lages where the misery dwelt. "You are starving."--"Yes."--"And it
is for want of cotton."--"So it seems."--"Well, do you mean to sit here?
Come out in great force, as in the old Chartist times; tell the
manufacturer and the minister to break that blockade and let bread into
the mouths of your little ones." And the answer was, "We prefer that
they should starve." Again and again, the answer was, "We would rather
starve." And this haggard patience was saving the manufacturer himself
from ruin, who had been engaged in over-manufacturing, till his
warehouses groaned with an enormous stock which the cotton blockade
enabled him to work off. Great fortunes have been made in this way,
while the operative slowly went to rags, road-mending, and the
poor-rates. In London, hard upon midnight, I have often been attracted
by the sound of street-music to a little group, in the centre of which
stood half a dozen pallid and threadbare men, playing gentle tunes upon
the faithful instruments which clung to their sad fortunes. And on a
square of canvas, lighted by a lantern, or set in the flaring gas, I
have read, to the sound of these paupers' music, the story of America:
"Lancashire Weavers out of Work," "Poor Operatives' Band,--a penny, if
you please." That music keeps the heart of England quiet while your
cannons roar. It is the pulse of the people of England, responding in
the faint distance to the throb of victory.

Another sight which can be seen by day in London streets belongs also to
the people of England. When there was a dearth of troops during the
Crimean War, the coast forts were stripped of their garrisons, and there
was a call made by Government for volunteers to fill their places.
Citizens came forward and manned the forts. This was the origin
of the volunteer force of England, which has grown to be very
formidable,--since jealousy of France, dread of invasion, and the need
of troops for India have always deterred the Government from recalling
the arms which it first put into the hands of the people. The force now
comprises infantry, cavalry, light and heavy artillery, organized like
the regular army, and under the control of the Horse Guards. Rifle-corps
and target-practice have become a mania. The Government encourages it by
magnificent reviews and prizes for the best shooting, utterly
unconscious that Government itself may one day be the target. But a
bloody revolution can hardly occur again in England. It will only be