The third and lowest court is an assembly of shop-mates only, this meeting is called a "GARRET MATCH," and may be demanded for the punishment of an aggressor, by any aggrieved man in a factory. Power of fine from two to ten shillings.
I have before stated that there are in this trade foul men; in point of number they constitute about one-sixth part of the whole; but their earnings, or price of labour is the same as the fair trade.
A journeyman finisher in full work will earn, on an average, from three to four pounds a-week; while, on the contrary, a maker cannot get more than fifty shillings. This is a subject of much jealousy and discontent; nor is it likely to be otherwise, unless the latter can raise himself to an equality with the former; against this there are many obstacles, one of which is, the increasing foul trade, who would continue working, even though the fair men had "struck." Another is, that they could never obtain the co-operation of the finishers, who, being amply paid themselves, think it best to leave well alone.
These are the principal regulations which govern journeymen hatters, whether they have a good or a bad tendency is questionable; there are many in the trade who decidedly condemn them, giving as their reasons, that they encourage idleness, tippling, and endless squabbles. Idleness-inasmuch as when men are summoned to discuss the most trifling matters, even though the meeting be at five o'clock in the morning, they seldom feel disposed to return to their work that day. Tippling-for the reason that, as fines are mostly spent in drink, the conviction of a supposed offender is generally thirsted after; but as the quantum levied seldom suffices, all further supplies for the remainder of the day are met by individual subscription. In these cases there is no show of niggardliness, as every succeeding gallon of the "sparkling entire," is but an internal messenger, bearing the glad tidings of another to come. Squabbles, because it is natural, when the desire for a thing is once created, and the gratification of that desire (where nothing of criminality attaches) can be indulged, by having recourse to a little contrivance, that the opportunity of so doing should be more frequently made, than suffered to approach accidentally; which will account for the trifling magnitudes that are allowed to agitate shops and factories in general. The arguments in favour of these laws are, that without them, apprentices would be careless in serving out their time, the trade over-run with bad workmen, hats greatly deteriorated in the manufacture, the excellence of which is their chief recommendation in a foreign market, and the surest guarantee of the master's profits at home.
Having given the contending opinions, in reference to the laws of this trade, I shall say a word or two concerning the shape, and manner of placing a hat on the head.
ON THE
SHAPE AND STYLE
OF
WEARING A HAT.
There is no part of a man's dress that makes or mars his appearance so much as his hat; not that it is its striking beauty when new, or a want of it when old, that is most materially concerned in producing either of the above effects; the grand point is the form, and the position which it is made to assume on the head; yet how few there are who give the least attention to either, except indeed military men, and they in general are uncommonly tasty, affording the best example of the precise style in which a hat should be worn. It is no less singular than true, that the same hat, by being placed on the head in different positions, will give, in appearance, as many distinct characters to the same person as the number of those positions amount to. The most striking are as follows:-sullenness-indolence-gravity, and good humoured impudence. To give the first, draw the brim of the hat so far over the eyes that they shall be quite concealed. The second is produced by the hat being thrown quite back. The third by a prim horizontal set, covering equally all parts of the head; and the fourth will not be easily mistaken wherever an extravagant cock on either side is brought full into view. These are undoubtedly all extreme habits, and seldom pushed to the extent here described; yet a slight inclination to either position may, under circumstances, have a very good effect.
There is another bad custom that ought to be noticed, which I shall do by first observing, that a hat was intended solely to keep the head dry-ON which it should be worn; but many seem to differ from this opinion, using it as a sort of NIGHT-CAP wherein is thrust head, ears, and all. This is a most slovenly practice, as well as a dangerous one, inasmuch as it tends to keep the head in a continual and forced state of perspiration, rendering a liability to "take cold," every time the hat is removed. Yet even this habit is not so bad as sticking the hat on the back of the head, which, of all others, is the most general, and carries with it the greatest impropriety, because such a position not only destroys the shape, but by lodging on the coat collar, the hind part, from friction, becomes greasy, and the binding is always in a state of raggedness; added to these disadvantages, a most ridiculous effect is produced by the practice, that is, the head in appearance is converted into a sort of peg, AGAINST which the hat seems to hang, instead of being placed upon. A man who indulges in so bad a custom, should at least preserve a consistency in his dress by walking "slip shoed," breeches knees open, and without braces, stockings down, waistcoat unbuttoned, cravat half tied, one arm only in his coat sleeve, and at least a six months' uncombed crop of hair about his pericranium; here he would be of a piece; and grotesque as such a figure must appear, by a general adoption of these "captivating negligencies," there is no greater inconsistency in the whole catalogue than that of wearing a hat on the back part of the head.
As to the form of a hat, and what is best for this face or that person, there is more in it than what is generally supposed, and a great deal might be said on the subject; but to talk of a standard fashion is absurd in the extreme, in proof of which it need only be observed, that if very large hats were adopted, a thin man of five feet high, would, by the wearing, become as complete a caricature, as a twenty stone man of six feet would by wearing a very small one. The best fashion a man can follow in a hat is that which best becomes him, and various as heads, faces, and persons may be, all things are now accomplished (so far as a hat is concerned) that can either fit the one or ornament the other,