Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

pounded as finely as possible in wooden vessels. But all this is not enough; the mass is yet to be carried to the mill, and ground into coarse meal like barley or oats. The meal is mixed up with thrashed oat-cars, or with a few moss-seeds; and a bread of about an inch thickness is formed of this composition."—87.

In another place, the same traveller, talking of the Enare Laplanders, says,—

"In summer they scarcely eat any thing but fish from the fresh-water lakes, and drink with great eagerness the water in which the fish has been boiled. In winter they must put up with dried fish, and with soups of water, fir bark, and rein-deer tallow.-They peel off in summer, the innermost bark of the fir, divide it in long stripes, and hang them in their dwellings to dry for winter stores. When used, these stripes of bark are minced in small pieces along with the rein-deer tallow, and boiled together for several hours with water, till they form thick broth."- p. 324.

animal or vegetable origin, are reduced more or less to the state of pulp, and admirably adapted for the further action of the stomach.* In the common cookery of this country, on the contrary, articles are usually put once into a large quantity of water, and submitted, without care or attention, to the boiling temperature: the consequence is, that most animal substances, when taken out, are harder and more indigestible than in the natural state; for it is well known that albuminous substances (as, for example, the white of an egg) become the harder the longer they are boiled. These observations are often of the utmost importance in a medical point of view. When the powers of the stomach are weak, a hard and crude English diet (such, for example, as half-raw beef-steaks, &c. &c., so frequently recommended) is sure to produce much discomfort by promoting acidity; while the very same articles, well cooked upon French principles, or rather the principles of common sense, can be taken with impunity, and easily assimilated, by the same individual.

It is not improbable, says Dr. Prout, when speaking of this method, that during the above process the lignin combines with water, and forms an artificial starch; what the change may It has been remarked before, on the authority be we will not venture to decide. As for the of one of our ablest chemical physicians, that our spongy bread made by the Tubingen Professor, principal alimentary matters may be reduced to we should like very much to taste it; but with three classes, of which sugar, butter, and white of respect to the poor Laplander's coarse and husky egg, are the representatives. Now, it is a curious variety of the staff of life, it can be, we greatly circumstance that milk, the only article absolutefear, little better than the newly-invented patently prepared and intended by nature as an aliment, bread of our own metropolis.

One word on this new-fangled article. It is well known that in the old established way of baking, the steam which arises during the process is allowed to escape as of no value; but accident discovered, a few years ago, that this vapour, if condensed, exhibited traces of alcohol, and the collection of it immediately became an object of cupidity and speculation; and this, together with some saving of fuel during the process of baking, suggested the patent and the formation of the company upon a great scale.-One of its recommendations was, that bread so made, though kept for any length of time, does not become sour; and this we understand is the fact; but how and at what expense is this incorruptibility procured? Sour bread is unquestionably bad; but is not bread which, if kept too long, is liable to become sour, the very article we want? In the new method the distillation (for such it is in reality) is pushed as far as it can go: the whole product of the fermentation is obtained and collected, so that the residue, or loaf, may be regarded as a caput mortuum, incapable of undergoing further change; but is it not rather unluckily deprived, at the same time, of its saccharine principle-in short, of all nutritive property ?-For our own parts we adhere to the old orthodox "bread with the gin it."

But enough for the present of bread. In France, most substances are exposed, through the medium of oil or butter, to a temperature of at least 600° Fahrenheit, by the operation of frying, or some analogous process. They are then introduced into a macerating vessel with a little water, and kept for several hours at a temperature far below the boiling point (212°) not perhaps higher than 180°; and by these united processes, properly conducted, the most refractory articles, whether of

is a compound of all the three classes; and almost all the gramineous and herbaceous matters employed as food by the lower animals contain at least two, if not all the three. The same is true of animal aliments, which consist at least of albumen and oil. In short, it is perhaps impossible to name a substance employed by the more perfect animals as food, that does not essentially constitute a natural compound of at least two, if not all three, of these great principles of alimentary matter.

