1 10 3 https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/25778/archive/files/713e3a63908e9da4db3d6fa70b004c67.pdf?Expires=1787788800&Signature=fxy1XI7kpIlzSKlneSKmBFx4Y9DExqfC-ubo9Dcrc2vXNfoudtpYOKWfs0m%7ELp1IjgBNlgsS8QVBOnh0jSc%7EZwI9VCOJoljy2nNW2VrnreO%7EAlGCYJW0dv%7E3qEYf1N5dRbg3QJyyaP-yYYIjnfJ7utCRHxrK%7ETilJqATWcQfs4k1lB1fqwRVLWscuJ3w8Oesi7IgnKmYmv6%7EexX8nVTI8IjDgdE6OqXP39m667iLxZGy3qM1mGgUwnwBFodmf6MjG1ky4Pb40-4%7Ekn4xK4UIlSDlvLNqUIw0iUQMpFFIsVHF4AvBpUEBGUvcmUfsx3AU69VtZWWFATFh%7Ewz5My9psA__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 9759235cc68687ed8f7f56b3f7defe60 PDF Text Text mtltir tamtmits. A BURIAL SERVICE. BY AUSTIN HOLYOAKE. �I �A BURIAL SERVICE. The following is designed as one of the services for the little Manual of Secular Ceremonies. Having lost the nearest and dearest relatives a man can know—having passed, I may say, through a baptism of bereavement, I know but too well the agony of the grave side. I have endeavoured—but very inadequately, I am sure—to produce a short service which shall afford consolation and reconcilement to the sorrowing, from a Secular point of view. The service as it now stands is suitable to be said over the grave of an adult male; it may, with slight effort, by altering the gender, be made suitable for a female also. It is almost impossible to write that which would be applicable to all persons of all ages. It ■can always be sufficiently individualised by some friend of the deceased introducing a few remarks of a personal nature. We this day consign to the earth the body of our departed friend ; for him life’s fitful dream is over, with its toils, and sufferings, and dis­ appointments. He derived his being from the bountiful mother of all ; he returns to her capa­ cious bosom, to again mingle with the elements. He basked in life’s sunshine for his allotted time, and has passed into the shadow of death, where sorrow and pain are unknown. Nobly he per- �4 A Burial Service. formed life’s duties on the stage of earth; the impenetrable curtain of futurity has fallen, and we see him no more. But he leaves to his sorrowing relatives and friends a legacy in the remembrance of his virtues, his services, his honour, and truth. He fought the good fight of Free Inquiry, and triumphed over prejudice and the results of misdirected education. His voyage through life was not always on tranquil seas, but his strong judgment steered him clear of the rocks and quicksands of ignorance, and for years he rested placidly in the haven of selfknowledge. He had long been free from the fears and misgivings of superstitious belief. He worked out for himself the problem of life, and no man was the keeper of his conscience. His religion was of this world—the service of human­ ity his highest aspiration. He recognised no authority but that of Nature ; adopted no methods but those of science and philosophy ; and respected in practice no rule but that of conscience, illustrated by the common sense of mankind. He valued the lessons of the past, but disowned tradition as a ground of belief, whether miracles and supernaturalism be claimed or not claimed on its side. No sacred Scripture or ancient Church formed the basis of his faith. By his example, he vindicated the right to think and to act upon conscientious conviction. By a career so noble, who shall say that his domestic affections were impaired, or that his love for those near and dear to him was weakened ? On the contrary, his independent method of thought �A Burial Service. 5 tended to develop those sentiments which have their source in human nature—which impel and ennoble all morality—which are grounded upon intelligent personal conviction, and which mani­ fest themselves in worthy and. heroic actions, especially in the promotion of Truth, Justice, and Love. For worship of the unknown, he sub­ stituted Duty; for prayer, Work; and the record of his life bears testimony to his purity of heart; and the bereaved ones know but too well the treasure that is lost to them for ever. If perfect reliance upon any particular belief in the hour of death were any proof of its truth, then in the death of our friend the principles of Secularism would be triumphantly established. His belief sustained him in health ; during his illness, with the certainty of death before him at no distant period, it afforded him consolation and en­ couragement ; and in the last solemn moments of his life, when he was gazing as it were into his own grave, it procured him the most perfect tranquillity of mind. There were no misgivings, no doubts, no tremblings lest he should have missed the right path; but he went undaunted into the land of the great departed, into the silent land. It may be truly said of him, that nothing in life became him more than the manner of his leaving it. Death has no terrors for the enlightened; it may bring regrets at the thought of leaving those we hold dearest on earth, but the consciousness of a well-spent life is allsufficient in the last sad hour of humanity. Death is but the shadow of a shade, and there is noth- �6 A Buriat Service. ing in the name that should blanch the cheek or inspire the timid with fear. In its presence, pain and care give place to rest and peace. The sorrow-laden and the forlorn, the unfortunate and the despairing, find repose in the tomb—all the woes and ills of life are swallowed up in death. The atoms of this earth once were living man, and in dying, we do but return to our kindred who have existed through myriads of generations. [Here introduce any personal matters relating to the deceased.] Now our departed brother has been removed, death, like a mirror, shows us his true reflex. We see his character undistorted by the pas­ sions, the prejudices, and the infirmities of life. And how poor seem all the petty ambitions which are wont to sway mankind, and how small the advantages of revenge. Death is so genuine a fact, that it excludes falsehood, or betrays its emptiness; it is a touchstone that proves the gold, and dishonours the baser metal. Our friend has entered upon that eternal rest, that happy ease, which is the heritage of all. The sorrow and grief of those who remain, alone mar the thought that the tranquil sleep of death has succeeded that fever of the brain called living. Death comes as the soothing anodyne to all our woes and struggles, and we inherit the earth as a reward for the toils of life. The pain of parting is poignant, and cannot for �A Burial Service. 