THE MIDLAND COUNTIES. 255 



curious to witness how Sir Eobert Peel, himself a large 

 proprietor, settled, in his own concerns, the question he 

 so boldly brought forward upon public grounds. Every 

 one may remember the letter which he wrote to his 

 tenants on 24th December 1849. The views he then 

 stated have been fulfilled. Sir Kobert caused all his 

 lands to be drained at his own expense, under the direc- 

 tion of Mr Parkes, upon condition that his tenants paid 

 him four per cent on the outlay. These terms they 

 accepted. All their rents were revised, but few reduced, 

 as in general they were moderate enough ; and it is suf- 

 ficient to state that the farmers to whom leases were 

 offered refused them. They preferred yearly tenancy, 

 upon which terms their farms had been held by their 

 families for generations. 



The estates of Sir Eobert Peel are a model of good 

 management. The excellent state of the buildings, the 

 goodness of the roads, the levellings and drainage, the con- 

 struction of good cottages with gardens for the labourers 

 all bespeak the wealth and liberality of the master. 

 The farmers, on their part, having the utmost confidence 

 in their landlord, do not hesitate to lay out money on 

 the land, which yields them an excellent return. Every- 

 where the most improved implements, the choicest seeds, 

 the most productive methods ; everywhere also the best 

 crops and the best cattle : even the day-labourers work 

 with additional energy, confident that a sort of provi- 

 dence anticipates their wants. Here, as at the Duke of 

 Bedford's, the Duke of Portland's, and Lord Hatherton's, 

 may be seen the ideal of the large proprietor of England, 

 who considers himself as having at least as many duties 

 as rights, and who employs advantageously for his de- 

 pendants, as well as for the good of the land, which 



