The Sun.
London, England, 1833-03-22 00:00:00

-opposing cruelty on tne part or une manotacturers, that
12. or 14 hours a day for children's labour were by far too
much. He thought that many Hon. Members had been
carried away by an impulse of humanity, and had cast a
reproach unnecessarily on the manufacturers.
Mr. W. PATTEN put it to the House whether it
would not have been far better that this discussion shou'd
have been postponed until the motion came regularly
before them.—( Hear, hear.) Many Membsrs in the late
Pirliatnent had opposed even the appointment of a Com.
inittee, and no doubt the same reasons which then actuated
them would induce them to oppose a commission ; hot he
thought th it very few would be found to oppose the Bill.
Mr. WILBRAHAM begged to state that there was not
in the House a mite ardent friend to any Bill which went
to throw the protecting arm of the law round those
children than himself, but he intreated the House to
look at the palpable injustice of passing the Bill
without inquiry, and without listening to the complaints
of those who were to be affected by it. He would not go
into the evidence given before the Committee ; but he
would just remind the House, that out of the number of
witnesses who were examined, there were ten from Scot-
land, two only from the whole county of Chester, and
from Leeds and its neighleiarhoad forty nine. He did
n it know how that di-parity might sff et the case ; but
he thought that a further inquiry should be made, other-
wise the purposes of the Bill would probably be defeated.
Sir G. PHILLIPS stated, that as he resided in and
represented an agricultural district, his att'-n ion had not
been so much direct d to the tnanufacturing districts of
late as it had formerly been ; but since this subject
had b-en under discussion, he had obtained all the
information upon it that he could.—( Hear.) With
respect to the subject named in the petition, lie must
say that he knew of factories which ha-I existed under the
present liw for thirty or forty years ; and. from his own
o iservation of those factories, he could state that there
were no manufacturing labourers in Lancashire that were
in a better situation than the people—male and
female—who were employed in them. _(Hear.)
Mr. WILKS rose to order. No less than nine gen-
tlemen had addressed the House upon the presentation of
this petition, and he felt quite certain that if such a
course were to be adopted, a stop would be put alto-
gether to the preservation of petitions.—( Hear.)
Sir G. PHILLIPS Lad considered himself bound to
say a few words, only one side of the question having
been stated to the House. If the House did not wish
that he should enter further into the subject, lie would
give way.—(Cries of " Hear, hear," and "Go on.")
An Hon. Member had stated, that no evidence could he
given that the manner in which children worked in
factories was consistent with their health. Now he
would only reer that Honourab e Member to the fac-
tory of Mr. Fielding—(Hear, hear)—where he w.iuld find
evidence of the excellent condition in which the children
were there.—(flear, bear, hear.) He trusted the
House would be careful how it legislated upon this
question, as it might, by doing so, inflict injuries
which it would be impossible to repiir. In stating that, he
begged it to be unders ood by the House that no man was
more desirous than himself that the condition of the
chil tren g' rurally in factories should be unproved.
Mr. CORBETT regrett. d the absence of his Honourable
Colleague. lie had himself ns experience in the matter,
no knowledge of it, and no reasons to offer to the House ;
all that he acted upon was authority-. His Hon. Col-
league, he believed, worked up no less than a hundredth
part of the cotton that was imported into England.
He employed several thousand hands, was a firm sup•
porer of the Bill of the Noble Lord (Ashley) and a most
stern opponen of all species of oppression.—( Hear, bear.)
Mr E. J. STANLEY then presented petitions from
the manufacture's of soap, for the repeal of the duties on
that article. The Him. Member trusted that if the Noble
Chancellor of the Exchequer could not wholly rcpsal the
duty, he would set himself to work to repeal at least a
part of it. The Hon. Member also presented a petition
from the inhabitants of Staley Hi idge, in the county of
Lancaver, praying for a rernoval of the disabilities under
which the Jews laboured. The Hon. Member observed that
the petition was nuaierotisly signed, and he trusted that
there would be no opposition to the measure about to he
introduced on the subject. Indeed he was sure there
would not, except from the Hon. Member opposite (Mr.
Cohliett). The Hon. Member concurred entirely with
the prayer of the petition. He did not see why the Jews
should not be allowed the privilege which the Christians
possessed, as he could confidently say his Majesty had not
in his dominions more loyal or industrious subjects.
Also a petition from the Protestant Dissenters of the In-
dependent denomination of Duttonfield, in the county of
Cheshire, for the abolition of slavery.
Mr. COIIBETT, with deference to the expression used
by the Hon. Member on presenting the petition respecting
the Jews, that they were one of the most industrious
classes of his M ijesty's subjects, would ask the Hon. Mem-
ber whether he could produce a Jew who ever dug, who
went to plough, or who ever made his own coat or his
own s'.oes, or who did any thing at all, except get all the
money be could from the pockets of the people?
Mr. E. J. STANLEY said, that as the chief objection
of the Hon. Mvinb,r for Oldham to the Jews was, that
they were blasphemers, and as the Hon. Member in a
ft rrner part of his li.e condemned Tom Paine as a bias.
',healer, and yet afterwards assisted at his apotheosis by
bringing over his hen, s to this country, he trusted yet to
see him &tinge his opinion with regard to the Jews.

