The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1871-04-01

UEhALU MAO0G4t
The ranks OF labor have produced many
noble-hearttd singers men of stern purpose
and heroic nature, in whose ringing, i'm
passioned outbursts of song the most super
ficial of observers can scarcely fail to de-
tect something of the history of the poet
Of his slow and painful march from dark
ness into light, and Of his fierce struggle,
hand to hand and face to face, with the
gloomy cares, agonizing trials and bitter
sorrow, which SO frequently beset tie
pathway to life Of poverty and toll. Such
men seldom forget the order from which
they have sprung Their greatest glory is
to become the chosen interpreters Of the
people to chant the glorious aspirations Of
the children of toll. and to become the
welcome messengers Of the happy days yet
in store for those whose lot is generally one
of pain and hardship.
SO it was with Gerald Massey, who has
fought bis way to the temples gate, sword
In hand. When be had emancipated him
self from the burdens which bad pressed SO
heavily upon bis earlier life, and gained
reputation envied by many, he said, with
simple yet touching patbOs I" retain my
verses as memorials Of my past, as one
might keep some worn-out rment, be
cause be has passed through the furnace in
it; nothing doubling that in the future they
will often prove my passports to the hearts
and homes Of thousands Of the poor They
will know that have suffered their suffer
ings, wept their tears, thought their
thoughts, and felt their feelings, and they
will trust me-"
None but one who had experienced the
saddsst strials ef s.-t.sle-,s Efe ooald have
spoken thus, and Gerald Massey was no ex-
ception TO the rule. Born in 1923, the son
of canal boatman, residing at Trng, Eng
land, Gerald Massey, while yet 10y, had
to learn to work for bis living AT an age
when other children were at school, or
gathering buttercups in the fields, young
Massey was toiling in a silk mill He was
only eight years old, yet be bad to rise at
five in the morning and work until balfpast
six in the evening. No matter whether il
was summers heat or winters cold, sun
shine or rain, the poor child bad to be a.
his post and woe to him if be was belated
If he was not within the gate by the time
that the factory bell bad ceased ringing! A
fine, however little, had sensible effect IN
on the I'd, Is, or Is, 3D., which formed
the respective amounts received by the child
for his labor. Can we wonder that in after
years the thoughts of his cbld-lfe should
have nerved his muse into some Of those
bold, fiery utterances which sank so 1eeply
into the hearts Of those who heard them
At last the mill was burnt down. and young
Massey stood for twelve hours in the cold
wind and sleet, rejoicing at the destruction
OF what, to him, had seemed little better than
a prison.
After this he went to straw plating
The Reports of the Children's Employment.
Commissioners have told US few Of the
evils of child labor in this trade, but Gerald
Massey tells us more. The nature of the
work and the unhealthy character Of the
district in which it was followed led to the
workers in young Massey's neighborhood
constantly having severe attacks of aguc
For three years the future poet suffered
from this complaint, which ended in tertian
ague. Sometimes four Of the family and
the mother lay i'll at one time, all cryinr
with thirst, with no one to give them drink,
and each too i'll to help the other Is it
surprising that, when the iron had sunk
thus deeply into the poets nature his first
utterances should issue in the shape Of
fierce, passionate denunciations Of the
various disparities Of our social life But,
Chartist and Republican as the hoy after
wards became, there was something in him
which led him to gaze above the iarring.
creeds Of political life. and to sing of the
eternal brotherhood Of man.
Poor as his mother was, she bad a kind
and good heart The cares Of the harshest
poverty bad failed to deaden her maternal
instincts, and. as in the case Of many others
who have gained for themselves a reputa-
ton, il was to bis mother that Gerald
Massey owed much of all that was great
and noble in him. She sent him, whenever
possible, to the penny school, where he
learned to read, and where the desire to
read became awakened. The Bible and
Bunyan's " "Pilgrin's Progress were the
principal books to which the boy had ac-
cess Afterwards Robinson Crusoe y
was added to the list Henceforth TIE life
of Gerald Massey was divided between his
work and bis attempts to gratify the intel
lectual warnings which bad been awakened
within him Then came the moment when
the first inspiration Of the poet flashed
within his mind Tie had become an cr-
rand boy, and while acting as such in ls4s
the news Of the French Revolution came
to the town in which he worked. The ef-
feet upon the mind Of Massey was clectrl-
cal To use his own words, il was Scared
and blood burnt into the very core Of his
being lie could no longer restrain him
self He must either sing OF die. He
must breathe aloud q ~" world what he
believed to be the wrouGs &c his order, aud
denounce, in burning language, the acts oi
: those whom be regarded AZ wroEg-docrs
Led away BY the enthusiasm of he nature
BE started, 10 April, l849 a small c1aTse-