He  changed  his  clothes  in  the  mill  and  put  on  a  rough  grinder's
dress,  mounted  before  the  deadly  stones,  and  worked  like  a
splashed,  mud-covered  Hercules — but  he  would  wash,  dress,  and
leave  the  foundry  like  a  gentleman.     His  employer  at  once


33  SIXTY  YEARS  OF  AN  AGITATORS  UFE.
concluded  that  he  had  given  him  too  much  wages  ;  but  the
moment  a  reduction  was  proposed,  he  resented  it,  drew  the
money  due  to  him,  and  went  away  entirely.  It  was  almost
the  only  example  of  independence  I  remember  to  have  seen.
One  incident  occurred  which  filled  me  with  lasting  indigna«
tion.  The  younger  brother  of  a  man  named  Barton  who  had
been  years  employed  in  the  mill  was  found  by  William  Hawkes
(the  acting  partner),  one  meal-time,  removing  a  file  firom  one
of  the  shops.  He  was  an  industrious,  well-conducted  young
fellow — ^he  had  not  taken  the  file  away,  which  was  worth  about
yd.,  though  he  probably  intended  taking  it  He  was  appre-
hended, and  transported  for  ten  years,  on  the  evidence  of  the
master.  A  week's  imprisonment  would  have  been  sufficient
penalty  for  a  first  offence  in  a  mill  where  theft  was  unknown.
The  arbitrary  and  continual  reduction  of  prices  by  the  master
was  a  far  more  serious  theft  of  the  earnings  of  all  the  men.
