Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1845-03-27


by her loathsome trade. She was nc
more than seven years of age, with to
slight form for the load she continue
to heap upon her basket. Her bod
was wrapped in sort Of frock, with
1 string tied about her waist, so tattere
and polluted that its color could not b
known. She was barefoot; wore abou
her temples the brim OLA straw bonnet
stained with dirt and smoke, with whicl
she continued to half conceal her face
In her bosom was piece of Whit
bread, which, with her unwashed hands
she occasionally applied to her mouth
without interruption to her business
Much as | had heard of want and DIES.
titution in England, neither the speech
es IN parliament, books Of travels, moi
yet the reports of factory commissioners
had prepared me for this appalling
spectacle!
AS entered Lord street, the forms
of misery began to vary and multiply.
Whole families of men, women, and
children, half naked, barefoot, in rags,
shivering in the cold, lean and gaunt
from hunger, without a hut to shelter
them from the storm, or pillow OF
Straw whereon to lay their heads
They emerge daily from the crooked
alleys and putrid cellars on the frontiers
Of the town, into the principal streets,
where they strive by all sorts Of artifce
and beseeching gestures, to excite at
tention and awaken compassion. The
fathers and mothers held each one, and
sometimes two infants in arms, with O.
Their children at their sides, all walking
in the middle Of the streets, singing
in Joint chorus some coarse ballad, de-
scriptive Of their sufferings. One ofthe
men preached sort Of sermon setting
out his misfortunes-that he had labor
ed in factory which had failed-that
he was out OF employment and could
find none-that his children were STAR
wing, and concluded with an exhorta-
tion 10 charity. This revolving scene
SO engrossed my attention, that l hard
" saw edifice or equipage; needed not
the array of shops or uproar of com
merce. Nothing could l hear orsee
but these unhappy sufferers, disinheri-
ted and disowned by the very institu-
tons under which they were born!
When in the evening / spoke of their
condition, was told they deserved no
pity; that they dissipated their time and
in taverns and ginshops. Alas!
poor wretches! they do indeed drink
that they may forget, and better for
them could they hide themselves in
their graves, where sorrow cannot en-
ter, and the wrath of man cannot pur.
sue. M -esl
In the afternoon l made an excursion
Of siRIe al'g ss Chester, one Of the
oldest towns in the kingdom, and seat
of power under the kings of the Hep
tarchy. 1t is surrounded by a wall, on
whose broad undulating surface | made
the entire circuit Of the city, overlook
ing the antique grotesgue houses and
torturous streets, and the distant hills
and valleys of Wales beyond the Dee.
On the fourth day / went by railroad
to Manchester, whose population is
employed in carding, spinning, weav-
ing and bleaching six hundredthousand
bags of cotton, brought from three con-
tinents of the earth.
AT two o'clock / rambled along the
streets, inhabited by those who work
in the manufactures, called operatives,
to distinguish them from the laborers
who cultivate the ground. | had not
gone far, before I met a group compos-
| ed, as in Liverpool, offather and moth.
er with infants in their arms, leading
two little girls by the hand. They also
| sung ballads, and asked for charity
| A window flew up opposite to them
and penny fell from the third story
One Of the girls picked it up, while thu
father, perceiying he had caught my
attention, approached to tell me he hae
eaten nothing that day; that they ha'
been at work in a cotton-malt, as n
/ called it, but were turned out OF employ
1 ment. He was barefoot, as were tn
children, tho the keen winds were &C q,
i companied with rain that fell upon tn
half.melted snow. The wife wor
4 shoes, and, as far as ] could discover
i but one garment Of dirty cloth that So
! fight about her body, leaving her arm
and legs exposed to the weather. IN
eldest girl appeared to be about ten,
1.-The other six years ofage. Both extef
!. ded their hands in beseeching po'
-}tufe, but said nothing. Their ski
II were visible thro' the greasy rags tn
$ hung about their stinted frames; the