The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-01-16 00:00:00

THE LOYALTY OF THE REPEAL

CORRESPONDENCE.

AGITATION !

SUFFERINGS OF FEMALE WORKERS.

There are politicians in the world who still tell us, and
themselves affect to believe, that Ireland, amidst the
violence of her present passionate agitation, may yet be
appeased by the concession of some midway measures of
conciliation,—by some such panacea, for instance, as
another Lichfield compact, which, whilst it gives place
and pay, and the shadow of power to wh;g-radicalism,
hands over its substance to O'Connell, the Romish priest-
hood and their satellites. A week ago the modest pro-
position was made that the government, as a sop to 'the
repealers, should abandon the present prosecutions, and
rely for the pacification of Ireland upon some unknown
and undefined specific for the establishment of temporary
peace, to be discovered by the commission now sitting
for the purpose of inquiring into the law of landlord and
tenant. Other sages announce, as an infallible remedy
for the present state of things, the payment, by- the state;
of the Romish clergy. But no one is bold enough to say
that, by any of these submissions on the part of the
British people, the permanent peace of Ireland can be
secured. It was distinctly •denied—nay, indignantly
denied—in the Town Council of Dublin, that the with-
drawal of the prosecutions against O'Connell would be
followed by the cessation, for an instant, of the repeal
agitation. We are to let loose these traitors upon the
world unpunished, that they may strike forthwith into a
new path of treason, more securely guarded from peril
to their precious necks—more full of danger to the
wretched dupes of their agitation, upon whose heads
alone they trusted that the hand of the law would fall !
Let the misled readers of whig-radical recipes for the
tranquilization of Ireland—let the blind readers of the
past history of that unhappy country—peruse and reflect
deeply upon the spirit which is daily sought to be infused
into the minds of the Irish people. Let them turn from
the maudling, pathetico-pacific addresses of the cowardly
agitator O'Connell, to the more daring appeals to arms
of the Nation; and then tell us if a people amongst whom
such appeals circulate and are rapturously received can
ever be brought to reason by paltry concession—by any-
thing less than the realization of the full amount of their
impetuous longings ! Let timid conservatives, too, look
well into this question, and then withdraw their assent,
if they can, from the measures now taking to put down,by
a vigorous effort, the incendiary spirit of the Irish people.
We will give, for the benefit of the politicians to whom
we have referred, a few extracts from the last number of
the Nation. And, first, let us see how ardently they
look forward to the government of Great Britain being
driven by fear to the adoption of a temporising policy •
" The curl has left the lip of the Quarterly, the secure
laugh no longer rings from the Times, the Chronicle is
anxious, and the cry of the Standard is as hollow as
cowardice. The whigs promise wonders in review essays
and Russell notices. The ministers prosecute, inquire
fortify, fidget, and ask for the key of the back-door:
Retreat may be advisable—Peel is not Lord North,
Victoria is not George III; and IRELAND, WE TROW,
HAS AS MUCH IN HER AS THE TWO MILL EON AMERI-
CANS WHO LICKED THE ENGLISH IN THE LAST
CENTURY."
No mention here of peace to be obtained by concilia-
, tion ! nor is there in the paragraphs which follow it:—
" We have often and sufficiently chronicled the march
of nationality in Ireland, its accumulating masses, its
fresh officers, its steady tramp, and dark patient aspect.
" The first political campaign is over. Our frontiers
are advanced, our party increased, our magazines safe,
our enemy confused.
" Let Ireland be glad. She has done well.
" Let Ireland labour. She has much to do.
" Let her heart be light and her head high. She is
able for her work.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

