worthy of an exalted mind. By communicating this feeling of self-respect, it frequently and effectually aids the moral sentiments in resisting temptations to vice. Several individuals in whom the organ is large, have stated to me, that they have been restrained from forming improper connexions, by the overwhelming sense of self-degradation excited in their minds by the mere prospect of such a circumstance; and that they believed their better principles might have yielded to temptation, had it not been for the support afforded to them by the instinctive impulses of Self-esteem."

Believe me to remain, &c.

ROB. COX.

ARTICLE III.

FACTORIES' REGULATION-BILL.

WERE the question at issue between the manufacturers and the Legislature, as to abridging the hours of labour for children, one merely of pounds, shillings, and pence, we would pass it over without notice. But, convinced as we are that it involves directly the moral and physical wellbeing or suffering of a large class of society, and indirectly the future character and prosperity of the nation, we feel ourselves called upon to express our sentiments in strong and intelligible language.

For some months past, the whole body of master manufacturers and spinners has been held up to public reprobation and indignation, as the hard-hearted and deliberate oppressors of the poor operatives and children, whose lives and comforts are wantonly sacrificed, for the purpose of swelling the coffers, and adding to the luxuries of men already rolling in wealth; and the natural consequence has been, a stirring up of passion and pity on the one hand, and of factious opposition on the other, which are alike inimical to sound and discerning legislation. In our view, the master manufacturers are neither more cruel nor more kind than the average of men of their own rank and of other professions, and we do not believe that half a dozen of them exist in the empire, who would knowingly and deliberately subject the children in their employ to wanton cruelty. But in expressing this opinion of them individually, we must be allowed to add, that, as a body, they seem to have sanctioned a system of labour, which, however blind they may be to its results, is in reality not less oppressive than it is injurious and demoralising. We know and admit the difficulties with which the spirit of competition has surrounded the masters, and the almost impos

sibility of any of them restricting their operations within limits which are exceeded by the rest, however desirous they may be of following the dictates of common sense and sound morality; but for this very reason, if the present hours of labour be oppressive, the Legislature is bound to interfere with a law which shall place all on the same footing, and effectually prevent the selfish from reaping advantages over their more humane and conscientious competitors.

Numerous meetings of cotton-spinners and manufacturers have of late been held, to petition Parliament against the proposed limitation of the labour of children to ten hours a-day, and to deny that the present system is either oppressive, or disagreeable to the operatives themselves. The consequences of such limitation, they assure us, will be fearfully calamitous: we shall be unable to compete with the foreign manufacturer; the greatness of England will fade away; profits will altogether cease; wages will fall; and the now half-fed children and weavers will be thrown out of employment, and placed in danger of actual starvation.

Leaving the question of oppression to be settled farther on, we think it right to declare, that our apprehension of mischief is not nearly so great as that expressed by the masters, and that, as every man is proverbially a bad judge in his own cause, we lay no great stress on these melancholy forebodings; for we doubt if, in the history of the world, any change was ever made, altering even for the better the arrangements we had long been accustomed to, which was not instantly met with the same cry of “ruin and disaster" by those most interested in its accomplishment. And even if our manufactures were to suffer, this would still form no reason why thousands of our population are to continue subjected to a demoralising and exhausting system of over-labour. We, however, do not believe that the masters would suffer. Our conviction is that they, as well as their operatives, would gain by the change.

It is impossible for us to make an analysis of the mass of evidence contained in the Parliamentary Report, and fortunately it is not necessary for our purpose; for even the Glasgow and other Scottish spinners, in their petitions against the proposed bill, distinctly admit the fact, that young children now work for TWELVE hours a-day, even in Scotland, where the evils of the factory-system are not regarded as so flagrant as they are in Eng

We shall pass over the charge of cruelty also, and confine ourselves to the one grand feature of the bill.

The question resolves itself into this,-Is daily labour for twelve hours more or less than the human constitution, before the age of maturity, can bear with impunity? If it is more,

no consideration of gain ought to be allowed to stand for a moment in the way of granting the necessary protection which the law owes to the young, and which every civilized country would feel morally disgraced, were it to deny to any class of its subjects. If, on the other hand, it is less, the sooner the fact is proved, and the manufacturer delivered from the odium now hanging over him, and a proper understanding is restored between him and the labourers, the better for all parties.

In order to solve the problem, we may consider the present system of protracted labour as it affects a few of the principal functions of the human body, viz. the muscles and bones, or or gans of motion; the brain and nervous system; the digestive organs; and the organs of respiration.

It is a well-known fact, that, at birth, the BONES are soft, and almost of the nature of cartilage, and do not acquire their greatest solidity and strength till after maturity; so that they often become bent when the child is induced to attempt to walk too soon, or is exposed at any subsequent period to exertion inconsistent with the degree of strength which he has at the same time attained. When we measure the state of the factory children by this test, we find it established, by both the manufacturing and medical witnesses, that deformity is unusually prevalent among them, and that several of the most able men in the profession ascribe the circumstance unhesitaingly to over-work acting upon the bones and distorting them, while their growth is unfinished and their structure comparatively soft.

