The Quarterly Review

THE

LONDON QUARTERLY REVIEW,

No. CXXIX.

FOR DECEMBER, 1839.

And noo, ma freends,'-some fifty years ago, said an old Highland preacher, suddenly lowering a voice which for nearly an hour had been giving fervid utterance to a series of supplications for the welfare temporal as well as spiritual, of his flock, And noo, ma freends, the good man repeated, as, wiping his bedewed brow, he looked down upon a congregation who with outstretched chins sat listening in respectful astonishment to this new proof that their pastor's subject, unlike his body, was still unexhausted; And noo, ma freends,' he once more exclaimed, with a look of parental benevolence it would be utterly impossible to describe-'Let us praigh for the puir Deil! There's naebody praighs for the puir Deil!'

To our literary congregation, we beg leave to repeat very nearly the same two exclamations, for, deeply as we all stand indebted to the British press, it may truly be said 'There's naebody thinks of its puir deils,' nor of the many kindred spirits, 'black, white, and grey,' who, above ground as well as below, inhabit the great printing-houses of the land we live in.

We shall, therefore, at once proceed to one of these establishments, and by our sovereign power summon its motley inmates before us, that they may rapidly glide before our readers in review.

In a raw December morning, just before the gas-lights are extinguished, and just before sunrise, the streets of London form a twilight picture which it is interesting to contemplate, inasmuch as there exists perhaps no moment in the twentyfour hours in which they present a more guiltless aspect; for at this hour luxury has retired to such rest as belongs to itvice has not yet risen. Although the rows of houses are still in shade, and although their stacks of chimneys appear fantastically delineated upon the grey sky, yet the picture, chiaro-oscuro, is not altogether without its lights. The wet streets, in whatever direction they radiate, shine almost as brightly as the gilt printing over the barred shops. At the corners of the streets, the gin-palaces, as they are passed, appear splendidly illuminated with gas, showing an elevated row of lettered and numbered yellow casks, which in daylight stand on their ends unnoticed. The fashionable streets are all completely deserted, save by a solitary policeman, who, distinguished by his warm great-coat and shining belt, is seen standing at a crossing drinking the cup of hot salop or coffee he has just purchased of an old

barrow-woman, who, with her smoking | arrived. Not a sound is to be heard save kettle, is quietly seated at his side, while the slow ticking of a gaudy-faced wooden the cab and hackney-coach horses, with clock, the property of the workmen, which their heads drooping, appear as motion- faithfully tells when they are entitled to less as the brass charger at Charing- refreshment, and which finally announces Cross. to them the joyful intelligence that the An Irish labourer with an empty hod hour of their emancipation has arrived. over his shoulder, a man carrying a saw, On the long wall opposite to the range of a tradesman with his white apron tucked windows hang the printed regulations of up for walking, a few men, 'far and wide a subscription fund, to which every man between,' in fustian jackets, with their contributes 2d., and every boy 1d. per hands in their pockets to keep them week, explaining how much each is enwarm, are the only perceptible atoms of titled to receive in the sad hour of sick. an enormous mass of a million and a half ness, with the consoling intelligence that of people-all the rest being as complete- 57. is allowed to bury him if he be a man, ly buried from view as if they were lying and 27. 10s. if merely a boy. Along the in their graves. whole length of the building about a foot But as our vehicle proceeds, every above the floor, there is a cast-iron pipe minute imparts life to the scene, until, by heated by steam, extending through the the time Blackfriars bridge is crossed, the establishment upwards of three quarters light of day illumines the figures of hun- of a mile, the genial effect of which moddreds of workmen, who, unconnected with estly speaks for itself. each other, are, in various directions, steadily proceeding to their tasks.

On the right hand, touching each frame, stands a small low table, about two feet Among them, from their dress, gait, and square. A hasty traveller would probably general appearance it is not difficult here pronounce that all these frames were alike, and there to distinguish that several are yet a few minutes' attentive observation printers; and as we have now reached not only dispels the error, but by numerthe gate of one of the principal buildings ous decipherable hieroglyphics explains to which they are marching, we must to a certain extent the general occupation alight from our cab,' that we may by a of the owners, as well as the particular slight sketch delineate its interior for our character of each.

readers. For instance, the height of the frames The printing establishment of Messrs. at once declares that the compositors Clowes, on the Surrey side of the Thames, must perform their work standing, while (for they have a branch office at Charing the pair of easy slippers which are underCross,) is situated between Blackfriars neath each stand suggests that the occupaand Waterloo bridges. Their buildings tion must be severely felt by the feet. extend in length from Princes-street to The working jacket or the apron, which Duke-street, and in breadth about half the lies exactly as it was cast aside the evendistance. The entrance is by rather a ing before, shows that freedom in the arms steep declivity into a little low court, on is a requisite to the craft. The good arriving at which, the small counting- workman is known by the regularity with house is close on the left; the great which his copy hangs neatly folded in the steam-presses, type and stereotype-foundry, and paper-warehouse, on the right; and the apartments for compositors, readers, &c., in front.

