26 



half-scneschal " — as he bows us through the splendid halls, 

 saloons, and galleries of his lord's palatial mansion. 



If it be a dictate of genuine philanthropy — nay of common 

 humanity — that we should seek the greatest good of the 

 greatest number, — a principle of action which few among us 

 will question — no true American can look on the lovely 

 scenery of England with unmixed satisfaction. To his mind's 

 eye one essential element of beauty is wanting there. He 

 cannot forget that all the fair domain In sight, belongs to the 

 feic, and not to the many ; that the occupants of those fixrm- 

 houses are not the owners of them ; and that neither the 

 farmer, nor the laborer, whose skill and toil have wrought 

 such wonders, possesses an acre of the land which his hands 

 have transformed Into a second Eden. 



The population of Great Britain is nearly equal to that of 

 the United States. If I remember rightly the whole of her 

 territory — not quite so large as ours — belongs to about 30,000 

 persons. If this unequal distribution of property suits the 

 people of that country, there is no reason why it should dis- 

 quiet us. It certainly has no tendency either in its nature, 

 or its workings, to make us dissatisfied with our own condi- 

 tion in that respect. No, my friends, as we look down from 

 yonder heights, on farm, village, and town — the cheerful 

 prospect owes its highest charm to our knowledge of the fact, 

 that these cultured lands, — these comfortable homes, — these 

 busy workshops — are held, with scarce an exception, by men 

 who are tenants In fee, and not tenants at will : the fact, that 

 no broad selgnories, honors, or manors, granted in feudal 

 days, and locked up by laws of entail and primogeniture, in 

 the hands of a small and privileged class, are here to be seen, 

 usurping and engrossing that soil, which should be free to the 

 heritage, or, at least, to the acquisition of all. 



In a discourse which purports to have, at least, something 

 to do with agriculture, I feel bound to notice here, an argu- 

 ment which is confidently urged by some of our English 

 friends. In behalf of their unequal system. Briefly, then, it 



