APPENDIX TO MR. OLIVER'S ADDRESS. 47 



against that. That " Jesus Christ came into the world to save 

 sinners," and that " work without beer is death" was the 

 alpha and omega of his faith. 



The labourers in this part of England (Hereford, Monmouth, 

 Gloucester, and Wiltshire,) were the most degraded, poor, 

 stupid, brutal, and licentious, that we saw in the kingdom. 

 We were told that they were of the purest Saxon blood, as 

 was indeed indicated by the frequency of blue eyes and light 

 hair among them. But I did not see in Ireland or in Germany, 

 or in France, nor did I ever see among our negroes or Indians, 

 or among the Chinese or Malays, men whose tastes were such 

 mere instincts, or whose purpose of life and whose mode of 

 life was so low, so like that of domestic animals altogether, as 

 these farm labourers. 



I was greatly pained, mortified, ashamed of old mother 

 England, in acknowledging this ; and the more so that I found 

 so few Englishmen that realized it, or who, realizing it, seem- 

 ed to feel that any one but God, with his laws of population 

 and trade, was at all accountable for it. Even a most intelli- 

 gent and distinguished Radical, when I alluded to this element 

 as a part of the character of the country, in replying to certain 

 very favourable comparisons he had been making of England 

 with other countries, said — " We are not used to regard that 

 class in forming a judgment of national character." And yet 

 I suppose that class is larger in numbers than any other in the 

 community of England. Many have even dared to think that, 

 in the mysterious decrees of Providence, this balance of de- 

 gradation and supine misery is essential to the continuance of 

 the greatness, prosperity, and elevated character of the coun- 

 try, — as if it were not indeed a part of the country. 



A minister of the Gospel, of high repute in London, and 

 whose sermons are reprinted and often repeated in America, 

 from the words of Christ, " the poor ye have always among 

 yon," argued lately that all legislation or co-operative benevo- 

 lence that had the tendency and hope of bringing about such 

 a state of things, that a large part of every nation shoidd be 

 independent of the charity of the other part, was heretical 

 and blasphemous. Closely allied to such ideas are the too 

 common notions of nders and subjects. 



With regard to the habits of drinking and the customary 

 diet of those, by whose labour England is mainly supplied 

 with food, I fear ray statements may be incredible to Ameri- 

 cans ; I therefore quote from authority that should be better 

 informed 



A correspondent of the Agricultural Gazette mentions, that in 



