"More firm and sure the hand of courage strikes
When it obeys the watchful eye of caution."
This was the leading feature of those who made our present possible. No one would dare charge them with lack of true heroism. Let me urge upon you the same spirit. The road may seem longer, and the processes more painful and slow, but these need not damp your spirits. They should brace you for the struggle, strengthen your purpose, fix more firmly your hopes, give you larger faith in the future, induce you to realise your place in life and not be drifters with the current. There are too many who are satisfied to merely exist. They have no aspiration nor ideal nor hope. No man has a right to pass through life indifferent to the wrongs around him. Two things we must avoid: impetuosity in associated work and stagnation in the individual life. Each life should be a clear current, invigorating, not a mere moral miasmatic pool, but cleansing, elevating, ennobling. There are three voices calling upon this generation: the past with the work done for us; the present with its demands upon our help for rectification; and the future with its possibilities of a better and purer life. There are many powers opened out to you, but there are three which stand out prominently: sobriety, education, association. These used, the darkness will disperse, the downtrodden be raised, and England made truly a home for her people. The continuous sunshine in which some dwell and the dark poverty in which thousands exist will be blended, every soul-enslaving fetter be bruised and broken and cast away, and the world be brighter for our living in it; and we, when called to our account, will feel cheered that we have done what we could to cast out the old and cruel conditions and ring in the Christ that is to be, when want and hunger shall be no more and that state which the rich provision in nature and the wonderful production around us provides for shall be realised.
[APPENDIX I]
THE GALAS, WITH THE DAY AND DATE UPON WHICH THEY WERE HELD
| 1871 | Saturday, | August 12th, | at Wharton Park, | Durham. |
| 1872 | " | June 15th, | on Race-course, | Durham. |
| 1873 | " | June 14th | " | " |
| 1874 | " | August 15th | " | " |
| 1875 | " | July 3rd | " | " |
| 1876 | Monday | July 3rd | " | " |
| 1877 | " | July 16th | " | " |
| 1878 | Saturday | July 6th | " | " |
| 1879 | " | July 5th | " | " |
| 1880 | " | July 31st | " | " |
| 1881 | " | July 30th | " | " |
| 1882 | " | July 1st | " | " |
| 1883 | " | July 14th | " | " |
| 1884 | " | July 5th | " | " |
| 1885 | " | July 25th | " | " |
| 1886 | " | July 31st | " | " |
| 1887 | " | July 23rd | " | " |
| 1888 | " | July 14th | " | " |
| 1889 | " | July 6th | " | " |
| 1890 | " | July 12th | " | " |
| 1891 | " | July 4th | " | " |
| 1892 | " | July 23rd | " | " |
| 1893 | " | July 29th | " | " |
| 1894 | " | July 21st | " | " |
| 1895 | " | July 27th | " | " |
| 1896 | " | July 18th | " | " |
| 1897 | " | July 24th | " | " |
| 1898 | " | July 16th | " | " |
| 1899 | " | July 22nd | " | " |
| 1900 | " | July 28th | " | " |
| 1901 | " | July 20th | " | " |
| 1902 | " | July 26th | " | " |
| 1903 | " | July 18th | " | " |
| 1904 | " | July 23rd | " | " |
| 1905 | " | July 29th | " | " |
| 1906 | " | July 21st | " | " |
[APPENDIX II]
CHANGES IN WAGES FROM 1872
| Date of change | Advance | Reduction |
| taking effect | per cent. | per cent. |
| February 1872 | 20 | — |
| July 1872 | 15 | — |
| February 1873 | 15 | — |
| April 1874 | — | 10 |
| November 1874 | — | 9 |
| April 1875 | — | 5 |
| February 1876 | — | 7 |
| September 1876 | — | 6 |
| April 1877 | — | 7½ |
| May 1879 | — | 8¾ |
| July 1879 | — | 1¼ |
| December 1880 | 2½ | — |
| April 1882 | 3¾ | — |
| August 1882 | — | 1¼ |
| November 1882 | 1¼ | — |
| February 1883 | 1¼ | — |
| August 1884 | — | 1¼ |
| May 1885 | — | 1¼ |
| May 1886 | — | 1¼ |
| February 1888 | 1¼ | — |
| May 1888 | — | 1¼ |
| August 1888 | — | 1¼ |
| November 1888 | 1¼ | — |
| February 1889 | 1¼ | — |
| August 1889 | 10 | — |
| December 1889 | 10 | — |
| March 3-10, 1890 | 5 | — |
| December 29, 1890 | 5 | — |
| January 5, 1891 | — | — |
| June 1, 1892 | — | 10 |
| March 1893 | — | 5 |
| [1]October 16, 1893 | 5 | — |
| May 6-13, 1895 | — | 7½ |
| October 7-14, 1895 | — | 2½ |
| August 14-21, 1897 | 2½ | — |
| [2]May 16-23, 1898 | 2½ | — |
| May 16-23, 1898 | 2½ | — |
| Oct. 31-Nov. 7, 1898 | 2½ | — |
| [3]April 17-24, 1899 | 2½ | — |
| July 24-31, 1899 | 2½ | — |
| November 6-13, 1899 | 3¾ | — |
| February 12-19, 1900 | 5 | — |
| May 14-21, 1900 | 7½ | — |
| August 13-20, 1900 | 10 | — |
| November 12-19, 1900 | 10 | — |
| February 11-18, 1901 | — | 1¼ |
| May 13-20, 1901 | — | 11¼ |
| August 12-19, 1901 | — | 7½ |
| November 12-19, 1901 | — | 5 |
| February 17-24, 1902 | — | 1¼ |
| May 12-19, 1902 | — | 2½ |
| August 11-18, 1902 | — | 2½ |
| February 9-16, 1903 | 1¼ | — |
| May 11-18, 1903 | — | 1¼ |
| August 10-17, 1903 | — | 1¼ |
| February 8-15, 1904 | — | 1¼ |
| May 16-23, 1904 | — | 2½ |
| November 7-14, 1904 | — | 1¼ |
| February 5-12, 1906 | 1¼ | — |
| August 6-13, 1906 | 2½ | — |
| November 12-19, 1906 | 1¼ | — |