USEFUL PROJECTS. 



831 



soon be given up in disgust : for 

 though good SL'nse or good princi- 

 ple are not conlined to any station, 

 and thougli there are men in the 

 lowest stations, withAvhoni the best 

 informed may converse botii wifh 

 pleasure and improvement; yet in 

 this as ill all human intercuurse, 

 there will be found much to endure; 

 and itululgcnce will as often lead to 

 imposition as to gratitude ; and per- 

 haps uneducated persons are the 

 most likely to mistaice a disinterest- 

 ed desir« of serving them, and to re- 

 gard it as a proof of weakness ratht-r 

 than benevolence. 



Another observation, with re- 

 gard to cottages, sliould not be for- 

 gotten. The persons living in them 

 should be tenants to t)ie real laiid- 

 , lord, paying a fair annual rent. 

 A cottage, subjef't ordy to amerce- 

 ment, is found by experience, in 

 very many instances, to make the 

 family idle ; and the profit from 

 living rer\t-free, does not com pen- 

 sate the loss by indoleiice. Of pa- 

 rishes containing dilferent descrip- 

 tions of labourers, it is the opinion 

 of good men and coini«tent judges, 

 and the same has lately been vvMJfied 

 to me in some very strong instances, 

 that cottagers living near conunons, 

 and not paying any rent, are geiu'- 

 rally less coinlortable in their habi- 

 tations, and more chargeable to the' 

 parish, than those living in villages, 

 and paying filty shiltiiigs, or three 

 pounds a year for a house and gar- 

 den ; but then the labourer should 

 not be tenant to (he farmer. When 

 two farms are united, the houses 

 are often both left standing, and the 

 farmer finds a tenant or two for the 

 wor-it house ; or he is to be answer- 

 able for the rent of cottajjes adjoin- 

 ing his farm, to save trouble Or ha- 

 zard to the landlord or his agent. 



In these ca'-es, the landlord or agent 

 look upon the houses as no further 

 concern of theirs ; the farmer has 

 not interest enough in them to re- 

 pair them ; the labourer, added to 

 a want of permanent interest also, 

 has not ability ; so that these per- 

 haps arc some of the worst dwell- 

 ings. It seems very desirable as a 

 general rule, though any rule may 

 have its exception, that these subi 

 tenancies were abolished. And thev 

 are- connefted with another evil, 

 that of depriving labourers of an 

 opportunity of renting land. One 

 objec^tion to labourers renting land 

 is, the danger resulting from very 

 small cajutals, that of an unwise 

 penTiry. Jn small farms we too of- 

 ten see a weak team of horses, in- 

 sutficient in kind, and insufficiently 

 fed to do the work properly, either 

 in point of humanity or of interest. 

 So, where land is allowed to keep 

 one cow, if it begets a desire erf 

 rearing a second, both may be starv- 

 ed ; or the pasturage for one may 

 be contrattcd by seeking to raise 

 grain upon a part of it, and the de- 

 ficiency may be supplied by turning 

 the cow to graze on the ditch-banks 

 of the road. Much, however, of 

 this may be remedied by a landlord''s 

 anthojify. A labourer's fields should 

 be chiefly confined to pasture, that 

 the care of tliem may not interfere 

 with his working for hire. The 

 number of acres necessary will de- 

 pend upon the nature of the land. 

 I have not found six acres to inter- 

 fere at all with a labourer's work; 

 and if he is fit to be trusted with 

 land at all, he should have at least 

 three acres, where the situation of 

 his house will admit of so much; 

 for unless the ground joins the house, 

 it cannot be looked after without 

 loss of time ; and it will generally 



prove 