Skin, it may be mentioned, is composed almost entirely of animal jelly, a substance nearly allied in its properties to albumen, and called by chemists gelatine, of which the purest example is isinglass.-With the nutritive properties of this we are familiar in a very common culinary pro

mined what is the exact purpose of rumination; but Singular as it may be thought, it is not yet deterlooking at the deficiency in the cutting-teeth of such animals as chew the cud, and reflecting upon the fact that this peculiar function is not established till after the young animal has ceased to be nourished by the milk of its mother, we may safely conclude that it is intended in some essential way to assist the process of digestion. An ox, for instance, having filled himself with crude vegetable matter, is seen quietly to lie down, and deliberately to begin to cook his meal, which he has providently taken care to secure before-hand in his large internal storehouse or larder, technically called the paunch, or venter magnus. The stomachs of ruminants with horns mals of the same class, such as the camel, dromedary, are somewhat differently constructed from those of aniand lama, which have a beautiful and curious mechanism, that fit them to live in the sandy deserts where the supplies of water are very precarious. It is said that hares and rabbits ruminate, but it must be only when they eat particular kinds of vegetables; certainly when they are fed upon meal this remarkable action is not perceptible.

duct, viz., blanc-mange. Now, by the process of tanning, skin attracts the tan of the liquor in which it is immersed, and forms a compound insoluble either in cold or boiling water, and not liable to putrefaction. The well known substance, leather, is this compound, and though rather unsavoury and somewhat difficult of digestion, has on an emergency been employed as an article of food. Sir John Franklin, in the account he has given us of his journey to the shores of the Polar Sea, when describing the extremities of hunger and privation of every kind to which he was exposed, says, on one occasion:

"Previous to setting out the whole party ate the remains of their old shoes, and whatever scraps of leather they had, to strengthen their stomachs for the fatigue of the day's journey."-vol. iv. p. 58.

"On another occasion the captain found some of his party halting among some willows, where they had picked up some pieces of skin and a few bones of deer that had been devoured by the wolves last spring. They had rendered the bones friable by burning, and eaten them as well as the skin, and several of them had added their old shoes to the repast."-vol. iv. p. 33.*

Some idea may be formed of the hardships endured by those brave men, from the story of their disappointment and grief when they reached Fort Enterprise, and found all perfectly desolate-no deposit of provisions-no trace of the Indians.

"When I arose," writes Sir John, "on the following morning, my body and limbs were so swollen, that I was unable to walk more than a few yards. My companions, four in number, went to collect bones (the relics of deer that had been thrown away during our former residence) and some tripe de roche, which supplied us with two meals. The bones were quite acrid, and the soup excoriated the mouth, if taken alone, but it was somewhat milder when boiled with tripe de roche."

inclined to believe it, is the sole end and object of his exertions. Even in the utmost refinement of his luxury the same great principle is attended to; and his sugar and flour, his eggs and butter, in all their various forms and combinations, are nothing more nor less than disguised imitations of the simple elementary prototype, milk. It follows, therefore, that to say of any thing, in the old homely way, that "it is as good as mother's milk," is in fact the highest praise we can bestow; nor is the preference here given to | mother's milk an accidental or indifferent circumstance for all chemists know that human milk is more nutritious and more digestible than any other, inasmuch as it contains very little curd, but abounds in cream. Here we have another instance of the good sense and sound observation couched in our old proverbial expressions.

Before we dismiss entirely this summary view of human diet, we should observe that, of the elementary matters employed by man, two of them, viz: the oleaginous and albuminous--are animal products, or parts of other animals; and hence may be supposed capable of being at once without undergoing any essential change. With applied to the purposes of the animal economy the saccharine class, derived principally from the vegetable kingdom, the case is different; and before this can be converted either into the oleaginous or the albuminous principles, it must undergo some essential change or changes in its composition. But it has been found, that whatever be the nature of the food of man, the general composition of the chyle, or milky fluid, into which it is all resolved before its absorption into the system, is all the same.

an influence the stomach exercises over our daily We all know by our own sensations, how great happiness. Mrs. Hannah More says, in her A regimen consisting of tripe de roche (a lichen quaint way, "There are only two bad things in of the genus gyrophora), dry bones, and old this world-sin and bile." When in a perfectly shoes, is, to be sure, an instance of a mixed ani- healthy condition, every thing goes on well-all mal and vegetable diet, though, it must be grant-is couleur de rose; on the contrary, our doctors ed, not of the most inviting description. But it is tell us that the horrors of hypochondriasis are in the artificial food of man that we see this mainly owing to dyspepsia, or indigestion. That great principle of mixture most strongly exempli- this is true we have no doubt, though we are not fied. Dissatisfied with the productions spontane-yet fully disposed to adopt the French maximously furnished by nature, he culls from every "mauvais cœur, bon estomac"-as comprehendsource, and forms, in every possible manner, and ing the requisites of physical enjoyment. under every disguise, the same great alimentary compound. This, after all his baking, roasting, stewing, &c.-how much soever he may be dis

