GOVERNMENT, LAWS, 



bow to. They will bow to nothing else. And, they bow with 

 reverence to the law, because they know it to be just, and because 

 it is made by men, whom they have all had a hand in choosing. 



429. And, then, think of the tithes ! I have talked to several 

 farmers here about the tithes in England ; and, they laugh. 

 They sometimes almost make me angry ; for they seem, at last, 

 not to believe what I say, when I tell them, that the English farmer 

 gives, and is compelled to give, the Parson a tenth part of his 

 whole crop and of his fruit and milk and eggs and calves and 

 lambs and pigs and wool and honey. They cannot believe this. 

 They treat it as a sort of romance. I sometimes almost wish them 

 to be farmers in England. I said to a neighbour the other day, 

 in half anger : &quot; I wish your farm were at Botley. There is 

 &quot; a fellow there, who would soon let you know, that your fine 

 &quot; apple-trees do not belong to you. He would have his nose in 

 &quot; your sheep-fold, your calf-pens, your milk-pail, your sow s- 

 &quot; bed, if not in the sow herself. Your daughters would have no 

 &quot; occasion to hunt out the hens nests : he would do that for 

 &quot; them.&quot; And then I gave him a proof of an English Parson s 

 vigilance by telling him the story of Baker s peeping out the name, 

 marked on the sack, which the old woman was wearing as a 

 petticoat. To another of my neighbours, who is very proud of 

 the circumstance of his grandfather being an Englishman, as, 

 indeed, most of the Americans are, who are descended from 

 Englishmen : to this neighbour I was telling the story about the 

 poor woman at Holly Hill, who had nearly dipped her rushes once 

 too often. He is a very grave and religious man. He looked very 

 seriously at me, and said, that falsehood was falsehood, whether 

 in jest or earnest. But, when I invited him to come to my house, 

 and told him, that I would show him the acts which the Borough- 

 men had made to put us in jail if we made our own soap and 

 candles, he was quite astonished. &quot; What! &quot; said he, &quot; and is Old 

 &quot; England really ^ come to this ! Is the land of our forefathers 

 &quot; brought to this state of abject slavery ! Well, Mr. Cobbett, 

 &quot; I confess, that I was always for king George, during our 

 &quot; Revolutionary war ; but, I believe, all was for the best ; for, 

 &quot; if I had had my wishes, he might have treated us as he now treats 

 &quot; the people of England.&quot; &quot; He ! &quot; said I. &quot; It is not he : he, 

 &quot; poor man, does nothing to the people, and never has done any 

 &quot; thing to the people. He has no power more than you have. 

 &quot; None of his family have any. All put together, they have not a 

 &quot; thousandth part so much as I have ; for I am able, though here, 

 &quot; to annoy our tyrants, to make them less easy than they would 

 &quot; be ; but, these tyrants care no more for the Royal Family than 

 &quot; they do for so many posts or logs of wood.&quot; And then I 

 explained to him who and what the Boroughmongers were, and 

 how they oppressed us and the king too. I told him how they 

 disposed of the Church livings, and, in short, explained to him 



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