The chairman thanked Mr. Surtees for the gentlemanly manner in which he had conveyed the request, and said he would take upon himself the responsibility of saying that everything should be conducted in a peaceable manner; upon which Mr. Surtees and the Hon. Captain Jocelyn and Lieut. Knox left the meeting. During this interview, Col. Bradshaw of the 37th Infantry, and Major Wemyss, superintendent of the Durham Rural Police, were observed riding at the outskirts of the meeting.

Mr. George Armstrong moved and Mr. Thomas Hay, seconded the following resolution. "That it is the opinion of this meeting that the members of the Miners' Association, after duly deliberating upon the conditions held out in the master's monthly agreement, consider it inimical to their interest and future welfare, and, in consequence, they pledge themselves to stand out until the terms demanded by the men on the various collieries be acceded to."

The chairman having put the motion, it was carried unanimously, after which another resolution, to the following effect, was proposed and carried: "That the members of the Miners' Association pledge themselves that, after getting to work, they will settle all the debts they contract."

The meeting was afterwards addressed by two delegates from London, who detailed the whole of the proceedings there up to the time they left. They stated that they had been well received everywhere, but as yet the amount of subscriptions was trifling. The meeting then dispersed.

Another important meeting took place on Monday, July 8th, at Shadon's Hill, and was most numerously attended, there being present not less than 25,000 persons, including a great number of the fair sex. Many of the Tyne Collieries walked in procession through Newcastle to the meeting with their flags flying and music playing, and conducted themselves in a most orderly manner. The following are the resolutions which were unanimously passed. 1st, moved by Mr. Norman, seconded by Mr. Hardy, and supported by Mr. B. Watson:-"That in the opinion of this meeting, the master's monthly agreement is calculated to break up our union and destroy our liberties as Englishmen, therefore this meeting pledges itself to resist it by all legal and constitutional means.' 2nd, moved by Mr. Fawcett,

seconded by Mr. George Charlton, and supported by Mr. Richardson:-"That in the opinion of this meeting the struggle in which we are engaged is one of justice and righteousness, and based upon these principles it cannot fail to triumph, therefore this meeting pledges itself to continue the holy contest until our just claims are acceded to." 3rd, moved by Joseph Beaston, seconded by Thomas Pratt, and supported by R. Archer:-"That this meeting having seen the diabolical attempts of our masters to force us into a breach of the peace, therefore pledges itself to keep within the pale of the law by firmly adhering to the principles and objects of the Miners' Association." 4th, moved by Mr. C. Haswell, and seconded by Mr. Daniels:—“That the thanks of this meeting are due and are hereby given to the trades of London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, the carpet weavers of Durham and Barnardcastle, and to the trades of various other towns; also to the miners generally of the United Kingdom, for the support they have rendered during our present struggle, which we trust they will continue until our contest is brought to a successful close, and we pledge ourselves to assist them in return, should they ever be placed in the like circumstances."

After the meeting had broke up Mr. W. P. Roberts, the pitmen's attorney-general, arrived, he having been detained at Bishop Auckland attending some trials, and a supplementary meeting was therefore held which was only addressed by Messrs. Roberts and Beesley.

The owners of the collieries at Derwent Iron Works commenced to turn their workmen to the door in July as early as eight o'clock in the morning. Mr. Richardson, who was an active intelligent man, and a member of the executive, was the first turned out. As he refused to walk, he was literally carried to the door, and when he reached the outside, he immediately jumped upon a form, and commenced addressing the assembled people. He said it was the proud boast of Englishmen that the working man's house was his castle, but the miners of Northumberland and Durham gave the lie to that, for thousands of families now were houseless.

Upwards of 700 persons sat down to a most excellent

and substantial dinner, consisting of beef, mutton, ham, pies, &c., which was voluntarily provided by the inhabitants of Black Hill and Shotley Bridge, in order to show their disgust and disapproval of the harsh proceedings of the coal owners. After dinner a public meeting was held, Mr. J. Olley, nail manufacturer in the chair, when the speakers were Messrs. J. Coxon, engineer, James Emery, mason, William Atkinson, mason, and E. Richardson. The meeting was conducted and separated in an orderly manner.

There were forty joiners, masons, and blacksmiths at this Colliery, and as only two would consent to assist in turning the men out of their dwellings, the others were discharged for having refused.

Another meeting was held at Willington, Mr. Charles Reveley in the chair. The speakers were William Bell, Percy Main; Robert Henderson, and Joseph Fawcett, West Moor; and Alexander Stoves, who had been one of the deputation to London. The following resolution was proposed by Mr Fawcett and seconded by the Rev. J. Spoor:-"That after the statements of the several speakers, this meeting is of opinion that the miners of the counties of Northumberland and Durham are an ill-used body of men, and therefore we consider them perfectly justifiable in their present cessation from labour." On being put it was carried in the midst of cheering.

