Star.
London, England, 1819-06-01 00:00:00

THE CARLISLE WEAVERS.

(FROMTHE CARLISLE JOURNAL OF •SATURDAY.)
The weavers of Carlisle and its neighbourhood,
have been in a state of very natural excitement,
though not the slightest symptom of turbulence has
occurred ; but the Magistrates have deemed it ne-
cessary to .keep the military in readiness. Several
hand-bills have been distributed by these poor, distres-
sed, and industrious, though harshly 'calumniated
creatures, respecting their case, of which we make
the following selection, as giving a tolerably faint,
and scarcely that, idea of the misery to which man,
so calling himself, can submit :
" AN APPEAL TO PUBLIC FEELING.
"The Journeymen Weavers of Carlisle and neigh-
bourhood, beg to call the attention of the Public to
the following simple truths :—We are now arrived
at a pitch of wretchedness and misery, such, we sin-
cerely believe, as never existed in any country in time
of profound peace, except visited by a natural famine.
We are a powerful people, and yet we want strength.
We are an industrious people, and yet we want
bread ; whatever the cause may be, we will not at
this moment pretend to determine, but the'effects are
dreadful to be contemplated, and still more horrible
to experience. Only for a moment let any rational
and reasonable being amongst you lay it to his own
heart, and there, at the tribunal of that principle that
dictates between right and wrong, imagine us, if he
can, labouring in a place peculiarly unwholesome
from its closeness and damps, where the air is im-
pregnated with noxious matter, so that what we in-
hale is little better than a fetid gas ; which, though
inseparable from the nature of the work itself, is ne-
vertheless a particular aggravation of our misery,
and all this fol• the reward of Is. a day, and fed
chiefly on potatoes, the proper food only for hogs ;
yet our miserable, half-famished Children wait ss ith
anxious desire for their scanty morsel of those pro-
visions ; and the fond mother, the last of all to com-
plain, summoning all her resolution together to hide
the poignancy of her grief hoes her already discon-
solate partner ; her child, perhaps, at her breast,
feebly sucking that nourishment that nature almost
refuses to bestow : if this be not the very climax of
human misery, tell us in what does human misery.
consist ? Wives and children heart-broken and in
rags, and plunged altogether in helpless, almost hope-
less, and to all appearance quite irremediable ruin, we
have only one gleam of hope left us, which is, that
the Legislature will take our distresses into consi-
deration—we having Petitioned our Prince and the
Parliament to have us conveyed to Canada, or some
of the Northern Colonies (the Petitions were each
signed by nearly a thousand persons), that our fa-
milies may yet hope to survive the wreck of misery
that we are now invo,ved in, and is apparently still
getting nearer the final goal of destruction, for we
are fully convinced that trade is near its consumma-
tion ; that a severe winter, or a failing harvest,
would introduce a fever that would not be easily
eradicated. We are likewise convinced that the pub-
lic in general know, that every principle of philo-
sophy, justice, and sound policy, imperiously demands
that the poor be protected ; since the immutable and
irreversible laws of nature have so blended the fate
of all classes of society together, that whatever makes
against the poor must, in the end, prove the destruc-
tion of the great. In our present unparalleled dis-
tresses, it is not too much to demand, with the voice
of thunder, the adoption of a system of economy,
and the stripping the undeserving of their ill-merited
peasions. We have no peculiar affection for one de-
nomination of public men more than another. Both
Whigs and Tories have, in their turn, cajoled the
people, and profited by their credulity : but expe-
rience has opened the eyes of the public mind to
principles rather than to men ; and we swear upon
the altar of the Constitution—by the bravery of our
forefathers, and by the blood shed by them in assert-
ing the immutable rights of human nature, that we
are their legitimate sons, and that our conduct shall
never belie their ancient fame !"
They had, yesterday, upon the Sands, a general
meeting, including deputations from the towns of
Wigton, Brampton, Longtown, Penrith, and all the
intermediate villages, to the amount of 1,700
in number ; but we do not understand that any thing
definitive is settled upon. Their procession through
the city, in regular files, thcir mournful silence, and
the laurel boughs that many of them carried in token
of their peaceful intentions, gave a melancholy in-
terest to the senate that could not be resisted by hearts
pirticipating in the feelings of our common nature.
We trust an amicable arrangement will take place;
for we know that the principal Manufacturers are
Anxious to ameliorate the condition of their workmen;
but this must be a work of co-operation. Hitherto
all mutual understandings eniongst the master-ma-
nafacturers have been as ropes of sand ; but they
mast now be convinced that, in this respect, the
maxims of trade have other foundations than maxims
of religion, and that, as it regards the former, a com-
munity of faith is necessary for the general interest.
(Fittst TIIE CARLISLE PATRIOT.)
We have already adverted to the low rate of wages
which the Manufacturers of this city and neighbour-
hood have for some tirae past been compelled. to-
allow their Gingham Weavers, in consequence of the
depressed state of this branch of trade.
On Tuesday evening, they assembled upon the
Sands is great numbers ; a Committee of twelve was
appointed, and the whole Body agreed to the publi-
cation of an Address, which was read in manueceipt.
On the following day many of their leading men
determined not to work unless the manufacturers
allowed them more wages ; and they went from shop
to shop in every part of the town and neighbourhood,
• and compelled all others to follow their example,
taking the unfinished work from the looms, and
sending it home to the masters. In the evening they
again assembled on the Sands, to hear a letter from
Dlr. Curwen read, in answer to one transmitted with
the Petition before alluded to. On Thursday strong
'parties went to Penrith, Wigton, Dalston, Brampton,
Longtown, &c. and compelled the Weavers there to
follow their example. Many would fain have con-
tinued their labours, but were forced to desist by
threats of all kinds of visitations.
On Wednesday the following Address was circu-
lated and posted through the city and neighbourhood.
(J4ere the address is given as it appears above.]
Yester'd'ay, the weavers of the adjacent towns ar-