7 a time be subdued; but regrets are vain. Every form that lives must die, for the penalty of life is death. No power can break the stern decree that all on earth must part; though the chain be weaved by affection or kindred, the beloved ones who weep for us will only for a while re­ main. There is not a flower that scents the mountain or the plain, there is not a rose-bud that opes its perfumed lips to the morning sun, but, ere evening comes, may perish. Man springs up like the tree: at first the tender plant, he puts forth buds of promise, then blossoms for a time, and gradually decays and passes away. His hopes, like the countless leaves of the forest, may wither and be blown about by the adverse winds of fate, but his efforts, springing from the fruitful soil of wise endeavour, will fructify the earth, from which will rise a blooming harvest of happy results to mankind. In the solemn presence of death—solemn, because a mystery which no living being has penetrated— on the brink of that bourne from whence no traveller returns, our obvious duty is to emu­ late the good deeds of the departed, and to resolve so to shape our course through life, that when our hour comes we can say, that though our temptations were great—though our educa­ tion was defective—though our toils and priva­ tions were sore—we never wilfully did a bad act, never deliberately injured our fellow-man. The reward of a useful and virtuous life is the conviction that our memory will be cherished by those who come after us, as we revere the �8 A Burial Service. memories of the great and good who have gone before. This is the only immortality of which we know—the immortality of the great ones of the world, who have benefitted their age and race by their noble deeds, their brilliant thoughts, their burning words. Their example is ever with us, and their influence hovers round the haunts of men, and stimulates to the highest and happiest daring Man has a heaven too, but not that dreamed of by some—far, far away, beyond the clouds ; but here on earth, created by the fireside, and built up of the love and respect of kindred and friends, and within the reach of tlie humblest who work for the good of others and the perfectibility of humanity. As we drop the tear of sympathy at the grave now about to close over the once loved form, may the earth lie lightly on him, may the flowers bloom o’er his head, and may the winds sigh softly as they herald the coming night. Peace and re­ spect be with his memory. Farewell, a long farewell! LONDON": AUSTIN & Co., 17, JOHNSON’S COUBT, FLEET STBEET, E.C. PEICE ONE PENNY. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Victorian Blogging Description An account of the resource A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library &amp; Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Conway Hall Library & Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Conway Hall Ethical Society Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Pamphlet Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Secular ceremonies. A burial service. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Holyoake, Austin [1826-1874] Description An account of the resource Place of publication: [London] Collation: 8 p. ; 19 cm. Notes: Inscription in ink on the title page: "M.D. Conway for P. Truelove Dec 2/74". From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Printed by Austin & Co., Fleet Street, London. Tentative date of publication from KVK. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available [Austin & Co] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource [1869?] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CT19 Subject The topic of the resource Death Secularism Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Secular ceremonies. A burial service.), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource English Burial Ceremonies Conway Tracts Funerals Secularism https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/25778/archive/files/6e41c195af303c99d863ac2da716c79c.pdf?Expires=1787788800&Signature=P4og1CUiI4J6NM24oC8IGEaiF5iwhCmjDGi3W41Aaib%7EW1EPl5kWMAoUSA6tsmqudZcDYQ5X5a3YWuBOGCy8OD%7EOUqEPggbCp3WFz4bI52gtOUsj%7Eicxz6UpBAqn3IOBT7RzGUL%7ECCQN5bGWXZUACQqP5JYjjnn%7EBDU-kZa4I-Oz1eQ2%7EkYYxJ-7SE3LcCpuIF2xRghbqaecc35Q5czgj%7EYXaxLUYm1fMceYh9p46ezCb3cEQp%7EkBi1mLeUjJ2geD1Y2n%7EnMxPmz4uAujKMKf6FjPojIJGHS%7E9kVQgyYjhYBU5IqYYszLKzwk4xm4LLIpQhkW%7EBCGTx66d2TcFXltA__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 9691fe7666a6dad215b4a70b3a611e86 PDF Text Text , ‘'A'(s' DEADLY LIFE-BUOYS. (From the Daily Telegraph.') N those amphibious regions which skirt the quays and docks of seaports, amid sextants and hammocks, ship-bags and brass cannon, canvas, cordage, and all the maritime paraphernalia of the slop-shops in such neighbourhoods, the eye is constantly caught by large yellow belts or rings suspended over the doorways, and stamped with the words “warranted corkwood.” Everybody knows what is the use of these odd-looking girdles : they are “life-buoys,” bought and sold to save drowning men at sea. We look at them with a certain affection and interest, imagining them to be articles which, at a pinch, would preserve that most precious thing—a human life. The fancy wanders away from the slop-shop to the vessel tossed and leaking in the fierce ocean, where one of these yellow circles might be worth—not merely the few shillings which it cost, but all the wealth that a man possessed. In a collision at sea, when one ship goes suddenly down, and the only chance for life lies in floating long enough to be picked up by the boats of the uninjured vessel, the price of a “life-belt” might prove the best investment ever made; or when the gale is blowing, and the craft drives furiously along, and some hapless sailor falls from the yard-arm into the billows, one of these awkward-looking commodities flung overboard might keep him up till the ship could be brought-to, and the boat lowered. Or, at the awful hour when a bark strikes upon the lee-shore, and begins to break in pieces, to have a life-buoy at hand, and to slip it under the arms, might be the means of bringing a shipwrecked mariner or passenger out of the very jaws of death to the safe and firm shore. When we think on all these contingencies, the yellow belt of safety has a charm for landsmen as well as for seamen. It is an honest and a Christian trade, we say, to manufacture such goods; the money is good money which is taken over the counter for them; and the emigrant or seafaring man is surely wise, who, before “ going down to the sea,” provides himself with one of these useful and trustworthy safeguards. “Useful and trustworthy !” Let the ingenuous public dismiss these pleasing thoughts from the mind, and henceforth regard the yellow canvas-bound life-buoys with looks of shame and suspicion. There is no sham so wicked, no cheat so infamous, as that perpetrated upon poor landsmen and emigrants �2 DEADLY LIFE-BUOYS. by the makers and sellers of these benevolent-seeming objects. Those who go much among maritime folk, know that the buyers of life-belts are seldom or never captains or mariners. The passengers, the travellers, the emigrant^ keep a few shillings aside to add one of these belts to their sea stock : but if one ask a sailor’s opinion