In the last-mentioned building there are five compositors' halls, the largest of which (on two levels, the upper being termed by the workmen the 'quarter. deck') is two hundred feet in length. The door is nearly in the centre, and, on entering this apartment at daybreak, the stranger sees at a coup d'œil before him, on his right and left, sixty compositors' frames, which though much larger, are about the height of the music-stands in an orchestra. At this early hour they are all deserted, their daily tenants not having

little wooden recess at his side-the slovenly compositor is detected by having left his MS. on his type, liable to be blown from the case-while the apprentice, like the carpenter, known by his chips,' is discovered by the quantity of type which lies scattered on the floor on which he stood.

The relative stature of the workmen can also be not inaccurately determined by the different heights of their frames. The roomy stools which some have purchased (and which are their private property, for be it known that the establishment neither furnishes nor approves of such luxuries) are not without their silent moral; those with a large circumference, as well as those of a much smaller size, denoting the

diameter of a certain recumbent body, light brown easy slippers, and then unwhile the stuffed stool tells its own tale. folding their copy they at once proceed The pictures, the songs, the tracts, the to work. caricatures, which each man, according

By eight o'clock the whole body have to his fancy, has pasted against the small arrived. Many in their costume resemble compartment of whitewashed wall which common labourers, others are better clad, bounds his tiny dominions, indicate the several are very well dressed, but all bear colour of his leading propensity. One in their countenances the appearance of man is evidently the possessor of a seri- men of considerable intelligence and edu ous mind, another is a follower of the fine cation. They have scarcely assumed arts. A picture of the Duke of Welling. their respective stations, when blue mugs, ton denotes that another is an admirer of containing each a pint or half-a-pint of stern moral probity and high military tea or coffee, and attended either by a honour while a rosy-faced Hebe, in a smoking hot roll stuffed with yellow but very low evening gown, laughingly con- ter, or by a couple of slices of bread and fesses for its owner that which we need butter, enter the hall. The little girls, not trouble ourselves to expound. In the who with well-combed hair and clean midst of these studies the attention of the shining faces bring these refreshments, solitary stranger is aroused by the ap. carry them to those who have not break. pearance of two or three little boys, fasted at home. Before the empty mugs dressed in fustian jackets and paper caps, have vanished, a boy enters the hall at a who in the grey of the morning enter the fast walk with a large bundle under his hall with a broom and water. These are arm-of morning newspapers: this intelyoung aspiring devils, who, until they lectual luxury the compositors, by a have regularly received their commis. friendly subscription, allow themselves to sions, are employed in cleaning the halls enjoy. From their connection with the previous to the arrival of the compositors. different presses, they manage to obtain Besides ventilating the room by opening the very earliest copies, and thus the the windows in the roof, beginning at one news of the day is known to them--the extremity, they sweep under each frame, leading articles of the different papers are watering the floor as they proceed, until criticised, applauded, or condemned-an they at last collect at the opposite end of hour or two before the great statesmen of the hall a heap of literary rubbish; but the country have received the observa even this is worthy of attention, for, on tions, the castigation, or the intelligence being sifted through an iron sieve, it is they contain. One would think that invariably found to contain a quantity of compositors would be as sick of reading type of all sizes, which more or less has as a grocer's boy is of treacle; but that been scattered right and left by the dif this is not the case is proved by the fact, ferent compositors. To attempt to re- that they not only willingly pay for these store these to the respective families from newspapers, but often indemnify one of which they have emigrated would be a their own community for giving up his work of considerable trouble; they are time in order to sit in the middle of the therefore thrown into a dark receptacle hall on a high stool and read the news or grave, where they patiently remain un- aloud to them while they are labouring at til they are remelted, recast into type, their work: they will, moreover, even and thus once again appear in the case of pay him to read to them any new book the compositor. By this curious trans- which they consider to contain interestmigration Roman letters sometimes re. ing information! It of course requires appear on earth in the character of italics very great command of the mind to be -the lazy z finds itself converted into the able to give attention to what is read from ubiquitous e, the full stop becomes per- one book, while men are intently employ haps a comma, while the hunchbacked ed in the creation of another. mark of interrogation stands triumphantly prentices and inferior workmen cannot erect-a note of admiration to the world! attempt to this, but the greater number, By the time the halls are swept some astonishing as it may sound, can listen of the compositors drop in. The steadi. without injury to their avocation. Very est generally make their appearance first; shortly after eight o'clock the whole body and on reaching their frames their first are at their work, at which it may be ob operation is leisurely to take off and fold served they patiently continue, with only up their coats, tuck up their shirt-sleeves, an hour's interval, until eight o'clock at put on their brown holland aprons, ex- night. change their heavy walking shoes for the

