336 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



succor the oppressed, to raise the fallen ; by a wise education, 

 and a paternal care, to inspire even the lowliest with the enno 

 bling consciousness of his own moral and immortal nature ; and, 

 in the spirit of true Christianity, to regard all men as one family, 

 and to seek to impart to every man, without stint or abatement, 

 his full share of all the advantages and all the goods which God, 

 when he made men for each other, and endowed them with 

 human sympathies, designed that they should find in the social 

 state ? When, indeed, are these celestial visions of philan 

 thropy to be realized ? when is the bleeding victim to be plucked 

 from the jaws of an unrelenting avarice ? when is the imprisoned 

 bird to be let free to breathe the clear air of heaven, and pour 

 out his songs of ecstasy upon the floating breeze ? when is hu 

 manity in too many cases oppressed, degraded, plundered to 

 be allowed to stand erect in the conscious dignity of freedom and 

 of manhood ? 



6. BREAD REGARDED IN A PECULIAR LIGHT. In civilized 

 states, bread has always been considered in a different light from 

 almost any thing else, and has been the subject of special regu 

 lations. For many years, speculators in grain were looked upon 

 with peculiar suspicion and odium, and were the subjects of par 

 ticular legal restrictions. They were considered as the creators 

 of scarcity, by their hoarding up large stores of com ; whereas, in 

 fact, it was through their providence that these times of suffering 

 were anticipated and mitigated, or avoided. They are not disin 

 terested, but are as useful and important as any class of persons, 

 employed as agents in any branch of trade. They are most use 

 ful in enabling the grower of grain to dispose of it to the best ad 

 vantage ; and it would be difficult to say how a large community 

 could be supplied without them; as if, for example, London 

 itself were left to the precarious supply of individual farmers. 

 They perform, indeed, a most essential and important service, and 

 are entitled to a fair remuneration. The indispensable impor 

 tance of a character for fair dealing, and the competition to which 

 they are exposed, are securities against that compensation being 

 excessive. As speculators in grain were regarded with peculiar 

 vigilance, so were bakers, and so are they still, held to a strict 

 responsibility, and the weight of their loaves subjected to an 

 assize. In Turkey, a baker giving light weight is nailed by the 



