“PROTECTION TO BRITISH INDUSTRY” 
 
 CONSIDERED, 
 
 AS IT WAS REPRESENTED 
 
 ENTEETAINMENT, 
 
 PERFORMED AT 
 
 THE COURT HOUSE, WARWICK,/ 
 
 THE 14th OF JANUARY, 1850: 
 
 TO WHICH ARE ADDED SOME OBSERVATIONS UPON THE 
 CONDITION AND TREATMENT OF THE AGRICULTURAL- 
 LABOURING CLASS. 
 
 BARNABY BREAKBREAD. 
 
 WARWICK: 
 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR, BY HENRY 
 SHARPE, ADVERTISER-OFFICE; 
 
 And sold also by Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., Stationers'' Hall Court > 
 London. 
 
 PRICE SIXPENCE. 
 
 1850. 
 
^ «X\'cy v ' 
 
TO 
 
 THE CONSUMERS, OF ALL CLASSES, 
 
 THE HIGHEST TO THE LOWEST, 
 
 “ Look here, upon this picture, and on this,"’ 
 
 4 lbs. for 4d. 2 lbs. for 5d. 
 
 “ The counterfeit presentment of two brothers 
 “ And what judgment 
 Would step from this to this ? ” 
 
 Hamlf.t. 
 
 THESE CRUMBS 
 
 ARE DEDICATED 
 
 BY THEIR SINCERE FRIEND, 
 
PROTECTION,” &c. 
 
 The season dull, the markets flat, and the pros¬ 
 pects of affairs generally in their eyes gloomy, “ the 
 friends of Protection to British Industry 55 bethought 
 them of a plan for enlivening the scene and exhi¬ 
 larating themselves, and accordingly resolved to have 
 a gathering, “ as a means of giving expression to the 
 feelings entertained by the friends of Protection to 
 British Industry, in this county, in favour of the 
 introduction, in the ensuing Session of Parliament, of 
 measures calculated to mitigate the evil of the exist¬ 
 ing free-trade laws ; 55 and, lest the “ expression of 
 their feelings 55 should he exposed to the nipping blasts 
 of winter, to the cutting breath of criticism, or to 
 the rude violence of opposition at an open meeting, 
 it was wisely determined to seek protection within the 
 comfortable w'alls of the Court House, and to nourish 
 their patriotism with such good things as their des¬ 
 perate circumstances would decently permit them to 
 indulge in. Now, this latter, to a plain man unaccus¬ 
 tomed to such things, appears to have been a most sen¬ 
 sible resolve, and some may even look upon it as the 
 most sensible part of the whole proceedings. A din- 
 
ner was provided, or, as the papers say, “ covers were 
 laid,” for one hundred and sixty persons, at the small 
 charge of twelve shillings each, in the great room ; 
 and it is credibly stated that numbers of hungry ap¬ 
 plicants for tickets were refused from want of accom¬ 
 modation ; and that a party of sixty were likewise 
 fed at the same cost in the Mayor’s parlour, which, 
 it is supposed, is a loose box provided and kept for 
 all sorts of odd purposes. No one can reasonably 
 object to the friends of British Industry spending- 
 twelve shillings upon one dinner; indeed, it is a com¬ 
 fort. to observe them on such an occasion, and under 
 such distressing circumstances as they allege them¬ 
 selves to be, so able to indulge in and enjoy, in an 
 innocent way, the creature-comforts of life. But, 
 whilst they were thus refreshing and cheering them¬ 
 selves with the good things which a beneficent Provi¬ 
 dence has abundantly distributed over the world, it 
 does seem somewhat strange and irreconcileable with 
 their professions of an earnest desire to benefit by their 
 proceedings all classes of the community, that they 
 should not only most ungratefully forget the fact of 
 their being indebted, in a great degree, to the re¬ 
 mission of duties upon colonial and foreign produce 
 for the great variety and high quality of the repast 
 before them, and for the cheapness thereof; but it 
 is also strange that such indulgence and enjoyment 
 should precede, and, as it were, prepare their minds 
 for the business of the meeting—the advocacy of 
 measures for restricting and making costly the or¬ 
 dinary subsistence of all those labouring millions 
 
7 
 
 whose hands are hardened in the daily toil of “ Bri¬ 
 tish Industry,” but whose hearts are softened in 
 humble thankfulness for the abundance which has 
 been recently spread before them in an almost uni¬ 
 versally productive harvest, in the fruition of which 
 a wise and humane Legislature has enabled them to 
 partake. Of whom did this patriotic and disin¬ 
 terested party consist ? It is observed, the majority 
 of the Committee committed themselves no further 
 than by lending Iheir names to the programme ; at 
 least they were absent from the dinner ; and excuses 
 from some of them were communicated, through the 
 Chairman, to the meeting. The Lord Lieutenant, 
 and one of the noble Members for the County, the 
 Hon. Chairman, and another Hon. form the aristo 
 cratic portion of those present; then come the Hon. 
 Members for the Northern Division ; but neither of 
 the Members for the County Town, nor for Birming¬ 
 ham, nor Coventry, were there. There were some 
 half-dozen of the Clergy, about as many again of 
 Squires of various degrees, an average of Attornies, 
 Land Agents, Stewards, and other dependants upon 
 the Landed Interest, with a fair sprinkling of Inn¬ 
 keepers, Wine Merchants, Butchers, Tailors, Hair¬ 
 dressers, Auctioneers, Veterinary Surgeons, and 
 others belonging to the town, and more or less con¬ 
 nected with, and dependent upon the patronage of, 
 the same interest; and the remainder of the party was 
 composed of genuine live farmers. Of this latter 
 and most interested class, the majority of the neigh¬ 
 bourhood, notwithstanding all the arts of coaxing, 
 
cajoling, and terrifying to induce or compel them to 
 attend or take an interest in the proceedings, appear 
 to be very indifferent, and even suspicious, not only 
 of the impossibility of success in such a cause, but of 
 the sincerity of the chief promoters, and that their 
 own prosperity would be far better promoted by 
 spending their time and money at home in attention 
 
 Having disposed of the good cheer laid in great 
 variety and profusion before them, and the odd sixty 
 having been trotted up and accommodated in a room 
 previously filled by one hundred and sixty, the busi¬ 
 ness of the meeting commenced with the customary 
 loyal and one or two routine toasts, to the latter 
 of which some of the company responded, whose 
 speeches do not require particular observation, fur¬ 
 ther than a passing word upon that of the Rev. Gen¬ 
 tleman who represented the “ Bishop and Clergy of 
 the Diocese,” and who seemed to entertain a secret 
 suspicion that he and his reverend brethren present 
 were somewhat out of place when he said “ for it 
 was not fitting for clergymen to be mixed up with 
 political matters,” (very sound doctrine) “ though, 
 at the same time, he did not think he was exhibiting 
 any political feeling when he was expressing his con¬ 
 viction of a measure which affected the welfare of all 
 with whom he was acquainted ;” and, “ he believed 
 the clergy themselves would be great sufferers.” 
 And, the objectionable measure is that which has, 
 under the blessing of Providence, “ filled the hun- 
 
9 
 
 gry with good things,” without sending the rich 
 “empty away;” in opposition to which, these gen¬ 
 tlemen feel themselves called upon to step forward, 
 though ministers of a religion ever mindful of the 
 poor and needy, and inculcating this tenet, “ He that 
 withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him, but 
 blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth 
 it;” which is plainly and strictly applicable to 
 any measure, private or public, having for its object 
 the making scarce or costly the chief subsistence of 
 the people. How many were there, during the late 
 scarcity, who withheld from the market their corn, in 
 . expectation of receiving 100s. per quarter, when thou¬ 
 sands were suffering under the agony of extreme 
 privation, and even perishing from want of food ? 
 But the clergy anticipate a lowering of the averages, 
 and, consequently, they will be “ great sufferers,” and 
 it becomes, therefore, their duty to attend such meet¬ 
 ings, and look after “ the interests of the Church !” 
 Supposing even their incomes will ultimately and per¬ 
 manently be reduced, which is by no means admitted, 
 and supposing such reduction to exceed, in some de¬ 
 gree, their necessary expenditure, likewise reduced 
 by the diminished cost of all the ordinary require¬ 
 ments, and also of the luxuries of life; might it not be 
 expected, as ministers of a self-denying religion, that 
 they should stand up conspicuous examples for the en¬ 
 couragement of those humble and self-abasing virtues 
 which they are required to preach, and exhort others 
 to practice, and which, 1 firmly believe, a consider¬ 
 able number of their clerical brethren are not only 
 prepared to do, but are actually performing ? 
 
10 
 
 By the bye, it is remarked, in reference to 
 the once-exciting toast, “ the Army,” and “ the 
 Navy,” that they are frequently, now-a-days, clubbed 
 together, and the name of “ the Duke ” is no longer 
 associated with the former, as was the custom pre¬ 
 vious to his conversion from free-trade in swords 
 and bayonets, to that of corn, and other means of 
 supporting rather than destroying life. 
 
 Some little difficulty, it would appear, had arisen 
 as to who should be the presiding chairman, and 
 some disappointment experienced, or it had not been 
 fully arranged that the chairman should propose 
 ex cathedra , the first special, indeed the chief, toast 
 of the evening—” Protection to British Industry ;” 
 for, it is observed, the Mon. Chairman intimated, in 
 the beginning of his speech, that “ he was, almost up to 
 that moment, totally unacquainted with the fact that 
 he should be called upon to speak on this subject,” 
 (in fully believing which the speech itself, as re¬ 
 ported, presents no difficulty,) and the selection of 
 that gentleman for the important function of setting 
 off the results of free-trade in all their hideous de¬ 
 formity, is somewhat remarkable, and to the cause 
 somewhat infelicitous ; inasmuch as one of his station 
 could scarcely be found, in the Southern Division 
 of the county, who has spent less time at home, so 
 as to enable him thoroughly to understand the cir¬ 
 cumstances and requirements of an English tenantry 
 and peasantry, or who has had less opportunity of be¬ 
 coming acquainted with the condition and relative 
 position of the several classes of the community, as 
 
