Nor were people in
this day inclined to be jealous of the privileges of Parliament, so long
as they were accurately defined. They felt that it was for the advantage
and dignity of the nation that its powers and privileges should be
large; what they regarded with distrust was, a claim of power of which
no one knew the precise bounds, and which might, therefore, be expanded
as the occasion served.
Notes:
[Footnote 245: Fifty-two mills and 30,000 persons were thrown out of
employment for ten weeks at Ashton in 1830 by the turning out of 3000
"coarse spinners," who could clear at the time from 28s. to 31s. per
week. The following passage is extracted from an oath said to have been
administered by the combined spinners in Scotland in 1823: "I, A B, do
voluntarily swear, in the awful presence of God Almighty, and before
these witnesses, that I will execute with zeal and alacrity, as far as
in me lies, every task or injunction which the majority of my brethren
shall impose upon me in furtherance of our common welfare, as the
chastisement of _knobs_, the assassination of oppressive and tyrannical
masters, or the demolition of shops that shall be deemed
incorrigible."--_Annual Register_, 1838, pp. 204-207.]
[Footnote 246: See page 221.]
[Footnote 247: The question was examined with great minuteness by Lord
Brougham a fortnight after the ministerial explanation.
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