infants, and before they have acquired the very rudiments of education. Still another thing is, that many workmen in old age die, as it were, upon their feet; they have not the means of taking work easily when heart and flesh faint and fail; their last years of life are often a living martyrdom; many of them drag themselves to work when they ought more properly to be in bed. We have heard the widow, beside the dead body of her old man, describe, with a simple pathos that would have touched any one's heart, the mortal struggle of his last years between the desire to work, and the cruel gripe of disease; and tell how of an evening, when he was later than usual of coming home, she would go out to meet him, and find him resting on the parapet of a railing, struggling for breath; and how, after he had recovered himself a little, they would both totter along, till they reached their humble home, whose only comfort consisted in the blessing of God, and the simple, honest affection which they bore to one another. We are far from saying that prudent and careful Christian men and women may not do a great deal to lessen these evils. A very great deal, unquestionably, they may do, as we shall try to show a little further on. But apart from that, the question demands attention-is there any lawful way of influencing the general arrangements of so

ciety in favour of workmen; any mode of making their wages somewhat higher, and their work somewhat less; of bringing the day's work and the day's wages nearer to an equality, nearer to what is the desirable condition of the working man's family in an enlightened age and a Christian land?

Let us look candidly at some of the plans that have been proposed, and, in some instances, carried into effect, with a view to this end.

First, there is the plan of trades'-unions, combinations, and strikes. Workmen, under this plan, feeling that individually they are weak and helpless, and lie too much at the mercy of capitalists, form themselves into trade societies, which are designed to give to their members the strength that comes from union, and to afford them protection and aid in every important matter where their interests are at stake. In particular, these unions are designed to aid the workmen in any dispute that may arise between them and their employers as to the rate of wages, the hours of labour, the number of apprentices, and the regulations of the trade generally. When disputes arise between employers and employed, it is usually attempted to get them amicably settled; but in the event of refusal by the employers to come to terms, recourse is had by the men to the strike, which, by throwing the capitalist on his beam-ends,

is expected to force him into the terms of the union. It is true that trades'-unions, in addition to this, often make provision for their members in time of sickness; aid in transferring them and their families from one part of the country to another, when they require to remove; and, in some cases, also assist them to emigrate. In these latter respects the good which they have done is beyond dispute. But these objects must be left out of view in judging of the bearing of such societies on the point now immediately before us—the amount of remuneration for the labour of workmen. The question is, Have trades'-unions and strikes had the effect of improving the condition of British workmen, and raising the wages of labour?

The inquiry resolves itself into two questions; the one economical, the other moral. It may be best, in the few remarks we have to make, to keep these separate. As to the economical question-the nett result of trades'-unions and strikes on the remuneration of working men-the subject is yet involved in such clouds of debate as almost frighten one from approaching it. The Social Science Association, at its meeting at Bradford in 1859, appointed a committee to investigate the subject, and an elaborate report and documents, filling an octavo volume, was the result of the committee's labours. The subject

underwent a keen discussion at the meeting of the Association at Glasgow in 1860, and opposite opinions were maintained by representatives of sundry trades'-unions, on the one hand, and by those who disapproved of them on the other. The committee, whose chairman was Sir J. Kay Shuttleworth, summed up their conclusions in no fewer than nineteen propositions, which, numerous though they were, embraced no decision whatever on the great leading question-the bearing of such societies on the actual amount of the wages of labour. In fact, it was not attempted to be concealed that the great question was shirked, and its decision left over to a future time.

It would be presumptuous in a mere onlooker to attempt to decide so vexed a question. We shall do little more than indicate our opinion that trades'unions have on the whole a tendency to increase the wages of labour, and in this respect are beneficial to a limited extent to working men. It is true that many strikes have failed to accomplish their immediate object. But success can only attend a strike when two conditions meet: first, when the workmen are in the right; and second, when they can hold out longer than their employers. If the workmen be wrong as to the merits of the dispute; that is to say, if the employers positively cannot afford to give in

to their demands, the strike of course must ultimately terminate against the workmen. Or if the workmen have not the means of continuing the struggle long enough, in that case too, they must fail of their immediate object. But looking at the general tendency of strikes economically, it must be admitted, we think, to be in favour of workmen. They make employers more careful not to provoke such a movement; they make them more prompt in giving their workmen the benefit of larger profits in good times; the fact of a possible strike in the background no doubt gives immense force to the workmen's demands. On the other hand, trades'-unions among the men may give rise to combinations among the masters, and strikes on the one side have their counterpart in locks-out on the other. And further, when any branch of trade is much threatened by strikes, that circumstance must tend to prevent capitalists from embarking in a business where so great derangements may occur.

But even in an economical point of view, any benefit that strikes may bring is subject to a frightful discount from the tremendous suffering and sacrifice through which they drag workmen and their families at the time. This is a fearful subject, yet not without a sort of lurid glory in the eyes of some. The self-devotion of many working people in this cause