11 
 
 they stand at the present time—a position very dif¬ 
 ferent to that which they occupied a century, a half 
 century, or even a quarter of a century gone by— 
 which is fully manifested in the manner and sub¬ 
 stance of his observations. The leading features of 
 the speech are three, two of which are the ready¬ 
 made staple commodity met with in all orations of 
 this kind, viz., Mr. Cobden and Sir Robert Peel; 
 and the third, forming- a pleasing- variety. Lord 
 Palmerston and his foreign policy ; the connexion of 
 which with free-trade or British industry is by 
 no means so patent as the concealed political-party 
 motive partially unveiled by the introduction of this 
 latter topic. One singular inconsistency in this 
 speech must not escape unnoticed, and it may be 
 conveniently referred to in connexion with the first 
 slap at Mr. Cobden, whom the speaker accused of 
 having held out “ specious promises which, without 
 exception, had been proved fallacious and void ; ” 
 the first of which was, “ and he begged they would 
 mark this fact in particular, that the rents of land¬ 
 lords, under free-trade, should be at least as high 
 as under monopoly ; ” and immediately afterwards 
 he, the Chairman, asked his audience whether', 
 after three years’ experience, “ they ” (the specious 
 promises) “had ripened into reality.” Now, it has not 
 been unfrequent for the self and arrogantly-styled 
 “ friends of British Industry ” to assert, with the 
 greatest coolness and disregard of accuracy, that this 
 country has had a trial of free-trade during three 
 years, which is a gross mis-statement, for the present 
 
12 
 
 nominal duty upon corn came only into operation on 
 the 1st of February, 1849, a year only, instead of 
 three ; but, taking them at their word, it would be 
 a great satisfaction to know whether the Hon. Chair¬ 
 man has, during the three past years, and especially 
 at his last rent-day, only a few weeks since, returned 
 or abated one shilling of his rent by reason of the 
 inability of the tenant to pay ; and whether he 
 offered, or was asked by his tenants, to abate their 
 rents for the future; and, if he has not done any of 
 these things, about which there is not a single word 
 throughout his speech, then he has amply proved 
 that, during the period referred to so triumphantly 
 as having falsified the promises of Mr. Cobden, his, 
 the speaker’s, assertion of such failure of realization, 
 so far as he is concerned, is vain and worthless, and 
 he has thus confuted himself; and, so far, too, has 
 actually confirmed the predictions of the slandered 
 free-trade leader. Had such abatements of rent 
 been made, the fact would have been industriously 
 circulated and trumpeted in the public ear, to the 
 credit of the landlord and the discredit of free- 
 trade. Proceeding with his amusing sport at the 
 expense of Mr. Cobden, which bore a striking re¬ 
 semblance to the exhibition of Punch in the streets, 
 in which exaggerated and distorted caricatures are 
 continually being stuck up and made to say all sorts 
 of absurd incongruities, merely for the purpose of 
 gratifying the enlightened assemblage by witnessing 
 their imaginary discomfitures by the hard knocks of 
 the exhibitor ; proceeding thus, the Chairman de- 
 
13 
 
 lighted his admiring audience with a summary of 
 all the threatened terrors to be dreaded from the 
 adoption and continuance of free-trade, which was 
 meant as a regular stunner upon the devoted pate of 
 Mr. Cobden.—“After all,” continued the Chair¬ 
 man, “ what was the real honest meaning of a gene¬ 
 ral reduction of rents but a general reduction of 
 profits—a general reduction of employment—a gene¬ 
 ral lowering of wages—a general stagnation of the 
 retail trade—the general ruin of the home market 
 —an aggravation of the burdens of taxation— 
 and an increase generally of poverty and poor’s 
 rates ?” which elicited “ reiterated cheering ” from 
 the assemblage. In this tremendous catalogue of 
 anticipated evils there is some ambiguity, whether 
 they are to fall with equally stunning weight upon 
 the trading, manufacturing, and commercial in¬ 
 terests, as upon the agricultural. If it be intended 
 to bear the more extended application, the reports 
 from all the manufacturing towns and districts, 
 without exception, are declaratory of increased 
 and increasing activity and prosperity; and the 
 returns of the exports and imports are highly 
 corroborative of these portions of “ British Indus¬ 
 try ” being fully competent to take care of them¬ 
 selves, without any other protection than that 
 arising from the energetic and skilful management 
 of capital, unfettered by the trammels of legal duties, 
 erroneously regarded by some as fostering aids and 
 protective supports. If such, too, be the application 
 of the expressions:, “ general reduction of profits, and 
 
14 
 
 general redaction of employment,” the daily expe¬ 
 rience in the towns and districts referred to offers an 
 almost unqualified contradiction to the assertion— 
 for, though the diminution of price may have re¬ 
 duced the rate of profits as compared with periods 
 long since past, yet the actual profit to the indus¬ 
 trious and persevering may be, and are maintained, 
 upon an increased amount, and more economically 
 conducted trade, as shewn upon a fair average return 
 of five or seven years. And with respect to the 
 profits from agriculture, though the price of corn 
 has been for many months low, too low to afford a 
 profit to the growers, yet, what has been the average 
 price during the past melancholy three years ? 
 why, upwards of 60s. per quarter, and for the past 
 twenty, 56s.; and though there will, in the course 
 of nature, be occasional fluctuations from year to 
 year in the quantity grown, these extreme fluctuations 
 in price, prejudicial to the farmer as well as to the 
 consumer, cannot recur under a system of free-trade, 
 as they were wont to do under the benign system of 
 high duties. No just reason has ever yet been ad¬ 
 vanced to shew why the manufacture of food should be 
 bolstered up by fictitious prices under legal enact¬ 
 ments, any more than other species of manufacture, 
 which are now, for the most part, exposed, as they 
 ought to be, to the variations of supply and demand, 
 and the profits dependent upon the ingenuity, the eco¬ 
 nomy, and steady application to business,—and, above 
 all, the care bestowed in regulating personal ex¬ 
 penditure. This is, perhaps, in its neglect, a source of 
 
15 
 
 a great part of the difficulties and distress with which 
 the present age has had to contend ; and it has per¬ 
 vaded all classes, but especially those intervening 
 between the extremes. The middle classes have been 
 so much engrossed in the struggle after riches, and 
 in vieiug with each other in the indulgence in ease 
 and luxury, in the attainment of which incessant 
 and intense efforts have been, in many cases, used 
 to the sacrifice, for the time being, of comfort, 
 and ultimately of health and peace of mind ; and 
 all have been scrambling up the tottering ladder 
 of luxury and distinction, and to so giddy a 
 height that many have suddenly fallen ; and down 
 which it is apprehended all must make up their 
 minds to descend some rounds, in order that they 
 may escape the same unhappy fate. Let any 
 one look attentively around, and strictly at home, . 
 and he will find abundant confirmation of the 
 prevalence of chrysolatry, and the intense thirst 
 after luxurious indulgence, which it is hard to give 
 up, but must be abated, if not voluntarily, by com¬ 
 pulsion, when the interests of the community demand 
 the sacrifice ; and happy will they be who delay not 
 in accommodating their wants and desires to their 
 altered circumstances. Next, as to the apprehended 
 “ general lowering of wages.” Hitherto there has 
 been no such general lowering in the trading and 
 manufacturing districts, but in many cases even an 
 advance has been made, and not an inconsiderable 
 one ; and, amongst the agricultural labourers of our 
 own neighbourhood, though there has been a reduc- 
 
16 
 
 tion of the rate of wages for some weeks, or perhaps 
 months, past, yet there is no want of employment, 
 unusual at this season, and during the continuance 
 of frost; and the diminished rate of wages is by no 
 means in proportion to the reduced cost of food 
 and other necessaries; so that it is asserted, and with 
 ample means of proving the truth of the declaration, 
 that the able agricultural labourer of this district 
 was far better off in 1849, when food was cheap and 
 wages lowered, than he was in 1848, when food was 
 dear and wages higher, and still farther prosperous 
 than in 1847, when food was dearest and wages at 
 their highest price. And with respect to the alleged 
 or anticipated increase of “ poverty and poor’s-rates,” 
 nothing can be more at variance with the truth than 
 such an assertion; and if gentlemen, who are really de¬ 
 sirous of knowing and stating the truth, would only 
 condescend to make enquiry into the facts from the 
 proper sources of information, which are accessible to 
 every one, they would avoid much self-deception and 
 consequent misleading of others, who ignorantly 
 swallow all that happens to be palatable to their 
 passions and prejudices ; and they would in this case 
 find that so far from poverty and poor-rates being 
 on the increase in this neighbourhood, there is a 
 very considerable decrease, as shewn by a com¬ 
 parison of the number of poor relieved, and of the 
 amount expended in their relief during the half year 
 ending September 29th, 1849, (the period of the 
 last making up of the accounts), and the correspond¬ 
 ing half-year of 1848, as in the following abstract:— 
 
Amount of In-maintenance and 
 Out-relief during the half years 
 ending September 29th, in the 
 Warwick Union. 
 
 Total number of persons relieved > 
 during the above periods, includ- > 7,093 5,456 
 
 Shelving a diminution in the number of 1, ; V37, or up¬ 
 wards of25 per cent. ; the average price of wheal 
 during the three years having been not less than 60s. 
 per quarter. Then, as to the remaining bugbears held 
 up to terrify the timid agricultural mind, “ a general 
 stagnation of the retail trade, the general ruin of the 
 home market,” and “ an aggravation of the burdens 
 of taxation ; ” true, the retail trade may sutler a tem¬ 
 porary depression during the uncertainty of prices, 
 and during the vain and pernicious continuance of the 
 agitation revived and sustained by those who would 
 consult their own and the public interest far more 
 did they employ the same degree of energy in en¬ 
 couraging their tenants to renewed exertions, and 
 calming their doubts and fears, so as to strengthen 
 their self-reliance, by coming forward in an open, 
 manly, and sensible manner, as some of their class have 
 already done publicly, and others privately, by the offer 
 of new arrangements or modifications of their tenure, 
 with the advancement of capital towards improve¬ 
 ments under wise and liberal conditions. And, 
 doubtless, “ the home market,” in certain branches, 
 and in particular localities, will, for a season, feel 
 similar effects ; and the “ aggravation of the bur¬ 
 dens of taxation ” will also press with unusual 
 
 5,338 19 ]i 4,716 12 6 
 
IS 
 
 weight for a time, shorter or longer, according to the 
 willingness displayed by the powerful classes in put¬ 
 ting their shoulder to the wheel of social advance¬ 
 ment, which has been too long resisted in its progress 
 by the impediment thrown in its uav by the slug¬ 
 gard Protection. But for aristocratic lips to talk 
 thus of the burdens of taxation, becomes, indeed, a 
 most unkind cut, and would have sounded better 
 from a radical or chartist—for by whom was all, or 
 the chief part, of that enormous load of debt and 
 taxation, under which the foundations of British 
 Industry are staggering, accumulated, but by the 
 landed interest ? which then legislated, almost un¬ 
 controlled, in favour of their own immediate interests ; 
 and for the secondary purpose of supporting and ex¬ 
 tending opinions that a succeeding half century has, 
 almost throughout civilized Europe, repudiated and 
 trampled in the dust. 
 
