, 1877-01-06
English Sketches.


upon havi1 the biggest things out V
but am not sure that any American
trade can match our big home demon.
strations in the mining districts Every
American who reads the general English,
as well as tdc London, press, will know
that once year each large North Coun-
try Miners Union gathers itself together,
and holds high holiday, with flags flying
and bands plaSlng The only amuse-
ment provided is--spccches A few
weeks before the appointed day every
coliery votes for the public speakers
most admired by the pitmu, and the
votes being all collected and counted,
the five or six names that stand Mt the
head Of the list are invited by the Union
to speak at the great meeting. Amongst
these chosen few, you will easily guess,
figures the radical orators namc that of
Charles Brndlaugh, and for several years
past both Northumberland and Durham
have duly summoned him as their spe'
clal pet and favorite,
The Durham meeting was held on
July 3d, and was one Of the largest the
Union has ever called together. One pa
per estimates the crowd at 100000; hut
from one Of the officials of the Union we
learn that more accurate estimate
void he G5,000. A mighty gathering,
surely, nnd one not to be overlooked, for
these $4,000 are steady, diligcnt, sober
men and women. "Roughs" are con.
spicuous hy Their absence; not one
drunkard is to be seen. They are an as
srmbmge Of decent moral toilers, shrcwd
and hard headed withdl, with the stern
northern force and energy in their hearts,
and the northern strength in their limbs,
In northumberland. Durham, Yorkshi ire
is the backbone Of England Hearty to
friend, and terrible to foe, arc these sons
of the north. Slow to move, but ire
,istahlc when moved not quick to an,
ger, but also not quick To pacify when
reused. Among these men mn army
might very easily be raised which would
be "had to beat"
Notwithstanding bands and banners
there was no thought Of war in Durham
city. High over all rose the beautiful
cathedral, gray with age, grandly ina
icstic in outline Almost rs high rose
the ancient castle. with its mighty tow
crs, and these two buildings, symbolic
of the religion and the war of the past
formed the background Of the miners
gathering And truly was the old Ca
thedral but u symbol Of the past to these
steady toilcrs for they are divided in.
to two religious camps, and few, com
paratively, are the stragglers that do not
belong either to the one or to the other.
One camp bears one flag, and free
thought is the watchword of its soldiers,
The other carries the banner on which
Wesley's name is emblaloned. And Be.
tween these camps is there not, after all,
one bond of union3 Both typily revolt
against tradition both symbolic rebel
lion against authority. The Wesleyaus
in days gone by, as we to-day, rejected
the ecclesasticism in which they were
born, aud asserted their right to think
out and frame their own religion. Wes-
lpyanism is now an ecclesiastical system,
as much imposed on each generation as
is the Church but let something Of the
sturdiness of its origin is in it still, and
it attracts some of the most independent
minds who embrace the Christian creed,
doubt if the Church OF England can
produce, from its present army, so able
and clear thinker as d.. Punshon, the
Wesleyan leader.
To return, however, to our miners.
They gathered in Durham race courses to
listen to the speeches, and on the broad
green two platforms had been erected, so
as to divide the great crowd into two
audiences. 1t was sight worth seeing,
thot dense mass Of human faces, pressed
close together, round the platform on
every side. And one special point to be
remembered is the intense enthusiasm
with which the speaker was greeted who
is the prominent republican orator Of the
day. Others had been welcomed cordi
ally, but here was simple passionate wei