* But the human stomach can digest harder substances than mere skin and bone, as appears from a paper published in the Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, vol. xii. part 1, 1822, by the late Dr. Marcet. In this memoir he relates the history of an English sailor, who, in imitation of a conjuror whose tricks he had just witnessed, and in a drunken frolic, swallowed several clasp knives, and, ten years afterwards, died in Guy's hospital. Several most skilful surgeons examined his body with great interest and attention: to the astonishment of all, the blades of many knives were found in his interior, 'some of them remarkably corroded and prodigiously reduced in size, while others were comparatively in a state of tolerable preservation.' The knives are still to be seen in the museum attached to the hospital.

Our lively neighbours, however, possess such indisputable claims to be our masters in the art of cookery, that every thing coming from them which relates in any way to the table, is entitled to be received with attention and acknowledged with gratitude. "Les lois règales, applications et exemples de l'art de bien vivre," laid down with great exactness in the "Code Gourmand," named at the head of this paper, have afforded us some amusement; and we think few of our readers could help smiling at the solemn trifling of the confirmed epicure who has recorded the results of his gastronomical experience. It is paying him but a poor compliment, that he is worth a hundred Doctor Kitcheners.

The ceremonies to be observed, from the first sending out of an invitation to the service of the last remove of an entertainment, are described with rigorous formality :

CHAP. I. TITRE PREMIER.

"Art. 3.-La date de l'invitation se mesure d'après l'importance du repas. Pour plus de sûreté et de régularité, elle ne peut avoir à courir moins de quatre jours, ni plus de trente.

"Art. 4.-Quand le dîner doit être orné d'une pièce notable, on l'indique par un post-scriptum; on écrit, I y aura une carpe du Rhin,' comme il y aura un violon. "Art. 5.-Le vaste surtout chargé de fleurs est à jamais proscrit de la table d'un vrai gourmand; vaut-il mille écus, il faut lui préférer le modeste hors-d'œuvre dout il envahit la place."

CHAP. II. TITRE SECOND.

"Art. 1.-Un convive qui sait son monde n'entaméra jamais une conversation avant la fin du premier service; jusque-là le dîner est une affaire sérieuse dont il serait imprudent de distraire l'assemblée.

"Art. 2.-Toute phrase commencée doit être suspen

due à l'arrivée d'une dinde aux truffles..

"Art. 3.-Un convive ne doit être que poli pendant le premier service; il est tenu d'être galant au second; il peut être tendre au dessart. Jusqu'au champagne". But the Convive is getting too lively for our English notions so we must turn a new leaf, and introduce the reader to more sober company.

THE RUSSIAN PLATINA MINES.

From the Monthly Review.

A Journey throughout Ireland during the Spring,
Summer and Autumn of 1834. By HENRY D.
INGLIS. 2 Vols. London: Whittaker & Co.
1834.

known author sets in motion certain anticipations
The appearance of a new work by a well-
within us, which may be favourable or unfavour-
able, but which, no doubt, silently operate, to a
certain extent, in guiding our judgment of its
merits. For we profess not to be beyond the
power of such sympathies as may sometimes be-
tray the delicacies rather than the weaknesses of
humanity. It is this very sensitive part of our
nature that enables us to appreciate nicely the cha-
racter of a work, where beauties or defects may
decidedly, yet unobtrusively, prevail. For ex-
ample, the moment we saw Ireland in 1834, by
Henry D. Inglis, upon our table, a spiritless and
faulty volume, which had been previously en-
gaging and provoking us, was laid aside, good.
nature recovered its wonted sway, and now, said
we, a pleasurable duty is before us.

Mr. Inglis is one of our favourites. We do not think that he is oppressed with diffidence of his own talents, neither that he is always careful to withhold a decided opinion where wiser men would halt. But he is eminently well calculated to write such works as the one now to be considered, for he is forward, shrewd, clever, and talkative; above all, he is honest, serious, and instructive. His knowledge is varied, his discrimination of character nice, his liberality exemplary; yet his regard for moral and religious truths unflinching-so that, take him altogether, he is a delightful and valuable writer. His liveliness, activity, and purity, are such, if we may judge from his works, that he must be the most entertaining of companions-a treasure as a fellowtraveller.

