Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-08-20
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DnliaQIDlOpiSAS nave Bocu DNSS ny
themselves, and through those whom
they have inOculated with their own
Righteousness for about Ia century,
in extirpating the accused thing all
over the world, but this is what Lord
Shaftesbury, ia the House OF Lords,
saws he saw in the bricknelds, and
there are 10000 such animated pillars
Of clay in happy England:
AS / approached / saw in the dis
lance what appeared to me to be eight
or ten short pillars Of clay, such rs ]
supposed had been erected to indi-
cate the depth to which the clay had
been excaVated. / walked up to
them, and, to nay establishment, l
found that they were human beings,
but so like the ground on which they
stOOd-their features were SO 1ndis-
tinguishable, their dress so absolutely
covered with clay, their flesh SO like
their dress-that I assure your lord
ships that till [ approached them and
saw them move / firmly believed that
they were Jumps of the soil. When l
came close they appeared to be scared
at the sight Of any n not resem'
bling themselves, and ran away seram-
bling, as if something satanic had APP
preached. IsaW a number OF little
children, three parts naked, tottering
under their burden of wet clay, which
was dripping all down their shoulders
and faces, while some little girls were
struggling along, holding in their shifts
a mass of wet clay. Moreover, the
unhappy children were exposed to the
most sudden transitions OF cold and
heat, and, after carrying their bur
dens of wet clay in the open air, had
to endure the heat of the kip, which
was so fierce that i was not able to
remain more than one or two minutes.
Could anything more degrading,
more hurtful to body and mind be
conceived? Could it be denied that
they had brought down these
men, women and children to a point
of suffering aud humiliation that made
them lower in the scale than the, beasts
Of the field? No msn could visit such
scenes who had in him the sentiments
of a man or the feelings of a Christian
without saying that it was a disgrace
to the country that they should be al
lowed to continue for a moment lon
ger; and he hoped, after the appeal
he now made, that not a day would
be allowed to pass before her Majesty
was addressed and asked to interpOse
her authority, and tOdeclare that such
denominations should end. Let it not
be said that the ~sufferings Of these
haDleSs children were OccaSiOned by
the poverty and necessities of their
parents. It was but too certainly
too true-as I have myselfseen in only
many cases-that the avarice and Gu
pidity of the parents had sti1ed in
them all the feelings Of natural affec-
ton, and these little children were
sent to slave in these brick6elds in or
der that they might minister by their
earnings to the luxury and rapacity of
their parents. The evidence of the
master bricklayer showed that "per-
sons in receipt Of 60, "a, or s5 wages
a week, send their children to work
In the clay fields for a few shillings,
while the parents themselves are riot
ing in pot houses in every form of
beastly luxury"
The Bishop Of LOndon-in whose
diocese are many OF these brickfieIds
the Earl of Morley, and ViscOunt
Middleton, followed the Earl of Shat.
tesbury, and each disclosed some new
horror. 1t appears that the brick
fields are divided into sections, each
worked by a separate gang" the
man at the head Of it paying it.
"a gang consists Of two strong
men, one woman, and three
children. Each gang is only
enough to carry out the work
assigned to it, and if any q Of its
members is absent the whole gang has
o stop work. The committee appoint
ID to inquire into the state of the
agricultural labOrers had disclosed the
of an appalling amount of
yice-but great as that was it fell short
If what might be seen and heard
very day in the briekfelds. There
vas among the Wretches condemned
o this toll ''an utter absence of modes.
Y, vice beginniDgat an age when vice
to be utterly unknown, stunted
rame5 arising from OVerwOrk and
indulgence, songs and stories |.
I an improper character, young
universally becoming mothers
efOre they were wives, and bringing
p their children TO the same Wretched
AiC ~ WHICH AAkCJ lACLhoO1NN5 hdA
cen brought up long before they /
Ould be considered accountable
Lord Shsftesbury's motion was
greed to, and her Msjesty-that is to
ny, the GOvernment-is consequent
requested "tO take into c~onsidera- |
on" the state of these wretches.
God heaven! ITO take into cOnsid-
ratiOn"-tbat is all. Perhaps, in
wen years more, "her Majesty" may !
nd time to recommend legislation in |
9hali Of this $4,000 of her children. S
ut more important things just now
aim the attention of the Legislature. {
he ides of July are at hand; grouse I
lOOting commences on the 18th of s
.Ugust, and the session must end on I
le S5h. The Parliament has no time I
bother its head about the misery of ;
900 children; it is far more impOr- [
Mt to spend night after night in de- q
Iting the bill to give the ballot to .
e fathers of those children, or urging I
bill appropriating e6000 a year for t
,ung Prince Arthur. a