ruins, my friend Mr. Henry Ashworth said, with a look of sadness almost, "How long will it be before our great warehouses and factories in Lancashire are as complete a ruin as this castle?" I have thought of that scores of times since, and I thought of it then with sadness, as I think of it now. One thing is certain: if ever they come to ruin they will never be so picturesque a ruin as is the ruin of Tantallon Castle.' At the great meeting held in Manchester 23 Dec. 1845, Ashworth proposed that 250,000l. should be raised for the purpose of the agitation. Their strenuous and zealous efforts were crowned with success, the corn laws were repealed, and the final meeting of the league was held in the Manchester Town Hall on 2 July 1846. Ashworth gave valued assistance to Cobden in the negotiation of the French treaty. His most important work is 'Recollections of Richard Cobden and the Anti-Corn Law League ' (two editions, London 1876 and 1881), which is full of important historical and biographical matter. Ashworth defended Cobden at the great indignation meeting held in Manchester after the lamentable incident in the House of Commons, when Peel, who was harassed, unwell, and suffering from the depression brought on by the murder of Thomas Drummond, charged the leader of the league with connivance at assassination. The accusation was eagerly repeated by excited partisans.
Ashworth's action in connection with the Anti-Corn Law League is that by which he will be remembered, but during a long life he was a steady advocate of peace, retrenchment, and reform. In addition to the work named he wrote:
- 'Statistical Illustrations of Lancaster,' 1842.
- 'A Tour in the United States and Canada,' 1861.
- 'An account of the 'Preston Strike' of 1853, and some pamphlets.
He was a member of the Society of Friends, but had a most unquakerly passion for the gun, which he used with great dexterity on the moors. His hardy frame and careful life gave him unusual advantages, so that at eighty he was as sure in his aim as at twenty. He made several continental tours, and in February 1880 left his house, The Oaks, Turton, to winter in Italy, as he had usually done for some years. Whilst travelling from Rome he caught a chill, and at Florence was laid up with Roman fever, and, after about two weeks' illness, he died at Florence, 17 May 1880.
[Ashworth's Recollections of Cobden, with a portrait of the author; Prentice's History of the League; Morley's Life of Cobden; Manchester Guardian, 19 May 1880; Times, 20 May 1880; Academy, 1880, i. 401.]
ASHWORTH, JOHN (1813–1875), preacher, manufacturer, and author, was born on 8 July 1813 at the hamlet of Cutgate near Rochdale, and was the eighth child of his parents, who were poor woollen weavers. He has himself told the story of his mother manufacturing a 'bishop' (pinafore) for him out of a pack-sheet, from which all her exertions could not wash away the indelible word 'Wool,' which therefore formed his breastplate. The poverty of the family was further embittered by the intemperance of the father, who, however, reformed later in life. John Ashworth had no more education than could be gleaned at a Sunday school, and he married before he was twenty. The union, however imprudent, was a happy one, but he and his first wife had years of struggle with poverty and care. His position somewhat improved, and in 1851, when visiting the Great Exhibition, he formed the resolution of founding a chapel for the destitute in Rochdale, but the proposal was so much discouraged by his friends that he abandoned it for a time, and did not put it into execution until 1858. As minister of this chapel he was brought into close contact with the poorest people of a great factory town. He was a vigorous preacher of the orthodox type, and understanding the people's way of life, and speaking a language which they understood, he gathered a great congregation. He was a liberal in politics, a staunch teetotaller, and an uncompromising advocate for the Maine Law and the observance of the Sunday after a rigid puritanical fashion. He visited the United States and the Holy Land, and for many years had a busy life as preacher, manufacturer, lecturer, and author. He wrote 'Walks in Canaan' and 'Back from Canaan,' and had begun an account of his 'Rambles in the New World' when death overtook him; but his chief work was 'Strange Tales,' followed after a time by a similar gathering of 'Simple Records.' These were printed as separate tracts, and have had a circulation that is to be counted by millions. Some have been translated into Welsh, French, Dutch, Russian, and Spanish. Yet the publisher to whom the first one was offered only undertook to print it on being guaranteed from any risk. These narratives have no literary polish, but are good examples of plain straightforward narrative, and are interesting for the glimpses they give of the life of the poor of the manufacturing districts. They mostly relate incidents that had come to his knowledge during his work amongst the poor. The accuracy of one was challenged, but for most of them sufficient vouchers could be adduced. Ashworth's intimate knowledge of the class