The ap

It is impossible to contemplate a team

of sixty literary labourers steadily work-sions, adapted in size to the number of ing together in one room, without imme- letters they are to contain. diately acknowledging the important serv- In the English language the letter e ice they are rendering to the civilized inhabits the largest box; a c, d, h, i, m, n, world, and the respect which, therefore, o, r, s, t, u live in the next sized apartis due to them from society. The minu- ments; b, f, g, l, p, v, w, y dwell in tiæ of their art it might be deemed tedious what may be termed the bedrooms, while to detail; yet with so many operators in j, k, q, x, z, æ and œ, double letters, &c., view it is not difficult, even for an inex-are more humbly lodged in the cupperienced visitor, to distinguish the dif- boards, garrets, and cellars. And the ferent degrees of perfection at which they have individually arrived.

reason of this arrangement is, that the letter e being visited by the compositor sixty times as often as z (for his hand spends an hour in the former box for every minute in the latter), it is evidently advisable that the letters oftenest requir

Among compositors, as in all other professions, the race is not always gained by him who is apparently the swiftest. Steadiness, coolness, and attention are more valuable qualifications than eager-ed should be the nearest. Latin and ness and haste; and, accordingly, those compositors who at first sight appear to be doing the most, are often, after all, less serviceable to themselves, and, consequently to their employers, than those who, with less display, follow the old adage of slow and sure.'

On the attitude of a compositor his work principally depends. The operation being performed by the eyes, fingers, and arms, which, with considerable velocity, are moved in almost every direction, the rest of the body should be kept as tranquil as possible. However zealous, therefore, a workman may be, if his shoulders and hips are seen to be moved by every little letter he lifts, fatigue, exhaustion, and errors are the result; whereas, if the arms alone appear in motion, the work is more easily, and, consequently, more successfully executed. The principle of Hamlet's advice to the players may be offered to compositors:

Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced

it to you.
Do not saw the air too much with
your hand, thus, but use all gently. Be not too
tame neither, but let your own discretion be
your tutor suit the action to the word, the word

to the action.'

French books devour more of c, i, l, m, p, q, s, u, and v than English ones, and for these languages the cases' must therefore be arranged accordingly.

The usual way of filling cases with letters is by distributing the type pages of books which have been printed off. Although the ideas or words of one author would not, especially in his own opinion, at all suit those of his brother writer(for instance, suppose the type pages of The Diary of the Times of George IV.' were distributed to set up The Bishop of Exeter's Charge to his Clergy')-yet the letters which compose them are found in practice to bear to each other exactly the same proportion. The most profligate pages are, therefore, quite as acceptable to the compositor who is about to print a sermon, as a volume on cookery, or even on divinity; and thus, in death, books, like their authors, are all democratically equal.

The distributing of the letters from the type pages into the square dens to which they respectively belong is performed with astonishing celerity. If the type were jumbled, or, as it is technically termed, in pie,' the time requisite for recognizing the tiny countenance of each letter would be enormous, but the compositor, being enabled to grasp and read one or two sentences at a time, without again looking at the letters, drops them one by one, here, there, and everywhere, according to their destination. It is calculated that a good compositor can distribute 4000 letters per hour, which is about five times as many as he can compose; just as in common life all men can spend money at least twenty times as readily as they can earn it.

As soon as the workman has filled his cases, his next Sisyphus labour is by

« Forrige Fortsett »

Bøker

The Quarterly Review, Volum 65