about them, he shakes his head, and says that he “would rather go down and have done with it,” than trust to one of those lying pretences, which he knows by experience are “made to sell,” and in eleven cases out of twelve are merely worthless—sinking as soon as theyJ become sodden in the water. We owe to the correspondent of a contemporary revelations on the subject which will fill the mind with indignation and horror. This gentleman had reason to believe that the so-called “life-buoys” were villanous hypocrisies, in far too many instances constructed to deceive the purchaser, and cheat him possibly out of his life, for the sake of the few shillings of difference in value between the real article and the spurious. A Sunderland buoy maker dis­ closed the fact that he had found more than one belt bought at London slop­ shops to be stuffed with worthless material, such as common rushes. He added that, within his own knowledge, seafaring persons had consequently given up all faith in the deceitful belts, and preferred to “take their chance,” rather than trust the rascally slop-shops. Shortly afterwards, the writer met a Shadwell operative, whose business it was to make the yellow “life-buoys.” The man frankly confessed that “ not one in a dozen” was so constructed as to keep a human creature afloat. “You could’nt do it at the price,” this person said; “the shopkeepers won’t give more than three-and-six or four shillings for ’em, and I’d like to know how much cork you can stuff in at that figure.” Interrogated farther, this naïve purveyor of deadly life­ preservers volunteered the information that “almost anything does to stuff them. Cocoa fibre mostly, sometimes straw, sometimes rushes, same as what the caulkers use ; anything will fill ’em well enough for sale—shavings, if you havn’t got anything better.” All this various rubbish, coated with canvas, bound and painted, would float for a little time ; and by-and-bye, as it became soaked in the salt water, it would sink through its own weight ; but, of course, with the weight of a man clinging to it, much sooner. Aimed with this intelligence, the correspondent of our contemporary went life-buoybuying in the slop-shops of maritime London. He visited Shadwell, Ratcliff, and Poplar, and in each of these quarters he purchased a “good life-belt.” One was “warranted corkwood;” another was branded “all cork;” ths third simply bore the word “warranted.” They ranged in price from six shillings to seven and sixpence. Having brought them home, the experi­ mentalist first proceeded to test them by dissection. When the yellow integument was laid open, the belt “warranted corkwood” was found to �STRAWS FOR DROWNING IEN. (Reprinted from the Morning Star, by special permission of Mr. Jas. Greenwood.) WTseason gale an<i wreck—when “the stormy winds do blow” in the dreary night-time, and hearing them as we hug our pillows, we exclaim “ God help poor souls at sea!”—permit me to disclose to Xour readers a monstrously cruel and heartless cheat systematically imposed on mariners, and those who make long journeys at sea. It concerns what in devilish mockery are “in the trade” known as “life-buoys.” I may mention that my attention was directed to this subject BO long ago as last November twelvemonth, when that memorable hurricane swept the island of St. Thomas, and the sea in its neighbourhood, causing such appalling devastation amongst the shipping thereabouts. It was my duty to describe in your columns the marvellous escape of a lad named Bailey, who was attached to H.M.S. “ Rhone,” of whose crew, numbering nearly 100, about a dozen were saved. Battling for his life in the raging W®ck-waters, Bailey was so lucky as to secure a floating life-buoy suddenly vacated by a hapless fellow, who, with his body within the ring, was nipped off at the middle by a shark, causing the poor wretch to fling up his arms and slip through “ like a bolt out of its socket,” as Master Bailey graphically described it. Clinging to the precious buoy, Bailey was carried out to sea, and far out of sight and sound of land. Night came on, and quite done over with fatigue, he fell asleep, and so remained until his buoy drifted ashore, carrying’ him with it; and he was awoke by the rasping of his legs against the shingle. I examined that life-buoy, and saw the clear imprint of Master Bailey s stubbly hair on the soddened, yellow-painted canvas, showing where his sleepy head had rested. As may easily be understood, I at once conceived a high respect for life­ buoys , and resolved, if ever I went to sea, to provide myself with one, though I had no more money left than would secure me a berth in the steerage. I shouldn t have had much trouble over the purchase. In all seaport towns, and in the vicinity of the principal docks, there are dozens of maritime outfitting warehouses, and all of them sell life-buoys, most of them keeping such an extensive stock of the article as to prove unmistakeably the popular faith in, and extensive demand for, it. TIke any other unsuspicious person, I should have asked for a life-buoy, and seeing that it was properly branded “warranted cork,” I should have paid for it, and ffi®med it away never doubting it. How woefully I might have miscalculated, will presently appear. The opening of my eyes to the true state of the case is mainly due to a well known life-belt and buoy maker of Sunderland, Mr. T. Dixon Writing to me concerning loss of life at sea, he informed me that he had grave suspicions of the quality of the life-buoys manufactured in London, and supplied to the Jew slop-shops. He informed me that he himself had met With life-buoys composed of the basest materials; and sent me bits of common rush as a sample of the interior of one he had dissected He further apprised me of the fact that to such an extent had this fraud been P®fPe^te,d’ that a ver7 large number of seamen would have nothing to do "uk declaring that they would rather go down and have done with it, than hang in the jaws of death for a few hours, with the certainty of drowning after all becoming more apparent as the treacherous support gradually soddened, and sank under their weight. �2 STRAWS FOR DROWNING MEN. It was scarcely to be credited that so murderous a business as my Sunderland friend hinted at, could be commonly pursued; but I resolved to watch my opportunity for testing it; and just lately, by chance, I met a man in the poor neighbourhood of Shadwell, who informed me that he was a belt and buoy maker. We had some conversation on the subject of his trade, and then it came out, not only that Mr. Dixon’s suspicions were well founded, but that he had not suspected the worst. With a candour that contrasted queerly with the villany his statements betrayed, the Shadwell operative informed me that the buoys which are all stamped “ warranted corkwood,” are -nothing of the kind—“not one in a dozen.” “You couldn’t