and fork question" is the very seed of historical causation. Regarding the Chartist Movement primarily as a labor movement and as the first compact form of class struggle, the author, therefore, deemed it necessary, after a succinct survey of the political situation, to devote the first part of his work to a careful examination of the economic condition in general and the labor condition in particular which prevailed in "Merry England" immediately before and during the period of the Chartist Movement. The present monograph comprises only the first stages of the movement. The original intention to publish an extensive study covering the whole period could have been carried out only by going to England for the purpose of collecting additional material. This design was frustrated by the present war. It has therefore become necessary to divide the work into two volumes, the second of which, the author hopes, will appear at a later date. In the preparation of this work, it was considered essential to guard against personal predilections and sympathies. The material was collected with care from first-hand sources; the facts were presented without any design to fit a pet theory; and the heroes of the story were allowed to introduce themselves and to play their rôles without any stagemanaging on the part of the historian. It is, perhaps, on account of this impartiality and lack of prejudice that some portraits vary materially from those which have been hitherto drawn. In conclusion, the author wishes to acknowledge his profound gratitude to Professor Edwin R. A. Seligman both for the interest he has always taken in this work and for the privilege of using his invaluable collection of Chartist literature and documents. APRIL 22, 1916. F. F. R. Metamorphosis caused by the French Revolution The Duke of Richmond's letter on equality Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution The London Corresponding Society Government policy of oppression Suspension of Habeas Corpus act Radicalism revived after the Napoleonic war. Selfish motives of manufacturers. Reform Bill condemned by "Orator" Hunt and others Lord John Russell, the hero of the Reform Bill. . . . Thomas Attwood and the Birmingham Political Union. Philosophy of the new law. . . Negligence of children on the part of officers. Cruelties perpetrated in workhouses. Lord Brougham's frankness. Cobbett's opinion of the new law Bronterre's tribute to the "Money-monsters Feargus O'Connor on excessive use of machinery Brougham's hatred of charity. "Stepping stone" to total abolition of relief. Distress in the Highlands and Islands. Emigration to industrial centres. Dwelling conditions in cities ΡΑΟΣ LABOR LEGISLATION AND TRADE UNIONISM Whigs hostile towards labor legislation Campaign against evils of factory system led by ultra-Tories The manufacturers and the Government . Nassau Senior's view on combinations and strikes The London Working Men's Association and its objects. Exclusiveness of the Association. Source of social evil. . . "The Rotten House of Commons" |