 The Hon. Chairman concluded his exhibition of 
 Mr. Cobden and his policy by referring, in terms of 
 indignation, to that gentleman’s declaration relating 
 to the 12 millions of local taxation which are alleged 
 to be borne by real property alone, which he con¬ 
 siders a just burden, inasmuch as those charges have 
 for centuries been borne by that description of pro¬ 
 perty, and therefore have, with the charge of tithes, 
 been inseparably fixed upon real property, which 
 has been inherited and transferred by sale through 
 so many generations, and is the only fixed, perma¬ 
 nent, and indiminishable property, and, consequently, 
 
19 
 
 the only safe security, for the payment of the just and 
 inalienable claims in the maintenance of the poor. 
 Other property, in money, merchandise, and ma¬ 
 chinery (of late yearsthis latter has become liable to the 
 poor’s-rate) have not the same fixity of value,nor dura¬ 
 bility of nature, for they are perpetually undergoing- 
 fluctuation, and may at any time be converted into some 
 other shape, and quickly transferred even to a distant 
 country, in the event of unprofitable employment, 
 or the risk of depreciation. But, however, should 
 it appear, on a candid and careful investigation, that 
 real property is, after the settlement of things under 
 the new system, introduced by the policy of free- 
 trade, subjected to burdens of greater amount than is 
 just, let them in equity be distributed over other 
 descriptions of income-yielding property in an equal, 
 or in a proportionate rate ; but in a revision of this 
 kind the strictest impartiality must be observed, and 
 the immunities and exemptions at present enjoyed 
 by real property, such as from legacy and probate 
 duty, and also the greatly-advanced value of land in 
 general, and, especially in particular localities, must 
 not be lost sight of with respect to the re-adjustment 
 of the land-tax. To attempt a re-valuation of real 
 property at the present time would be premature, 
 and attended by deceptive results, though there is 
 but little indication of depreciation of value in the 
 sale of land, or of its annual value in the reduction 
 of rent. Having finished off Mr. Cobden to his 
 own satisfaction, and that of his hearers, the Chair¬ 
 man proceeded to entertain the company with the 
 
20 
 
 fashionable tirade against Sir Robert Peel and his 
 letters to his tenantry, the chief recommendation in 
 which, relating to the industrious employment of 
 “skill, intelligence, and capital, 55 to enable them to 
 retain or improve their position, he, the Chairman, 
 designated “ as heartless as it was impossible to be 
 carried out, 55 a desponding opinion, in which it is 
 trusted, indeed believed, few really coincide, and the 
 truth of which must be left to time to test. 
 
 We next see both Cobden and Peel put up and 
 knocked about most punch ily, the former being 
 designated an “ impostor, 55 and the latter the “ emi¬ 
 nent individual ; 55 “ the most sagacious statesman ; 55 
 “ the greatest living example of Parliamentary ora¬ 
 tory and, a short time the scene, like a dissolving 
 view, changes, and the same individual becomes, in- 
 ferentiallv, a shallow dupe, who, “ to carry out the 
 plausible theories of Mr. Cobden, had broken up the 
 great party of resistance to organic change from 
 dangerous innovation, an evil not to be appreciated 
 in the time in which we live. 55 How the Chairman 
 came to let that cat escape it is difficult to divine, 
 but the warmth of his indignation appears to have 
 suddenly raised the temperature of the bag, and out 
 it bolted, to the amazement surely of the more pru¬ 
 dent of his hearers. Thus we have exposed to view 
 the “ head and front of his offending ; 55 the unfor- 
 giveable sin against the party; the crime of “the 
 apostate 55 revealed in all its frightful enormity, the 
 wound that no time can heal, and no application, not 
 
21 
 
 even, perhaps, of an 8s. duty on corn, can mitigate 
 the offence against the party. The breaking up of 
 the great party, and the consequent loss of the 
 chance of power, of place, and of influence, to that 
 section of it which will admit of no compromise with 
 anything so low as free-trade, no progress, nor accom¬ 
 modation to altered circumstances, but would rather 
 waste their powers in useless efforts to force back 
 the wheels of progressive advancement, is, perhaps, 
 the bitterest ingredient in their cup of disappoint¬ 
 ment, which they blame their ex-leader for pre¬ 
 paring, but which is rather to be referred to 
 their blindness and obstinacy in not perceiving in 
 time the course he was pursuing, when he inti¬ 
 mated in Parliament that the accomplishment of free- 
 trade was become a question of time. Having next 
 subjected Lord Palmerston and the Government to 
 the same ordeal, on account of their foreign policy, 
 which appeared to be equally pleasing to the com¬ 
 pany, the Hon. Gentleman concluded his entertain¬ 
 ment with a brief exhibition of Lord John Russell, 
 for having deviated from the spirit of an alleged 
 dictum of his own—that “ no settlement of an impor¬ 
 tant political question could be satisfactory where 
 one great interest considered itself sacrificed to the 
 other.” “ On that principle of Lord John Russell,” 
 he proceeded to say, “ they ” (the protectionists) 
 “ would take their stand.” The growth of every 
 abuse, and the acquisition of monopoly, are gradual 
 in their advances, and in like manner are they tena¬ 
 cious and difficult to remove, not unlike, in both 
 
22 
 
 respects, to the ivy upon a wall, which, by its exces¬ 
 sive growth, at length endangers the structure upon 
 which it has tenaciously insinuated itself; and though 
 in its detachment there may be some danger of dis¬ 
 placing a few of the stones, yet the safety of the whole 
 mass demands the removal, lest, in the event of some 
 rude storm, all should be sacrificed. Every change, 
 or proposal of change, is met by some objectors, who 
 raise the cry of the sacrifice of some great interest. 
 When the African slave trade was by law abolished, 
 a great and powerful interest in the odious traffic 
 in human blood was, to the scandal of the age, de¬ 
 fended in Parliament, but it was sacrificed ; and when 
 the Reform Bill became law, and was incorporated, 
 adding new life, in the British Constitution, a great 
 and powerful interest, in an equally odious traffic in 
 human liberty of voice and conscience, was also ob¬ 
 stinately upheld, but was, with the majority of their 
 rotten boroughs, likewise sacrificed ; and, as to the 
 satisfaction of the country upon each occasion, it is 
 presumed few, if any, would now be found advoca¬ 
 ting the revival of the former traffic ; and with re¬ 
 spect to the latter, there seems to be a pretty general 
 feeling in favour of the further amendment of the Re¬ 
 form Act by an extension of the franchise in some di¬ 
 rections, and removing it in others—extending it to 
 some large classes of intelligent and trusty citizens ; 
 and withdrawing it from some of the insignificant and 
 corrupt boroughs which escaped schedule A of that 
 Act; and which, having abused their privileges, 
 should be compelled to forfeit them. 
 
23 
 
 In the shorter speeches immediately following the 
 lengthened address of the Chairman, nothing appears 
 deserving of remark, with the exception of an im¬ 
 portant and altogether unlooked-for admission on 
 the part of the Lord Lieutenant of the County, who 
 declared “ it was quite right that the minority 
 should yield to the majority in all cases; ” which 
 reveals a tolerably satisfactory advance of liberal 
 sentiment from one of a party which resolutely re¬ 
 fused their recognition of such a democratic notion 
 under the rotten-borough reign. But in the appli¬ 
 cation of this wholesome doctrine his Lordship has 
 fallen into an error, when he puts the significant 
 question, “ were they (the agriculturists) not the 
 majority ? ” adding, too, “ the farmers had the ma¬ 
 jority, and, by uniting, would be enabled to gain 
 their object.” The assertion of the farmers having 
 the majority is so extravagantly wide of the truth, 
 that it must be meant that their friends, connexions, 
 and dependants, as the labourers are called, are 
 included, and, perhaps, a large portion of the retail 
 tradesmen in market towns are claimed to swell their 
 numbers; with all these, however, the majority 
 could not be reckoned, for the whole of them, saving 
 and excepting the farmers themselves, have a direct 
 beneficial interest in a reduced cost of living; and 
 as to the labourers, if permitted, unterrified, unpu¬ 
 nished, and not cajoled, they would, to a man, be in 
 favour of cheap provisions and free-trade. An ana¬ 
 lysis of the occupations of the adult male population, 
 taken in 1841, will clear up this point in a great de- 
 
gree; and, moreover, it must be recollected this is 
 the tenth year since the last census, and that the 
 increase, since the former, has been going on in at 
 least the same ratio as for many years past, in favour 
 of the trading and manufacturing classes. The fol¬ 
 lowing- Table is an abstract from one in an excellent 
 little work, entitled “The Statistical Companion,” 
 by T. C. Banfield and C. R. Weld, 1848 
 
OCCUPATIONS OF THE PEOPLE IN GREAT BRITAIN ACCORDING TO TI-IE CENSUS OF 1841. 
 
 _____ 
 
 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 TRADE, MANUFAC¬ 
 TURES, &c. 
 
 OTHER CLASSES. 
 
 Males, 
 Twenty 
 Years 
 of age and 
 upwards. 
 
 Tanners 
 
 Graziers, 
 
 Land 
 
 Surveyors 
 
 ™nd’ 
 
 Florists. 
 
 Bailiffs 
 
 Stewards, 
 
 Gardener^ 
 
 Agricultu¬ 
 
 ral 
 
 Labourers 
 
 Employed 
 
 Manufac¬ 
 
 tures 
 
 and making 
 Manufactur¬ 
 ing 
 
 Machinery. 
 
 Employed 
 
 RetailTrade, 
 
 Handicraft, 
 
 Masters 
 
 and 
 
 W orkmen. 
 
 Capitalists, 
 Bankers, 
 and other 
 Professional 
 
 Educated 
 
 Classes. 
 
 Labourer? 
 
 employed 
 
 Labour, 
 
 Agricul- 
 
 Male 
 Servants, 
 Twenty 
 Years of 
 age 
 and 
 
 upwards. 
 
 Seamen 
 
 Merchant 
 
 Harbour. 
 
 Persons 
 
 of 
 
 People. 
 
 Other 
 Males, 
 Twenty 
 Years of 
 age 
 and 
 
 upwards. 
 
 4,761,091 
 
 274,306' 
 
 923,851 
 
 392,162 
 
 1,733,334 
 
 204,4S1 
 
 504,893 
 
 143,093 
 
 77,334 
 
 129,855 
 
 53,113 
 
 324,670 
 
 
 1,198,166 ; 
 
 2,125,496 j 
 
 
 
 1, 
 
 437,439 ; 
 
 
 
 
 
 25.17 per cent. 
 
 44.64 per cent. 
 