do it for the money,” said my informant; “the Jews that such as we work for won’t give more than 3/6 or 4/- for ’em; and how much cork can you afford to stuff into ’em for that, I’d like to know ?” I asked him what he could afford to stuff into his buoys at the price, and he replied—“Cocoa fibre mostly; sometimes straw; sometimes rushes, same as what the caulkers use ; anything almost does; shavings, if you havn’t got anything better.” He appeared to think that it did not matter what the canvass covers were stuffed with, so long as they were well sewn and painted. I further inquired as to where the precious goods of his manufacture might be bought, and he replied shortly— “ Anywhere.” And it seemed that this was perfectly true. The neighbourhoods of Shadwell, Ratcliffe, and Poplar were visited; and at each place at a seaman’s slop-shop, a “good life-buoy” was inquired for, and bought. One was branded “warranted corkwood;” one “all cork;” and the third simply bore the word “warranted.” They ranged in price from 6/- to 7/6. They were all three carried home, and dissected, with the folio-wing results:— No. 1 (“ warranted corkwood”), when its flimsy yellow skin was slit, was discovered to consist bodily of straw, sparely covered with cork shavings for the satisfaction, it is presumed, of any cautious mariner who might feel disposed to risk a little slit in his purchase, so as to make sure of its quality before he paid for it. No. 2 (“ warranted”) was stuffed with rushes. No. 3 (“all cork”) cork chips and rushes; about 20 per cent, of the former, and 80 of the latter. To test the buoyant capability of the three detected impostors, they were placed in water, a weight of ten pounds being attached to each. This was the result:— “Warranted corkwood” sank in an hour. “Warranted” stood the test for nearly two hours, and then succumbed. “ALL cork” floated for four hours, and then sank from view. Here is a pretty revelation! In our inbred love for the sea, and all that pertains to it, in this, more than in any other direction, do our sympathy and charity extend. An appeal for funds to float a life-boat on any dangerous coast, is seldom or never made in vain. We have hearty despising for all “crimps” and “long-shore” sharks, who prey on the seaman and fleece him of his hard earnings, more than all. Of all men, none is so utterly abhorred as the “ wrecker,” the cold-blooded villain who by means of false lights and signals betrays a vessel to certain destruction, for the sake of such plunder as the shattered hulk and the bodies of drowned men may yield. What, then, must be our opinion of the man who, for the sake of an extra profit of half-a-crown, consigns a fellow-creature to the lingering �SCOUNDRELISM BY THE SEA. torture of death hy gradual drowning ? To be sure, it may often happen lihat, cast on the face of the wilderness of water, the possessor of a life-buoy deserving the name may in the end be worse off than the man who has no such hope left him out of the wreck of his ship, and “ goes down and has done with it;” but who, since this wretched imposture began, can reckon up the instances of desperate hope all unexpectedly mocked to death, of life lost that would have been saved, had the promise that the treacherous buoy held out but proved true ? Nay, how many men, and women too—emigrant mothers bearing up their little children in the fathomless waters—have been cheated out of their lives, by abandoning the spar or plank, for the more hopeful-looking ring of stuffed canvas, “ warranted solid corkwood,” but which is no more than straw and rags, and which soddens and sinks, dragging the clingers with it ? SCOUNDEELISM BY THE SEA. (From Punch.) ^rERHAPS no plummet that shall be cast will ever find the bottom of human baseness and wickedness. We have sometimes thought that we had nearly sounded them—as in the case of the first Napoleon, SA or the last hag sent to prison for stripping children of their clothes. But up crops a new case, which seems to demand a heavier lead and a longer line than do either of the criminals we have mentioned. At first, we knew not whether to thank Mr. James Greenwood, or not, for making the revelation—so disgusting is the cold, sickening brutality he records; but, on reflection, we thank him for having added another to his good deeds. What think you, brothers and sisters, who lie safely listening to the furious tempests, and who find some comfort, when you are pitying the sailors, in the thought that they are furnished with life-buoys, that may hold them up in the fight with the black waves,—what think you, we gay, of this ?— Writing to me (says Mr. Greenwood, in last Friday’s Star) concerning loss of life at sea, Mr. Dixon—a well-known life-belt and buoy maker, of Sunderland informed me that he had grave suspicions of the quality of the life-buoys manufactured in London, and supplied to the Jew slop-shops. He himself had .met with life-buoys composed of the basest materials, and sent me some bits of common rush as a sample of the interior of one he had dissected. He further apprised me of the fact, that to such an extent had this fraud been perpetrated, that a very large number of seamen would have nothing to do. with life-buoys, declaring that they would rather go down, and have done with it, than hang in the jaws of death for a few hours—with the certainty of drowning, after all, becoming more apparent as the treacherous support gradually soddened, and sank under their weight. There, just read that quietly. It is no case for tall language. The simple words are pretty nearly enough, don’t you think ? You have taken in the fact. The men struggling in the waters—thinking of firesides and children— and feeling the article from a Jew’s slop-shop giving way under their cold hands ! Let us go on, then. Mr. Greenwood, naturally, did not care to receive this story without inquiry. He is no Gusher, eager to gush before a tale can be contradicted; i �4 SCOUNDRELISM BY THE SEA, on the contrary, a hard-headed, practical gentleman. He went to Shadwell, and found a belt and buoy maker. The man was frank enough :— He informed me that the buoys which are all stamped “ warranted cork­ wood,” are nothing of the kind—“not one in a dozen.” “You could’nt do it for the money,” said my informant; “ the Jews that such as we work for, won’t give more than 3/6 and 4/- each for ’em, and how much cork can you afford to stuff in ’em for that, I’d like to know He appeared to think that it did not matter what the canvas covers were stuffed with, so long as they were well sewn and painted. I further inquired as to where the precious goods of his manufacture might be bought, and he replied shortly— “Anywhere.” And it seemed that this was perfectly true. He told Mr. Greenwood what was put into the articles—rushes, shavings. But this will be shown better in Mr. Greenwood’s own account:— The neighbourhoods of