The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1842-03-24


in no Democratic railing about lords and ladies He
has with individuals his structures regard the
system which has produced and the arislocra
cy and he wishes to elicit the truth in regard to lis
real influence upon The interests of society He looks
dolcn into England, and that man cannot do W no
merely rolls her beautiful roads, rushes along
her railways. The surface of affairs in the queeny
island is smooth and brilliant, rery; and this, and this
only, some Travellers not observers, have seen. But
here We have one who dives down occas onally
into the depths of the human ocean, and when in the
streets or lanes of the Metropolis behold him sink
ing beneath the living wave may be sure that he
will soon emerge with pearl of truth 1t requires
strong effort ola strong mind to strip off from system
externally brilliant, what Carlyle calls the wrap
page, and observe what the thing really is that the
"wrappage" infods This, Mr.. Lester has endea-
vored to do with the great structure of English So
ciety, and though the time which he could devote to
the work was limited, he has exposed upon the 'bcdy
polite" some fostering ulcers, that we fear will defy
all remedies, except perhaps the knife He has not
permitted the blaze of jewels, the richer light
of titled lady's smile, to dazzle his eye that he
could no longer distinguish beggar, or famished
operative; he looked at these in their connection ioh
each other retaining still that old fashioned notion,
nearly obsolete it is true in English circles that
man thouga destitute of title, wealth, yea though
fed and lodged, and harder work ed than horse
has yet an immortal soul; ay, and certain rights to
which though power and oppression may wrench
them from him, will yet be demanded back with most
usurious interest. Looking at the peer and the beg
gar, side by side, observing that Gods image was
u,roI k,tb ha ! han hint tn
inquire into the wherefore Of their different fortunes
If refuses work few tears perhaps will be
shed, when he to the crust and water, even
should lack abundance of that. But when he is
ceiling to bend his muscles to the task when he
it as boon that he may be permitted to endure the
primeva curse yea and double that for daily bread, it
becomes one of the important questions ever
asked EARTH why he should not eat, and have shell
ter and raiment? A question not 10 be answered it
may be, till thrones shaken down, and coronets
trampled in the dust Standing in London, Liver
pool and Manchester the bright centres of Engan
glory and power, the rest of the world not OBJ
scured or forgotten. He remembered that allh ough
the island queen" may be magma purs," she is not
the whole-and he desired to look at Britain in her
connection with the nations, and observe the in
subjects at home but upon the world the fortunes Of
the In the great march of European ci'iliza-
ton, England confessedly leads the van Those
which hurrying all the nations of Chrisen
dom to the consummation whatever that may be, are
there working with greatest intensity. The system
which, in countries is just in the bud in Eng gland
already exhibits the rpenng fruit, and may form
judgment of its quality There, in all probability
will be gathered the first fruits" Of that fearful har
vest which is ripenng all the territory of Eu-
rope-a harvest that must be reaped perhaps with
much sweat of blood. England, therefore, is the
most favorable point from whonce to observe the &C
tual tendencies Of European civilization. The aim of
the whole scheme in Great Britain appears to be, to
coin at the least possible expense, the blood and mus
Gle Of the mass into cash for the few to revel with
while the souls cast out among the odds and ends
the rubbish of the factory. The labor-savng ma
chmery of England has produced, or is producing, 3
two-fold result 1t converts at cheap rate her raw
materials into the most beautiful and delicate fabric
that ever delighted the eye; by their means she lay
the world under contribution, but at the same tim'
there is manufacturing process going on with thou
sands of men, women, and children, born in Chris
tian land, by which they converted into practca
heather, into beasts in respect to their toll to which
result are added nakedness cold and starvation. This
is the legitimate inference from the facts which Mr.
Lester has collected and given to the American pub
lie. They not the results of his observation
solely. The most important statements extracted
from Parliamentary reports, and from England's owl
trusted writers. The author is most fully supported
in all his conclusions by less authority than Black
wood November number 1Sd1 The writer Of the
article upon the social and moral condition of the
manufacturing districts in Scotland" states few re-
suits of the manufacturing system as exhibited where
it has been attended with its most brilliant success in
Lanarkshire. The population has doubled within
ten years. OF the whole number, four hundred and
thiry-four thousand which the country contains,
there upwards Of one hundred thousand who are
not only unprovded with any accommodation, in any
place of worship but entirely destitute except by dis
tan report of religious impression and who live alto
gether without God in the world" The ratio OF
mortality has risen twenty-five per cent, and crime
has increased four times faster than population
These some of the fruits of the golden age of
manufacturing and commercial civilization. Eng
land pressing the great other population away
from the enjoyment of comfort away from all reli-
gious influence, or restraint, and when this living
biIlow becomes retoent what shall withstand its ter
rble power' There is point beyond which the
million cannot be pressed down. and then the rebound
of the human mind is terrific than the explosive
force Of the volcano, the heavng of the awful
surge Of the earthquake! Such statements as have
been quoted from Blackwood, and such as are con-
tanned in the Glory and Shame of England, are
fraught with fearful meaning. They are the fright
full shadows of coming events. They speak in tones
deep and startling those Of signal g,n-they are
like the far off roar of the cannon which arrested the
dancers on the morning of Waterloo.
Mr.. Lester writes not only in an attractive, but