The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1825-05-19
ToR THE yTn5INlAN.
LORD BYRON'S MAIDEN SPEECH

The follow ing curious and characters
/ tic speech was delivered 10 the House ol
/ Lords, or the subject Of the NOTHING ham RI
OTIS, occasioned By their Improvements IN
the manufacturing machinery, which, by
enabling one workman TO do the work of
j twenty, necessarily threw a great number
"f hands out of employment. 1t WAS writ
ten before its delye.y, and the manuscript
was presented to Mr. Dallas, his relative
from whose Interesting RcCaisctioasme ex.
tract ii:
My LoRps
"The subject now submitted 10
your Lordshps, for the first time, though
new to the House, is by no means, new 1"
the country. hee,e il had occupied the
| serious thoughts of N description. of per-
| sons hong before its introduction to the no
tee of that Legislature whose interference
| alone could be of real service. Asa per
son in some degree connected with the snf-
fering county, Though stranger, moi
only to this House in general, but to almost
every individual whose attention | pre-
sumo to solicit, | must claim some por-
lion of your Lordships' indulgence, whilst
| offer a few observations on Il question in
which feel myself deeply interested. To
enter into any detail Of these riots would be
supernuous the House is already awdrc
that every outrage short Of actual blood
she'd has been perpetrated eand that the
proprietors of The frames obnoxious In the
rioters and all persons supposed to he con
nectcd with them, have been liable 10 insult
and violence. During the short time | re
Gently passed in Motifs, not twelve hours e
lapscd without somt fresh act Of violence !;
and, on the day left the county, was
informed that forty frames had been bro
ken the preceding evening as usual, with
ont resistance aud without detection. Such
was tlen the state of that county, and
such ] have reason To believe il IN be at
this moment. But whilst these onlragrs
must be admitted to exist to an alarming
extent, il cannot be denied that they have
arisen from circumstances of the most un
paralplpd distress. The perseverance, Of
these miserable men in their proceed
ings, tends to prove that nothing but abso !
Lutte want could have driven a large and
once honest and industrious body uf the
people into the commission of excess
rs 80 hazardous to themselves, their
! families and tire community. Al the time
to which aliude, the town and county
were burthened with large attachments
of the military the police was IN motion,
the magistrates assembled, yet all these
movements, civil and military had led to-
nothing. Not a single instance had occur
red Of the apprehension of any real driin
uuent actually taken III the fact, against
whom there existed legal evidence suill
Gent for conviction. But the police, how
ever useless, were by 40 means idle Sc
veraI notorious delinquents had been de
tected men liable 10 conviction, on the
clearest evidence, of the capital crime of
poverty men, who had been nriarIously
guilty of lawfully begcttnS several chi
dren, whom, thanks to the times thry
were unable TO maintain. Considerable
injury has been done 10 the prOprieiOrs Of
the improved frames. These machines
were to them m advantage, inasmuch as
they superseded the necessity of employ
/ ing n number Of workmeu, who were ltit IN
consequence to stafyc. By the adoption
of one species of frame in particular, one
man performed the work OF many, aud the
/ supernuous labourers were thrown ont OF
en1ployinrnt. Yet ii is to be observed,
1 that the work thus executed was inierbr
! in quality, not marketable AT home, and
merely hurried over with view tn ekpor
| tation. II WIS called. in the cant OF the
trade, by the name of Spider work. Inc
rejected workmep, in the blindness oil Their
| Ignorance, instead of rejoicing at ihese i'm
nroyenents in arts SO beneheal To man
! kind, conceived themselves to he sacrIiiced
| to Improvements IN mechanism In the
! roolishness Of their hearts, they ima5tnea