A report has recently appeared, in the Berlin State Gazette, upon the production of platina, and the present state of the mines of that metal in the Russian empire. During ten years, from midsummer 1824 to January 1834, the quantity of platina ore extracted from the mines in the Ural mountains, amounted to 230 quintals, which yielded upwards of two thirds of pure metal. Of this, about 153 quintals were coined, amounting to a sum of 8,186,620 roubles. About 160 pounds were employed in the manufacture of vessels for the separation of gold from silver, and for other Of all that he has published we like the present purposes. Estimating the amount coined as be- work most. This may arise from the peculiar low one million sterling, and this product of the interest naturally excited by the field of his labour; mines being spread over a period of ten years, it imparting, both to the writer and the reader, a sort would appear that beyond the cost of the esta- of patriotic zeal-a familiar partiality. What blishments, but little clear revenue has been de- Briton is there who feels not for Ireland as for a rived from the mines. But as they are the ex-dear sister, whose trials in life have been singuclusive property of the crown, and worked by larly severe and protracted, whose cup of affliction serfs, whose maintenance may be estimated at and anguish still continues to run over? The the minimum of the cost of human support-and author is deeply imbued with the sentiments of moreover, as the quantity of ore has progressively affection and commiseration. Fain would he do increased with the progress of the mining opera- good for poor Ireland. Nor will his ardent desire tions, it is by no means to be supposed that the fail; for, of all the accounts given of that unhappy Ural mines may not add, in a very considerable country, which have come to our knowledge, this degree, to the wealth of the Russian empire. is by far the most honest. The author not merely Platina being a metal of great unimpressibility, is honest, but he has been at the utmost pains to much difficulty was experienced in first convert-arrive at the truth; and what greater good_can ing it into coin-but at length a die of the most any one man confer on Ireland than to let Engingenious description was constructed for the land know the truth concerning her? From the purpose, by a French mechanist, who is said to very first step which Mr. Inglis takes in the counhave received a very large reward. The coin try, the reader feels that nothing is told but what has hitherto preserved an exact mean between has the irresistible force of fidelity stamped upon the value of gold and silver, but how its future it. His own assertion might have been sufficient value may be changed by the increased supply of in testimony of his honesty; but a man may be the ore, and its comparative intrinsic utility for blind to his strongest partialities. Here, howother purposes than money, is yet to be determin-ever, we see no tendency but that uniform one, of ed. The coin is a handsome one, and specimens, carefully and anxiously searching for facts. we believe, may be seen at the British Museum. It is a field eminently worthy of a philanthropic

and an enlightened mind, which the author under- was much struck by the splendour, architectural took to traverse and describe. England's igno- and otherwise, of the city. Many apparent proofs rance of Ireland is, in the work before us, proved of wealth are thrust upon the eye, in certain parts to be most gross. This is owing to the unhappy of the metropolis, but a closer observation brings spirit of party, which so broadly and deeply en-to the mind the proverb, "that it is not all gold velopes the truth, colouring and falsifying every that glitters." He remarks, that if caution be nepartisan's testimony; and to the difficulty which cessary in drawing conclusions respecting the an unbiassed enquirer thence encounters, when wealth of Dublin, from what meets the eye in in search of data to go by, of arriving at the real certain streets, tenfold caution is required in facts. The author was accordingly every where drawing any conclusions respecting the condition told, that in case of attempting to glean opinions of Ireland, from even the real state of Dublin. on all hands, their contrariety would bewilder That Dublin prosperity is somewhat deceptive, him. An eminent and talented judge in Dublin he shows, by stating, for example, that a tradessaid, that he could easily imagine two well edu-man there sets up his car and his country-house, cated persons, and both equally free from preju- with a capital that a London tradesman would dice, returning from a journey through Ireland, look upon but as a beginning for industry to work with views and impressions directly opposed to upon. We have often heard of the affecting coneach other, according as the letters of introduc-trasts presented in that city between grandeur tion, which they carried, chanced to be to men of one party or to men of another.

shop, where the lower orders cannot afford to eat bacon? Of the author's mode of gathering facts and making up his opinions, the following is a striking example.

