gardens applies to the schools, namely,
it establishes an artificial standard of excel-
lenc▪
e, very agreeable to the individual [proprietor,
and
not equally agreeable to all the factory workers;
_htl those who do not seek the schools are neces-
tshrily set down by the owner as less worthy than
chose who may really be as rationally and usefully
employed as conning over the alphabet or learning
- Methodist hymn,
part
After a time games were established, and as this
of the plan is particularly amiable and kind,
we\lsrhall quote a long extract
°riseapart a portion of a field near the mill, that had
of a 1:041,3 been designed for gardens, and, taking advantage
together ay and a fine afternoon, I called some of the boys
41,048
ire
and commenced op
teatp aerations. We began with
arid cricket balls, and leap frog ; and as I saw
tinui.,lnY others soon joined us, and our play-ground eon-
we tf to fill more and more every evening it was opened,
jOrtqually, introduced other games, and established a
pert etirlations to preserve order. assigning a particular
Of the playground for dlfereut games, and appong 41taih individulls to distribute and 'preside over them.
40t. girls and boys each took their own side of the field,
generally followed their games separately. The fol-
'owing summer we erected a swing, and introduced the
tiVtitine called Les Graces, with bowls —a leaping-bar—a
n-rope—and afterwards a see-saw.
p Quoits are ene •
tiklY the`favourite game of men—the hoops and tightg rope
Thest the boys—and the hoops and swing with the girls.
isin perpetual requisition. With the hoops, the
7taand girls now play a good deal together, and we en-
ge this companionship as being extremely favourable
4 the cultivation of good manners, kind feelings, and per-
ception of__ their proper place and relation towards each
bad had
When we first began these games, this was a thing
i'_ixt yet to be learned, and instances of rudeness and
_m_pnrtopr conduct did occasionally occur; but as I made a
.I°4of being always present on the ground, and gave our
sf ones to understand that I wished my leaving it to be
,____unity of
for the breaking up of the party, I had the op-
-17 y of observing any breach of good manners or good
mper, and gradually succeeded in breaking them into my
81418
ete_i.: 0 Nye are now near the close of the third summer
we lel
41,110
not
tay-ground was opened, and during this season
once had to remark upon any breach of order
:ad_leacoruom. Indeed, the system is now so well under-
,s mong us, that I no longer feel it necessary to be
rrehent among the games, though I generally am so, be-
ocanueseipepple tnenjoy them as much has any of the party, and it is
y_e, opportunities of social intercourse with the
. beefplay-ground is open only or, Saturday evens-
g or holidays, during the summer.
autumn of the same year, 1834, we began our
Zt!swing and singing classes. The 'drawing class meets
,erY Saturday evening during the. winter, from six to
elKPad seven, and generally spends half the time in draw-
asi% d.et e rest with geography or natural history. This
And so itch myself; it consists of about twenty.five boys,
borne of them have made considerable proficiency.
ti,ae3:44eeckup7 themselves at home during the evenings of
Durposee with copying drawings that we lend them for the
aged an ;nand this affords an interest for their leisure hours,
of y
c_
.tractinn to their home fireside, which it was one
10,71rin_h!ef objects in introducing this pursuit to supply.
as thelget,4e summer they continue the occupation or not,
our.Y.uftdoose ; our regular lessons are given up, as
the 1" r ay evenings are then spent more profitably in
LPI4Y-ground and we rre.tiorhn to our winter occupations
ifltu much mono zeal and
.1.-41t,h_.;,Y -had been continued wisitkioautteirnateriarungtLancadulor4 the
jear. Some variety and change in pour pursuits, we
44 „le necessary to keep up our own interest and attention
As
%en -7Qdrawing class reak up at ha
tits singing class assemblesb ands remit till lf.past
nine.

This class consists of girls and yonnt,, men to the number
of twenty-eight. It is entirely under the management of
the Suporintendant of the Sunday school, who meets them
once a week during the winter, to teach them their diffe-
rent parts, and then brings them on Saturday evening to
our large school-room, where they practise all together.
We confine onrselves for the present to sacred music ;
singing in four parts, and with the assistance of two instru-
ments, make what we think very tolerable music. This
class is very popular, especially with the girls, and it is
considered a great privilege to be invited to join it.
One of the most successful of our plans, and the most ef-
fectual in civil Ling the manners of the people, has been
that of having regular evening parties during the winter.
The number of these parties is generally about thirty.
They consist chiefly of the elder girls and boys, generally
an equal number of each. They come by special invita-
tion, a little printed card being sent to each, on which is
written the day and hour when the party will take place.
Much of the distinction shown to the guests depends on
this individual invitation, and it is part of my plan to show
as much respect as possible to those whom I invite to join
our society.

