ART. VI.-1. Report of the Commissioners for Inquiring into the Condition of Children employed in Mines, &c., with two Appendices of Evidence. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty. 3 vols. Folio. pp. 2022. London. 1842. 2. History of Fossil Fuel, the Coal-trade and Collieries, &c. London. Svo. 1841. Second Edition. 3. Speech of Lord Ashley in the House of Commons on the 7th June, 1842, on moving for leave to bring in a Bill to make Regulations respecting the Age and Sex of Children and Young Persons employed in Mines and Collieries. London. Svo. pp. 58. ΟΝ N this our fair Earth, with its canopy of air and cincture of waters, the prying mind of man observes a host of animated forms, which, with every apparent capacity for liberty and power of change, seem each in its kind to be tethered to its own region by invisible influences of such potency that to trangress them is to die. A certain zone is alloted to each of the four-footed races— a certain range and altitude to the bird-and a certain stratum of waters to the finny tribe; the surface and the caverns of the ocean have each their inhabitants, ever embraced by the same common element, yet ever remaining strangers to each other. Something of the same complexity and economy is visible in the ordering of that great moral universe, which is made visible here through the agency of man-who, whatever may be the capacity of the individual for intellectual advancement, has his brotherhood with his humbler companions of earth; and, like them, is chained to those regions where he can alone procure the conditions of physical existence. Practically, we always find, and have ever found, large sections of our race exhibiting grades and differences of action and suffering; so that we are compelled to acknowledge that that which is to sustain and perfect the social fabric, considered as a whole, is not one in form and shape-not found in one spot-but scattered over the earth-acquired by a variety of efforts under varying circumstances, but everywhere, and under all its varieties, taxing all the faculties of mind and body in the individual, that the great destinies of the race may be fulfilled. Here, however, the parallel between the physical world and the social ceases. The author of both has ordained, in the former, that so long as each tribe of animals plays its appointed part, so essential to the great organism of nature, all its capacities for enjoyment shall be satisfied. To man alone he has intrusted the perilous duty of guarding his own happiness. Labour for sustenance is his lot, in common with all flesh; variety in the kind, and and intensity in the degree of labour, is a necessary inheritance, on which the very existence of the social and moral system hinges. But whether or not he shall vindicate, in the midst of this, his nobler nature and destinies, depends greatly upon himself, and also in no small degree on the society in which his lot is cast. Here, by three ponderous folios, we have disclosed to us-in our own land, and within our own ken-modes of existence, thoughts, feelings, actions, sufferings, virtues, and vices, which are as strange and as new as the wildest dreams of fiction. The earth seems now for the first time to have heaved from its entrails another race, to astonish and to move us to reflection and to sympathy. Here we find tens of thousands of our countrymen living apart from the rest of the world-intermarrying-having habits, manners, and almost a language, peculiar to themselves-the circumstances surrounding their existence stamping and moulding mind and body with gigantic power. The common accidents of daily life are literally multiplied to this race of men a hundredfold; while they are subject to others which have no parallel on earth. It is not, then, a matter for wonder that their minds should borrow from the rocks and caverns they inhabit something of the hardness of the one and something of the awful power of darkness' of the other; and that their hearts and emotions should exhibit the fierceness of the elements amidst which they dwell. It is mainly to Lord Ashley, who has headed this great movement for the moral improvement of the working classes, that we are indebted for these volumes, issued apparently for the purpose of letting the public know the true condition of the mining population, and so forcing, by the weight of opinion and individual co-operation, society at large to attempt an amelioration. The legislature of past years has undoubtedly been to blame in taking no cognizance of such a state of things as is now exhibited. But are they blameless who employ these men, and reap the benefit of labours which have induced a premature old age in their service? Have they, with so much in their power, fulfilled their duties-have they considered how to strengthen the connection of the master and the hireling by other ties than those of gain? Has our Church, clerical and lay, been diligent in civilising these rough natures? Have proprietors, enriched by the development of minerals, enabled the Church to increase her functionaries in proportion to the growth of new populations? These are questions which must be asked, and answered, before the burden of change is laid on a few, which should be borne by many. We feel that this benefit must be conferred by all; and the power of the state must be propped by the self-denial of the owner-and the mild, untiring energies of the Church must be aided aided by the kindly influences of neighbourhood-before it can be hoped that such a race as the miners can be brought to abandon their rooted prejudices and brutal indulgences. Living in the midst of dangers-and on that account supplied with higher wages, and with much leisure to spend them-they unite in their characters all that could flow from sources which render man at once reckless and self-indulgent-a hideous combination, when unleavened by religion and the daily influences of society -little likely to be removed by Acts of Parliament alone, and never if Acts of Parliament find none but official hands to aid in enforcing them. It is essential, before we attempt a rapid sketch of the lives of the hewers of coal that the reader should establish in his own mind some standard by which to test their actual condition; for a very unjust estimate will be formed if he forgets to divide what is from what is not essential to their lot. Each and every profession and calling has its dangers, which are peculiar to it, and to a certain degree inseparable from it; and hence the comparison must not be made between one class and another, so much as between what each class is, and what it ought to be. There are many states more deadly than that of the miner, and very many where the amount of poverty and suffering is at least equal, if not greater. The army, in the discharge of its ennobling duties at home and abroad, exhibits a greater mortality. Many sections of our artisans and manufacturers are in these respects fully as deeply smitten-luxury and pampering send as many to the workhouse as privation and want. In the economy of the universe, life seems of infinitely small account, as compared with duties discharged: these have no direct reference to time, but to that duration of which time is but a fragment; these are as compatible with fewness of years as with length of daysand the award is pronounced to be not more for him who has toiled the whole day in the moral vineyard, than for them who had the opportunity of labouring but one hour. The simple test of each man's condition is whether he has all that is requisite for the due discharge of his duties in the sphere in which his lot is cast. 