SlR,—One that has read with intense interest your re-
marks on the sufferings of female workers, would, had she
influence, or power, agitate the question widely, from hav-
ing been an eye-witness to its disastrous results. It one
fact stated, or hint given, can in any way be made useful
in continuing your remarks on this subject, it will, I hope,
plead as an apology for thus intruding upon your valuable
time. To be then as brief as possible, I would say that
the originating cause of all this wide-spread evil is the
sewing done at schools for prices that no human be;ng
could gain a subsistence by. And the ladies you so justly
describe, as having obtained their work on such cruel
terms, will not give more than such prices. Many never
having made articles of the kind in their lives, have
no notion what time and trouble they require, and
that nothing but actual starvation will induce any
one for a short time to undertake them ; for, alas !
work done and thus paid for is soon fatal. 1 have
known a poor widow walk four miles in a pouring
rain, to take home a little work, thus miserably paid for,
without any breakfast, for that she had no means of pro-
curing until this poor pittance was received ; kept waiting
at a house of great luxury until noon, and sent away with-
out money or food, because the lady could not be seen.
0 ! it is an easy thing to say to the poor, you should
work, but these are hard things to bear ; and paid as they
are, no wonder they become despairing. Industry is pa-
ralysed, and hence the fearful increase of crime in every
form and shape. Should any wish to remedy this evil, let
them form societies, pledging themselves to give a fair
price for sewing, and employ suitable persons to receive
and give out the work. A few such establishments would
soon put to shame this miserable private screwing of the
poor BY THE RICH, if fair prices were fixed for each arti-
cle, and the sewing done at schools regulated by the same
rule, for this is the originating cause of all this evil. Pay-
ing so little for it, and KNOWING SO LITTLE ABOUT IT,
ladies are really guilty of cruelty they would shudder to
contemplate. I have heard families in moderate circum-
stances,who ought to have done theirown work, say, " Oh !
why do you bore your eyes with stitching, you can get it
done almost for nothing, forgetting the life-blood expended
over it. And was the money thus saved better spent ?
O no ! it was given to obtain the materials to appease
conscience, or rather gratify self, by making some fashion-
able article for a bazaar, and thus deluge the town with
articles which formerly a poor family could have obtained
a livelihood by making, but which now they cannot sell.
Another very serious evil arises from the work procured,
as you SO TRULY DESCRIBE, from schools. Those girls
who sew the best are often deprived of that instruction
which should be the vital point, to finish some work that
muse be done. Another evil also arises from it. I have
known the poor mistress obliged to be up at two and three
o'clock in the morning, to fix the work for the folloyving
ednay. ter
as Now
sh ies
si
ht
opuolsds i
do,b le t
wh
rths hzes
zeal
la na
u, aftd
e eure
rsguyc,h
ifatigue,
work
knowmciß are
MORE IMPORTANT
obligedto h
part
el
p o
outf
theirteaching.funds
wish it was not so); but raise the price of work, and then
the inducement for the misnamed charity (but selfish be-
Mbayntyhe Schools
be-
nefit) would be done away with, and things would have a
better chance of being called by their right names. Of
the sufferings of the poor school-mistress about the work,
you might convince yourself by personal inquiry, though
she may not be aware of the injustice to those children
who can sew well, of leaving their poor souls altogether un-
cared for, that they may get the work done in time to
oblige some lady who must have it, or her favour and in-
terest is lost.

Purchasing ready-made linen is another source of evil,
which gives encouragement to a fearful amount of human
wretchedness, giving licence and opportunity for profit to
be extracted by the shopkeepers from their poor female
workers, WHILE THEY can parade a public donation to a
charitable Institution, and close their eyes to the wretched-
ness they cause to increase their gain.
Pray excuse these hastily-written words. Forbear cri-
ticism ; and may God make you instrumental in working
out this glorious cause. It is one I have reflected upon,
and I am thankful you have taken it up ; it is the only and
the best means to have it attended to; and I sincerely
hope you will continue to work it well into the public
mind, and not let them forget it.

