The owners had at length succeeded in getting a large number of hands from other parts of the country; and the strike having continued 18 weeks, great numbers of the men began to break away from the ranks of the union and return to work. Several collieries refused to set their old hands on again, which caused them to besiege other collieries. Rumours now got abroad that the union was broken up; and the men who had been brought down to starvation point and unable to endure the miseries of camping in tents or the cries of their children for bread, were compelled at length to yield to adverse circumstances. The Durham miners were the first to give way, but let it be understood that the pitmen of this county had suffered more hardship by the cruel treatment of their late employers, than their brethren in Northumberland. Besides, their resources failed, and want, in all its hideous forms, was present with them and their wretched families. The miners of Northumberland still felt resolute, for they were smarting under a great accumulation of wrongs, and they shuddered at the idea of returning to work under their employers' terms. They therefore determined to hold another general meeting on the Newcastle Town Moor, on the 13th of August, and recommended that their brethren of the Wear and Tees should do the same. A meeting accordingly took place, but there were only from ten to twelve hundred present at this meeting; Mr. Charles Reveley in the chair. The following resolutions were unanimously passed:-Moved by Mr. James Hardy, seconded by Mr. Mitchell, and supported by Mr. Joseph Fawcett, "That after standing out 18 weeks, and seeing the base and unmanly conduct of our masters, who have, by promises, threats, and intimidation, succeeded in getting a number of men to work to suit their present purposes, and thereby entailing misery on the present and future generations, to prevent this direful calamity, this meeting, therefore, calls upon all such as have been deluded by the false promises of the masters, to join the ranks of the miners' association."-2nd, moved by Mr. W. Bell, seconded by Mr. William Bird, and supported by Mr. E. Richardson, "That in the opinion of this meeting, the miners of this district ought to be very careful and guarded against reports emanating from parties in the garb of ministers of the

gospel, persuading the men to go to work, by painting our position in false colours; this meeting, therefore pledges itself not to believe any report unless it bear the stamp of authority from our association." Mr. Christopher Haswell, moved the third resolution:-"That this meeting pledges itself to stand by the association, and to continue united, until we obtain our rights." Thanks having been voted to the chairman and to Sir John Fife, for the use of the ground, the meeting broke up.

A similar meeting to the above took place the day after, on the sands near the City of Durham, of the collieries of the Wear and Tees, about ten thousand being present. The same resolutions were passed, and the same chairman presided. The speakers were Messrs. Dent, Pratt and others. Great numbers of the Durham pitmen were making their way to the collieries on the Tyne; but the Northumberland miners still determined to hold out. An enthusiastic meeting of twenty-seven collieries of the Tyne was held on Scaffold Hill, when it was resolved to fight the battle out to the last. It was resolved to send two men from each of the Tyne collieries to the Wear and Tees, to endeavour to induce their brethren there to again join them in the battle for Labour's rights, and to advise them to stay away from the Tyne, but before the men got away to the different places to where they were appointed, hundreds of men had made their way to the Tyneside collieries, and took work wherever they could obtain it.

CHAPTER XX.

RESOLUTION OF THE MEN TO YIELD. RETURN OF THE MEN TO WORK. END OF THE STRIKE.

The battle which had been fought between capital and labour, between might and right, between the oppressors and the oppressed, was now drawing quickly towards a termination in favour of capital, of might, and of the oppressors. Labour, starved, ill-treated, scorned, and mocked at, felt the ground giving way from beneath its feet; right, crushed and stifled for the time by the force of might, lay bleeding and

humiliated; and the oppressed, still more oppressed than ever with the miseries of their suffering dear ones, their wives and children, and with a keen and poignant sense of the great cruelty which had been perpetrated by their employers, felt the time for throwing off the yoke of slavery had not yet arrived, and reluctantly yielded to the force of circumstances. Poverty and indigence, unable to cope with wealth and affluence, gave up the contest; wrong triumphed, and right was defeated. The leaders of the men now, seeing there was no chance to hold out any longer, called meetings at the various collieries, at each of which the following resolution was passed :— Seeing the present state of things, and being compelled to retreat from the field through the overbearing and cruelty of our employers, the suffering and misery of our families, and the treachery of those who have been their tools during the strike, we, at the present time, deem it advisable to make the best terms with our employers we can." A second resolution was passed to the effect that no single individual should go to the colliery office for work, but all go in a body and meet the resident viewer; and after the binding, another meeting should be held.

