for imp-ovmg the Condition of Labourers. 201 



cessful in bettering his condition in any part of the kingdom. We will, 

 from time to time, give publicity to the information thus obtained, by 

 printed reports, as otten as a sufficient quantity of interesting matter shall 

 have been received. An agent or secretary shall be hired, at a suitable 

 salary, to be employed under the direction of a committee, to obtain 

 information, and give advice and assistance, in diiFerent parts of the county, 

 and to promote every where the allotment of land to the labourer, and to 

 suggest such improvements in the construction and economy of cottages as 

 may conduce to the comfort and advantage of the cottager. The Society 

 shall endeavour to obtain the cooperation of as many gentlemen of expe- 

 rience and influence in the county as possible, and will establish a corre- 

 spondence in the different towns ancl villages. A subscription shall be 

 immediately raised to defray the expenses of the agent's salary and travel- 

 ling expenses, and the printing of the Society's reports. The Society shall 

 consist of subscribers of 1/. per annum and upwards. The business of the 

 Society shall be conducted bj^ the committee ; three of whom shall form a 

 quorum for the transaction of business, and they shall have power to add 

 to theii- number in the intervals between the general meetings. The sittings 

 of the committee shall be held at such times and places as may hereafter 

 be agreed upon. A meeting of the members shall be annually held, at 

 which a report shall be read of the state of the funds and the progress of 

 the Society for the last year. At this meeting the conmiittee and officers 

 shall be appointed for the ensuing year." 



The second publication, of which we have given the title, seems to be a 

 repetition of the former, with additions, chiefly by Mr. Allen. The most 

 important fact which we find among these additions is, that at Lindfield, 

 Sussex, a cottage with three sleeping-rooms, a sitting-room, a pantry, a 

 privy, and a pigsty, may be built with substantial clay walls, and covered 

 with thatch, with suitable drains, stoves, sink, and manure pits, for 70/. 

 Edward Constable, builder, of Lindfield, will engage to build by contract 

 any number of cottages of the same description at the above price. The 

 benevolent author thus concludes: — "If, as I have shown, a good and 

 sufficient cottage can be built for 70/., and that standing on an acre and a 

 quarter of ground, it might be let for 2s. 6d. per week, or G/. lOs. per annum, 

 who that has land, and the means, would hesitate to provide for the hap- 

 piness of his labourer ? Do not the facts which I have brought forward 

 prove to demonstration, that landowners have it in their power to diminish 

 most materially that mass of misery under which many parts of the coun- 

 try now groan ? Let us then perseveringly employ all the influence we 

 may possess, to endeavour to prevail upon the public-spirited among them 

 to adopt measures in which they, as well as the poor, are deeply interested. 

 Let them see that every cottage has a sufficient number of sleeping-rooms, 

 three at least ; and above all, that it has an acre and a quarter of land 

 attached to it. Let them see in their respective parishes that wor/i, and 

 not money, be given to able-bodied labourers who may apply for relief; 

 that the rate-payers be furnished from time to time with a printed account 

 of the sums received from the rates, and the names of all the parties upon 

 whom the money is expended, together with the amount paid for each ; 

 let them, to the utmost of their power, discourage and put down every 

 thing which tends to the demoralisation of the poorer classes. In propor- 

 tion as these patriotic and Christian exertions are multiplied, in that pro- 

 portion will the strength and happiness of our country be increased. We 

 do not so much want legislative enactments, as a union among the rich 

 and powerful in the promotion of the objects now stated." (p. 33.) 



Several quotations are made from Denson's Peasant's Voice; and we 

 agree with Mr. Allen in strongly recommending that work to every person 

 interested in bettering the condition of the agricultural labourer. 