 
 
 30.19 per cen 
 
 
 
 
The powers of oratory of the Southern Division 
 having been exhausted, it became the turn of the 
 Northern “ to give expression to the feelings,” and 
 who could be so properly or naturally called upon as 
 mouth-pieces as the Members for that Division, who, 
 versed in the art of debate and practised in declama¬ 
 tion (not to say rant), have succeeded in acquiring a 
 high reputation and much popularity amongst the 
 farmers ? Mr. Newdegate, as the senior representa¬ 
 tive, taking precedence of the venerable rejected of 
 Birmingham, rose “ under difficulties of no ordinary 
 character, when he reflected what must be expected 
 from one of their Members of the County, when they 
 found what the gentlemen of Warwickshire were ca¬ 
 pable of, as illustrated by the talented speech of their 
 respected Chairmanand having succeeded in 
 struggling with his diffidence during the delivery of 
 this tolerably strong specimen of self-laudation of 
 “ our noble selves,” and in preserving a grave and 
 solemn deportment during the very trying scene, 
 and also in maintaining presence of mind sufficient 
 to restrain his mysterious cat from leaping out of the 
 bag, by which accident unprevented his and his 
 hearers’ foes would be prematurely possessed of the 
 tactics of their party about to be put in operation on 
 the opening of Parliament. The Hon. Gentleman 
 then selected some texts from speeches of certain 
 American statesmen, to shew, in the first place, ac¬ 
 cording to Mr. Van Buren, that “there was no 
 greater thraldom to which a people could be sub¬ 
 jected so fatal as a dependence on foreigners for the 
 
27 
 
 food they eat.” Undoubtedly, if it be possible, it is 
 the interest of every country to grow its own food, 
 and in proportion to the increase of population, 
 should the soil be made to yield a corresponding in¬ 
 creased amount of produce; an argument of the great¬ 
 est weight in favour of redoubled exertion and per¬ 
 severance in the improved cultivation of the land, 
 rather than, according to protectionist principles, an 
 indolent reliance upon high import duties to prop 
 up the interests of the producers at the expence of 
 the consumers; but the Hon. Gentleman did not 
 pursue the subject, and point out the course a people 
 should adopt when they are, from any cause soever, 
 not able to produce in their own country, in average 
 harvests, food enough, by one-third, to supply them¬ 
 selves till the next harvest. The answer may be 
 evaded or suppressed, but upon the principles of so- 
 called “ protection,” the people must eat one-third 
 of the quantity they require, and pay one-third more 
 for it. In the second place, we find it contended, 
 on the authority of the Secretary to the Treasury of 
 the United States, who says, “each country should, 
 so far as it could, legitimately, and without oppres¬ 
 sion of its interests, be dependent upon itself for the 
 supplies of all the prime necessaries of life,” a senti¬ 
 ment almost identical in principle with the prece¬ 
 ding, and which would, with its limitation and 
 guarded reservation of “legitimately and without 
 oppression of its interests,” be equally well received 
 by the most zealous free-traders at Manchester or 
 Leeds, as by the most exclusive protectionists at 
 
Warwick ; and thirdly with General Taylor, now 
 President of the United, but not unanimous, States, 
 he agrees “ that it was not only the right but the 
 duty of the Government of their own country ”— 
 he, Mr. N., wdshed our Government felt it to be 
 their duty, and acted up to it—“ to give due and 
 legitimate encouragement to the industry of the 
 people over whom they ruled.” What a sentence 
 wherewith to catch an English protectionist! Why, 
 with the transatlantic caution conveyed in the words 
 “ due and legitimate,” that vaunted passage might as 
 safely be spoken or printed in Vienna as in New 
 York, in Petersburgh as in Manchester, and no 
 Government in the world could hesitate to accept it 
 as an expression of their duty on that head, how ever 
 much they might differ as to the mode of carrying it 
 out. It is, for example, the mode of the Austrian and 
 Russian Governments to give “ due and legitimate ” 
 encouragement to native industry in the active em¬ 
 ployment of the sw'ord and musket, the bastinado and 
 the knout, in checking the too rapid growth of free- 
 trade and free opinions amongst their dependencies and 
 neighbours, w'ho are at this moment writhing under 
 the protective chastisement of these tenderly-paternal 
 Governments ; and it is their mode, a way they have, 
 of encouraging the industry of their subjects, by ex¬ 
 cluding, as much as possible, all interchange with 
 other nations, through the cherishing intervention of 
 high import duties; checking thus most effectually 
 all exertion towards improvement, by cutting off all 
 external competition ; so jealous are these miserable 
 
despots of foreign intercourse, and in terror of the in¬ 
 troduction of foreign arts, but especially of the art of 
 self-government amongst their people; whereas, on 
 the contrary, it has become the policy of our Govern¬ 
 ment to promote the cultivation of commercial and 
 friendly intercourse with all other nations, by means 
 of the advancement and extension of art and science, 
 and their application to the industrial occupations of 
 the people, in agriculture as well as in all the varied 
 productions in manufacture, for which this country 
 has been so long and so eminently distinguished, and 
 in the free and universal distribution of all these, to 
 the end that the happiness and welfare of all nations 
 may be secured by the promotion of civilization and 
 the peaceful intercourse of mankind. 
 
 Having indulged himself in a little innocent quiz¬ 
 zing of “the dilettanti professsors” of agriculture, 
 and sneering at their efforts to promote improved culti¬ 
 vation, and thereby his own advantage, and which 
 called forth the hearty haw, haw’s of the “ practical 
 men who, however, are occasionally detected mak¬ 
 ing use of the “ schemes” and “ new-fangled notions” 
 of the despised “ dilettanti” with advantage to them¬ 
 selves, but without knowing or caring from whom they 
 were derived, this “ farmer’s friend ” reminded his 
 agricultural friends, the farmers themselves, and very 
 unnecessarily, if not unkindly, of certain terms of 
 reproach that had been from time to time applied to 
 them by the “dilettanti,” who, in the warmth of 
 their zeal and impatience at the slowness of these 
 
men to adopt anything new, had so expressed them¬ 
 selves. Having accomplished all this, the “ former’s 
 friend ” passed suddenly to the great subject, which, 
 after years of the bitterest vituperative eloquence, 
 has not even so far reconciled him to the hated apos- 
 tacy of his former leader as to allow him to let the 
 smallest opportunity escape of venting his ichor upon 
 the Right Hon. Baronet; and accordingly the two 
 letters were again subjected to the bitterest censure, 
 which, after much vapouring and flourishing, 
 amounted merely to this much, that in the offer of 
 the 20 per cent, investment in improvements upon 
 the forms, it was no more than what “ many improv¬ 
 ing landlords of large properties had been doing for 
 years and years past ” (it is something to hear that 
 landlords are improving) that he believed “ the 
 Right Hon. Baronet’s rents were fully 10 per cent, 
 higher than those of the adjoining land holders;” but 
 he did not pretend to shew that any of the farms were 
 vacant in consequence of the rents being too high, 
 though he added, that he thought the much-maligned 
 letters “ were calculated to encourage, on the part of 
 the landlords, a stern disregard of the position of his 
 tenantry, oppressed as they were by free-trade ; that 
 it was an attempt to gain credit for consideration on 
 his own part for his tenantry, which the terms and 
 circumstances related did not justify.” It does not 
 appear, however, that landlords require much en¬ 
 couragement to hold tight to their rents, nor has it 
 been made known, at least the writer has not heard 
 of it, that the Hon, Gentleman has set the example in 
 
31 
 
 this respect, with the view of relieving his tenantry, 
 in the state of oppression to which, in common with 
 others, according to his shewing, they are at present 
 exposed ; and whether the Right lion. Baronet is en¬ 
 titled to credit for originating the plan of in vesting the 
 20 per cent., or not, he will, at least, obtain credit for 
 having spoken out in a decided, candid, unflinching 
 manner, which has had the effect of inspiring confi¬ 
 dence in the right direction, of self-reliance, not only 
 amongst his ow n tenantry, but throughout the whole 
 country. 
 
 Abandoning Sir Robert, the Sion. Member 
 took up the second part of the old duet, and went 
 through his performance upon Mr. C'oixlen, with as 
 much taste as execution, eliciting cheers and laughter 
 from the delighted audience, at least that portion 
 that were awake, according to the changes from the 
 grave to the comic parts. In conclusion, the Hon. 
 Member addressed himself to the artizans; but, as 
 none of this class were present, it is not recorded with 
 what effect or attention his observations were re¬ 
 ceived. He described them as being in “ total ig¬ 
 norance of their real interests which, considering 
 how much has of late been addressed to them, both 
 by free-traders, and also by protectionists, is about as 
 complimentary to their understandings and powers 
 of discrimination as the expressions said to have been 
 applied by one of the “dilettanti professors” to the 
 farmers, though conveyed in a larger number of, 
 and more mildly-drawn, w ords, but bearing the same 
 
32 
 
 interpretation. The Mon. Member evidently knows 
 nothing of the feelings, nor of the interests, of the 
 artizans, nor yet of their condition, at the present 
 moment, or he would have discovered they are too 
 much awake to their true interests not to perceive that, 
 full employment, with,in many cases,advancing wages 
 and moderate prices of provisions, and other neces¬ 
 saries, which they are now, happily, after long priva¬ 
 tion, enjoying, are far better for them than precarious 
 work, with diminished wages, and food at double the 
 price. It is incomprehensiblehow gentlemen can wrap 
 themselves so closely in prejudice, and take so little 
 pains to become better informed upon subjects of 
 such importance and general interest, as to give 
 utterance to such inaccuracies and gross absurdities 
 as appear in the preceding quotation, and also in the 
 follow ing : where he asks—“ if the land were thrown 
 out of cultivation by a rapid process, what would 
 become of the labour it had employed ?”—a question 
 so utterly irrelevant, and so inconceivably ridiculous 
 in a landowner to suggest, as only to be paralleled by 
 the enquired result which might be anticipated from 
 the hypothetical falling of the sky ; unless it be a 
 query as to the effect upon the prosperity of agricul¬ 
 ture, from the arrival, “ by a rapid process,” at a 
 true knowledge of their position and interest on the 
 part of the landed interest. As no suitable reply to 
 such a profound question could be imagined, and as 
 in consequence the propounder received none, he 
 succeeded for once in rendering himself unanswer¬ 
 able, and, flushed with his singular achievement, he 
 
wound up his speech in terms of triumph at the anti¬ 
 cipated result of the onslaught his party was about 
 to make upon the free-traders, many of whose fal¬ 
 lacious and “ ruinous theories ” had been “ already 
 exploded,” and were fast vanishing before the re¬ 
 vived and overwhelming movement of the protec¬ 
 tion forces ! But we shall, in a few da\ s, see whether 
 all this bluster will look as big in St. Stephen’s as in 
 the Court House, at Warwick. 
 
