The Manchester Examiner. — 1848-05-20 (Manchester, Greater Manchester, England)

LOVER OF PROGRESS.  A MANCHESTER PHILANTHROPIST. To the Editor of the Manchester Examiner. Sir ,—When a lord, or a duke, or other great man, returns to this country, after what is called a successful campaign— or in other words, after he has ravaged by means of fire and sword, recklessly shedding the blood of his fellow-men, blackening every footstep by the most unholy deeds, uprooting orchards, burning cottages, and murdering the inmates thereof, causing woe and desolation at every turn he takes, bringing down the grey hairs of thousands of wretched parents with sorrow to the grave, and leaving thousands more of fatherless children, husbandless wives, and crippled wretches to execrate his name, he returns, exulting to those who sent him on his infernal errand, and unblushingly demands his reward; and, instead of being shunned as a felon and a murderer, he is received with every mark of unbounded joy and gladness; he is hailed as a hero, a conqueror—the church bells ring—votes of thanks are passed and presented to him by both houses of parliament—inonuments are erected in commemoration of his high and noble daring; and last, though not least, this scourge of his kind is rewarded out of the pockets of the people, for doing that by wholesale which, if he had performed by retail, would have elevated him to the block or the gallows. How different IS the case of the warrior .and the philanthropist! I will take the case of Thomas Taylor, the Manchester philanthropist, for although his labours have never been publicly noticed or rewarded, I hope the time is not far distant when the friends of temperance in this city will bestir themselves, by placing that good old man (who has already lost entirely the sight of one eye, and partially that of the other) above the chance of ever being smitten by the cheerless hand of poverty,. He commences his employment at half-past five o'clock in the morning, and his labours end for the day at half-past six. Immediately on leaving his employment, he hurries home, washes, and snatches a hasty repast—and then, in scores of cases, wends his way to some railway or omnibus station, and departs for some neighbouring town—it May be Stockport or Bury, or Altrincham or Stretford— and after earnestly and eloquently pleading the cause of temperance, economy, and cleanliness, always to an attentive audience (for be never fails in riveting the attention of his hearers) for an hour or more, he once more resumes his staff, and turns his face towards Manchester, where he arrives generally by eleven or twelve o'clock, after a walk in the dark, and all but totally blind, of from five to nine miles. And at holiday times he may be found at Glossop, or Crewe, or Nantwich, trying to persuade men to be sober; and well able is he to demonstrate the value of his principles, for he has not tasted intoxicating drink or animal food for the last thirty-five years. All honour to him, he has done a large amount of good in his day, and he deserves well at the hands of his fello'w-men; and surely the men wll9 have reaped so much benefit by following his advice, will not grudge to assist when the movement commences for purchasing him a small annuity; and surely his fellow-worker.s will not be unwilling to contribute, to the utmost of their ability, towards laying up comfortably in the winter of old