Your Committee would now draw your attention to a part of the painful evidence which is forced upon them, of the utter impossibility of regulating the trade aright, if children are to be at all employed in it.
The following details are selected from what has occurred since the last Report:—
Peter Mollby of Kilkenny, stood charged with the murder of James Shea, his apprentice, a child of ten years old.
It appeared in evidence that the little creature had been treated with such habitual cruelty and indifference as to cause his death, but no one instance could be fixed upon as establishing the crime of actual murder.
The sentence was, therefore, “Manslaughter,” and Mollby was transported for life.
A case of revolting cruelty has been brought home to Needes, a chimney-sweeper at Bath, who was convicted before the Mayor of such grievous ill-treatment, as that wretched race of beings is alone exposed to. The child was discovered lying in the street, with his head so cut as to require surgical assistance, and he was proved by the surgeon’s certificate to be too ill to leave the Hospital, when his master was brought up.
The next case is from Gloucester:—
On Thursday, the 27th of Oct., a chimney-sweeper, a diminutive child, about ten years of age, was sent up a chimney at the Talbot Inn, at nine o’clock in the morning, and for the purpose of lessening his size to suit the dimensions of the flue, he was stripped entirely naked. Having remained up the chimney for a very long time, it was thought that he was continuing there unnecessarily, and from stubbornness, and another lad was sent up to him; but he failed in bringing him down. After a lapse of some hours, a cord was attached to the child’s legs, and several vain attempts were made to drag him down by force. In this experiment the cord was broken, and a stronger one was substituted, with no better success. The humane party then obtained a large quantity of brimstone matches—it is said three pennyworth, which were ignited, and held burning up the flue. A ladder was next procured, reaching to the top of the chimney, from whence several buckets of water were poured down upon the poor little prisoner; and a pole was thrust down to discover his position, with such force, that several lumps were afterwards found upon the poor child’s head.
These mild and gentle efforts were continued at intervals through the day, till nine o’clock in the evening.
By this time a large crowd had assembled in the neighbourhood, and among the number were some more sensible and humane people than those before alluded to, and they insisted that by opening the chimney an attempt should be made to liberate the child, who it was feared might be dead, as he had not been heard to speak for some time. Masons were accordingly sent for, and about ten o’clock at night, the poor little creature was found firmly jammed by the head and shoulders in the brickwork of the chimney.