246 ECHOES OF OLD COUNTY LIFE. 



— which, retarded as it has been by the obstinate in- 

 difference of those who should have been better advised, 

 has still made steady progress — but still more by the 

 better administration of the law, especially in reference 

 to the restrictions of out-door relief. I believe the Poor 

 Law of England to have been framed on benevolent 

 principles, but I have no doubt it has engendered 

 amongst the wage-earning class that utter thriftlessness 

 which led to the downfall and almost to the destruction 

 of the principle of independence ; it absolutely broke up 

 all feelings of filial affection, it has fostered imprudent 

 marriages, and has destroyed many of the most honour- 

 able feelings of domestic life. 



The more I examine into the position of the agri- 

 cultural labourer, the more I am convinced of the utter 

 demoralization caused by the Poor L.aw ; from its com- 

 mencement to the present time, the same baneful results 

 are to be found pervading nearly every relation of 

 country life. In the beginning of the history of the 

 last fifty years of my life miserably low wages were 

 supplemented by the rates, the agricultural labourer 

 was a mere serf tied to his parish, entirely in the hands 

 of the farmer, who in his turn was generally, from his 

 isolation in country districts, a self-opinionated, obstinate 

 man, objecting to all interference with his jog-trot 

 routine, believing that the groove in which he moved 

 was the be-all and end-all of his existence, and if 

 any advice was offered him, he surely spurned it with 

 contempt. The farmers' position and opinions were 

 winked at by the resident landlord, who seemed to be 

 content to be the lord of the land, without the respon- 