It is impossible, however, to read this extract,
amiable, most amiable as we admit the writer to be,
without recognizing throughout a strong desire to
drill the people, to make them like the driller, or
like the gentry, to inoculate them with similar tastes,
to send them after similar pursuits, and, there-
fore, to give them similla opinions. The
factory owner having a large property, and
being probably much at his ease, having many
converts under him, and saying to one, " Go, and
he goes," labours—with good intentions, we
admit, but mistakingly, we aver—to make every in-
dividual in his employment something like himself.
There is in his conduct the same spirit of overrul-
ing, the same desire to be superior to others, or to
govern, to,:whichjn our observations on the cotton
manufactures, we traced much of the evil which
pervades society. The elevation of the labouring
classes is, we fear, not to be obtained. It does
well enough for one mill, and contrasts beauti-
fully with another, where the labourers: and the
children are both rigidly ruled, and yet much ne-
glected; but it partakes too much of the master and
slave system ever to create in the labouring classes
that spirit of independence which is the first step
to becoming good moral men. The prin-
ciple is to model all classes on one class,
while the vast diversity in the business,
possessions, and dispositions of the various classes,
and of various individuals, indicates for them dif-
ferent amusements, and a different bringing up.
There appears to be more practical freedom in
Germany, according to the letter from Chemnitz,
which we quoted on Wednesday, and with that
freedom there seems to be more happiness, more
hilarity, and more real delicacy of feeling, than is
to be found amongst the best drilled operatives of
the neatest factory, surrounded with gardens, having
a play ground in the middle, and schools at each
corner. The latter partakes of the character of
Mr. Owen's parallelograms, the former seems like
the natural world.

IMPORTANT TO OVERSEERS OF

THE POOR,.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR-A case has lately been reported that occurred
before the Magistrates at Leominster, where overseers
had been summoned for neglect of duty, at the hearing
of which the Chairman is reported to have said, that it
was the duty of the churchwardensto see that tke over-
.seers executed their duty faithfully. From the manner
in which the case is reported, it would appear that the
Chairman of the Bench of Magistrates considered that
the churchwardens are the masters or superiors over
those overseers appointed by Magistrates, and have no
labours of their own to perform as overseers ; that they
have merely to see that the others do their work pro-
perly, and not that the churchwardens are liable to do
equal shares of the labours of the office of overseer
with the other overseers. I confess that churchwar-
det.s generally shrink this duty, leaving the onus of
making the rate (being satisfied with merely putting
their signatures to it), and also collecting the money
and all other fagging parts, to those overseers appointed
by the Magistrates ; while they, as overseers of the
poor, take little or nothing upon them. The words of
the 43d Elia., c. 2, s. 1, are :—" The churchwardens
of every parish, and four, three, or two substantial
householders there, as shall be thought meet, shall be
overseers of the poor."
Here we find no difference recognized, nor is
there in any other Act. The churchwarden is an
overseer, by statute, and bound to take equal share
of the duties; therefore in parishes where parties
be wee I themselves agree to divide the parish
iato d stricts for the collecting the poor-rate,
if there be two churchwardens and tae overseers ap-
p.' .ted by Magistrates, the parish should not be di-
vided into two districts, and the churchwardens remain
idle whilst the other two collect one part each ; but the
parish should be divided into four districts, each church-
warden taking a part.
Any churchwarden or other overseer doubting the
position I have laid down may satisfy himself by ad-
dressing the Poor-law Commissioners, asking the fol-
lowing question :

" Is a churchwarden bound by law to take upon him-
self the duties of overseer of the poor, in all things,
equally with those overseers appointed by Magis-
trates ?" And perhaps it will be as well at the same
time to quote the 43d Elizabeth, cap. 2, s. 1. at length.
For several years I filled the office of churchwarden,
when the pari+li documents relating to the poor were
igned in the following manner :

----}Church-
wardens. Overseers of
the Poor.
-----
Thus giving only equal power and authority to the
churchwardens w►th the other overseers of the poor.
1 am, Sir, yours, &c.,
Jan. 4, 1841. GORDIUS.