'Are his moral and physical energies duly fostered and directed? or are they abused and clouded by the insatiable avarice of those who employ him, crushed by their power, or converted from a service of freedom to slavery?' Let us take this criterion, and judge. The moment that a new colliery is to be won (i. e. established), the face of the country is changed-numerous ugly cottages spring up like a crop of mushrooms-long rows of waggons, laden with ill-assorted furniture, are seen approaching, and with them the pitmen and their families. This is the signal for the departure of the the gentry, unless they are content to remain amidst the offscouring of a peculiar, a mischievous, and unlettered race,' (p. 519, App. 1,) to see their district assume a funereal colour-'black with dense volumes of rolling smoke,' and echoing with the clatter of endless strings of coal-waggons. Thus, morally and physically insulated, the collier becomes gregarious and clannish, and is rarely seen by any save those who traffic with him. A stranger, to obtain a view, must go for the express purpose, and at some hour either before they descend or when they emerge from the pit, when he cannot fail to be struck with the gaunt and sinewy form, the black grisly aspect, and peculiar costume of this singular race, who stalk across the fields, clothed in a short jacket and trousers of flannel, with a candle stuck in the hat, and a pipe in the mouth. A more intimate knowledge of his peculiarities is a difficult task, requiring much tact and a circuitous approach. A prominent feature of his character,' says a commissioner, is deeprooted suspicion of his employer-his master (he thinks) can have no desire to benefit him:' a trait which has arisen from the practice of the proprietor rarely being the worker of the mine; while the lessee has little interest in common with the men beyond the bond by which he is to obtain the most return of labour for the least expenditure. The lessee contracts with the butty' or viewer to bring up the coal; and he and his 'doggey' hire the gang of pitmen, furnish them with tools, pay their wages, and superintend their work. The entrance to most mines is by means of a well or shaft, varying in diameter from seven to fifteen feet, the sides of which ought to be, and generally are, lined with wood, iron, or brickwork, for a certain extent. They are of amazing depths in the region of the Tyne-and comparatively shallow in Staffordshire and Yorkshire. The shaft of Monkwearmouth Colliery would contain the Monument eight times piled on itself. Up and down this shaft the men are daily sent by means of machinery; each journey averaging from two to three minutes in the profound mine just mentioned; while in shallower shafts, of 600 feet, about a hundred men can be let down in one hour. The sensations in a similar attempt by a stranger are described as awful. The motion as the 'skip' (or basket of four) descends, is not in itself disagreeable-the light diminishing gradually until there is total darkness: when arrived at the bottom, all that could be seen of the heavens up the shaft seemed to be of the size of a sugar-basin' (p. 8)—and this in a This is a sobriquet given to the foreman, by a race who are individually better known to each other by similar appellations than by their proper names. comparatively comparatively shallow mine. And now a new world is opened:there are roads branching out for miles in every direction, some straight, broad, and even, others undulating and steep, others narrow, propped by huge pillars; the whole illuminated, and exhibiting black, big-boned figures, half-naked, working amid the clatter of carriages, the incessant movements of horses, the rapid pace of hurriers, the roar of furnaces, and the groaning and plunging of steam-engines. Perhaps in no community is there such an amount of restless and violent muscular activity -and it is literally incessant; for though the main body of workers ascend daily, still the economy of the mine requires constant superintendence on the spot. The community consists of men and boys-and, in some, of women-horses, and asses. Rats and mice find their way in the provender; and cats are brought down to keep these in check. The cricket is chirping everywhere; the midge, and sundry varieties of insects, are found. The chief, if not the sole, of the vegetable tribes, are fungi, such as mushrooms, which multiply near the manure. The temperature of these regions is always warm, and in many mines oppressively hot, so that, even when there is no particular exertion, abundant perspiration flows from the body: this accounts for the nudity of the miner; who, however, in well-ventilated mines, is very sensible of the changes in the atmosphere above-ground. There is great variety in the accommodations, and we request the reader to bear this constantly in his mind. Where the seam of coal is large, as in Staffordshire, the underground works are such as to afford every facility of movement and posture; while, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, one of the sub-commissioners describes his exploration of some of the passages in words betokening a very lively reminiscence of his journey: I had to creep on my hands and knees the whole distance, the height being barely 20 inches, and then I went still lower on my breast, and crawled like a turtle to get up to the headings.' In others, Mr. Scriven was hurried,' i. e. pushed, by a miner, on a flat board mounted on four wheels, or in a corve (i.e. basket) with his head hanging out over the back, and his legs over the front, in momentary anticipation of being scalped by the roof, or of meeting with a broken head from a pendant rock.' These passages are of great length; for at the Booth Pit (he says) I walked, rode, and crept 1800 yards to one of the nearest faces.' (App. II. p. 62.) In many pits the drainage is bad, so that the men work in water-which in some is brackish-and in the Monkwearmouth Colliery produces boils on the skin of freshmen. There is, or ought to be, a most careful system of ventilation, otherwise the whole community are |