THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



553 



REVIEWS. 



THE DUTIES AND PRIVILEGES OF THE 

 LANDLORDS, OCCUPIERS, AND CUL- 

 TIVATORS OF THE SOIL. A Paper read 

 to the Members of the FAringdon Agrinultural 

 Association, by Mr. John Beasley, of Chapel 

 Brampton, Northamptonshire. 



This is allowed to be a very practical age that we 

 are living in. Men are more intent upon work than 

 talk; or if they do discourse, it must be, as the cant 

 of the day says, " with a purpose." The halcyon 

 times oi fine speeches have passed away. The well- 

 rouiided periods, the conventional clap-traps, and the 

 unmeaning generalities can no longer be depended 

 upon. The cheers ar.d hcar-hears are reserved for 

 something a little more tangible; and while one 

 audibly inquires " What is he driving at?" his neigh- 

 bour calmly sinks into a sweet sleep, or sets his mind a 

 thinking on something else. Whether it be in tlie 

 Senate House, the Theatre, the School or the Lecture 

 Room, we find tlie same determination in favour of 

 plain dealing and plain speaking. There must be ma-, 

 terial and matter to now make a speaker effectivo. Stale 

 truisms, however artfully dressed up, or copy-book 

 precepts though ever so prettily put, are apt to pall 

 upon the taste after a time, and the appetite to long for 

 something fresh and wholesome. If a man cannot 

 " say it out" at once he had better sit down. 



There is no class in society come to insist on this with 

 more resolution than the farmers. They not merely 

 expect as much one from another, and carefully avoid 

 a windy orator as they would a murrain beast, but 

 they imbue other people with something of their notions. 

 Country gentlemen and county members know this 

 well enough, and become more pointed in what they 

 have to offer. A prosy parson at a public meeting 

 will very soon sink to his level, and a chattering 

 townsman be even more readily reduced to " order." 

 We really believe that it is but a full cognizance of 

 this fact which keeps the magnates of Hanover Square 

 in such continual dread of anotlier <linner. They feel 

 that twaddle will not do, and that if they speak at all 

 they will have to speak out. Even Science herself has 

 to submit to such a force of circumstances, and when 

 men like Professor Way or Mr. Nesbit proceed to en- 

 lighten us, it is by giving us facts and principles in the 

 plainest possible terms. Mysteries and mere tech- 

 nicalities are studiously avoided, and the more openly 

 and unreservedly the Master expresses himself, propor- 

 tionately the more is he appreciated. 



"The Duties and Privileges of the Landlords, Oc- 

 cupiers, and Cultivators of the Soil" is a theme that 

 one would take to promise well for a little plain speak- 

 ing. We might expect this the more when we find it 

 in the hands of so experienced a gentleman as Mr. 

 John Beasley, of Chapel Brampton, Northamptonshire. 

 But it is not so. The duties of landlords and occupiers 

 do not seem susceptible of any very definite expression. 

 They rather appear to be clouded in an atmosphere of 

 mutual sympathies, morai maxims, and Delphic edicts, 

 that may mean very much or very little. It entirely 

 depends upon tlie way in which you interpret them. 

 The owner of the property should be a good landlord, 

 and the tenant should know his business, and the 

 labourer should have a gocjd cottage, and so on. But 

 let us take a sample or two of the style in which Mr. 

 Beasley faces a question that ouajht to have so much in 



it: — "I am one of those who think that you should 

 never defer until to-morrow that which can be done 

 to-day. I have jiadin my time my share of work, and 

 have always felt the only way of getting through it was 

 to do the work of the day hi the day, and oven, if pos- 

 sible, to anticipate it. If a man, and especially a 

 young man, tells me he has so many duties, and so 

 much to do he can't keep pace with them, I would take 

 the liberty of saying to him — 



A little leas indulgence in the bed. 

 A little more airaiigenient in the head, 

 A little more devotiou in the miud, 

 Would quite prevent your beiug to behind. 



May I not tlien say, that a man who is placed upon a 

 farm suited to his means, his capital, and his ability, 

 under a good landlord, promising fixedness of tenure, 

 with a comfortable house and suitable offices for the 

 conduct of his business, is a privileged man ? and while 

 he reflects upon his privileges, let hini not forget to 

 think upon his duties. I would say to him as I would 

 say to evoi'y man — 



Do all the good you can, 



lu all the ways you can. 



At all the times you can, 



As long as ever yon can. 



My friends, I believe it is every man's duty, whatever 

 his i)osition in society, to make his own home as happy, 

 as comfortable, and as pleasant as possible." 



Now, if Mr. Beasley had been addressing the lads of 

 his village school, all this, or some of it at least, might 

 have been well enough ; but surely it is scarcely up to 

 the calibre of a meeting of Berkshire yeomen, for 

 whose especial benefit the lecture was delivered. 

 " Never defer till to-morrow what you can do to-day" — 

 "A little less indulgence in bed" — and "Do all the good 

 you can" — are sentiments that no one, we trust, can 

 quarrel with. But did they need such grave emphasis 

 here? Beyond this, however, it appears that a tenant 

 who has a farm up to his capital, with some security 

 of tenure, and a comfortable homestead, is a privileged 

 person ! What the exact interpretation of " a privi- 

 leged person" really is we will not undertake to say. 

 In common parlance it generally means a gentleman 

 who is permitted to play practical jokes, or be late for 

 dinner, or take a little too much wine, or do something 

 or othtr rather out of the way, simply because 

 he is a privileged person. Is the farmer with suffi- 

 cient capital and proper tenure to claim such privi- 

 leges on such a showing ? Or, is not the land- 

 lord who duly receives his rent and sees 

 his property is done full justice to quite 

 as much a "privileged man" as the other? Mr. 

 Beasley has a becoming respect for the landlords of 

 England, and he sagaciously advises the young farmer 

 to hold under none but a good one. Surely, though, 

 not on these terms 1 — " I know one large estate, where 

 the average holdings of all the tenants, paying fifty 

 pounds a-ycar and upwards, are more than ninety 

 years ; and upon this estate there are no leases or 

 agreements, and never have been. Look out, then, for 

 a good landlord ; and, if you are fortunate enough to 

 live under one, take care you set a proper value upon 

 him." If this example be worth anything at all, it would 

 tend to show that, providing a man has a good landlord, 

 he needs neither lease nor agreement. Of course this 

 could not be "bnsiness." On the contrary, it would 



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