CHAPTER XXVI. 

 FREEHOLD COTTAGES AND LAND. 



THE principal cause, in the opinion of the present 

 writer, of the serious, and it is not too much to say, the 

 alarming, depopulation of the rural districts of the 

 United Kingdom, lies in the absence of that hold upon 

 the soil of our country which would be secured by the 

 adoption of a system of freehold cottages and small 

 holdings. 



It will be interesting, in this connection, to refer to a 

 correspondence that occurred twenty-five years ago. In 

 August 1886, the late Mr. Arthur Kinglake, J.P., a 

 brother of the historian of the Crimean War, wrote to 

 the late Lord Randolph Churchill, then Chancellor of 

 the Exchequer, alluding to the present writer's labours 

 on behalf of our peasantry. Lord Randolph replied 

 by a letter dated 26th August 1886, in which occurred 

 the following passages : 



" I am much obliged to you for drawing my attention to 

 the great services rendered to the public by Mr. Heath, and 

 for making me aware of his knowledge and experience of 

 the condition and wants of the agricultural labourers in the 

 west and south of England. Certainly it is the genuine desire 

 of the Government to do their utmost, as far as such may be 

 effected by legislation, to ameliorate that condition and to 

 satisfy those wants, and I am sanguine that, before the close 

 of next year, some appreciable progress will have been 

 made." 



His lordship then added : 



" It would be very gratifying for me to have the advantage 

 of a personal interview with Mr. Heath, so as to ascertain 

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