When the muscles are duly exercised, the individuals gain in flesh and in strength, and growth is promoted. But when the exercise is excessive, they waste away, and become feeble and stunted; and no subsequent care is sufficient to repair the injury thus sustained. On this account, the utmost attention is paid not to over-work young horses, as a single occurrence of this kind might destroy their value for ever. In estimating the labour of factory children by this standard, we cannot hesitate for a moment to declare it greatly beyond the limits which the constitution can bear; for a mass of facts proves, that their growth is retarded on an average nearly two years, and that few, if any, ever attain the robust development and muscular vigour possessed by children of the same age and circumstances not so laboured; while it is known that many who were previously healthy, become thin, feeble and wretched, from the day they enter the mill. Well, then, might Mr Brodie declare, that even four or five hours' work daily was more than enough for children of nine or ten years of age. It is said that the work is so light and easy that it cannot be injurious; but it is well known that the monotonous repetition of the same unvaried

movements, however light, is, when continued long, more exhausting than harder work which is varied, and not carried to

excess.

The same rule applies to exercise of the mind and nervous system. If the various mental powers and moral feelings be called into regular play, the mind acquires strength, readiness, and activity; but when the attention is kept constantly fixed upon one object, and is deprived of all variety and relief, the mental powers become enfeebled and stinted in their development, and the nervous system prone to disease. On referring to the evidence to see to what extent this law is observed, we find the witnesses decided and unanimous in their complaints of the dulness, heaviness, and sleepiness of the children, and the impossibility of keeping them awake at school, or exciting them to farther application after their labour is done; while several of the medical witnesses notice the frequency of convulsions, typhus and other diseases, arising from exhaustion and debility of the nervous system. To such an extent, indeed, is this exhaustion carried, that, in many mills, corporal punishment is, or was, regularly resorted to in the latter part of the day, to produce that wakefulness which nature can no longer maintain, and in consequence, almost all the accidents from entanglement with the machinery happen towards the end of the day, when attention becomes obtuse.

It is a well known fact, that the animal system requires supplies of nourishment proportioned to the labour which is undergone. But on examining the cotton and spinning mills, we find this condition of health also grossly infringed. When the body is growing, food requires to be not only nourishing, but copious and well digested; and when labour is resumed immediately after eating, digestion is impaired, and the animal powers oppressed. Thus, if a dog be hunted immediately after eating a hearty meal, and killed on its return, the food is found lying in the intestines almost unchanged. Every one must be conscious, indeed, of unfitness for exertion after meals. In many of the factories, however, so far is this law of nature set at defiance, that no pause is allowed, and the unhappy wretches are obliged to eat in mouthfuls, as they can best snatch a moment for the purpose, while their food, from the lowness of their wages, is at best insufficient to maintain them in vigour, and is often spoiled by the floating dust. Is it to be wondered at, then, that want of appetite, bad digestion, and sallow unhealthiness of look, are prevalent among children so situated?

A constant supply of pure fresh air is another indispensable condition of health. Without it the food cannot be converted into proper blood as it passes through the lungs, and without well-made nourishing blood no part of the system can thrive.

In many manufactories and mills this condition is infringed to such an extent, from the nature of the processes carried on, the dust floating in the air, the high temperature and confined air of the apartments, and the number of persons employed in them, that few arrive at maturity without contracting some form of pulmonary disease, either asthmatic or consumptive, from which many never recover.

Such are the melancholy effects of the protracted labour of children in factories, Add to them, that in many stages of the operations, the temperature requires to be kept constantly as high as the average of tropical climates, viz. from 70° to 90°, and the results will appear still more frightful. We know how much opposed to continued exertion the climate of India is even in the open air, and yet here, in our moral country, we have children working from twelve to fifteen hours a-day, in a climate equally hot, and infinitely more contaminated by impurities of every description. But, bad as this is, the mischief unfortunately does not stop short at the physical degradation of the manufacturing population. Where the physical powers are broken down and exhausted by excessive labour, the moral and intellectual faculties, which are connected with the physical organization, must inevitably suffer in proportion, and give rise to ignorance, restlessness, and crime. It will not do to confine ourselves to merely lamenting the increasing turbulence of the industrious classes, and to punishing their violation of the law. If we wish to preserve them and the institutions of society, we must improve their condition as the most effectual barrier which can be raised against the commission of crime. Secure to them a larger share of health and comfort, and good order and morality will develope themselves in proportion. It is difficult to restrain beings already desperate, and whose whole existence is one scene of severe and exhausting labour and suffering. It is the superior comfort, leisure and education of the middle and higher classes which preserves them from crimes, and the same conditions will do more to improve the manufacturing classes than all other means put together. But if the system of over-working and under-feeding, of mental exhaustion and physical degradation, be continued, it requires no prophet to foretell what the tremendous result may be. Already there is a spirit alive in the manufacturing districts, which may yet be guided and turned to good, but which, if harshly trampled upon and contemned, will not leave it long doubtful whether our improvements in machinery and manufactures are not, by our misuse of them, to be converted into a curse upon the nation, instead of what God intended them to be, a blessing for the relief and more rapid improvement of the race.

We do not mean by these remarks to affirm that the same