MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE. m 



scene, and the whole " coincidence which had transpired " coming 

 to light, the rogue was lodged for six months in Oxford jail. 



About this time, the pohtical economy of Sir Robert Peel, and 

 Messrs, Cobden and Bright, was the principal topic of conversation 

 among the farmers. One day I came upon a small landholder, 

 executing a manoeuvre in a ditch : He was springing high into the 

 air, and bringing his heel viciously down on a clod below. I 

 asked him what he was about, and he replied, " That's how I would 

 serve Sir Robert Peel and all his crew, if I only had them here." 



Cheap bread certainly was a splendid boon to the generation 

 which followed the introduction of free corn, but it has left a legacy 

 of, say ten million mouths, which seem now to puzzle statesmen 

 how to feed. If anyone wishes clearly to see what ten millions 

 mean, let him throw down upon the granary floor five sacks of 

 wheat, which according to calculations I have made, contain about 

 that quantity of grains. The number seems appalling when applied 

 to surplus mouths. 



Whether the millions which have been nourished on cheap 

 bread are thankful for their creation and preservation, opinions 

 perhaps may differ. " Is life worth living? " appears a moot point, 

 but paradoxically the poor say " Yes," the rich say " No." 



For years I have made a point of asking tramps without a home 

 and friends, if they are happy, and whether they would like to live 

 their lives over again, just as it has been, with all its hopes and 

 fears. Their answer is almost invariably " Yes," and when I have 

 implied that they are lucky fellows, for the rich almost invariably 

 say " No," they say, " But consider the cares and anxieties the 

 rich inherit," and I add, " what an unpleasant time many of them 

 have at school ! " 



The Caliph Abdul Rahman, mentioned by Gibbon, bore good 

 testimony to the saying that " Life would be endurable but for 

 its amusements," when he wrote, "Riches, honours, and power, 

 and pleasure have waited on my call, nor does any earthly 

 blessing appear to have been wanting to my felicity, during a 



