two counties, held on November 21st, E. Rhymer was the only delegate, and he delivered a very characteristic speech, of which the following is a portion:-- "With respect to the county of Durham he was sorry that they appeared as a black spot in England respecting the Miners' Association. They numbered about 1000, but there were only 74 represented at that meeting. The hours of the men were eight hours working. The average wage being from 4s. to 4s. 6d. The hours of the boys upon an average were fourteen per day. The system with respect to the boys was the most wretched in the civilised world. They never saw the light of the blessed sun from Sabbath to Sabbath. He had authority to tell them that the district which he represented begged of them through him to send help to save them from starvation and misery." These are very strong words and true, for the state throughout was deplorable. Here and there small societies existed having no federal connection, but they were of no earthly use. They only showed in darker colours the disorganisation which had set in. To use Milton's illustration, they made the darkness more visible. Still, there were some brave spirits who not only deplored the condition, but, as Fynes says, "set themselves the almost Herculean task of revising the Union and substituting harmony for the discord which then prevailed." For that purpose meetings were held in various parts of the county. The speakers who attended them ofttimes found themselves sleeping in a room whose walls were the horizon and the roof studded with the stars of heaven. Prominent we find the names of W. Crake and J. Richardson (two men who were sacrificed as the result of the Wearmouth strike), W. Patterson, T. Ramsey, and N. Wilkinson. Not only were there local men at these meetings, but strangers were sent from other districts, seeking to infuse new life into the apathetical and indifferent men of Durham. The most notable of these meetings was held at Thornley on Saturday, the 25th of September 1869. Amongst the speeches delivered I find two given at great length in _The Durham Chronicle_ of the 1st of October by Mr T. Burt and Mr W. Brown, who was then residing in Yorkshire, but who afterwards became the agent for the North Staffordshire miners. The chair was occupied by Mr W. Patterson (our Patterson), and there were about 1000 men in attendance. If it were convenient I would place on record in this history those speeches in full, as they were worthy of the men and the occasion. One or two sentences may be quoted from Mr Burt's speech. He urged that "there were many reasons why men should be united: wages, better conditions, and safety at work." Their wages were not so high as they ought to be, neither was their social condition what it might have been, and he would candidly confess that the miners themselves were most to blame that such was the state of affairs. Had they worked together and