The Sun.
London, England, 1842-12-02 00:00:00

THE SPORTSMAN

Contains this month two spirited engravings,
the best of which is "Trout-fishing," and which
has a charming'. picturesque r-back-ground.
Among the literary contents, the most enter-
taining paper is an account of a tour to the
lakes, and a visit to the house of Southey, the
pJet, who, we regret to learn, still lingers under
the pressure of sc vere indisposition.

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 2, 1842.

GREAT ANTI-CORN-LAW SOIREE
AT SHEFFIELD.

On Wednesday evening we saw realised what we
have long desired in Sheffield, a meeting in which
our fair townswomen should be fairly enlisted in the
war against monopoly. The meeting was of the most
cheering character. The Music Hall (orchestra,
saloon, and gallery) was tilled ; and had the capacity
of the hall been twice as great the result would have
been still a full meeting. The meeting was enthu-
siastic, and the readiness to engage in collections for
the League was unexampled, and the proceedings were
of the most gratifying and satisfactory kind. The
room was tastefully decorated with evergreens and
artificial flowers. On one side was a large banner,
with the motto, " Free Trade and Cheap Bread ;" on
the other, the British flag, with the words, "United
we conquer."
Edward Smith, Esq., occupied the chair, having
on his right Richard Cobden, Esq., ALP., and on
his left Henry AShworth, Esq., and John Bright,
Esq. The principal Sheffield manufacturers and
many ladies were present. Tea being concluded,
The CHAIRIUAN proceeded to open the business of
the evening by dwelling upon the fruits of the pre-
sent " protective" system, whereby he observed, our
workshops are empty, our workpeople are half clad,
hungry, and desponding ; and their would-be em-
ployers see only ruin and want approaching with
rapid strides. Mr. Smith proceeded to say-1 do not
know that I should from choice become a politician. I
do not call these meetings political. I call this a
meeting for commercial and philanthropic purposes.
I call it a philanthropic meeting, because, apart from
the justice of the cause, of which you will hear more
hereafter, leaving that at present out of the question,
it is the only course we can pursue calculated to re-
lieve the grievous sufferings we see about us. Per-
haps I may be accused of weakness, but I speak the
truth whenlsay, that I have, within these few months,
met with cases which I know to be true,—cases told
to me by the lips of the parties themselves,—which
have brought tears into my eyes. A little time ago
I requested the visitors of the Bettering Society to
. take the pains to collect some information, for I thought
the public mind wanted informing on the subject of
the destitution and want that prevail among the poor.
A few of them began to visit with this view, but they
were soon disheartened with the undertaking. I have
a few-notes of the cases they have reported, which I
will briefly refer to; fur it is necessary to know the
evil, because we must be made to feel before we can
be made to move.—(Cheers.) Delicacy forbids the
mention of names, but I have the' names and every
thing necessary to prove the facts I shall state. I
take them by house-row :-
1. Very destitute, on the pariSh. 2. Only bread
and water to work upon. 3. Scale-cutter; six chil-
dren, out.of employment five months, have sold their
clock, and their bedding as far as they could. 4. A
grinder ; pawned nearly everything, the bedding en-
tirely gone. 5. A grinder; his grinding rent is
Gd. a week, his whole earnings 5s : ls. 6d. worse
than if he had not worked at all. 6. A tableknife
cutler; no furniture left, all gone for rent. 7. A file
cutter; no work, four in family. We know what no
work means—no food, no clothing, no furniture, no
fire. 8. Scissors maker ; four children, on the parish.
We know what on the parish means : 35., 45., 55., or
6s. a week, half in bread, and that not sufficient to
keep off the pangs of hunger, and tha remainder of
their allowance paid to the landlord for rent, or spent
in the purchase of a few coals. 9. Edge-tool striker;
two children, no work. 10. Spoon caster ; two chil-
dren, on the parish. 11. A working silversmith ; on
the parish, though a very steady, sober family,
wretchedly off. 12. A. spring-knife cutler ; on the
parish, living on bread and water; no covering for
their bed; the children have no shoes, no jackets.
The remarks of the visitors are of this character :
"No new clothing for two years ;" "Clothing patched
as long as it will hold together." I will Occupy
your time with but a few more details. 13. A razor-
grinder ; has a wife and one child ; no regular em-
ployment for a year and a half, has never had parish
pay ; they are sometimes reduced to such extremity,
as to be two days without food; at other times, a little
bread, or a few nettles boiled with a little oatmeal
and salt; no blanket in the house ; very destitute,
but striving to do without parish pay.—How honour-
able, to be striving to do without parish pay, under
such circumstances of suffering !—(Cheers.) But it is
not what I would recommend them to do. I say, go
to the parish, and get supplied liberally. Demand it
as a right ; you ought to have it ; and the sooner you
do this, the more completely will you open the eyes
of those who stand above you.—(Cheers.) You will
give me credit for disinterestedness in this. It will
lay prettily heavily upon me, but I do not care for
that. 14. A cutler ; has a wife and four children ;
the eldest boy, about 17 years of age, whe is very
delicate, along with his father, works on the roads.—
