42 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



surprised them more by any question which I could have pro 

 posed. They replied, that it had been a constant struggle for 

 them to sustain themselves, but any surplus was beyond their 

 reach. I cannot help thinking that the condition is a hard one 

 in which incessant and faithful labor, for so many years, will not 

 enable the frugal and industrious to make some small provision 

 for the period of helplessness and decay, in a country where the 

 accumulations of wealth in some hands, growing out of this same 

 labor, are enormous. 



To the honor of several proprietors, the kindest provision is 

 made for the decayed and superannuated. In some cases, the 

 wages of the laborers are continued to the end of life ; and in 

 some, as I saw with great pleasure, comfortable cottages are pro 

 vided for the old and infirm : they have their rent and fuel with 

 out charge, and a regular stipend as long as they live. This was 

 the case at the seat of the late distinguished farmer, the Earl of 

 Leicester, formerly Mr. Coke ; and likewise on the estates of the 

 Duke of Devonshire, where even the old schoolmaster of the vil 

 lage is pensioned, and has a house and a liberal allowance pro 

 vided for him. Several other instances have come under my 

 observation, where the superannuated and decayed laborers were 

 kindly provided for and received a pension adequate to their 

 comfortable support. This is as it should be. In every just 

 community the rights of honest labor ought to be respected and 

 secured. I confess it would be far better for them to be able to 

 provide for themselves than to be dependent upon the precarious 

 bounty either of individuals or the public ; but I should be un 

 willing to overlook any act of justice or honor. It is obvious 

 that the prospect of a supply from the bounty of the landlord 

 can only apply to those who are in the direct employment of the 

 landlord, and not to those who serve the tenant farmer, whose 

 situation and permanency, where the lease of the farm is only 

 for the year, are always, to a degree, doubtful. 



It cannot be denied that those who labor with us are alto 

 gether a superior class of men to the English laborers ; I refer, 

 of course, to the natives of the country. A considerable portion 

 of our labor is now performed by foreigners, v/ho, when they 

 unite sobriety and frugality with faithful industry, are sure of 

 good treatment and success ; indeed, I have known several 

 instances of laboring men, and some of them in my own employ- 



