English: Non-fiction Comprehension

Read the extract carefully - the questions are at the end of the extract.

This source is a journal entry by Sydney Smith from 1819, the writer introduces his views on the subject of child labour and chimney sweeps. He then proceeds to provide evidence heard by a Parliamentary Enquiry on the subject.

Read the source carefully.

An excellent and well-arranged dinner is a most pleasing occurrence, and a great triumph of civilised life. The hour of dinner, in short, includes everything of gratification which a great nation glories in producing.

In the midst of all this, who knows that the kitchen chimney caught fire half an hour before dinner! And that a poor little wretch, of six or seven years old, was sent up in the midst of the flames to put it out? We could not, previous to reading this evidence, have formed a conception of the miseries of these poor wretches, or that there should exist, in a civilised country, a class of human beings destined to such extreme and varied distress. We will give here a short account of what is developed in the evidence before the two Houses of Parliament.

Boys are made chimney sweepers at the early age of five or six.

Little boys for small flues , is a common phrase on the cards left at the door by itinerant chimney sweepers. Flues made to ovens and coppers are often less than nine inches square and it may easily be conceived how slender the frame of that human body must be, which can force itself through such an aperture.

The following is a specimen of the manner in which they are taught this art of climbing chimneys: Questions are asked by a member of the Parliamentary Committee set up to investigate how boys are being mistreated when forced to work as chimney sweeps. The answers are in the boy s own words.

MP: Do you remember being taught to climb chimneys?

Boy: Yes.

MP: What did you feel upon the first attempt to climb a chimney?

Boy: The first chimney I went up, they told me there was some plum pudding and money up at the top of it, and that is the way they enticed me up and when I got up, I would not let the other boy get from under me to get at it, I thought he would get it I could not get up, and shoved the pot and half the chimney down into the yard.

MP: Did you experience any inconvenience to your knees, or your elbows?

Boy: Yes, the skin was off my knees and elbows too, in climbing up the new chimneys they forced me up.

MP: How did they force you up?

Boy: When I got up, I cried about my sore knees.

MP: Were you beat or compelled to go up by any violent means?

Boy: Yes, when I went to a narrow chimney, if I could not do it, I durst not go home when I used to come down, my master would well beat me with the brush.

In addition the Parliamentary Committee interviewed an adult (a master) who employed the boy chimney sweeps:

MP: Have you known, in the course of your practice, boys stick in chimneys at all?

Master: Yes, I have assisted in taking boys out when they have been nearly exhausted.

MP: Did you ever know an instance of it being necessary to break open a chimney to take the boy out?

Master: O yes.

MP: Frequently?

Master: Monthly, I might say they often say it was the boy s neglect.

MP: Why do they say that?

Master: The boy s climbing shirt is often very bad the boy coming down, if the chimney be very narrow, and numbers of them are only nine inches, gets his shirt rumpled underneath him, and he has no power after he is fixed in that way with his hand up.

MP: Does a boy frequently stick in the chimney?

Master: Yes I have known more instances of that the last twelve month than before.

MP: Do you ever have to break open in the inside of a room?

Master: Yes, I have helped to break through into a kitchen chimney in a dining room.

MP: Do you know how the Boys are generally treated along with the Chimney Sweepers?

Master: Very badly indeed in some places in other places, they are very well.

MP: For the most Part are they ill or well lodged?

Master: Very bad indeed some have no more than one Blanket, some a bit of Straw, and some a few Sacks to lie on.

MP: What Sort of Clothing are they generally allowed?

Master: According to the Masters some Masters use the Boys pretty well as to giving them clothes, other Masters altogether keep them Months and Months before they are washed to the skin.

The MP s questioning then alternates between the Boy and the Master.

MP: During the Winter-time, when the Boys go out on their Duty, have they Shoes and Stockings?

Boy: If I go out with a Journeyman in the Morning, if I have got bad Chilblains, and if I cannot get on fast enough, I must off with my Shoes, or they will knock me down with their Hand, and I must run through the snow without shoes, which I have done many times.

MP: Do you know of the Boys being subject to any Accidents?

Master: Yes, I have known one at Temple Bar: I came myself, and went up to him, but it was too late the Boy was lost through a woman forcing him up, it was his Mistress he was not thoroughly learned, and he stuck himself in, and it was the Death of him it was up Devereux Court, Temple Bar he was dead.

Write your answers out in full sentences or paragraphs, as required.

Use the number of marks per question as a guide to the amount of detail you answer needs. There are 22 marks in total!

What happened in the middle of dinner? (1)

How old was the chimney sweep who was sent up to put out the flames? (1)

How did the writer feel about the chimney sweep? Write a PEE paragraph for your answer (3)

What does privilege mean? (1)

Why could Mr Smith be described as privileged? (2)

Why are chimney sweeps so young? (1)

What do we learn about the chimney sweep s experiences of going up a chimney? Find two pieces of evidence (quotations) and explain what they show about the chimney sweep s experience. (4)

How does the master chimney sweep describe the living conditions of the chimney sweeps? Write TWO PEE paragraphs in response to the question. (6)

Using THREE of your own words, describe the life of a chimney sweep. (3)