54 COBBETTS [No. 



average, from 1800 inclusive. We will now proceed 

 to see how the " popish, priest-ridden" Englishman 

 stands in comparison with the " No Popery" Eng- 

 lishman. 



POPISH MAN. NO POPERY MAN. 



8. d, S. d. 



Mowing an acre of grass - - 6 3 7| 



Thrashing a quarter of Wheat 04 40 



Here are " waust improvements, Mau'm !" But, now 

 let us look at the relative price of the wheat, which 

 the labourer had to purchase with his wages. We 

 have seen, that the " popish superstition slave" had 

 to givejivepence a bushel for his wheat, and the evi- 

 dence of Mr. GEORGE states, that the "enlightened 

 Protestant" had to give 10 shilling's a bushel for his 

 wheat ; that is 24 times as much as the " popish/bo/," 

 who suffered himself to be "priest-ridden." So that 

 the " enlightened'''' man, in order to make him as well 

 off as the " rfarfc-ages" man was, ought to receive 

 twelve shillings, instead of 3s. 7f-rf. for mowing an 

 acre of grass ; and he, in like manner, ou^ht to re- 

 ceive, for thrashing a quarter of wheat, eight shil- 

 lings, instead of the four shillings which he does 

 receive. If we had the records, we should doubtless 

 find, that IRELAND was in the same state, 



56. There ! That settles the matter as to ancient 

 good living. Now, as to the progress of poverty and 

 misery, amongst the working people, during the last 

 half century, take these facts ; in the year 1771, that 

 is, 55 years ago, ARTHUR YOUNG, who was afterwards 

 Secretary to the Board of Agriculture, published a 

 work on the state of the agriculture of the country, 

 in which he gave the allowance for the keeping -of a 

 farm-labourer, his wife and three children, which 

 allowance, reckoning according to the present mo- 

 ney-price of the articles which he allows amounted 

 to 13s. Id. He put the sum, at what he deemed the 

 lowest possible sum, on which the people could exist. 

 Alas ! we shall find, that they can be made to exist 

 upon little more than one-half of this sum ! 



