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which in old times caused occasionally severe distress. Butcher’s 
meat is dearer, but then fifty or sixty years ago it was not ordinarily 
consumed by the labouring classes at all—it was quite beyond 
their reach. House rent also is higher; but the houses are much 
better, so that this increase chiefly represents the interest upon the 
increased capital invested in building. And with all this, the 
workman’s hours of labour have been diminished about 20 per 
cent., and are still diminishing. 
Fifty or sixty years ago, certainly less than half of the labouring 
classes could read and write. Of course the memory of many of 
us here can testify to a great and continuous improvement in this 
respect. No doubt it was more needed in the south of England 
than here in the north, where there was a larger number of old 
endowed schools. In fact, as regards the N.W. of England, I 
doubt whether the changes of modern legislation (such as the new 
schemes promoted by the Endowed Schools Commission and the 
throwing open of so many local scholarships at the Universities,) 
may not have made it rather more difficult for the poor man’s 
clever son to rise in the world than it was then. 
But, speaking broadly, the working man is better fed, better 
housed, better clothed, better educated, his working hours are 
shorter, he puts more money into savings banks, he has better 
literature, better amusements, he goes about more, he is better man- 
nered, he has a larger share in the comforts and even the luxuries 
of civilized life. And one result is shown by this fact—that, 
according to the life tables, there has been in about forty years, a 
distinct gain in the average duration of life—two years in the case 
of males, three-and-a-half years in the case of females. Think 
how much more health and strength this represents—what a 
diminution of sickness and sorrow in the world! 
Yes, “the good old times,” which we so often talk of, owe their 
existence far more to the affection with which we look back on 
the past as we advance in life, than to any real superiority which 