Shadwell, Ratcliffe, and Poplar were visited; and at each place, at a seaman’s slop-shop, a “ good life-buoyj” was inquired for, and bought. One was branded “warranted corkwood,” one “all cork,” and the third simply bore the word “warranted.” They ranged in price from 6/to 7/6. They were all three carried home, and dissected, with the following results :— No. 1 (“warranted corkwood”), when its flimsy yellow skin was slit, was discovered to consist bodily ef straw, sparely covered with cork shavings for the satisfaction, it is presumed, of any cautious mariner who might feel dis­ posed to risk a little slit in his purchase, so as to make sure of its quality before he paid for it. No. 2 (“warranted”) was stuffed with rushes. No. 3 (“all cork”) cork chips and rushes, about 20 per cent, of the former, and 80 of the latter. To test the buoyant capability of the three detected impostors, they were placed in water, a weight of ten pounds being attached to each. This was the result :— “Warranted corkwood” sank in an hour. “Warranted” stood the test for nearly two hours, and then succumbed. “All cork” floated for four hours, and their sank from view. We really do not see that we can do better than leave the case as thus succintly stated. We thought that no form of rascality could surprise us much ; but this revelation has more nearly produced astonishment than any atrocity of which we have read for years. Yet, why be astonished ? For “ bithnetli is bithneth,” as the Jew slop-keeper would say ; and “business is business,” as his Christian rival would remark. But—would it not be pleasant to fling a gang of the vendors of these accursed things into the sea olf Brighton on a blowy day, and pitch them a choice assortment of their own buoys and belts to save them ? We doubt whether a purer pleasure could be suggested to us, unless we could hand them to the unfriendly Maories about dinner-time. We may not have either happiness; but we may call upon all our contemporaries to do their best to spread the knowledge that such are among the devilish tricks of trade ; and we may among us save a good many poor fellows from the deep. Can’t the Sailors’ Home, among other channels, publish the facts ? And if Jack inquires into the matter, and, breaking open a buoy at a slop-shop, finds straw or shavings, we hope that he will not be so hard as to pull the Jew’s nose off—that is, not quite off. �DEADLY LIFE-BUOYS. consist almost entirely of straw, overlaid with just a sufficient quantity of cork-cuttings to deceive a purchaser so cautious as to examine into its quality. The “warranted” belt was stuffed wholly with rushes. The third sample of these scoundrelly commodities, marked “all cork,” contained about 20 per cent, of cork chips ; the rest was rushes. The belts were then re-closed, and their floating capacity tried by placing them in water, with a weight of ten pounds attached to each. Let the public note that ten pounds Was an exceedingly moderate test for articles sold as capable of supporting a man’s body in the sea ! But what was the result? The best, “warranted corkwood,” sank to the bottom in the space of an hour; the “warranted” life-preserver floated two hours; and the “all cork” villany kept itself up for four hours, and then disappeared. It is needless to observe that, if these three false and vile specimens had been in actual use, not one of them would have sustained a shipwrecked seaman or passenger for a moment longer than the time necessary to saturate with sea-water the belt and the clothes of the poor betrayed wretches. And these were three “life-belts” bought at hazard from the shops in the chief streets of London—bought and sold as “good life-buoys,” and branded, in plain letters, with the audacious lie that they were, good ! The heart sickens as we learn what man will plot against his fellow-man for the mke of a wretched and dishonest profit ! It is bad enough to sand sugar, to mix horse-beans with coffee, to put alum in bread, quassia in beer, and grains of Paradise in gin. It is shamefully wicked to defraud the poor, day by day, and ounce after ounce, with cheating scales and weights. Yet we understand how the coarse conscience may become indurated by the constant practice of petty baseness; for the evil is indirect, the mischief is not forcibly present to the guilty thought. That a human being, however, well aware what a vile and cruel sham he is constructing, should sit down to fill a “life-buoy” with deceitful rubbish, that he should go with his painted murder to the slop-shop, that it should be then and there taken of him at a price which denounces it for a manufactured lie, and should in turn be sold to the unwary customer as a means of saving life in time of need, when the shopman knows that in time of need it will miserably sink the buyer—all this appears to be well nigh the most cold, awful, and horrible demonstration of unpunished homicide which we ever encountered. Yes—homicide ! since hundreds of wretched creatures must have perished by reason of these mendacious goods. Many and many a poor soul, cajoled into purchasing one of the yellow shams, has trusted his life, to it; and at that moment only, when no human justice could help him, he has found that his life had been bought and sold for the paltry shilling or two which would have made the belt genuine and serviceable. Merciful and just Heaven ! who can realise the bitter agony of a human being so betrayed ? �4 DEADLY LIFE-BUOYS. At the moment, perhaps, when he is on the very point of rescue—-when ,1 little longer buffeting in the waves will give the boat’s crew time to reach him, or will let him wash on shore alive and safe, though bruised—he feels the accursed thing to which he trusted become a trap of death. The wicked, lying fraud sags and sinks under his arms, and he goes to his fate a murdered man. And there are artizans and traders here among tis who know that such scenes have been, may be, and will be, and who yet go on fabricating these painted villanies, or hanging their “warranted” life-destroyers at their doors, ready to sell them with a smirk and a flourish to the first poor emigrant—simple soul, taking it for granted that, in such a matter, no man with a man’s heart would hold the life of his neighbour as nought for the sake of half-a-crown or three shillings. In some countries, a cross is hung over the lintel to keep evil things away : with us, people are not afraid to swing a mock “life-belt” over their thresholds—a token that only the triumph of evil designs is desired by the heartless shopkeeper. We can almost fancy those treacherous doors haunted by the ghosts of poor creatures betrayed in their last hope—angry and awful spectres, banning the wicked places where death was sold to them under the name of rescue. Let those who inspect and punish the villanies of trade look into this matter quickly; for it is a civil curse—a national