250 ECHOES OF OLD COUNTY LIFE. 



to mend, and that the pluck and determination of the 

 British farmer will, under a merciful Providence, carry 

 him through the present deplorable state of his affairs. 

 He is being met in a liberal spirit by his landlord, who 

 year after year does not hesitate to lower his rents, aids 

 him in the improvement of his buildings, consents to his 

 having entire freedom of cultivation, grants more liberal 

 covenants, and sanctions a more reasonable agreement 

 on the basis of the Agricultural Holdings Act. At the 

 same time I hold that the burthens, which now so 

 heavily and most unfairly press on the land, must be 

 removed, the highway rates must be more fairly appor- 

 tioned, the charge for the maintenance of the poor and 

 the insane be placed on a wider basis, and we may yet 

 see agriculture itself again, and Old England will once 

 more become 



" Great, glorious, and free, 

 First flower of the earth, and first gem of the sea." 



One feature of old country life is fast vanishing from 

 our sight, I mean the old-fashioned harvest-home festival, 

 which long was kept up at most of the farm-houses in 

 the country, especially among the well-to-do tenantry. 

 I mention my own, not perhaps as a sample, because 

 living in a town and having other business operations, 

 it was scarcely a typical gathering ; but my father, for 

 some years previously to his death living at his quiet 

 homestead, which was situated about two miles from the 

 town, was about as fair a specimen of a tenant-farmer 

 as could be found in the county. His custom was to 

 invite some of the village tradesmen, such as the black- 

 smith, wheelwright, and carpenter, to join the festive 



