The Labor enquirer., 1885-01-17

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of my life, what have ! learned in nv
years Of living to bequeath = my most
precious legacy to humanity B ! reply
that my soul has two messages Of cohu.'
Bel, Of promise and Of threat, to elissr.,
One to the rich, the other to the poor,
THE two contain the sum Of human
bwisdom.
~ 1kfe 80 ~ -
slaves implore their rulers. Aud =
much now as in the days Of Spartan He
Ilots. ! am one of them and ! add my
voice to that Of the multitude that it
may reach the ears of the rich. Who
am I? One of the people. From whence
come I? From the bottomless pit. How
am I namedf am Wretchedness. Ny
lords, I have something to say to you.
Mylords, you are placed high. You
have power, opulence, pleasure. the sun
immovable at your zenith, unlimited au-
thority, enjoyment undivided, q total
forgetfulnes of others. So be 1t. But
there is something below you. Above
you perhaps. Mylords, ! impart to you
a novelty. The human race exists.
am he who comes from the depths.
Ny lords, you are the great and therich.
That is peri1ous, You take advantage of
the night. But have care; there is q
greater power, the morning. The dawn
cannot be vanquished. II will come. It
comes. 1t has withinlit the outbreak of
irresistible day. \ !,
You, you are the dark clouds Of privi-
] llege. Be afraid. The true master is
about to knock at the door.
\ What is the father of Privilege z
Chance. What is his son? Abuse.
Neither chance nor abuse is enduring.
They have, beth of them, an evil to-
morrow.
| felt it requisite that | should come
among YOU. WhyP Because of my yes
terday's rags. Ii was in order that my
voice might be raised among the satiated, J.
that God commingled me with the hum
gered. Oh have pity Oh you know
mot this fatal world, whereto5 you believe
you belong. So high, you are outside Of
/ it. I will you what 1t is.
Abandoned, an orphan, alonein bound
less creation, made my entry into this
+ fgio0@ fdat You 7EsI7 7,tsssgyyy.- .Fs nlst
thing saw was the law. under the form
Of gibbet; the second was wealth--it
is your wealth under the form Of g
woman dead of cold and hunger; the
third was luxury, under the shape Of 9
hunted man chained 60 prison walls; the
fourth was your palaces, beneath the
shadow of which covered the tramp.
The human race has been made by
you, slaves and conyicts. You have
made of this earth dungeon. Light is
wanting, air is wanting, virtue is wanting.
I come to}warn you. I come to de-
nounce to you your own bliss. It is made
out of the ills of others. Your paradise
is made out of the hell Of the poor. I
come to open before you, the wealthy,
the grand asslzes of the poor-that soy
erelgn who is the slave, that convlct.who
is the Judge. I am bowed down under
what l have to say. Where to begin !
know not. / have picked upin the cruel
experience of suffering, my vast though
struggling pleas. Now what shall | do
with them7 They overwhelm me and
throw them forth, pell-mell before me.
I am diver and bring up from the
depths p ,arl, the Truth. Ispeak be-
cause l know. Il have experienced. I
have seen. sutfering2 No, the word is
weak, O masters in blissl Poverty
have grown up in it; winter-I have
shivered in it famine-I have tasted it;
scorn-I have undergone it; the plague
Il haye had it; shame-I have drunk
of it. r..
The workers of this world whose fruits
you enjoy, live in death. There are little.
girls who begin at eight by prostitution,
and who end at twenty by old age. Who
of you haye been to NsWcastle-on-Tyne? ?
There are men in the mines who chew
1 coal to fill the stomach and cheat hunger.
Look you in Lancashire. Misery ever.
where. Are You aware that the Harlech
| fisherman eat grass when the fishery
fails2 Are you aware that at Burton
Lazersi there are still certain lepers
driven into the woods, who are fred at
if they come out of their dens2 In Peck.
fridge there are no beds in the novels,
and holes are dug in the ground for little
children to sleep in so that in place Of
beginning with the cradle, they begin
with the tomb.
Mercy, have mercy for the poorli Oh,
1 conjure you, have pity But no, you
will not. 1 know ye ALL Devils bred in
hell and dogs with hearts of stone. Up-
ward tolvour golden thrones for ages has
gone the cry of misery, the groan Of
hunger and the sob of dispair, and ye
needed not What mercy thou hast
given shall be meted out to you in turn.
/ Bear in mind that the series of kings
armed with the sword was interrupted
by Cromwell armed with an axe.
i Tremble! The incorruptible diasolu-
1 tions draw near the clipped talons push
out again: the torn out tongues take to-
| flight, become tongues Of fire scattered
| to the wind of darkness, and they howl