and poverty; and we are told by the author, that the pauper population resembled strongly that of As the author well expresses himself, this shoal, the Spanish towns, supposing the potato to be upon which he fears many who have written upon converted into a melon. In London, every fifth Ireland have made shipwreck of truth, he endea- and sixth shop contains bacon and cheese, in the voured to avoid, by obtaining letters to men of all meaner parts of the city; but a corresponding departies, ranks, and religions; trusting to be able partment of Dublin presents a very different to correct, by minute personal observation, diver-scene; for what would be the use of a bacon sities of opinions, which resolution, it is evident, he faithfully and industriously followed out. He carried from Dublin upwards of 130 letters of introduction to persons, from the peer to the farmer, (to the peasant he introduced himself,) and of all "As I have mentioned the lower orders in Dublin, I opinions; these letters again were most prolific, begetting, in the course of the tour, at least three may add, that the house in which I lived in Kildarestreet, being exactly opposite to the Royal Dublin Sotimes the above number. From the first letters,ciety, which was then exhibiting a cattle-show, I was and other circumstances, a general impression very favourably situated for observing, among the crowd was conveyed that he meant to tell the truth, collected, some of those little traits which throw light without having any party to serve, and this en- upon character and condition. I remarked, in particular, couraged men of all opinions to put him in the the great eagerness of every one to get a little employ. way of finding it. So that the author was singu-ment, and earn a penny or two. I observed another less larly well equipped for his journey, whether we equivocal proof of low condition. After the cattle had consider the aids he received, or his own faithful been fed, the half-eaten turnips became the perquisite of the crowd of ragged boys and girls without. Many and eagerness in research. The very first paragraph of the work contains fierce were the scrambles for these precious relics; and a half-gnawed turnip, when once secured, was guarded observations worthy of the reader's attention and with the most vigilant jealousy, and was lent for a mouthconfidence. The author says it might be an im-ful to another longing tatterdemalion, as much apparently pertinence were he to begin by any general as- as an act of extraordinary favour, as if the root had been sertion of the ignorance of the British public a pine-apple. Yet these mouthfuls were freely given; respecting Ireland; but that there can be no impertinence in acknowledging his own; that during his tour he found more to correct in his previous impressions and opinions than in any journey he ever made through any country; that were he to exclude from this acknowledgment the social condition of the inhabitants, and apply it but to what is visible to the eye, the declaration would hold true. How profound then must have been, as he adds, his ignorance of all beneath the Upon these facts he detects a national traitsurface! We wish we could transfer into our improvidence, allied with a love of ostentation, pages the entire spirit and information contained which has greatly swelled the lists of absentees. in these neat volumes; there would be no lack of Among our own friends from the Emerald isle, entertainment for our readers; for who can faith-some of whom adorn and enrich London, we fully describe Irish character and scenery and think that a tendency to the trait, detected by the not be entertaining? But we have a higher ob- author, may be discovered; at least when they ject in view than any that is not of paramount are contrasted with the calculating Caledonian, magnitude; and therefore proceed to do our best, the feature is prominent. Mr. Inglis has counted considering our limits, to make Ireland in 1834 twenty-seven hackney coaches and sixteen cars, be seen and known. in the funeral procession of a person in the humblest walks of life, with other circumstances of

The author arrived in Dublin in spring, and

and I have seen, that where two boys contended who should take charge of a gentleman's horse, the boy who obtained the preference, and got the penny or twopence, divided it with his rival. These were pleasing traits; and were indicative of that generosity of character which displays itself in so many kindly shapes; but which is, dence, to which the evils of absenteeism are partly to be perhaps, also in some degree the parent of that improvi

ascribed."-Vol. i.

pp. 12, 13.

needless display. He bears hearty testimony to the fascination of Dublin society, to the hospitality that characterises the inhabitants, and to the beauty of the city. But as it was his object rather to search for deeper and wider grounds as respects the real condition of the country, it will be ours to fix upon those parts of the work that seem most distinctly to elucidate this design. Before leaving Dublin, however, we must quote part of what is said concerning the Mendicity Society, which we, with him, trust is not to be a permanent one; though, whilst there is no legal provision for even the aged and infirm, something of the kind is no doubt praiseworthy.

"When I visited the Dublin Mendicity Society, there were 2,145 persons on the charity, of whom 200 were protestants. The finances were then at a very low ebb; and the directors of the institution were threatening a

Many of the cabins he visited boasted a pig, which sometimes dwelt with the family, where, as Paddy says, "he has the best right to be, since it's he that pays the rent." High rent is the universal complaint, and this is fully borne out by the manner in which the people, both Catholic and Protestant, were found living. When asked why they take land at a rate which they cannot pay, the reply is, "How were they to live? what could they do?" So that Mr. Inglis declares, competition for land in Ireland is but the out-biddings of desperate circumstances.

