76 AN AMERICAN FARMER IN ENGLAND. 



a rather intelligent man, he was utterly ignorant that we had no 

 State Church ; and though a dissenter, the idea of a government 

 giving free trade to all sorts of religious doctrine seemed to be 

 startling and fearful to him. But when I told him what the 

 rent (or the interest on the value) of my farm was, and what 

 were its taxes, he wished that he was young that he might go to 

 America himself; he really did not see how he should be able to 

 live here much longer. He rented a farm of about fifty acres, 

 and was a man of about the same degree of intelligence and in- 

 formation that you would expect of the majority of those owning 

 a similar farm with us. Except that he was somewhat stouter 

 than most Yankees, he did not differ much in appearance or dress 

 from many of our rather old-fashioned farmers. 



The tender-hearted wheelwright could hardly believe that we 

 were really born and brought up in America. He never thought 

 any foreigners could learn to speak the language so well. He too 

 was rather favorably struck with the idea of going to America, 

 when we answered his inquiries with regard to mechanics' wages. 

 He was very cautious, however, and cross-questioned us a long 

 time about the cost of every thing there the passage, the great 

 heat of the climate, the price of beer ; and at length, touching 

 his particular weakness, he desired to be told candidly how it 

 would be if he should marry before he went. If he should get 

 a wife, a real handsome one, would it be safe for him to take her 

 there ? He had heard a story perhaps we knew whether it was 

 true or not of a man who took a handsome wife out with him, 

 and a black man, who was a great rich lord in our country, took 

 a great liking to her, and offered the man ten thousand pounds 

 for her, which he refused ; and so the great black lord went away 

 very wroth and vexed. When he was gone, the woman up- 

 braided her husband : " Thou fool, why didst thee not take it and 

 let me go with him ? I would have returned to thee to-morrow." 