" This year must be the year of work. If indepen-
dence be worth wearing, 'tis worth winning. If worth
winning, 'tis worth working for. Is it not securing food
to the peasant, who has the heart and hand to work,
while this island can fatten the beast, or fill the root or
the grain ? Is it not giving the artisan employment to
the utmost of our power ? Is it not the recovery of
wealth, the only hope of peace—our right as men, our
honour as a people ? Is not the assertion of indepen-
dence our own policy, our duty to posterity ? do not
history prompt, interest urge, and religion smile upon it?
If so, 'tis worth working for, fighting for, waiting for,
dying for. We said it, we swore it before God, in the
great temples which nature and history have consecrated.
We swore it aloud on the shrines of Cashel, the field of
Clontibret, the plains of Connaught, the blood-wet ashes
of Tara. Are we children who asked for a bauble, and
when 'tis refused cry, till, straightway, whipping or sweet
tastes console us, and we think no more of it?"
Nothing here of the possibility of being bought from
the contemplation of their cherished object, NATION-
ALITY, by the " sweet tastes " of whig measures of con-
cession ! No; the agitation for the dismemberment of
tchoernemmepniereed.muTsthegopafsotrwyead. I
year
was but
has
onoen!iyf'
preparation:
sepyaert been
:
this is to be TIIE YE AR OF %vont( I And what work 2
The restoration to office of a Whig ministry' ? The
pen-
sioning of a horde of Irish paupers? The fastening of
the Romish priesthood upon the revenues of England ?
Oh, no ! The " accumulating masses "—the "fresh
officers "—the " steady tramp'' the " dark patient
aspect"—of Ireland are- not for such petty objects as
these ! It is THE NATIONALITY OF IRELAND—her
erection into an independent kingdom—which is " worth
working for, fighting for, waiting for, dying for !"
And how is this nationality to be worked out? The
same organ informs us—by the sympathy of Canadian
repeaters, who are to give their aid to the native French
population, which is about to raise the banner of insur-
rection in that colony ! By the aid of America, who is
to pounce upon the British West Indies ! By the aid of
France, who is first to interfere with the weapon of
diplomacy, and then—but the present monarch of that
country, Louis Philippe, must first be removed ! He bars
the path upon which the loyalty of Repeal would fain
see the arms of France precipitated to strike at the great-
ness of England !
And is this, we ask you fellow-countrymen, an Agita-
tion to be tolerated—to be appeased by concession to
party in England or Traitors in Ireland ? OH NO !

A WELL-WISHER TO THE CAUSE.
10th January, 1844.

INFANTILE BENEVOL*CE.

" Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast per.
rected praise."—MATT. 'cid. 16.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

SlR,—The communication of the following simple but
deeply affecting narrative, through the columns of the
STANDARD, cannot fail *.o be interesting to all your
readers, and, I trust, may stimulate some of them to a
more active benevolence towards their numberless poor,
destitute fellow-creatures, who are ready to perish, with-
out food or clothing, in the cellars and alleys of this po-
pulous town.
Within a short distance of the Liverpool Exchange,
there is a large manufactory for spinning cotton, in which,
as usual, a great number of children are employed ; but
the praiseworthy proprietors (who ought to be held up as
an example to all other manufacturers throughout the
country) do not feel satisfied with reaping the fruits of
the labour of their poor children, without doing some-
thing for them in return they therefore endeavour to
promote, as far as they can, the present and eternal wel-
fare of the children in their employ, by kindly providing
a schoolmaster to attend them in their leisure hours, for
the purpose of imparting to their young minds religious
and useful knowledge, and instructing them in the duties
which they owe to their God and to their neighbour. An
humble, pious, Christian man, eminently qualified for
this important office, was a few months ago appointed the
schoolmaster in this establishment ; and the following
little anecdote will afford a beautiful proof of the good
practical effects of the religious instruction which his
little pupils have received from him, and at the same time
fully establish the great scriptural truth, that " the fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the know-
ledge of the Holy (One) is understanding." (Prey. ix. 10.)