We know not what others may argue from the following expressions of the author's opinion regarding a catholic institution in Waterford. We, who are not of that communion, may be too partial to the views of one of our own creed, and prepossessed when we think he is singularly improcession of the mendicants through the streets, by way partial in his statements on such delicate ground of warming the charity of the spectators. This, I under- as is uniformly introduced by religious opinions. stood, has once or twice been resorted to; and I confess, It is fair, however, that the reader may have a I cannot conceive any thing more disgraceful to a civil-specimen of what is here set down on a point ised community. The English reader, who has never where no doubt there is much difference of senti visited Ireland, can have no conception of a spectacle such as this. What a contrast to the gaiety of Graftonstreet, would be the filth, and rags, and absolute nakedness, which I saw concentrated in the court of the institution! The support of this charity is a heavy tax upon the benevolent feelings of the protestant population: 501. is subscribed by the protestant, for 11. that is subscribed by the catholic population. I was sorry to learn this; for although it be true that wealth lies chiefly amongst the protestants, yet it is the middle classes, rather than the wealthy, who support this institution; and 501. for 11. is surely out of proportion."-Vol. i. pp. 16, 17.

He saw some of these poor people at work for a few pence per week; but hundreds, for whom no employment could be found, were lying and sitting in the court, waiting for the mess which had tempted them from their hovels.

After leaving Dublin, the author proceeds towards Wicklow, where he expected, from what had been told him in the metropolis, that the labourers were all employed and tolerably comfortable.

:

"I am only beginning my journey this is but the county of Wicklow; and I was told that I should find all so comfortable in Wicklow, that from the comparatively happy condition of the peasantry there, I must be cautious in forming my opinion of the peasantry generally. While I write this sentence, I write in utter ignorance of what I may yet see: for I write this work almost in the manner of a diary-noting down my observations from week to week: but from what I have already seen, I am entitled to fling back with indignation the assertion, that all the Irish industrious poor may find employment. But what employment? employment which affords one stone of dry potatoes a day for a woman and her four

children.

ment.

"There are in Waterford several large public institutions; particularly, an house of industry, which appear to be under good management, though the want of a separate place for lunatics is very objectionable; and a mendicity society, the same in principle as that in Dublin, but exhibiting rather less filth and wretchedness. But the most important institution which I visited, was a catholic school, at which upwards of seven hundred children were instructed. This is a new establishment, called by some, monk-houses; and is an association of young men, who dedicate their lives to the instruction of youth, and who call themselves Brothers of the Christian Schools.' It is, in fact, a monastic institution, bound by vows, like other orders: and although I am far from questioning the motives either of the founder, Mr. Rice, or of the young men who thus make a sacrifice of themselves; yet I cannot regard favourably an institution under such tuition. I know too much of Catholicism, in other countries, to doubt that intellectua education will be made very secondary to theological instruction; and although I am very far from ascribing all, or any large portion of the evils of Ireland to the prevalence of the Roman Catholic faith, yet I would rather not see a system of education extensively pursued, in which the inculcation of popish tenets form the chief feature. These schools are established in many other towns besides Waterford; and where I meet with them, I shall not fail to notice them. There are at present ninety members of the order of Brothers of the Christian schools;' and their number is rapidly increasing."

We are informed that whisky-drinking prevails to a dreadful extent in Waterford; that out of 30,000 inhabitants, 25,000 are catholics; that the blind policy of Irish landlords is in many instances hostile to the establishment of manufactories, although such must tend to keep up their rents. "A labourer in this country considers himself fortu- Near the village of Mayfield, Mr. Malcomson nate in having daily employment at sixpence throughout has established a cotton manufactory, which the year; and many are not so fortunate. I found some proves a blessing of the most signal kind to the who received only five-pence; but there are many who neighbourhood. No fewer than 900 persons are cannot obtain constant employment, and these have oc-employed in it, whose lodging, food, and morals casional labour at ten-pence or one shilling; but this only have been wonderfully improved. Yet

for a few weeks at a time. I found the small farmers living very little more comfortable than the labourers. A little buttermilk added to the potatoes, made the chief difference."-Vol. i. pp. 32, 33.

"I regretted deeply to learn, not from the proprietor of the mill only, but from other sources, that Lord Waterford's family have thrown every obstacle in the way

« AnteriorContinuar »