THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE, 



133 



moTement has long been in progress, and attended with 

 the liappiest results, amongst various classes of the 

 working men of Great Britain, to obtain a certain amount 

 of leisure time. I should like to see this movement m- 

 augurated iu the rural districts. I am aware that it has 

 been so in some, but it is not bj' any means general. But 

 what I should better like to see would be a voluntarj' otfer 

 on the part of the masters themselves to give to their 

 servants more time for rest and recreation. In manj' dis- 

 tricts the only holida3's obtainable are the days of the 

 hiring markets ; and so strong is the desire to have these, 

 that I believe many would rather give up their situations, 

 if that were necessary, than miss them. Nor is this to be 

 wondered at : the desire for excitement is strongly im- 

 planted Avithin us : " all work and no play makes Jack a 

 dull boy" — a homely proverb, but none the less truthful 

 and suggestive. But in giving time for recreation, it be- 

 hoves us to see that the recreation be sound and healthy. 

 It is, in truth, a bitter satire upon all ooi" fine talk at 

 raising the condition of the labourer, to reflect that, too 

 often — shall I say that it is the general rule, and the 

 reverse the exception? I think I might with safety do so — 

 the beer-shop is the only place of attraction in which the 

 ordinai7, and that of the liiiing market, statute fair, or 

 harvest homes the extraordinary recreation of the labourer 

 can be carried out. It is, however, gratifying to be able 

 to state, that things are rapidly improving in this respect. 

 The garden, and cottage allotment systems, tlie reading- 

 rooms, tlie itinerant libraries, the pla3'-grounds, etc., which 

 are rapidly becoming common throughout the country, 

 will in time ofter to the labourer recreation of a liigli order, 

 and do much to rouse his ambition and stimulate him to 

 occupy a higher position in society, till at last the realiza- 

 tion of the poet's wish may be brought about, that 



'A virtuous populace may rise the wiiile, 

 And stand a wall of Are, around 



Their much loved isle." 



Little time will suffice to advert to the means adopted by 

 the labouring classes to provide for the periml of life when 

 capability to labour fails. It is painful to look back upon 

 the past times of the agricultural labourer, when, with 

 miserably low wages, the almost inevitable result of a lifee 

 time of labour was a death in the pauper's ward. With 

 increased wages let us hope will rapidly come increased 

 care, so that the labour of maturer will minister to the 

 rest of failing years. With reference to extension of the 

 system of benefit societies, a coi-respondent in West 

 Suffolk writes me to the following effect: "An excellent 

 system is being pursued by the Board of Guardians in 

 denying as much as possible relief to young able-bodied 

 men who ai'e not subscribers to enrolled benefit societies. 

 And I think masters would do well to pursue a course 

 with lads on their farms, which myself and many others 

 are pursuing, to make it a condition with an increase of 

 wages, that they should enter an enrolled benefit club. It 

 makes them more careful over their employment, and 

 once entered they are most anxious to continue ; and it 

 also tends much to x-espectability." Would not, I may 

 here ask, an extension of the " Penny bank system," so 

 successful in the nianufactui-ing districts, bo equally 

 advantageous to our rural population. Anything tending 

 to increase the sense of responsibility on the part of the 

 labourer is valuable in raising lum in the social scale. 

 The phrase, "a stake iu tlie couuntry," is pregnant with 

 meaning. 



Rapidly failing time warns me to conclude; and I 

 do so with the expression of a deep sense of the 

 deficiencies of my paper. The subject is so many- 

 sided, presents so many asiK.Lts to our notice, is mixed up 

 with so many complex considerations, that to do justice 

 to its requirements is a matter of extremest difficulty. I 

 freely confess that I am unable to master its intricacies, 

 for the little I know on the subject only shows to me my 

 ignorance of its deeper details. At the same time I owe 

 it to you who have honoured mo with the position which I 

 now occupy, to say that what I do know has been 

 gathered not from an outside-far-oft'-view merely of the 

 subject. I have at times worked with workmen at the 

 bench and with the labourer in the field; I have 

 been with him in his rest, and have followed 

 him through his i-ecreations ; and have thus had 

 some opportunities of becoming acquainted with his 

 feelings, modes of life, and aspirations. Wliether I 

 have taken the fiiUest advantage of such oppor- 

 tunities is quite another thing, I confess to feeling that 

 I have not. On the other hand, I know somewhat of the 

 farmer, and have spent with him some of the happiest and 

 most improving moments of my life. What I say, then, is 

 founded upon convictions derived from some experience — 

 however [narrow — of the peculiarities of the position of 

 both parties interested in this great question : the master 

 as well as the man. I have not hesitated to state islaiuly 

 what these convictions are, being equally decided where I 

 have had to point out the shortcomings of the master, as 

 well as the failings of the man. I have said that the diffi- 

 culties attendant upon a right solution of the question, or 

 rather questions, are numerous ; they are indeed so, for 

 no sooner do you find that you have got rid of one than up 

 starts another. And yet I foresee one way in which these 

 difficulties can be met and overcome ; and that way the 

 speediest and the best. It is the application of the piin- 

 ciples of Christianity to the matter. I am no advocate for 

 the introduction here of sectarian Jviews ; I mean the pure 

 Christianity of the bible — that Christianity which is 

 broader than any sect, wider than any so-called church. 

 When we are environed with difficulties as to our mode of 

 action, it is astonishing how rapidly these vanish, and how 

 plain is the path of progress, when we take the leading 

 ideas — the main principles of Christianity for our guide, 

 which tell us in language so plain that he who runs may 

 read, " Do unto others as ye would that they should do 

 unto you.'" And, again, " He who knoweth to do good, and 

 doeth it not, to him it is sin." These are the touch-stones 

 which will test whether the metal we ofter is good or 

 spurious — the true i)hilosopher's stones, which will turn 

 our dross into bars of the purest gold. I confess to being 

 ambitious for my countrymen. I should like to see the 

 landowner and the master both vie as to who should do 

 the most in fulfilling the high requirements of their 

 stations ; but I would not the less like to see the labourer 

 do his part, by the exercise of a continued self-improve- 

 ment to raise himnclf in the social scale. I foresee great 

 things for our rural labourers when this union of effort 

 shall be carried persistently out — when the endeavours of 

 the one shall be aided by the anxieties of the other, 

 and the progress of both shall be rapid, and know few 

 backv/ard steps in that path which can alone lead to true 

 individual happiness and real national greatness. 



Hastily as I have run over some of the points connected 

 with the condition of the agricultural labourer in England 

 and Scotland, much time, nevertheless, has been absorbed ; 