malediction—that the lives of men should be brutally endangered, and contingent murder practised, for a gain of thirty pence. (From the Newcastle Chronicle.') JAMES GREENWOOD has done a most valuable service to the maritime community, by exposing the iniquitous conduct of certain east-end-of-London manufacturers, in the production of an article they call a life-buoy. Many of these buoys, instead of being filled with cork, are stuffed with rushes, hay, and such like rubbish, which, of course, will only hasten the end of the poor drowning man who may lay hold of one of them. We believe Mr. Greenwood is indebted to Mr. Dixon, of Sunderland, for having called his attention to the iniquity. This species of manufacture is free-trade with a vengeance ; but the pirate and freebooter are gentlemen beside the rascals who make a living by this diabolical fraud. We hope that the attention of Parliament will be called to it immediately, and that some stringent test will be applied to the manufacture of life-buoys. Lynch law is quite good enough for the people who engage in such an infamous trade ; and it could not be much regretted if a party of indignant sailors were to lay hands upon those east-end tradesmen and “manufacturers,” and throw them into the Thames, -with their fraudulent life-buoys fastened about them, so that they might become the victims of their own villany. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Victorian Blogging Description An account of the resource A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library &amp; Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Conway Hall Library & Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Conway Hall Ethical Society Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Pamphlet Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Deadly life-buoys; Straws for drowning men; Scoundrelism by the sea Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Greenwood, James Description An account of the resource Place of publication: [s.l.] Collation: [8 p.] ; 18 cm. Notes: 3 articles. Deadly Life-Buoys reprinted from the Daily Telegraph; Straws for Drowning Men, reprinted from the Morning Star; Scoundrelism by the Sea reprinted from Punch. Response to Greenwood's articles from the Newcastle Chronicle. Concerning James Greenwood's investigations into deceptively manufactured life buoys. Pagination of Deadly Life-Buoys and Scoundrelism by the Sea bound in wrong order. Tentative date of publication from KVK. From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available [s.n.] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource [1869?] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context G5382 Subject The topic of the resource Health Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Deadly life-buoys; Straws for drowning men; Scoundrelism by the sea), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource English Conway Tracts Health and Safety Lifebuoys https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/25778/archive/files/138dec5c83aa0f1e1a24e97783c3dd1a.pdf?Expires=1787788800&Signature=R416L-QAAYfnSUH6qZv7svCOuu7yq0QnK6JvYohZv-E16UqyHkSrAkaTdIbimp8Iq3JhuF14oIv2GdGbB33XSXSxTOslYbZefG2NEEMij9IvxY2MMVvzlT7s18nmgY-OdfLb7o2WqfkJxWUlsavGdNDg4NnHhaVHsn-VEqa4kZ8lnQGN-RU1kQMJIDkc6nx33V4PUXSqZRPn3ti8jETgqI8J3ag500VARXLAZDN8eSBBSB5pZAvdOrUhqxN4tdNpZXb8LyUN5pWOQfSZLRfNs2slbX3bEcQWTQmB73YNPHLCFA2s81EeCbRQJPu47ldyaiP9O3OAUL%7EYfgUZkHtzhg__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM e49f8d45529461aeb1d0c966064eb13d PDF Text Text 6 iXz POVERTY: ITS EFFECTS ON THE POLITICAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. BY C. BRADLAUGH. LONDON: LUSTIN k CO., 17, JOHNSON’S COURT, FLEET STREET and Watts & Co., 80, Shoe Lane. BRICE ONE PENNY. �“ Political Economy does not itself instruct how to make a nation rich* 1 but whoever would be qualified to judge of the means of making a nation ■■xroiiiu rich must first be a political economist.”—John Stuabt Mill. “ The object of political economy is to secure the means of subsistence of all the inhabitants, to obviate every circumstance which might render this precarious, to provide everything necessary for supplying the wants of society, and to employ the inhabitants so as to make their several interests accord with their supplying each other’s wants.”—Sib Jambs Stewabt. leorrgw® fcej Jgi" I|e3cawfll H-m ikfltSR SasMAi.® �POVERTY, AND ITS EFFECT ON THE POLITICAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. On one occasion in the world’s history, a people rose searching for upright life, who had previously, for several generations, depressed by poverty and its attendant hand­ maidens of misery, prowled hunger-stricken and disconso­ late, stooping and stumbling through the byways of existence. A mighty revolution resulted in much rough justice and some brutal vengeance, much rude right, and some terrific wrong. Amongst the writers who have since narrated the history of this people’s struggle, some penmen have been assiduous and hasty to search for, and chronicle the errors, and have even not hesitated to magnify the crimes of the rebels; while they have been slow to recognise the previous demoralising tendency of the system rebelled against. In this pamphlet it is proposed to very briefly deal with the state of the people in France immediately prior to the grand convulsion which destroyed the Bastile Monarchy, and set a glorious example of the vindication of the rights of man against opposition the most formidable that can be conceived; believing that even in this slight illustration of the condition of the masses in France who sought to erect on the ruins of arbitrary power the glorious edifice of civil and religious liberty, an answer may be found to the ques­ tion—“ What is the effect of poverty on the political condi­ tion of the people ?” In taking the instance of France, it is not that the writer for one moment imagines that poverty is a word without meaning in our own lands. The clamming factory hands in the Lancashire valleys, the distressed ribbon weavers of Coventry, and the impoverished labourers in various parts of Ireland and Scotland, would be able to give us a defini­ tion of the word fearful in its distinctness. But in England poverty is happily partial, while in France in the eighteenth century poverty was universal outside the palaces of the nobles and the mansions of the church, where luxury, voluptuousness, and effeminacy were regnant. In the seven­ teenth and eighteenth centuries travellers in France could learn from “ the sadness, the solitude, the miserable poverty, the dismal nakedness of the empty cottages, and the starv­ ing, ragged population, how much men could endure with­ out dying.” On the one side a discontented, wretched, hungry mass of tax-nroviding slaves, and on the other a �4 rapacious, pampered, licentious, spendthrift