 Next we find Mr. Spooner addressing the meet¬ 
 ing, and, after a modest and diffident preamble as 
 regarded himself and his powers of pleasing, and 
 complimentary towards those who had preceded him, 
 who had “left him nothing whatever to say,” he 
 took up his part in his usual solemn and lugubrious 
 style, and contrived to prolong his discourse to about 
 his customary extent, which, from his having been 
 left with “ nothing whatever to say,” was conse¬ 
 quently of about the strength and consistency of a 
 kettle of Soyer-soup. “ What was the object of the 
 meeting ?” enquired he, and to which he responded, 
 “ It was that those who had the honour of represent¬ 
 ing them in Parliament should give an account of 
 their past conduct—at the same time that the Repre¬ 
 sentatives had an opportunity afforded them of ascer¬ 
 taining the present opinions of their constituents, and 
 of explaining to them the way in which they in¬ 
 tended to carry those opinions out.” It is evident 
 the Hon. Gentleman fancied himself at Sutton, or 
 Coleshill, or some place in the Northern Division, 
 
34 
 
 and addressing his own constituents. And it is 
 something novel and quite exhilarating to find one 
 of his party so condescending and affable as to explain, 
 or wish to explain, his parliamentary conduct to his 
 constituents—a proceeding formerly reprobated as 
 low—unworthy of a representative, un-English, un¬ 
 constitutional, and only fit for a radical delegate to a 
 democratic constituency composed of the unshaven 
 and unwashed, as the “ friends of British Industry” 
 used ignominiously to describe the artizan class. 
 
 So it would appear the object of this meeting 
 was to give Mr. Spooner the opportunity of repeating 
 the speech delivered to his own constituents, which 
 he accomplished somewhat awkwardly, by forgetting 
 the mitalis mutandis. 
 
 After a series of difficultquestions put to the ceiling, 
 which returned them unanswered, and a vast expen¬ 
 diture in breath and energy, during which he seemed 
 several times in imminent danger of breaking into 
 the difficult and interminable subject of the monetary 
 system, by seizing the forf-lion by the horns, he ar¬ 
 rived at the astounding conclusion that “ protection ” 
 was a misapplication of the word, and that “justice” 
 should henceforth become the w'atchword of his 
 party; for which the Hon. Gentleman deserves the 
 especial thanks of all the advocates of free-trade—• 
 another word to which he objects, but which the free¬ 
 traders will not so easily yield up. Justice ! is the 
 word. And in the name of all the millions who have 
 
35 
 
 been so long demanding it, let him have it fully and 
 freely; and as a reformed Parliament would dis¬ 
 tribute it, were the interests of the various classes 
 more equally balanced in the representation, by a 
 further extension of the franchise, agreeably with the 
 dictates of that same virtue with which the Hon. 
 Gentleman has suddenly become enamoured. 
 
 The Hon. Gentleman continued his denunciations 
 of free-trade and free-traders, making emphatic 
 ap -Peels about “ the fatal measure ”—“ new-fangled 
 doctrines 5 ’—and “foreign competition”—and in¬ 
 dulging in the most dismal forebodings of impending 
 ruin upon all the interests of the community, from the 
 unrestricted introduction of food and manufactures, 
 which seemed, in his excited imagination, to be about 
 to fall upon this doomed country, not in a continuous 
 stream, with which there might be a possibility of 
 struggling, but in overwhelming successions of 
 avalanches of agricultural and manufacturing pro¬ 
 duce; and at length succeeded in so exasperating him¬ 
 self, as to declare, that “ if they were, as he believed 
 every class would, to be brought down to one-half of 
 their incomes, which he was quite sure was a mode¬ 
 rate calculation , he, for one, would support every 
 motion, the tendency of which would be to cut down 
 the salaries of those who might be living on the taxes 
 of the country.” “ If they were to have cheap 
 prices; if they were to have the ‘ benefits ’ of 
 free-trade ; if they were still to have that sy stem of 
 legislation which gave them a c large, large loaf,’ 
 
the meeting might rest assured that the friends of that 
 system should have a small, small salary ;” in a word, 
 the Hon. Member has nobly resolved to join the ranks 
 of the financial reformers—at least, so far as the re¬ 
 duction of the salaries of the Government—a plain in¬ 
 dication that he has abandoned all hope of seeing his 
 own party luxuriating in the sweets of office. This 
 would be very well, as far as it goes, did it but pro¬ 
 ceed from a right spirit and an enlarged view of the 
 necessity of retrenchment demanded in the public 
 expenditure ; but, as it stands, it savours too much 
 of petty revenge, and a churlish resentment, under 
 the disappointment of blighted expectations. After 
 subjecting Mr. Cobden to the usual, and, by the 
 crowd, looked-for evolutions, and expressing his 
 astonishment that the House of Commons could “ be 
 led by such a will-o’-the-wisp—(tremendous cheer¬ 
 ing)”—and after uttering his amazement, “ to find 
 that men who called themselves statesmen—men who 
 were descended fromstatesmen ”—(asthough,accord¬ 
 ing to his experience, wisdom had always been 
 found hereditary)—“men from whom they might 
 have expected better things ! ”—(the climax of his 
 agony is quite affecting)—“ that such men should be 
 found thus pandering to the ignorance of the multi¬ 
 tude, and enticing them on by an apparent cheap 
 loaf” (how awfully funny!) “to their own ruin, 
 without telling them that that cheap loaf would leave 
 them without the means of purchasing it.” How 
 touching is this picture of the lamentable ignorance 
 of the multitude.! and how tender and paternal the 
 
concern of the Hon. Gentleman for the poor deluded 
 creatures, who, forsooth, have not sense enough to 
 know whether they ar t paying for and eating a big 
 and cheap, or a little and dear loaf, but are un¬ 
 wittingly enticed by an apparent unsubstantial filmy 
 apparition of a loaf, not a jolly four-pounder for four- 
 pence, such as they are in reality enjoying, and long 
 may they have it, at or near the same price, notwith¬ 
 standing the horror of the ex-member for Birming¬ 
 ham at the realization of the “ big loaf,” and money 
 to spare, for the honest and industrious workman ! 
 
 From the top of the “ big loaf ” the Hon. Mem¬ 
 ber leaped to the Colonies, which he complained were 
 not represented in the House of Commons ; so that 
 he may be expected, bye-and-bye, to come out in the 
 character of a Parliamentary as well as of a financial 
 reformer. 
 
 Having settled the affairs of the Colonies by pre¬ 
 viously unsettling the government of them, he sang 
 a part of Rule Britannia, with much effect; but the 
 cheers of the meeting were mingled with moans for 
 the loss of the Navigation Laws, which had, as he 
 observed, been so useful as nurse-maids to our navy 
 (but which, having been used up in the service, are 
 now shelved and done for), forgetting the humane and 
 gentle impressment-laws; and how reluctant the suck¬ 
 ing-seamen have always been to leave the nursery lor 
 the attractions of the soft music of the boat-swain’s 
 whistle, and the lively companionship of the cat. 
 
From the Navy the Hon. gentleman was taking 
 his departure, when, by an unlucky move, he fell up¬ 
 on the bul-Mon, tied up in the Bank of England, and, 
 know'inghis theoretical antipathy to gold in the form 
 of coin, his transparent predilection for paper, and 
 his general and innocent enthusiasm upon these sub¬ 
 jects, his hearers prudently abstained from urging 
 him on by much cheering, as may be perceived in 
 the printed report of this part of his speech, w hich 
 contains only an occasional “hear, hear,” but 
 nothing of a more encouraging tendency, and which 
 seemed to have the effect of bringing his lucubrations 
 to an unexpected conclusion; for, on the escape of 
 something about the “ ruin of the country ” from his 
 lips, which, being a pleasant topic, dieted a burst of 
 cheers, the Hon. Member appeared suddenly to 
 awake to a sense of the position in which he had been 
 so long standing - , that he feared “ he had trespassed 
 too long upon their attention,” which was flatly 
 contradicted by several “ No, no’s,” and the Hon. 
 Gentleman “shut up.” 
 
 After some minor murmurings, the meeting 
 quietly dispersed, having, apparently, enjoyed 
 itself very much ; but not being quite satisfied with 
 its prowess, there seemed to be a pretty general 
 feeling in favour of a suggestion thrown out, which 
 was supported by the chair, for holding a public 
 meeting, in the event of Parliament remaining obsti¬ 
 nate and deaf to the eloquence and arguments just 
 exhibited : then “ they wrnuld speak out and be 
 attended to”—for the voices of the two hundred and 
 
twenty, packed so closely in the Court House, at 
 Warwick, would, when liberated from those walls, 
 and swelled by the accession of a few score more, 
 resound through the land like the roaring of the 
 British lion, to the dismay and discomfiture of the 
 trembling free-traders. 
 
 On reviewing the proceedings considered in the 
 foregoing observations, and examining closely the 
 objects held by the party, as they appear in the 
 speeches of the chief performers, as well as glancing at 
 the topics only incidentally alluded to, and those care¬ 
 fully kept out of view, it is pretty clear the auti-free- 
 trade movement is in a great measure the stalking- 
 horse covertly made use of for purposes other than 
 those avowed under the delusive title of “Protection 
 to British Industry”—a title already damaged by the 
 handling it has received, and a few months more of 
 wear and tear in Parliament, and out of it, will make 
 it so threadbare that none but the blind will be 
 further deceived by it. It is a remarkable and 
 curious fact, that throughout the whole of the 
 speeches delivered, both greater and lesser, no allu¬ 
 sion was made to the exertions of the great leader of 
 the band—not even was the name of D’Israeli, so 
 illustrious in the cause, once mentioned by any of 
 his ungrateful followers. What can be the meaning 
 of this solemn silence, this marked neglect ? Is it 
 that he has in his person given to the w orld a practi¬ 
 cal refutation of all the arguments of his party—a 
 death-blow' to all the assertions and aw ful protesta- 
 
40 
 
 tions of the certain destruction of the landed-interest, 
 and all connected with it, by the establishment of 
 free-trade, which, say they, has now been blighting 
 the prosperity of the country for three long years ; 
 yet, within the period of protection receiving its 
 doom, the Honourable Member for Bucks has in¬ 
 vested upwards of J30,000 in land ? He has been 
 charged with having raised the rents upon that estate 
 in the face cf “ certain destruction but how nobly 
 did he rebut the offensive charge !—and how disdain¬ 
 fully did he repel the mercenary insinuation!—and 
 how successfully, nay triumphantly, did he assert 
 his consistency and disinterested virtue !—it w as an 
 “unmitigated fabrication,”—“there was no farm in 
 his possession the rent of which he had raised !” Can 
 it be possible that the leader of the patriotic-protec- 
 tiou-to-British-lndustry-band has endeavoured to 
 avail himself of a mean quibble, such as a vendor of 
 shining oranges or glittering pen-knives in the streets 
 would scarcely deign to use, that he had not raised 
 the rents because it had been done by another in his 
 stead ? The fact in w'hich all persons are concerned 
 to know is, whether the rents have been raised by any 
 one during the time, no matter who served the 
 notices, or by whose orders; but it is interesting to 
 find the Honourable Gentleman himself accidentally 
 concerned in, and, it is hoped, benefitted by, the 
 transaction; though it would be much more senti¬ 
 mental to behold him flinging the dross into the dirty 
 ditches of Buckinghamshire, without striving or 
 desiring to see one shilling of it returned; but 
 
41 
 
 merely that lie might have a stake upon which to 
 lean in toiling for the restoration of the prosperous 
 clays of high prices under protective duties. Rut 
 the indisputable fact is, when unprotected by 
 quibble or evasion, that the rents have been raised, 
 and by such an amount as the tenants do not choose 
 to pay, and, consequently, are about to quit their 
 farms, under the notices served by the former pro¬ 
 prietor, or his agent, but with the cognizance of Mr. 
 D 3 Israeli, previous to his purchase of the estate. 
 
