THE THIEF AND POACHER. 103 



tlian he conceives to 1)0 liis due, let liim go to 

 the face of his master, like an honest, fearless 

 man, and tell him that he will quit his employ 

 unless his place is better. 



If he feels aggrieved and keeps his grievance 

 smouldering in his breast till he can get others 

 to be as disaffected as himself, and then, leaguing 

 together, he and the rest of his companions wait 

 till the moment when employer, farmer, clothier, 

 or mechanic must be ruined if he does not on the 

 instant, at whatever cost, secure his hands by 

 compliance with any extortion, then I hold such 

 men, in suck a strike, to be worse than the robber 

 who holds a pistol to the head, threatens life, and 

 demands a purse. 



Worse, because the villains on strike cannot 

 be severely punished for what they do; though, 

 fairly speaking, do they ^^ not take a man's life 

 away," when the}^ seize ^^the means by which 

 lie lives " ? If sugar-canes are not cut the very 

 instant they are ripe, if corn is not similarly 

 disposed of, it deteriorates, and hay the same ; 

 and if not carried when fit to be so dealt with, 

 it becomes worthless, and the loss so occasioned 

 is a scandalous robbery; while, if the owner of 