" Have six shillings a week from the parish ; very
little work for a long time, none for eight months ;
his master gives him a good character, and the family
are respectable ; altogether, they have not sufficient
food, but are frequently
,starving. The wife has had
no under flannel for more. than two years." This is a
very common occurrence. The possession of neces-
sary under clothing for the women is rather the ex-
ception than the rule. 15. A file cutter and a hailer ;
four in family, on the parish roads, 6s. a week, half
in bread ; very much starved. 16. Arundel-lane ;
No covering for his children ; they were very cold,
so he took the matrass, which was all they had to
lie upon, from under them, and shook out the chaff,
and laid the cover over them. 17. Rockingham-street :
Came to his parish work, and his fellow-labourers
saw that something was the matter with him, they
found the family had eaten all the parish bread the
day before; he had had nothing to eat since; and
would get no more till Thursday ; must beg, or do as
they could. They "do not complain, because its of
no use ; all are pretty much alike." 18. Top of St.
Philip's-road : nine of them in family, and only one
bed. What must be the moral effects of a state like
this ! 19. Husband gone away to seek work, six in
family, no bed, only a small quantity of old straw to
lie upon in one corner of the room, no covering what-
ever for it; the children, though very ragged and
with little to cover them, were yet clean. This is a
picture of the state of a large portion of the work-
ing classes in Sheffield, and an awful picture it is !
How a Christian, can know these facts, and think
they do not concern us, we of sitting still—saying
will not inquire into thOn ; if we give a man a half-
penny when he comes to our door, it is sufficient—
I cannot explain. I conceive our understandings
are given us for the wisest purposes, to be em-
ployed for the good of ourselves and those about us;
and of that good, I would place foremost the investi-
gation of cases of distress, with a view to a remedy.
We ought to get facts in the first instance; and
when on every hand we receive the answer to our in-
quiries, "No work, no work, no work," it must satisfy
our minds that the trade of the town is leaving it, and
we have reason to fear is permanently leaving it. The
farmers, whose arguments are listened to with more
complacency than the facts of manufacturers, are
speaking loudly and plainly. I have had a note put
into my hands since I came into this room, a speci-
men of the kind of argument likely to be effective in
breaking up monopoly. The writer says, "Last week
I was conversing with one of our overseers, who in-
formed me that several of the principal rate-payers,
who were farmers, had been to him, complaining that
they
could
ptheir heavy rates and their rents
begged he would make no more poor
for they had no prospect of paying
pay
rates but out of their stock. They had
books
ik ssbesides.
atrpresent,spring
'they
g not
reaped a good crop, but all was selling low." In
spite of all the attempts of the Government, and the
miserable meddling with commerce by men who know
nothing about it ; in spite of the wicked and fruitless
attempts to frustrate the _bounties of Providence by
preventing the plentiful harVests of other lands from
entering our ports—there is one argument they can
understand, notices to quit from their tenants, whn
can no longer live cn their farms. The farmers are
.beginning to see that these laws have done them harm,
and no good.—(Cheers.)
JOHN BRIGHT, Esq., in the course of an eloquent
speech, after dilating on the distress and want of the
people, observed, this scarcity is one of the most hor-
rible character. It does not affect the Queen ; the
aristocracy have not felt it; no Member of either
House of Parliament can tell of such a thing as having
gone short of food; and perhaps few of them can
boast of having for years known the luxury of being
hungry. The large class of bankers, merchants,
clergy, large manufacturers, the rich shopkeepers—
these numerous classes know nothing of the want of
food. But if there would be a scarcity, if the food
were divided amongst all, how heavily must it
press on the poorest, when so many have as much as
they can eat. If a ship at sea be short of provisions,
if being becalmed for weeks, the bread and water be
found to run short, a council is called, short allowance
is ordered, and though an Admiral be on board, lie
would submit manfully to the justice of taking no
more than his fair share ; and the poor cabin-boy
would have as much
,as he.—(Loud cheers.) This is
a fair sort of famine, and I should like to try a famine
of this sort for a month or two in England.—(Cheers.)
I am satisfied we should not have any longer to de-
'nand a free trade in food. The House of Lords
would be the most clamourous to sweep these ob-
noxious laws away—and I believe that, of all
others, the Bishops would find them particularly in-
convenient.—(Cheers.) Mr. Bright continued to
observe, that owing to the enactments of Government
food has been 30, 40, or 50 per cent. above, and pro-
bably, in some cases, double, the price.it would have
been had there been no law to interfere. While this
going on, what has been
h
do not consider wages as the
the effect fornfoodlvage lisa ; been I
10s., 205., or 308. a Week, which a man may receive
o
for his work ; wages mean the quantity of the com-
forts and necessaries of life which a man's labour will
bring him.—(Hear, hear.) The principal part of
what the body of labouring men consume is food. It;
then, the quantity of food be smaller than is necessary