 Another fact connected w ith the late demonstra¬ 
 tion at Warwick is deserving of notice—the utter 
 absence of any argument to disprove the position of 
 the free-traders respecting the capability of greatly- 
 increased production, in this country, of food of all 
 kinds, by the general application of those improve¬ 
 ments in culture, now knowm to, and practised by, 
 the few' who are in advance of the majority of their 
 fellow-cultivators in every county; to say nothing 
 of what is being done by a still smaller number of 
 the yet more advanced, who are paving the way for 
 further improvements ; nor to lay much stress upon 
 Avhat may be reasonably looked for in time to come 
 from the intelligent and economical application of 
 continually-advancing art and science. On such 
 matters the harangues were as utterly barren as on 
 any other argument bearing upon the general ques¬ 
 tion. Each orator, in succession, seemed to vie with 
 his predecessor in acrimonious abuse of Cobden and 
 Peel, and sneers at “ the dilettanti Professors,” and 
 
42 
 
 appeared to content themselves with having dis¬ 
 charged their duty when they had given vent to the 
 overflowing ichor with w'hich they were oppressed. 
 Take awwy the three fertile topics—Cobden, and 
 Peel, and the “ dilettanti,” and the remainder be¬ 
 comes mere “ leather and prunella.” Try the ex¬ 
 periment upon the speech of a Mr. Bodington, who 
 appears to be one of the unteachable “ practical 
 men,” at the end of the proceedings, in w'hich you 
 will find him, in the drollest way, affecting to feci 
 affronted in his own person, and on behalf of the 
 tenant farmers, endeavouring to express a “ feeling- 
 prevailing universally ” amongst them, against “ that 
 set of men who employed themselves in insulting, 
 and pretending to teach, the agriculturists their busi¬ 
 ness; he alluded to Messrs. Buckland, Huxtable, 
 and Co.—a feeling which was one of contempt for 
 them and their many absurdities! ! ” Such an 
 observation as that must, if uttered upon the autho¬ 
 rity of the tenant farmers generally, surely, in the 
 judgment of all educated and sensible men, go very 
 far in justification of the hard words attributed to 
 Mr. Cobden, in reference to the intelligence and 
 capability of that class. The “ contempt ” of this 
 worthy is like the contempt of the dull and ignorant 
 school-boy towards the schoolmaster, and the whole 
 race of schoolmasters, who have the audacity to 
 attempt to instruct him, or such as he. Agriculture 
 is an ancient art long since brought to perfection, 
 and he had made himself master of it in his youth ; 
 there was nothing more to be learnt, and if any 
 
43 
 
 dared to insult him, by presuming to offer him in¬ 
 struction, why, he would denounce him as deserving 
 of contempt! Proceed with the speech, and you 
 will find it all Cobden, Peel, denunciation, and con¬ 
 tempt, with the exception of a choice bit of pot- 
 valiant eloquence after this fashion. His imagina¬ 
 tion, heated by some cause, apparently loyalty 
 towards his Queen and Country, he beheld Mr. 
 Cobden at the head of the Leeds Invincibles, charg¬ 
 ing the Agricultural Redoubtables, and exclaimed, 
 “ He thought it was as well to let these braggarts 
 (the Leeds Invincibles) know who and what the 
 farmers were under these circumstances; and he 
 (Mr. Bodington) would tell Mr. Cobden that the 
 farmers, although scattered over the country, were, 
 nevertheless, united, to a man, in sentiment, and had 
 the will to assemble at any time when the enemies of 
 the country rendered it necessary for them to stand 
 forth in support of the Constitution and Crown” (it 
 used to be Crow n and Constitution); “ and he would 
 add, the farmers were 200,000 strong, every man a 
 practised horseman and a sure marksman.” Trem¬ 
 ble in your boots, Mr. Cobden, and all the free¬ 
 traders and financial-reformers, at this terrible 
 announcement of preparation for battle on the part 
 of the two-hundred thousand strong , notwithstanding 
 the universal depression and distress amongst their 
 ranks ; every man of whom is “ a practised horse¬ 
 man,” and keeps a perfect hunter solely for practice ; 
 aud a “ sure marksman,” with his double Manton, 
 over the best brace of pointers in England. An 
 
44 
 
 attentive examination of the proceedings of nume¬ 
 rous other meetings, having similar objects in view, 
 plainly intimate a want of unanimity as to the means 
 that should be adopted for the benefit of the farmers; 
 who, though confessedly as a body, are not yet in 
 the deplorable position some would represent them, 
 are, however, under great apprehension of impending 
 severe loss, if not, in many cases, of certain ruin, in 
 the event of no material advance in prices coming 
 speedily to their relief. But whether they should 
 look to Parliament for a re-enactment of duties—to 
 their landlords for reduction of rent—or to them¬ 
 selves for an increased production, and a diminished 
 cost,by amove skilful, diligent,and economical system 
 of cultivation, as direct and immediate aids ; or to 
 less direct sources of help, through a reduction of 
 general taxation, by the enforcement of a reduced 
 expenditure of the public revenue; or through a 
 re-distribution of the local burdens. Of relief from 
 the first of these sources, it is not believed the great 
 body of farmers entertain any expectation ; and 
 from the second, there does not seem to be much 
 more anticipated, excepting under certain circum¬ 
 stances of leases entered into under high rents, which 
 probably are not very numerous; but be that as it 
 may, the raising or lowering of the rents must ac¬ 
 crue from those causes "which affect other values, 
 supply and demand ; and will become, in each case, 
 a matter of arrangement between landlord and te¬ 
 nant, and upon terms as fluctuating as the variety of 
 soil, condition, situation, contiguity to good markets, 
 
45 
 
 and other circumstances. To the latter, then, of the 
 direct and immediate sources will they, as it is be¬ 
 lieved many are already doing, chiefly look for aid— 
 to that manly and honourable perseverance, and 
 patient self-reliance, for which British Industry is so 
 deservedly distinguished ; at the same time seeking 
 a just alleviation of the public burdens, by urging 
 upon a willing Government the necessity of such an 
 economical expenditure as may be consistent with the 
 safety and dignity of the nation ; a Government that 
 regards the cultivation of peace and of friendly inter¬ 
 national communication, through the encouragement 
 of commerce and the peaceful arts, as one of their 
 highest aims; affording, at the same time, the best 
 security and protection against external war, or 
 internal discord; and also the best means of pro¬ 
 moting the true interests of the human race, in con¬ 
 formity with the dictates of nature and the commands 
 of the Supreme Creator. 
 
 In days not very long passed, there proceeded 
 from a few individuals occasional complaints of “the 
 burdens of taxation,” which were sometimes swelled 
 into louder murmurs from assemblages of the people, 
 not so reasonable and peaceable as now, and which 
 were haughtily rebuked by the dominant and domi¬ 
 neering party then glorying in the name of Tory, 
 now modified by the more ambiguous term Con¬ 
 servative; and not only were they rebuked and 
 rejected as discontented, disaffected, and dangerous 
 to the State, but were repressed and put down by 
 
46 
 
 the strong arm of the law, and by the still stronger 
 arm of the military, wielded by the arrogance and 
 intolerance of political power. But, oh ! how cir¬ 
 cumstances have changed, and with them the opinions 
 of men, and the proceedings of political parties, since 
 the days when it was not safe to speak disrespectfully 
 of a minister, or of the party to which he belonged ; 
 and when they who asked for relief from taxation 
 were suspected, and reproved with scorn and indig¬ 
 nation, in the spirit, if not in the words, “ ye are 
 idle, ye are idle ; go, therefore, now, and work ; ” 
 and, instead of relief, additional taxes w ere laid upon 
 them. But now, how changed the scene, the per¬ 
 sons, and the action ! the former task and tax-making 
 party, who laid the burdens thick and heavy upon 
 the nation, and were deaf to its cries for relief—w ho 
 lived and battened upon the taxes, wrung from an 
 over-burdened and oppressed people — that same 
 party now thinks it no dishonour to cry out for 
 “ protection” and “ relief from taxation,” now that 
 the burden has been but slightly shifted upon their 
 own shoulders. 
 
 To attempt to point out in detail the mode by 
 which fresh capital should be applied to the cultiva¬ 
 tion of the soil would be beyond the object of these 
 remarks, and, for the most part, beyond the power of 
 the writer ; but that such can and will be raised and 
 applied to that end, is as certain as that industrious 
 and actively-employed hands, producing, simulta¬ 
 neously, hungry stomachs and full purses, create a 
 
47 
 
 demand for food, which must be supplied from some 
 source ; and which will naturally be the nearest, be¬ 
 cause it will be, if “ unprotected,” the cheapest. 
 
 There is one point which has not been sufficiently 
 considered in all its bearings during this great discus¬ 
 sion, viz., the extent to which it has become the im¬ 
 mediate interest of every one as consumers, (notwith¬ 
 standing their being at the same time producers,) in 
 continuing the free-trade policy as regards the sup¬ 
 ply of the primary articles of food. Of course, this 
 will vary amongst different classes. The landowners 
 and farmers have at present an apparent direct in¬ 
 terest in high prices ; but both are apt to forget, or 
 make too little allowance for their direct interest also 
 in low prices, in reference to their domestic expendi¬ 
 ture, not only in food, but in all the necessaries, com¬ 
 forts, and luxuries of life; and also in the re¬ 
 duced cost of production, by reason of the di¬ 
 minished price of labour, stock, implements, and 
 all other requisites. But a great, perhaps the 
 great, obstacle to a steady and cheerful determina¬ 
 tion to work out their own improvement of position 
 and prospect, on the part of the food-producing class, 
 is the uncertainty and apprehension about prices 
 prevailing amongst them ; and which are sustained 
 and excited by their superiors for their own private 
 and political purposes ; and much valuable time and 
 opportunity becomes lost, and the power of meeting 
 the crisis thereby diminished ; and many, it is 
 feared, will be sacrificed through delay in endea¬ 
 vouring to accommodate themselves to the change. 
 