The school, in addition to the children'who are em-
ployed in the factory, is also open, as a day and Sunday
school, to such of the children of the neighbourhood
whose parents are disposed to avail themselves of the
privilege. On one occasion, a short time ago, a little
piteous urchin (one of the day scholars) made his appear-
ance in the school, nearly half an hour after the usual
time of assembling, in the morning. On his kind master
gently reprov ng him, and inquiring the cause of his being
so late, the little fellow replied, that he had been to fetch
some medicine for his mother, who was sick. The master
then asked him, " Where is your father ? " The boy an-
swered, " Sir, he is dead." The master then, on putting
his hand on the boy's knees, (for it was scarcely light,)
discovered that he touched his flesh, and that, in fact,
the poor fellow was almost naked, having scarcely a rag
to cover him ! The master then made the following ap-
peal to the boys in the school :—" Boys, here is a poor
lad just come into the school, who has lost his father,
and has a sick mother, and has no clothes to cover him :
what shall we do for him ? " " Help him," was the uni-
versal response. " But how can we help him ? " again
asked the master. " With our money," was 'the imme-
diate reply. " Are you willing to do so ?" " Yes, we
are, as far as we can." The master then gave one of the
boys a sheet of paper, and told him to collect their sub-
scriptions, and take down all the names and sums, and to
write such a heading to it as he thought proper. The
following was the little fellow's unassisted composition :
" Subscription for E. S., a poor boy without father,
with a sick mother, and his clothes are all in rags,
and it is now very cold.
" G. D., Secretary."
Then followed a long list of subscriptions, rising in
amount from a halfpenny to sixpence. to which several of
the parents contributed as well as the boys themselves,
until, with the addition of only half-a-crown by the bene-
volent proprietors of the mill, the requisite sum was
raised to provide a complete suit for the poor fatherless
boy—to which the proprietors also kindly added a suffi-
cient quantity of calico to make him a couple of shirts.
When the several articles were procured, the master
told his little " secretary" that he thought their kindness
would make a more lasting impression upon the poor boy
if lie were to say a few suitable words to him on pre-
senting him with the clothes; and desired him to write
down on paper whatever he thought would be proper.
The little fellow then penned the following address, which
he afterwards read to his delighted schoolfellow, on hand-
ing to him the new suit, which had been so kindly and
unexpectedly provided for him :
" E. S.—The boys of the Mills Day.school, pity-
ing your condition, as a poor boy without father and only
a sick mother, have made up our minds to help you, as
much as we can,—and we hope that you will be a good
boy, obedient to your teacher, love your school, and try
to love God with all your heart, for he has said I will be
a father to the fatherless, and He has said, Cry unto me
in the day of trouble and I will help you, for He will hear
an orphan's prayer. " G. D., Secretary.
" With our best wishes we give you these clothes.

THE CONDEMNED POACHERS.—A reprieve was re-
ceived at Kirkdale Gaol on Friday morning for four of
these convicts. The man on whom the sentence of the
judge will be carried into effect is, we understand, he who
actually committed the murder. The execution will take
place the latter end of the present week.
BANKRUPTCY COURT.—It is currently rumoured that
with a view of putting an end to the unseemly quarrels,
which, for some time past, have been going on between
Commissioners Skirrow and Phillips in this town, and
which have been attended with so much inconvenience as
well as annoyance to their subordinates, the Lord Chan-
cellor has signified his intention of removing Mr. Com-
missioner Skirrow to the Manchester Court of Bank-
ruptcy, and of appointing Mr. Commissioner Jemmett,
of M:inchester, to Mr. Sktrrow's place here. We believe
that the changes are desired by both commissioners.
EXTRAORDINARY INCIDENT IN TRAVELLING.—A
few nights ago, as the omnibus from Woodside to Liscard
and its vicinity was goLig along the Bidston road, the
driver was, by some accident or jostle, thrown from his
seat into the road. The horses, however, (accustomed,
probably to " a good whip,") went along at their usual
speed, and made the turn—at a right angle from the main
highway—towards the New Bridge, at Poulton, over
Wallasey Pool, proceeding throughout at their accustomed
pace. When they arrived at the toll-bar, which is at the
nearest end of the bridge, the gate was opened by the
person who receives the tolls without his observing, in the
hurry of the moment, that the driver non fuit inventus.
The horses proceeded, and made the turns through Poul-
ton, but at last got—missing the way in their anxiety,
probably, to do their best in gratitude for the kindly for-
bearance of the lash—got into a ditch in Mill-lane, when
some of the passengers got out without injury, and found
that " York was wanted." The missing driver soon
. turned up, and in a short time " all's right !" was an-
nounced.

