A conversation between Southey and a Manchester gentleman who is showing him over the cotton factories.
Mr. -------- remarked that nothing could be so beneficial to a country as manufacture. 'You see these children, sir,' said he. 'In most parts of England poor children are a burthen to their parents and to the parish; here the parish, which would else have to support them, is rid of all expense; they get their bread almost as soon as they can run about, and by the time they are seven or eight years old bring in money. There is no idleness among us: they come at five in the morning; we allow them half an hour for breakfast, and an hour for dinner; they leave work at six, and another set relieves them for the night; the wheels never stand still.'I was looking, while he spoke, at the unnatural dexterity with which the fingers of these little creatures were playing in the machinery, half giddy myself with the noise and the endless motion; and when he told me there was no rest in these walls, day or night, I thought that if Dante had peopled one of his hells with children, here was a scene worthy to have supplied him with new images of torment.
'These children then,' said I, 'have no time to receive instruction.' 'That, sir,' he replied 'is the evil which we have found. Girls are employed here from the age you see them till they marry, and then they know nothing about domestic work, not even how to mend a stocking or boil a potato. But we are remedying this now, and send the children to school for an hour after they have done work.' I asked if so much confinement did notinjure their health. 'No' he replied, 'they are as healthy as any children in the world could be. To be sure, many of them as they grew up went off in consumptions, but consumption was the disease of the English. ...'
'We are well off for hands in Manchester,' said Mr. ------; 'manufacturers are favourable to population, the poor are not afraid of having a family here, the parishes therefore have always plenty to apprentice, and we take them as fast as they can supply us. In new manufacturing towns they find it difficult to get a supply. Their only method is to send people round the country to get children from their parents. Women usually undertake this business; they promise the parents to provide for the children; one party is glad to be eased of a burden; and it answers well to the other to find the young ones in food, lodging and clothes, and receive their wages.' 'But if these children should be ill-used', said I. 'Sir,' he replied, 'it never can be the interest of the women to use them ill, nor of the manufacturers to permit it.'
It would have been in vain to argue had I been disposed to it. Mr. ------- was a man of humane and kindly nature, who would not himself use any thing cruelly, and judged of others by his own feelings. I thought of the cities in Arabian romance, where all the inhabitants were enchanted: here Commerce is the Queen witch, and I had no talisman strong enough to disenchant those who were daily drinking of the golden cup of her charms
Robert Southey, Letters from England (1807).
Who created it? Dr. Marjie Bloy
Who is the author? Robert Southey
When was it created? 1807
When was it published? 1807
Where was it published? England
Who is publishing it? Robert Southey
Is there anything we know about the author that is pertinent to our evaluation? He disagree about
Child labor.
Why does this document exist? They want people to know the child work in factory.
Why did the author create this piece of work? What is the intent? Author want people knows that child didn’t go to school they go to work.
Why did the author choose this particular format? Author want we know that.
Who is the intended audience? Who was the author thinking would receive this? I think is all the
People.
What does the document “say”? A conversation between Southey and a man Chester
Can it tells you more than are on the surface? Yes
What can we tell about the author from the piece? He agrees about this event.
What can we tell about the time period from the piece? 1807
Under what circumstances was the piece created and how does the piece reflect those
Circumstances? Under the circumstances that there were lots of child labor, this piece reflect that
Child labor is bad because they can't study.
What can we tell about any controversies from the piece? Not only the author thought child labor
Was wrong.
Does the author represent a particular ‘side’ of a controversy or event? Yes, he thought it was
Wrong.
What was going on in history at the time the piece was created and how does this piece accurately
Reflect it? I don't know.
What part of the story can we NOT tell from this document? The conclusion of this event.
How could we verify the content of the piece? The author tell us the child work in the factory.
Does this piece inaccurately reflect anything about the time period? No.
What does the author leave out and why does he/she leave it out (if you know)? The feeling of
Those kids. I don't know.
What is purposely not addressed? I don’t know.
沒有留言:
張貼留言