monarchy. This culminated in the refusal of the labourers to cultivate the fertile soil because the tax-gatherer’s rapacity left an insuffi­ cient remnant to provide the cultivator with the merest necessaries of life. Then followed “uncultivated fields, un­ peopled villages, and houses dropping to decaythe great cities—as Paris, Lyons, and Bordeaux—crowded with begging skeletons, frightful in their squalid disease and loathsome aspect. Even after the National Assembly had passed some measures of temporary alleviation, the distress in Paris itself was so great that at the gratuitous distribu­ tions of bread “ old people have been seen to expire with their hands stretched out to receive the loaf, and women waiting their turn in front of the baker’s shop were prema­ turely delivered of dead children in the open street.” The great mass of the people were as ignorant as they were poor; were ignorant indeed because they were poor. Igno­ rance is the pauper’s inalienable heritage. When the struggle is for the means of subsistence, and these are only partially obtained, there is little hope for the luxury of a leisure hour in which other emotions can be cultivated than those of the mere desires for food and rest—sole results of the labourious monotonousness of machine work; a round of toil and sleep closing in death—the only certain refuge for the worn-out labourer. Without the opportunity afforded by the possession of more than will satisfy the immediate wants, there can be little or no culture of the mental faculties. The toiler, badly paid and illfed, is separated from the thinker. Nobly-gifted, highlycultured though the poet may be, his poesy has no charms for the father to whom one hour’s leisure means short food for his hungry children clamouring for bread. The picture gallery, replete with the finest works of our greatest masters, is forbidden ground to the pitman, the ploughman, the poor pariahs to whom the conceptions of the highest art-treasures are impossible. The beauties of nature are almost equally inaccessible to the dwellers in the narrow lanes of great cities. Out of your narrow wynds in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and on to the moor and moun­ tain-side, ye poor, and breathe the pure life-renewing breezes. Not so; the moors are for the sportsmen and peers, not peasants; and a Scotch Duke—emblem of the worst vices of a corrupt and selfish, but fast-decaying House of Lords—closes miles of heather against the pedestrian’s i r is ii Is di Ml pi> ijr �5 foot. But even this paltry oppression is unneeded. Duke Despicable is in unholy alliance with King Poverty, who mocks at the poor mother and her wretched, ragged family, when from the garret or cellar in a great Babylon wilder­ ness they set out to find green fields and new life Work days are sacred to bread, and clothes, and rent; hunger, in­ clement weather, and pressing landlord forbid the study of nature ’twixt Monday morn and Saturday night, and on Sunday God’s ministers require to teach a weary people how to die, as if the lesson were not unceasingly inculcated in their incessant toil. Oh! horrid mockery; men need teaching how to live. According to religionists, this world’s hitter misery is a dark and certain preface, ‘‘just pub­ lished,” to a volume of eternal happiness, which for 2000 years has been advertised as in the press and ready for publication, but which after all may never appear. And notwithstanding that every-day misery is so very potent, mankind seem to heed it but very little. The second edi­ tion of a paper containing the account of a battle in which some 5000 were killed and 10,000 wounded, is eagerly pe­ rused, but the battle in which poverty kills and maims hun­ dreds of thousands, is allowed to rage without the uplifting of a weapon against the common enemy. “ If a war or a pestilence threatens us, every one is excited at the prospect of the misery which may result; prayers are put up, and every solemn and mournful feeling called forth; but these evils are to poverty but as a grain of sand in the desert, as the light waves that ruffle a dark sea of despair. Wars come, and go, and perhaps their greatest evils consist in their aggravation of poverty by the high prices they cause; pestilences last a season and then leave us; but poverty, the grim tyrant of our race, abides with us through all ages and in all circumstances. Bor each victim that war and pestilence have slain, for each heart that they have racked with suffering, poverty has slain its millions whom it has first condemned to drag out wearily a life of bondage and degradation.” The poor in France were awakened by Rousseau’s startling declaration that property was spoliation, they knew they had been spoiled, the logic of the stomach was conclusive, empty bellies and aching brains were the predecessors of a revolution which sought vengeance when justice was denied, but which full-stomached and empty-headed Tories of later days have calumniated and denounced. �6 Warned by the past, ought we not to-day to give battle to that curse of all old countries—poverty? The fearful miseries of want of food and leisure which the poor have to endure are such as to seriously hinder their political enfranchise­ ment. Those who desire that men and women shall have the rights of citizens, should be conscious how low the poor are trampled down, and how incapable poverty renders them for the performance of the duties of citizenship. So that the question of political freedom is really determined by the wealth or poverty of the masses; to this extent, at any rate, that a poverty-stricken people must necessarily, after that state of pauperism has existed for several generations, be an ignorant and enslaved people. The problem is, then, how to remove poverty, as it is only by the removal of poverty that the political emancipation of the nation can be rendered possible. It has been ascertained that the average food of the agricultural labourer in Eng­ land is about half that allotted by the gaol dietary to sustain criminal life. So that the peasant who builds and guards his master’s haystack gets worse fed and worse lodged than the incendiary convicted for burning it down. “ The rural population of many parts of England are, as a general rule, half-starved. They have to toil like bond­ slaves, with no leisure for amusement, education, or any other blessing which elevates or sweetens human life; and after all, they have only half enough of the very first essen­ tial of iife. The working classes in the towns, are also miserably paid, often half-starved; and are sweated to death, in unhealthy sedentary drudgery, such as tailoring, cotton­ spinning, weaving, &c.” How can this poverty be removed and prevented ? I quote the reply from one who has written most elabo­ rately in elucidation of the views of Malthus and Mill:— “ There is but one possible mode of preventing any