An Hon. MEMBER rose to call the attention of the
House to the wording of the rusolution on the hooks, for
the purpose of showing that 40 Members must be pre-
sent to constitute a House.

The SPEAKER said, that as t"e House was not at
this time of the thy competent to decide such a question,
it was useless t.i disiu's it.

Mr. WILSON PATTEN presented a petition from
certain manufacturers of Derby, praying the House to in-
stitute a Commission of Inq•tiry befo,e proceeding on the
Factories Bill. As the abuses which had been complained
~f had never existed in Derby, 'lt its vicinity, the peti-
tioners hoped th it the House would hut consider it justice
that the statement made with respect to the master manu-
facturers, personally, should be inquired into. He knew
several of the names attached to the petition, and could
vouch for their respectability.

Mr. STRUTT said that the petition spoke the opinions
of all the inanufactur.ra he had conversed with, and he
entirely concurred in its prayer.

Mr. COHBETT—After the personal a,tack which was
just now made upon me by an Hon. Gentleman on the
opposite seat whom I do not now see there—(Mr. Stanley
at this moment reQumed his seat.) The Hon. Gentleman
has accused me of having formerly represented Mr. Paine
as a blasphemer, and of having latterly done something
which would imply that I ente. tained a iar different be-
lief. Now I never in the whole course of my life
Mr. WILSON PATTEN—I rise to order, Sir, for I
do not see how this applies to the present petition.

The SPEAKER—What the Hon. Member for Oldham
is saying certainly does not apply to the present petition,
but it has been the usual practice to afford any Member
who has had a charge brought against him the opportu-
nity of explaining.
Mr. COBBETT—Since the time I first spoke of Mr.
Paine, I have written a hundred volumes, and have, per-
haps, had occasion to mention his name three hundred
times, but whenever I have mentioned his name, and
spoken in commendation of his writings. I have never
failed to make an exception with regard to his religious
writings. As to the act I performed of bringing his re-
in ►ins to England, I can only say that I held it to be my duty,
and that, for the reason I stated at the time, for his having
written the books published by him in France and Eng •
land relative to the pernicious consequences of p iper mo-
ney. Mr. Paine was try teacher with regard to paper
money, and if his advice had been followed instead of being
rejected, we should not have b,en in the state of difficulty
in which we now find ,urselves with respect to the currency.
Mr. E. J. STANLEY said that after what had fallen
from the lion. Member for Oldham, he must be allowed
to justify himself by reading the very words of the publi-
c itbm of the Hon. Member himself In no part of the
Age of Reason does Paine speak is terms of impious irre-
vet race of God. He praises Gail, and calls upon His
name, and that, too, in a attain of eloquence the equal
of which I never heard in any sermon."—Vol. 35, p. 725.
" The Age of Reason is as despicable as its author. The
wretch has all his life been employed in leading fools
astray from their duty. His religion is of a piece with
his politics, the one inculcates the right of revolting
against Government, the other against God."—Vol. 3,
p. 389—" Though Thomas Paine was no Christian, he
was no blasphemer. He offers no indignity to Gad him ..
eelf," Vol. 35, p. 735—.." Paine was a cruel, treacherous