TT is a startling thought that so recently as 1847 children of any ago from five upwards were still working over ten hours a day in insanitary and uninspected mills, factories, and mines. The conditions of labour which are so vividly described in Mrs. Trollope's ' Michael Armstrong , the Factory Boy,' wore the inspiration of Lord Shaftesbury, the great philanthropist and social reformer, who, in addition to many other campaigns, was responsible for the Mines Act of 1842 and the Ten Hours Act of 1847. Ho has, however, an even more rare and striking monument in one of our few really popular songs :-
And such a man as that was Lord Shaftesbury, A good man and a true friend of the poor.