evil— namely, to seek for and remove its cause. The cause of low wages, or in other words of Poverty, is over-population; that is, the existence of too many people in proportion to the food, of too many labourers in proportion to the capital. It is of the very first importance, that the attention of all who seek to remove poverty, should never be diverted from this great truth. The disproportion between the numbers and the food is the only real cause of social poverty. Indi­ vidual cases of poverty may be produced by individual mis­ conduct, such as drunkenness, ignorance, laziness, or disease ; �7 but these and all other accidental influences must be wholly thrown out of the question in considering the permanent cause, and aiming at the prevention of poverty. Drunken­ ness and ignorance, moreover, are far more frequently the effect than the cause of poverty. Population and food, like two runners of unequal swiftness chained together, advance side by side; but the ratio of increase of the former is so immensely superior to that of the latter, that it is neces­ sarily greatly checked; and the checks are of course either more deaths or fewer births—that is, either positive or pre­ ventive.” Unless the necessity of the preventive or positive checks to population be perceived; unless it be clearly seen, that they must operate in one form, if not in another ; and that though individuals may escape them, the race cannot; human society is a hopeless and insoluble rildle. Quoting John Stuart Mill, the writer from whom the foregoing extracts have been made, proceeds— “ The great object of statesmanship should be to raise the habitual standard of comfort among the working classes, and to bring them into such a position as shows them most clearly that their welfare depends upon themselves. For this purpose he advises that there should be, first, an ex­ tended scheme of national emigration, so as to produce a striking and sudden improvement in the condition of the labourers left at home, and raise their standard of comfort; also that the population truths should be disseminated as widely as possible, so that a powerful public feeling should be awakened among the working classes against undue pro­ creation on the part of any individual among them—a feel­ ing which could not fail greatly to influence individual con­ duct ; and also that we should use every endeavour to get rid of the present system of labour—namely, that of employers and employed, and adopt to a great extent that of indepen­ dent or associated industry; His reason for this is, that a hired labourer, who has no personal interest in the work he is engaged in, is generally reckless and without foresight, living from hand to mouth, and exerting little control over his powers of procreation; whereas the labourer who has a personal stake in his work, and the feeling of independence and self-reliance which the possession of property gives, as, for instance, the peasant proprietor, or member of a co­ partnership, has far stronger motives for self-restraint, and can see much more clearly the evil effects of having a large family.” �8 The end in view in all this is the attainment of a greater amount of happiness for humankind. The rendering life more worth the living, by distributing more equally than at present its love, its beauties, and its charms. In one of his most recent publications, Mr. John Stuart Mill observes that— “ In a world in which there is so much to interest, so much to enjoy, and so much also to correct and improve, every one who has a moderate amount of moral and intel­ lectual requisites is capable of an existence which may be called enviable; and unless such a person, through bad laws, or subjection to the will of others, is denied the liberty to use the sources of happiness within his reach, he will not fail to find this enviable existence, if he escape the positive evils of life, the great sources of physical and mental suffer­ ing, such as indigence, disease, and the unkindness, worth­ lessness, or premature loss of objects of affection. The main stress of the problem lies, therefore, in the contest with these calamities, from which it is a rare good fortune en­ tirely to escape, which, as things now are, cannot be obviated, and often cannot be in any material degree mitigated. Yet no one whose opinion deserves a moment’s consideration can doubt that most of the great positive evils of the world are in themselves removable, and will, if human affairs con­ tinue to improve, be in the end reduced within narrow limits. Poverty, in any sense implying suffering, may be completely extinguished by the wisdom of society, combined with the good sense and providence of individuals. Even that most intractable of enemies, disease, may be indefinitely reduced in dimensions by good physical and moral educa­ tion and proper control of noxious influences, while the pro­ gress of science holds out a promise for the future of still more direct conquests over this detestable foe.” In a former pamphlet—“Jesus, Shelley, and Malthus the reader’s attention was entreated to this grave question. In a few pages it is impossible to do more than erect a finger­ post to point out a possible road to a given end. To attempt in a narrow compass to give complete details, would be as unwise as it would be unavailing. My desire is rather to provoke discussion amongst the masses than to obtain will­ ing auditors amongst the few, and I affirm it, therefore, as a proposition which I am prepared to support—“That the political condition of the people can never be permanently reformed until the cause of poverty has been discovered and the evil itself prevented and removed.’’ � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Victorian Blogging Description An account of the resource A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library &amp; Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Conway Hall Library & Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Conway Hall Ethical Society Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Pamphlet Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Poverty: the effects on the political condition of the people Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bradlaugh, Charles [1833-1891.] Description An account of the resource Place of publication: London Collation: 20p. ; 19 cm. Notes: Tentative date of publication from KVK. First published 30 May 1863 in the National Reformer. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Austin & Co. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource [1869?] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context G4941 Subject The topic of the resource Social problems Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Poverty: the effects on the political condition of the people), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource English Poverty