392 THE REIGN OF LAW. 



Such were the arguments — urged in every variety 

 of form, and supported by every kind of statisti- 

 cal detail — by which the first Factory Acts were 

 vehemently opposed. 



And, indeed, in looking back at the debates of 

 that time, we cannot fail to see that the reasoning 

 of those who opposed restriction on Free Labour 

 met with no adequate reply. Not only were the 

 supporters of restriction hampered by a desire to 

 keep their conclusions within the scope of a very 

 limited measure ; not only were they anxious to 

 repudiate consequences which did legitimately 

 follow from their own premises ; but they were 

 themselves really ignorant of the fundamental 

 principles which were at issue in the strife. Their 

 conclusions were arrived at through instincts of 

 the heart. The pale faces of little children, 

 stunted and outworn, carried them to their result 

 across every difficulty of argument, and in defiance 

 of the alleged opposition of inevitable laws. And 

 yet, if the supporters of the Factory Acts had 

 only known it, all true abstract argument on the 

 subject was their own. The conclusions to which 

 they pointed were as true in the light of Reason, as 