On the Condition and Treatment of the 
 Agricultural-labouring Class. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing remarks, the writer 
 is impelled by a strong desire to offer to the public 
 generally, but more particularly to the proprietors of 
 the soil, a few observations upon the relative position 
 of the food-producing classes, including landlords, 
 tenants, and labourers ; principally with the view of 
 correcting some errors in the treatment of the latter 
 by the former, by which their mutual interests have 
 been most materially injured; and originating ap¬ 
 parently in a misconception of their intimately-con¬ 
 nected relation ; and, in offering these observations, 
 it is hoped the parties, for whose interest they are 
 made, will not regard them as presumptuous or in¬ 
 trusive upon matters which, some may think, should 
 be held as strictly private ; but, in consequence of 
 their neglect, and the rapid and extensively-dif¬ 
 fused growth of abuses and mistaken policy, have 
 really become subjects of public injury. 
 
 With many noble and eminent exceptions, there 
 prevails, amongst the landowners, a lamentable 
 amount of ignorance of the habits, feelings, wants, 
 
40 
 
 and general moral and social condition of their more 
 humble dependants—proceeding- chiefly from the 
 extreme distance at which they are placed with re¬ 
 spect to each other—which is occasioned partly by 
 external causes, and partly by totally different 
 habits, feelings, and occupations of both mind and 
 body ; but mainly through the custom of the higher 
 classes to neglect, and to despise that kind of educa¬ 
 tion, and those habits of business, which w'ould 
 enable them, if not entirely, to manage their own 
 estates and general affairs; or atleast to know whether, 
 when committed to the care of others, they are con¬ 
 ducted economically and honestly towards them¬ 
 selves, and equitably and humanely towards that 
 humble class, upon whose labour the profitable re¬ 
 sults to those by whom they are employed depend. 
 
 How' numerous are the examples of estates im¬ 
 poverished, and families ruined, through the waste¬ 
 ful extravagance of the ow'ners, and their ignorance 
 of the value and management of their property ; 
 which has been entrusted, perhaps, to an ignorant, 
 incompetent, and dishonest agent, but with cunning 
 and shrew r dness enough to enrich himself at the 
 expence of his employer ; and in such cases, it rarely 
 happens that the tenants are otherwise than poor, the 
 land ill-cultivated, the buildings neglected, and 
 the labourers reduced to the extremity of hard¬ 
 ship, poverty, and misery. It not unfrequently hap¬ 
 pens that the care of estates of large extent, and of 
 varied quality of soil, aud other circumstances, ren- 
 
50 
 
 dering their management complex and difficult, is 
 left to agents but little qualified, by education and 
 special instruction, to do justice to their employers, 
 in determining the value, and maintaining or increas¬ 
 ing it, or to undertake the discretionary direction 
 and superintendence of a tenantry, or the judicious 
 and careful treatment of the peasantry. 
 
 The superintendence of a tenantry is rather one 
 of mere business, and an agent might be well quali¬ 
 fied to undertake that; but the care of the peasantry 
 should be regarded, as in some cases it is, as a charge 
 of a far higher nature, and involving a responsibility 
 commensurate with the power to direct and do good 
 on the one side, and the feebleness and inability to 
 do more than strive and struggle for a bare subsis¬ 
 tence on the other. The hired agent cannot feel the 
 same deep moral responsibility that the proprietor 
 does, or should do, for the dependent class; and many 
 a pitiable case that would have moved the master 
 with compassion has been heard in vain by the heed¬ 
 less or obdurate servant. 
 
 If proprietors would but give to their sons 
 some degree of education, specially directed to a 
 knowledge of the nature and management of rural 
 affairs (in an extended signification), if not exactly 
 with the intent that the heir, on his succession, should 
 altogether manage his own concerns—which in many 
 cases are too extensive and complicated for one, or 
 or even more, to conduct—yet that he might do so to 
 
51 
 
 such an extent as to be an effectual check upon im¬ 
 position, and a safe-guard against incompetency on 
 the part of his agents ; and, at the same time, enable 
 him to extend his knowledge of the interests of his . 
 humblest neighbours ; and thus enlarge his sympa¬ 
 thies, and extend his powers of exercising benevo¬ 
 lence and practical beneficial influence, towards all 
 within his immediate control and protection. 
 
 Facilities for the acquisition of elementary and 
 practical instruction, in all that concern agriculture, 
 are now offered in various parts of the country, as 
 at the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester— 
 an institution not so well known and appreciated as 
 it deserves—at which an extensive and sound elemen¬ 
 tary course of education is combined with practical 
 information derived from the cultivation of a farm of 
 about 700 acres, under the superintendence and 
 management of men highly qualified in each depart¬ 
 ment ; and to which the attention of landowners must, 
 sooner or later, become directed, not only for the in¬ 
 struction of their sons, but also for that of the class 
 from which their agents are derived, when they have 
 thoroughly been awakened to the importance of such 
 a system of education, and its bearings upon then- 
 own immediate interests. 
 
 Intercourse sufficient for an acquaintance with the 
 general condition of their principal tenantry is not so 
 uncommon amongst landlords as that which affords 
 a correct knowledge of the like circumstances of the 
 
class beneath them ; and though the employment of 
 an agent or steward saves the employer much 
 trouble and annoyance, and spares him much 
 importunity, and much that is painful or revolting 
 to his finer sensibilities, still the responsibility 
 cannot be evaded, but, perhaps, is increased, if the 
 discharge of the duties of property, which are as 
 sacredly and inseparably attached thereto as the 
 rights, be unnecessarily delegated to another ; since, 
 by such an attempted rejection and delegation, a 
 greater amount of injustice and hardship may be in¬ 
 flicted upon the deserted and defenceless. 
 
 Much has, of late years, been spoken and written 
 upon this vital subject; and some amendment, in the 
 treatment of the rural poor, is here and there visible; 
 but there remains much more to be done ; and even, 
 in the first instance, in convincing proprietors of the 
 existence of wrongs and sufferings accumulated 
 under their very eyes, to an extent, at first sight, 
 almost incredible. 
 
 How frequent are the complaints of the benevo¬ 
 lent of thejr want of success in imparting even the 
 lowest amount of instruction to the children of this 
 class; and how bitterly do they repine over their dis¬ 
 appointed hopes and expectations of awakening in 
 these young minds a lively and lasting sense of their 
 moral and religious obligations. Such results, un¬ 
 happily the fruit of so much misapplied benevolence, 
 are, for the most part, the necessary effects of causes 
 
53 
 
 of a physical nature, which are within the power of 
 the owners of the land to remove, or, at least, to a 
 very great extent ameliorate; and it is vain to ex¬ 
 pect the seeds of moral and religious advancement 
 to grow and bear fruit, under circumstances so 
 utterly adverse, in a soil so neglected and soured by 
 ill-treatment. 
 
 In order to explain this more clearly, it will be 
 well to consider what are the essential requirements 
 for the improvement of this class, and how far these 
 are found to correspond with their present condition; 
 and then to enter upon the suggestions for their 
 amelioration. 
 
 In the first place, then, the labourer must have a 
 habitation; and it ought to be, in all cases, sufficiently 
 commodious to lodge a family of different ages and 
 of both sexes, so that decency of habits and modesty 
 of demeanour may be preserved, without which cor¬ 
 rectness of conduct cannot be maintained ; it ought, 
 too, to be constructed so as to afford due shelter from 
 the inclemency of the weather, and effectual exclu¬ 
 sion of damp ; and, at the same time, with due 
 regard to the facility of admitting fresh air and light; 
 with easy access to an abundant supply of pure 
 water; with drainage, and other conveniences, in 
 and about the house, for the proper preservation 
 of cleanliness, and the consequent health and comfort 
 of the inmates ; and, moreover, the dwelling should 
 be situfted at a convenient distance irom the place of 
 
54 
 
 the labourer’s daily employment. So far from the 
 possession of these requisites are the dwellings of the 
 rural poor, that scarcely a parish, in any district, can 
 be found, in which the majority are not deficient in 
 some, or all of them. How frequently may be ob¬ 
 served the wretched hovel, consisting of two spaces 
 (mis-named rooms), one for occupation by night, the 
 other, when the family is not small, made use of both 
 by day and night; enclosed within tottering walls, 
 and covered by a dilapidated roof, insufficient to ex¬ 
 clude the rain and the wind; the air * and light 
 almost refused entrance through the dull, diminu¬ 
 tive mockery of a window', which, contracted as its 
 dimensions may be, is frequently still further reduced 
 by rags and paper, in place of the broken panes; 
 the floor low, damp, and in holes, inconvenient and 
 dangerous, presenting a rude but instructive surface 
 for the exercise of the children in acquiring the habit 
 of struggling with the dangers and difficulties of 
 life ; the walls stained, and reeking with the offen¬ 
 sive moisture transmitted from the sty, or other foul 
 accumulations of disease-engendering matter; the 
 air tainted, and unwholesome therefrom ; a scanty 
 supply of water, and the entire absence of drainage; 
 and the whole habitation filthy and disgusting, and 
 the inmates dirty, unhealthy, dejected, and miserable. 
 
 * In anticipation of any objection to this passage, in consequence of its being 
 stated that the wind is not sufficiently excluded, and immediately afterwards that 
 the air is excluded entrance, it is as well to remind the reader that the exclusion of 
 the wind through the walls and roof is demanded for warmth, especially during the 
 night; but the controlable admission of air is equally demanded for ventilation 
 during the day, for the preservation of health, by the removal of that air which 
 lias unavoidably been tainted and rendered unwholesome. • 
 
55 
 
 Such a description is far from overdrawn, and, 
 unhappily, far from inapplicable to numerous human 
 sties in many parishes in this and other districts. In 
 such a dwelling, into which the proprietor would 
 scarcely hazard the lives of any of the animals kept 
 for his luxury and amusement—certainly not his 
 horse,—how can he, if ever he reflects upon the 
 circumstance, be surprised to find improvidence, 
 vice, poverty, and crime, in rapid succession, hurry¬ 
 ing the victims to premature, and, perhaps, ignomi¬ 
 nious death; or spreading desolation and misery 
 more protracted, and not less fatal, and, may be, in 
 more pitiable forms of wretchedness; entailing, too, 
 heavy, but, for the most part, avoidable, expence 
 upon those from whom the law compels a main¬ 
 tenance, either in abject poverty as paupers, or in those 
 nurseries of vice and crime, the common gaols, in 
 the vain endeavour to repress, by a mockery of pu¬ 
 nishment, those vices and crimes which have been 
 engendered and fostered by adverse circumstances, 
 rather than through the culpability of the victims 
 themselves. 
 
