me evident
that in course of time the exercise of their minds in the details of a
new pursuit awakened their intelligence, and their general demeanour
indicated marks of a higher cultivation.

The New Eagley Mills being situated in a narrow valley, several miles
from Bolton, and the property being in the possession of the owners,
they forbade the opening of any tavern or beerhouse on the estate; so
that the district became distinguished for the order and sobriety of the
inhabitants. A man of intemperate habits has little chance of remaining
in the Ashworth villages. He is expelled, not by the employers, but by
the men themselves. He must conform to the sober habits of the place, or
decamp to some larger town, where his vices may be hidden in the crowd.
Many of the parents have expressed how much gratification they have
felt, that by reason of the isolated situation they enjoyed as a
community, they had become so completely separated from the corrupt
influences of music saloons and drink-shops.

The masters have added to their other obligations to the workpeople, the
erection of comfortable cottages for their accommodation. They are built
of stone, and are two-storied; some have two upper bedrooms, and others
have three. On the ground floor there is a sitting-room, a living-room,
and a scullery, with a walled courtyard enclosing the whole premises.
The proprietor pays the poor-rates and other local charges, and the
rentals of the houses vary from 2_s_. 4_d_. to 4_s_. 3_d_. a week.

The regularity of their employment, accompanied with the payment of
wages on Friday night, doubtless promoted their local attachment to the
place. Many of the descendants of the first comers remain on the spot;
their social relations have been promoted; intermarriages have been
frequent; and during the whole period there has not been a single
prosecution for theft. The working people have also thriven as well as
their masters. Great numbers of them are known to possess reserved funds
in savings banks and other depositories for savings; and there are
others of them who have invested their money in cottage buildings, and
in various other ways.

But have not the men risen above their lot of labouring spinners? They
have. Such of them as possessed skill, ability, and the faculty of
organization, have been promoted from the ranks of labourers, and have
become mill managers. "About _thirty_ of these," says Mr. Henry
Ashworth, "have been reckoned