FREEHOLDINGS THE PEASANT'S LADDER. 175 



the same opportunity of rising in life which is afforded 

 in other occupations. The peasant would aspire first 

 to rent his small piece of land. By his cow or cows, his pig 

 or pigs, his fruit, his vegetables ; by the profits derived 

 from the keeping of poultry and bees, he might, by frugality 

 and industry, save money. He might then aspire to 

 increase, by degrees, the size of his rented land. He 

 might, in time, become a small farmer, then, perhaps, 

 a large farmer ; and he might, in some cases, ultimately 

 become a landed proprietor. There is no reason what- 

 ever why our peasantry should be eternally tied down 

 to slave at their toilsome occupations with no prospect 

 of advancement, and no future beyond the plough tail. 

 Give them a chance, place them fairly in the human race, 

 and coincident with the development of our national 

 agriculture instead of remaining a disgrace to our civilisa- 

 tion, they will become a credit to the nation, and an 

 important element in its glory and in its strength." l 



Although this was written thirty-seven years ago, the 

 argument in it is, it is submitted, wholly and unalterably 

 applicable to the present day. The condition of the 

 peasantry of these islands has, in the meantime, and 

 happily, greatly improved ; but, nevertheless, it is to 

 be feared that depopulation, with all its serious results, 

 continues its steady process indicating that the 

 conditions of peasant life are not, by any means, what 

 they ought to be. In every other occupation, or, at any 

 rate, in nearly every occupation, there is practically a 

 chance of rising. The humblest clerk or other assistant 

 in a store may rise to be managing director ; the porter 

 in a railway company's employ may, and frequently 

 does, become an inspector or stationmaster. He may, 

 indeed, rise to the position of superintendent of the 

 line. The sailor before the mast may become captain 

 of the ship ; a cabin boy may become an admiral of 

 the fleet ; the policeman, a chief superintendent of the 

 force ; the common soldier a field marshal. But the 

 cases are rare, indeed, in which an ordinary agricultural 

 labourer becomes even a small farmer. The reason 

 largely is because there is no middle course no stepping- 

 1 " The English Peasantry." 



