outbreak, the almost universal "turn-out," came at once; came, however, in a manner, which proved that the school master had been abroad; came not, as in former days, with attacks upon millers and corn-holders, flour dealers, and bread bakers, but with some reverence for law and regard to the rights of property. The deep designing wickedness of some, acting upon the despair of the multitude, originated a folly; but the foolish would only go a certain length with the wicked, and there was reason to believe that the few instances of pillage that occurred was mainly the work of thieves and vagabonds, who had mingled with the crowd for that purpose. Another characteristic of the period was the patience and forbearance of those whose duty it was to preserve the public peace. Persuasion was preferred to the constable's staff, and to the soldier's musket or sabre. An emeute like that of August, 1842, over in a fortnight, occurring in 1819, would have occasioned a civil war.
The movement, originating in Ashton-under-Lyne, Dukinfield, and Stalybridge, was almost without violence, and simultaneous. All the hands in all the mills, 23,000 in number, turned out at once on the morning of Monday, August the 8th, and deputies from their body induced 9,150 in Hyde, and its neighbourhood, to follow the example. Oldham was visited in the afternoon by numerous turn-outs from Ashton, who, notwithstanding some resistance, succeeded in causing the operatives to leave most of the mills. On Tuesday, a body of several thousands proceeded from Ashton to Manchester, where, their arrival being anticipated, they were received by the military and police, but, on their declaration that they intended nothing illegal, they were allowed to pass, but were carefully watched, in order to prevent violence. Their demand, at various mills, that the hands should turn out, was instantly complied with—the masters, generally, giving their hands full liberty to do as they pleased. At Messrs.