THE ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE has again been success-
ful last week. The celebrated American giant, Mr. Charles
Freeman, was the "lion" of the night in the first piece
called " The Son of the Desert." The scenes in the circle
were varied and enlivening. The performances concluded
with " The Greek Renegade", a grand historical and mili-
tary pantomimic spectacle, exceedingly well got up, both
in dresses, machinery, and scenery. In the last scene of
the first act there is a terrific combat between the Greeks
and Turks, amongst the former of whom there are nu-
merous female warriors. At the close of the piece the
Greeks agree to immolation by blowing up the fortress in
which they are pent up, rather than submit to the cruelty
and brutality of their oppressors, the Turks, The maga-
zine is, after a solemn and affecting scene, blown up, and
they and their enemies on the ramparts without perish in
the explosion. The piece is strikingly interesting, though
not a word is spoken, and it has been so well received that
it will be repeated as an afterpiece during the present week,
the first piece being Valentine and Orson, (the part of the
latter by Mr. Freeman;) followed by a variety of horse-
manship, and numerous feats in the circle.

- .
" - Hills Day-school, Jan. 5, 1844,
Liverpool."
I would only further observe, that the references to the
Holy Scriptures, in the above touching address, at once
show the Christian principles which produced such
praiseworthy conduct ; and also that the age of this little
interesting " secretary" is only eleven!
Yours, truly,

SINGULAR ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENON.--Mr.
William Lassell, of Starfield, in a letter to the editor of
the Times, calls the attention of astronomical readers to a
rare and beautiful exhibition of the planets which will for
a few days adorn the south-western sky. He states that,
" on Saturday, the 13th instant, all the planets of our
system will be clustered together, and if the atmosphere
be clear, may be all seen with the naked eye, except the
two most distant, Saturn and the Georgium Sidus. The
former of these will be a little too near the sun to allow
its pale light to be discerned, and the latter under any
circumstances requires a powerful telescope to recognise
it distinctly. Veuus, from its surpassing brilliancy, will
first appear, and may be easily seen shortly after four
o'clock, or about sunset, having an altitude of about 12
to 13 degrees. About seven degrees west of her, and at a
lower altitude, Mercury will appear, Saturn being about
13 degrees west of Mercury, and too close to the horizon
to be seen. About 12 degrees east of Venus will be the
place of Jupiter, and 23 degrees east of Jupiter, Mars will
appear. About six degrees further to the east than Mars
will be the place of the Georgium Sidus, which at sunset Whitehall, Jan. 4, 1844.
will have an altitude of about 31 degrees, so that if any Stu,—As upon the meeting of parliament, on 'rims,
imaginary line be drawn in the sky about 65 degrees long, day, the 14 of February, public business of importance
one end of which shall touch the sun when in the berizon• will be proceeded with immediately, I take the liberty of
and the other end terminate eastward at an altitude of 31 earnestly requesting your attendance in the House of
degrees, The planets will all be situated nearly in that line, Commons on that day.—l have the honour to be, Sir,
1, with the exception of Venus, which will be situated some I Your obedient and faithful servant,
two degrees south of it. ROBRRT PSEL.

A FRIEND TO THE LITTLE ONES.

SEIZURE OF BUTTER AT BpoisLEY.—An extensive
seizure of butter was made last Saturday in Barnsley mar-
ket, by the agents of the lord of the manor, who on going
through the market to try the weights of the butter ex-
posed for sale, found upwards of seventy pounds short
weight, which was accordingly seized, and has since been
given to the poor.
EXECUTION AT STAFFORD.—At eight o'clock on Sa-
turday morning, Sarah Westwood, aged 45, convicted at
the late special assizes for the murder of her husband, in
the month of November last, at Burntwood, by adminis-
tering arsenic in some gruel, was executed in front of the
county gaol, in the presence of an immense number of
persons. She declared her innocence to the last.

THE MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.—The following cir-
cular has been addressed to the conservative members o,
the House of Commons :