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This determination being come to on the Saturday at the collieries, on the Sunday the miners were all in a state of confusion. Few, if any slept that night, they were in mourning, many of them with tears in their eyes. On Monday morning, the men at Seaton Delaval Colliery met in a body at the Hastings Arms, and went to the colliery office. The head viewer, Mr. William Oliver came out, and said:"Now, lads, I suppose you request an interview with me?" Their hearts seemed to be too full to answer. said: "I know what conclusions you have come to. mean to commence work on the employers' terms. things will be just as they were before you left off work, with the exception of the monthly bond." He expressed a strong desire that all bad feeling would be laid aside, for both had enough to do, and he hoped that this would be the last strike between the miners and their employers. It was agreed that all men who had been off should be at liberty to return to their work as soon as pit room could be got, and that every man should have his own house again as far as it could conveniently be carried out. As there had been a

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large number of men brought to the colliery, who occupied the houses, these of course could not be shifted. After a few more friendly observations the binding commenced, and when all was agreed to, they returned to their meeting room, and it was unanimously agreed to still stand by their union. Similar meetings at the East Cramlington, Seghill, West Moor, and the other collieries, took place, and the same resolutions were passed at each.

The strike of the miners of the North of 1844, a strike which still lives in the memory of many, and which for magnitude and the determination of the men, has never yet been surpassed, was now at an end, and the men were compelled by sheer necessity to return to work on the terms and conditions offered by the coal owners. This trial of strength between the workmen and their masters did not originate in consequence of a mere question of wages, but to settle the future terms of labour, and to rectify a number of abuses to which the unfortunate operatives were victims, for the miners were compelled to submit to every injury and insult, oppression and injustice, cruelty and annoyance. They adopted the only means in their power to assert their rights and obtain redress, and they were laughed at, trampled on, and insulted by the tyrants who had wronged them. Every method to persecute, destroy, and crush them, was adopted by such men as Lord Londonderry and his confederates. The very tradesmen on the estates of those feudal barons who dared to give credit, or even supply food for cash to the miners who had joined the union, were the victims of oppression. The condition of the unfortunate miners became too desperate to be supported, although the cause was justice itself. Moralists and religionists assure us, that virtue always triumphs in the long run; here is a case which appears to belie the doctrine. But an imperious necessity compelled them to give way to their severe task masters; for they had no alternative between that, and seeing their wives and little ones perish with starvation. The strike is over. Arbitrary power and immense wealth proved stronger than the courage excited by a good cause. In fact, justice itself was trampled under foot by aristocratic tyranny, aided by unlimited riches. Thousands and thousands of unfortunate men were driven by a stern necessity

back again to a condition of abhorrent slavery. But this victory achieved by the coal owners was only another item to swell the awful catalogue of wrongs for which a proud aristocracy will shortly have to account for to a democracy, rising in its power and its might, when the day of retribution shall come.

CHAPTER XXI.

REPRISALS OF THE MEN ON THE STRANGERS. RIOTS AT SEATON DELAVAL AND HOLYWELL. ARREST AND IMPRISONMENT OF THE MEN. TREATMENT OF THE WELSHMEN BY THE NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM PITMEN.

Although the men had lost the strike it was acknowledged by many of the coal owners that in consequence of the losses they had sustained during its progress, it would have been better for them to have given the men the price they had asked for at first; but as they had a union amongst themselves, one could not agree without the whole. The loss to the district by this strike was estimated at half a million sterling. According to a return published at the time, the following were the mumbers of miners employed in April in the several districts. The Tyne 15,556; Blyth 1,051; Wear 13,172; Tees 4,211; total 33,990.

The soldiers who had been located at Seaton Delaval dur

ing the greater part of the strike still remained for some time after matters had been adjusted between the men and the owners. The men who had been out on strike and those who had been at work during the strike as "blacklegs," never met on friendly terms, and the former gave indications that they would take the first opportunity to have a day of reckoning with the latter for their conduct while the strike was pending. During the twenty weeks the strike continued there was little, if any, breaking of the peace. On the 11th of August, however, a brakesman belonging to Ravensworth, named Thomas Robson, was shot dead in a field near to that place whilst in company with a watcher named Jefferson, and though it was believed the crime was connected with the strike, the perpetrator was never discovered. On the 15th August the greatest riot that took place at this time occurred. The way in which it originated was this. The Double Row