§ THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURYpresented a petition from Edward Shipley Ellis, of Leicester, worsted spinner, praying for an amendment of the Chimney Sweepers' Act. The noble Earl said, 308 there could be no doubt the Act was very grossly evaded in all parts of the country, although in the metropolis, containing a population of 2,500,000, it was duly observed. There was no reason whatever why the Act should not be observed in every part of the kingdom, and its non-observance entailed upon children great cruelty and suffering. He would not detain their Lordships by a long narrative of cases of disease and mutilation; it was sufficient to say that many children were crippled in early life and rendered wholly incapable of earning a livelihood. It was manifest that while these children were handed over to absolute and unqualified slavery, it was impossible they could receive the first rudiments of education, and that treatment of a most disgusting and cruel character must have a depressing influence on their moral feelings. He hoped the Government would pay attention to the prayer of the petition, and take into consideration the inefficiency of the Act.
Petition to lie on the table.