The day following a district meeting was held at Scaffold Hill. Mr. A. Stoves presided, and after stating the object of the meeting, he introduced Mr. E. Hall, Walker Colliery, to propose the first resolution, which was as follows:-"That after viewing the mean artifice of the masters in order to break up the union, we feel more determined than ever to stand by the terms offered by us to our late employers." This was seconded by Mr. J. Spoors, of Percy Main, who in an able manner, showed the stratagems of the masters. It was also supported by Mr. Charles Reveley, of Wallsend, and carried unanimously.

"That

Mr. C. Haswell moved the second resolution:we feel grateful to the public in general, and to the shopkeepers in particular, for the support we have received from them, and we therefore pledge ourselves to give them our favours when we resume our work," which being seconded

by Mr. William Lumsdon, of Gosforth, was carried unanimously.

The third resolution, proposed by Mr. Robert Henderson, of West Moor, seconded by Mr. R. Turnbull, of Seghill, and supported by Mr. William Jobling, of Walker, was to the following effect, "That we view the conduct of the police, special constables, blacklegs, &c., with abhorrence, in having drawn their cutlasses and presented pistols to inoffensive men, to cause a breach of the peace, we therefore pledge ourselves to do no injury either to person property."

or

A vote of thanks was then proposed to T. Duncombe, Esq., M. P., for his able advocacy of the miners in the House of Commons.

CHAPTER XV.

THE INHUMANITY OF THE EJECTIONS. ATTEMPT BY THE MEN TO SETTLE THE DISPUTE. CONDUCT OF THE COAL OWNERS GENERALLY, AND OF THE MARQUIS OF LONDONDERRY IN PARTICULAR. THE WORKHOUSE CLOSED AGAINST THE MEN.

The coal owners continued to introduce into the villages a number of idle, lawless vagabonds who had been gathered from the low neighbourhoods of large towns throughout the country, and induced to hire themselves as pitmen by promises of high bounties and princely wages. The work of eviction went on with briskness throughout the whole of the two counties; in many places the men on strike being evicted before the owners had any need for their houses for new comers. It is true that the masters had a right to do what they liked with their own, but on the score of humanity and fellow-feeling they might have refrained from turning their old servants to the doors till they had new ones ready to occupy their places. Throughout the counties of Durham and Northumberland there were thousands of cottages tenantless, whilst their late inmates were camping in the open air, exposed to the inclemency of the weather. The owners seemed to have no chance to beat the men down without resorting to this cruel and dastardly revenge, and the great wonder was, how the men could keep the peace under

such trying circumstances. At the meetings which were held, it was often said, "May God defend the poor oppressed against the rich oppressor," and truly there was cause for this expression.

The following address by the Committee of the Miners' Association was drawn up, and sent to the Coal Owners' Committee:

:

GENTLEMEN,-The pitmen of Northumberland and Durham have been off work now three months, and to all appearance will hold out for many weeks longer sooner than go to work on the terms offered by your agents, the viewers; and they are seemingly as determined not to agree to the terms offered by the men. Thus the parties are at opposite extremes, and one or both parties must be considered not only culpable, but also amenable for any amount of distress or privation to which hundreds of other persons are subjected, through the protracted nature of the strike, seeing they do not move from the position first taken up, so as to meet and make some approximation to an amicable adjustment of all differences. Gentlemen, we must be convinced that what has been repeatedly stated (we beg to refer you to our former reports) is proof sufficient that all means resorted to on our part for obtaining an interview in order to effect an amicable adjustment of all points in dispute, have been treated with silent contempt, or what is worse, we have been told that no concession would be made to our demands. Seeing then that every other means had proved failures, we in the end proposed—and again propose to submit all matters of dispute to the arbitration of disinterested persons-to be chosen by the masters on one part, and by the men on the other.

"Reference has been made to a vexatious line of proceedings to which the masters have been subjected, which for the future they are determined not to tolerate, without once specifying what the proceedings are. Here it may be stated that the workmen have been considerably annoyed by the attempts of the (so-called) masters to withhold their earnings, and when those earnings were requested to be paid, though the application was ever so humble, it was generally treated with contempt and insult; and such treatment frequently led the workmen to adopt other proceedings, which might be considered by the owners vexatious, and however determined they, the masters, may be to put an end to such, the only effectual method would be to give a fair remuneration to their workmen, and treat them with kindness and consideration.

"Once more we appeal to you; can we obtain an interview? Tell us how, and by what means? From a consciousness that such an interview would be highly desirable, we entreat you to bestow on this our address your speedy and serious attention.

"We are, gentlemen, on behalf of the miners of Northumberland and Durham,

WILLIAM RICHARDSON.

EDWARD RICHARDSON.
JOHN CLARK, DISTRICT SECRETARY.

MINERS' ASSOCIATION, COMMITTEE ROOM, NEWCASTLE."