182Kf 



■ oH^the Stale of F/Y/ift-a WkV^'tH ""•Si 



frorti the a1>otif ton of iHe'** G'otftii iift^ 

 tern of the Juvamles et Mnitrises :'''' tlio 

 real question is, liave tbe public or the 

 workmen themselves gained or not, by 

 the removal of the " tyrannical and 

 absUriC fetters with which trade and 

 mamufactnres were loaded, and which 

 had the effect of jireventiug men from 

 making tlie most of the talents with 

 which nature had endowed them ? 

 Tliat '•'• the workmen themselves''^ must 

 have ^ined by the restoration of their 

 natural right to follow the bent of their 

 own inclinations, can Iiardly, we think, 

 admit of a doubt : and that " the pub- 

 lic''' have also gained, we should think 

 is pretty clear, when we consider that 

 all exclusive privileges of " corporate 

 bodies of tradesmen,'''' wliether paid 

 for with money, or by a sacrifice of 

 fime during a tedious apprenticeship, 

 must, ultimately, be paid fur by the 

 pufitic, in an enhancement of the 

 prices of the various articles manufac- 

 tured by these said corporate Iwdies. 

 For our own part, we must say that 

 we look upon the Gothic system of 

 long apprenticeships, as one of tlie 

 worst of those we liave derived from 

 the loisdoin of onr ancestors ; and 

 among many otiier Ijenefits that a re- 

 form would confer u|)Ou Eugland, we 

 think that theal»ol!(ion of long appren- 

 t<c 'Ships and of the exclusive privileges 

 of " corporate bodies of tradesmen," 

 wottld not be the least. 



Tn the next- paragraph, (page 4,) the 

 rfviewei- sajts, •• The mass of the peo- 

 ple have acquired some political expe- 

 rience ; but in other respects they 

 must be as ignorant as the revolution 

 found them." Why, " must be ?" Wc 

 grant — not that they must be, but that 

 they may be as ignorant of Greek and 

 Latiil as ever they were ; but does tlie 

 reviewer think it is possible to acquire 

 " wme political experience,'''' without 

 acquiring at the same time, some other 

 nseful knowledge ? Does he not know 

 also, that the number of people who 

 can read and write is vastly increased 

 since the revolution, aud that, thanks 

 to the Lancaster schools, (Ecoles (Ten- 

 aeignement mufuel) this benefit is ex- 

 tending still further evei-y day, not- 

 withstanding all the attempts of the 

 clergy* to prevent the contagion from 



* It is a fact, that a bishop (or the bishop 

 of ) refused the cummunion to se- 

 veral people ill his diocese, because they 

 allowed their children to attend these 

 tchooln. 



Monthly Mag. No. Sjo. 



509 



•prertding ? Why then does Tie graftui- 

 tously assert that they mrtst be as 

 ignorant as the revolution found them i 

 This is of a piece wifli his equally 

 gratuitous assertion which concludes 

 the same paragraph, that " the diffi- 

 culty of forming proper juries is also 

 such, that a sense of sliame alone pre- 

 vents the institution from being given 

 up at once, in despair : it certainly is 

 not popular." Now, the reviewer 

 must know that juries are employed 

 only in criminal cases tried before the 

 supreme courts : that these courts hold 

 their sittings only in the principal 

 places of each department, most of 

 which are populous towns. We may, 

 therefore, judge of the value of his 

 assertitm as to the difficulty of forming 

 proper juries to try criminal cases in 

 towns having a jiopulation of from tea 

 to a hundred tliousand inbabitantH ! 

 As to tlie institution not h&'iug pofmlar, 

 we say this assertion is /«/«€, as applied 

 to the people, but may possibly be very 

 true as applied to the judges and to 

 those who appoint them. 



The next paragraplis, comprised ia 

 pages, 5, 6, 7 and 8, contain compara^ 

 five statistical statements as to the em- 

 ployment of tlie population of France 

 and that of Great Britain, from wbick 

 is given as the result, 



"That the proportion of landed proprie- 

 tors in Fi auce is nearly three times greater 

 than with us, most of them being at the 

 same time labourers ; aud that the propov- 

 tiou of agricultural labourers also,issom&- 

 thuig greater ; aud thus, owing to a better 

 system of husbandry, larger farms and 

 more pastures, we can aftbrd a doubre 

 proportion of our population for commer- 

 cial aud manufacturing labours, the liberal 

 and the useful arts, and a life of leisni'e 

 and enjoyment." 



The reviewer then continues in rather 

 a doleful tone ; " And yet, if we look 

 to the result of this state of things, we 

 shall find no great reason to boast." 

 Boast ! — No. — who, that tmderstood 

 any thing of mankind, coiild, after 

 such a statement, expect to find' any 

 reason '• to boast .?" Is not a commer- 

 cial and manufacturing populatiotl al- 

 ways more vicious and debauched than 

 an agricultural one ? Does not the 

 shutting up of men in ill-aired work- 

 shops tend to enervate their bodies and 

 to weaken their minds, while at the 

 same time, tlie vices of a few are com- 

 municated to the whole? While the 

 manufacturer is shut up in the pestli- 

 ferous atmosphere of liis own work- 

 shop, tlie country labourer is breathing 

 3 S tlie 



