ENGLISH SUNDAY SCHOOLS. 381 



assented, and followed through a small patch of ground, once used as 

 a garden, but now untilled, into a cottage badly furnished and look- 

 ing neglected. I sat down on a crazy settle, and my host said, 

 " The wife and children are gone to the tire, to pick up any thing 

 they can lay hands on." 



" You do not seem, my friend, to sympathise with the farmer's 

 misfortune. It appears to me singular, that the labourers should de- 

 stroy, not only the food which was destined for their support, but that 

 also to be consumed by the unoffending cows and horses; and by so 

 doing rob themselves of the means of living, by depriving the farmer 

 of all means of employing them : how do you explain it, pray? As 

 one of them, you are of course aware of the peculiar reasons which 

 have led to such an anomalous state of things, a state obviously at 

 variance with common sense and what ought to be." 



" Why, its a long story, Sir; but I '11 tell you, if you like, all about 

 it. You see formerly things were different. In my feyther's time, 

 and when I was a lad, things were clean different. Then the gentry, 

 the squires, and the landlords were hand-and-glove, as one may say ; 

 and there was nothing to be seen but hunting, hawking, and such 

 like, while the poor folk were encouraged to be happy : there were 

 wakes, May-games, church-ales, and all sorts of junketings, while a 

 can of ale and a loaf were also to be had at the squire's buttery. 

 At that time 'o day we were mighty proud to see the squires and 

 landlords amongst us, and should have gone through fire and water 

 to serve 'em. We poor folks had bits of crofts, for a cow-keeping, 

 and gardens, and common-rights, and were as comfortable as could 

 be. Howsornever, you see times changed ; the gentry somehow 

 left us, the squires died away, and the landlords had their rents 

 raised. There was an end of neighbourlyness ; and so they took 

 away our bit crofts ; then the commons were inclosed ; and then 

 they lessened our wages. Well, you see, things went on badly 

 enough, but still a man might live. Well, at last there came an 

 outcry that we must be edicated; and so you see, nothing would 

 serve but we must have some laming. Well, we were dragged away, 

 willy-nilly, as a man may say, and so most of us learnt the redy-my- 

 daisy, and to spell the Bible : now you see formerly there was no 

 such thing; we were all busy, being comfortable. Well, after this, 

 there comes fellows a-lecturing, as they called it, and they told us as 

 how we were free-born men ; and the gentry and landlords were ty- 

 rants, and wanted to make us slaves ; and that we should not work 

 for such wages as we got. Well, you see, we then began to grumble, 

 and to think we were badly off; and we quarrelled with our em- 

 ployers, and wouldn't work except we'd so much. Well, they 

 said as how they couldn't give it; and so they got a sort of things 

 called machines, as thrashed just like oneself; and so then we were 

 in a pretty quandary. Well, the next thing as happened was that a 

 lot of fellows brought about little books at a halfpenny a-piece, 

 and so as we could read, we bought them ; and these soon opened 

 our eyes, and we found as how all sorts of folks ought to be alike, 

 and that we were serf's, while our landlords were great people ; and 

 that the land in the country ought to be divided, and each have a 