 To talk about education, toprate about the example 
 of the higher class, and to preach about the irreligion 
 of a people in such a case, are but mocking insults upon 
 their wretchedness; and an exposure of ignorance 
 of the causes, or indifference to their results, on the 
 part of those who have sufl'ered them to remain in 
 helpless endurance and unmitigated suffering. 
 Under severe privation and physical depression, their 
 
minds will, of necessity, be occupied in combatting 
 with their trials ; so as to leave but little time to be 
 bestowed upon matters, of which neither their pre¬ 
 vious education nor present inclinations render them 
 susceptible of the advantages to be derived to their 
 children; and it is found that, unless diligently 
 looked after, and even almost bribed by other more 
 material benefits accompanying the proffered in¬ 
 struction, they will scarcely avail themselves of it. 
 And when they do accept it, how little progress is 
 made, particularly by the boys, who, at the age when 
 they might begin to feel the benefits of instruction, 
 and take an interest therein, are sent to work in the 
 fields; soon forgetting the little they had ac¬ 
 quired, and becoming gradually insensible to their 
 loss, and indifferent to the opportunity of further 
 voluntary attempts at mental improvement at their 
 leisure. 
 
 It is said there is no encouragement to build or 
 repair cottages, much less to build them upon an im¬ 
 proved scale, inasmuch as they are looked upon as 
 unprofitable property—tending to increase the poor, 
 and, consequently, the poor’s-rates—and promoting 
 poaching and other idle and disorderly habits. 
 
 Now, cottages may be, and are being, built on an 
 enlarged scale and improved construction, such as 
 will accomplish the objects desired—the protection 
 of health, the defence of the morals, the promotion 
 of the comfort, happiness, and independence, or 
 
51 
 
 rather self-dependence of the inhabitants, and at a 
 reasonable outlay, securing 1 to the proprietor a mode¬ 
 rate return upon his capital so expended. The 
 actual cost will, of course, vary according to local 
 circumstances affecting the price of the materials of 
 brick, stone, and timber, and the cost of carriage of 
 such materials as are to be brought from a distance. 
 However, by taking advantage of the improvements, 
 of late years effected, in the plan and mode of con¬ 
 struction, as well as the reduced cost of materials, 
 cottages, as well as other houses, can now be erected 
 at a very much less cost than formerly; and it is found 
 by the experience of the Duke of Bedford, who has de¬ 
 voted much attention to this deeplv-important sub¬ 
 ject, (an account of which, and with some details ex¬ 
 planatory of the mode in which his Grace’s noble 
 example upon the Woburn estate, has been, and is 
 being, carried out, has been printed for private dis¬ 
 tribution by the Rev. C. H. Hartshorne,) that cot¬ 
 tages of this class may be built so as to return “ about 
 3 per cent, upon the outlay ” in erecting (exclusive 
 of the site.) The concluding paragraphs of the Rev. 
 gentleman’s account will shew a scale of acconnnoda. 
 tion and rent, and also point out the motives of the 
 proprietor, and the results to the occupiers. “ The 
 terms under which the tenants are bound are dictated 
 by good sense, and a spirit of equity, which brings 
 me to the rent, which is the last, and, certainly, it is 
 one of the most difficult to adjust, since it should 
 neither be too high to be oppressive, nor. too low to 
 compromise the independence of a workman, who 
 
will thus be degraded to the state of an idle pensioner 
 or a worthless mendicant. The rents vary from a 
 shilling to sixteenpence a-week, according as the 
 houses possess one, two, or three bed rooms. Some 
 of the latter are of an extra size, to accommodate a 
 large family, and reach eighteenpence a-week. 
 Being let under reasonable agreements, the occupiers 
 are contented and happy, and the noble proprietor, 
 aiming at no ideal perfection, nor exacting an exor¬ 
 bitant payment, as is too commonly the case when 
 houses are run up by contract, must, certainly, thus 
 far, and the work is still proceeding, have the satis¬ 
 faction of feeling that his anxious efforts to ameliorate 
 the condition of the peasantry on his estates have 
 been rewarded by success, and acknowledged by 
 gratitude.” 
 
 Such being the efforts to ameliorate the condi¬ 
 tion of the rural poor in Bedfordshire, and with such 
 happy results, there is no reason why, on the appli¬ 
 cation of similar efforts, similar results should not be 
 obtained in Warwickshire, or any other county in 
 which intelligent, humane, and willing proprietors 
 are to be found. But is this great and fundamental 
 question to be resolved solely upon grounds of pecu¬ 
 niary profit ? It is as much the duty of the proprietor 
 to find a fitting habitation for the labourer and his 
 family, as it is for the higher class of tenant, the 
 farmer, even if it should not bring in one shilling of 
 profit or interest in return ; but it will be his care, 
 if possible, to avoid loss in the per formance of his duty 
 
59 
 
 to all parties, including himself—for it can easily be 
 shown that, in respect to the lower grade of duty to 
 self, this will be attained, both in a direct, as well as 
 in an indirect, process, upon the full and the faithful 
 performance of the higher obligation—which brings 
 us to the consideration of the next point, viz., that 
 the dwelling should be situated at a convenient dis¬ 
 tance from the place of the labourer’s daily employ¬ 
 ment. The necessity of such a condition will occur 
 to every impartial person, and the desirability will 
 be admitted even by those who pursue a policy in 
 direct opposition to it, the cause of which policy is 
 very briefly comprehended in “ the necessity of 
 keeping down the rates;” and, accordingly, the 
 houses are neglected and suffered to decay, or they 
 are pulled dowm, and the occupants expelled and 
 driven to the nearest “ open parish,” in violation of 
 every principle of justice and humanity. A moment’s 
 reflection will show the hardship towards the la¬ 
 bourer in driving him to an unreasonable distance 
 from his work, often 3 and 4 miles, and sometimes 
 even more ; and the impossibility of his rendering a 
 full return of labour for his wages, except at the 
 sacrifice of his strength and health through the addi¬ 
 tional toil exacted from him in going to and from the 
 scene of his labours, is obvious; to say nothing of the 
 violence done to his feelings in thus rudely tearing 
 him from his home, which, by an English labourer, 
 is as tenderly and dearly loved as by the highest in 
 the land. 
 
60 
 
 The imperious necessity of keeping- down the 
 rates and sustaining the rent demand it; but does it 
 diminish the rates ? Certainly not; in the broad view 
 of the matter, it is, at best, but a transfer from one 
 parish to another, or, as the case may be, to the 
 common fund of the Union ; and further, it would 
 not be difficult to demonstrate, not only that all this 
 tyrannical injustice is not merely a transfer of the 
 burden, which is bad enough, but that it is attended 
 by an actual increase in the expence, as regards 
 rates, in wasted health, and untimely exhaustion of 
 the strength, of the labourer, who must, in his decre¬ 
 pitude, be supported; and whose family must be 
 sustained out of the rates, until they are able to 
 maintain themselves. But when and how often does 
 it happen that a pauper family succeeds in maintain¬ 
 ing themselves—their self-dependence and self-re¬ 
 specthaving once been broken down into pauperism ? 
 Thus we find that the consequences of this mistaken 
 and fatal policy are not only deeply disastrous to the 
 poor, but injurious and expensive to the rich; and 
 the short-sighted and unfeeling intentions, in at. 
 tempting thus to wring the rates out of the bones and 
 muscles of the labouring class, become so far defeated, 
 that the private and parochial pecuniary advantage, 
 screwed out of them by cruelty and injustice, is con¬ 
 verted into a public grievance and a general wrong. 
 
 They who have it in their power, and especially 
 they who, seeing it, do not strive to remove so great, 
 so destructive an oppression as this, must surely be 
 
61 
 
 insensible to the magnitude and depth of the respon¬ 
 sibility attached to their position, and regardless of 
 the commands and revealed will of God in reference 
 to the rights of the poor, and the obligations of the 
 rich in maintaining and defending them, when it is 
 declared by Him in the words of the Psalmist—“ I 
 know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the 
 afflicted, and the right of the poor; and again, in the 
 powerful language of Isaiah—“ The spoil of the poor 
 is in your houses—what mean ye that ye beat my 
 people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor !” 
 No language can convey more forcibly the indigna¬ 
 tion of the Almighty at the cruelty and oppression of 
 the poor by the rich, let it proceed from whatever 
 cause it may; or be it exhibited in any form or 
 mode, it cannot escape from the meaning and appli¬ 
 cation of these words. 
 
 It requires no great degree of penetration to 
 discern, amongst this deeply-injured class, an es¬ 
 trangement of feeling, and a sensible diminution of 
 respectful attachment towards their employers and 
 superiors ; and, instead of a cheerful and contented 
 bearing, there is too frequently a sullen dogged de¬ 
 meanour ; so inconsistent with that mutual good un¬ 
 derstanding and kindly ihtercourse which should be 
 established and cherished between them, and which 
 may be confidently looked for, and will be willingly 
 reciprocated, by the many, when under the benign 
 influence of a kind and judicious treatment. 
 
62 
 
 If it be too much to expect a voluntary abandon¬ 
 ment of this system of exclusion and extirpation, 
 which is utterly inconsistent with an improved culti¬ 
 vation of the land—which demands the application of 
 an increased number of hands—and which, in some 
 scattered and more favoured spots, is already being 
 successfully applied ; then every effort should be used 
 to arouse the Legislature to a deep sense of the 
 wrongs sustained by the community, and strenuously 
 to demand that remedy which at present seems alone 
 capable of removing, or materially mitigating, them. 
 The abolition of the Law of Settlement—which 
 would counteract the selfish and mistaken policy of 
 parochial exclusion, and would enable the honest 
 and industrious to seek, unopposed and unsuspected 
 by overseers, or jealous rate-pavers, the market most 
 favourable to their profitable employment. Let, 
 then, the labouring poor have but a fair chance given 
 to them, according to the principles herein asserted 
 as their right, and, at the same time, proved to be 
 the interest of their employers and natural protectors 
 to bestow upon them, and a change will soon be 
 visible in their condition and conduct, demonstrating 
 a sound and durable advance in moral improvement; 
 and rendering more practicable such further attempts 
 as may be made in their behalf, towards a better and 
 more enlarged instruction of a moral, religious, and 
 general nature; thereby affording the best security 
 for their future good conduct, and introducing a 
 reciprocal respect and esteem, which will promote 
 their mutual well-being and happiness. 
 
63 
 
 When such becomes the general aim and object 
 of the landowners, it will cheerfully, but not till 
 then, be conceded that they have a just and correct 
 notion of these “ duties of property and that they 
 have the interests of the agricultural-labouring poor 
 really at heart; and then, but not till then, will that 
 which is now a mere hollow', deceptive party watch¬ 
 word, become an honest and an honourable expres¬ 
 sion of the hearty and sincere aspirations of all good 
 men—“ Protection to British Industry.”