THE NORTHERN COUNTIES. 269 



or not, it is certain that the Statesmen existed in con- 

 siderable numbers at the beginning of the present century. 

 Their mode of life is pleasingly described in the poetry 

 of Wordsworth, who lived much at the lakes. 



One could wish that the portrait he drew were still 

 true, but unfortunately it is not. The Statesmen rapidly 

 disappeared before the large proprietary ; here and there 

 may still be seen their old cottages, but they are now 

 tenanted by farmers : on the very spot where a family of 

 these lairds as they were also called found it impos- 

 sible to live, with no rent to pay, a rent-paying farmer 

 now makes a livelihood. Debts, from one cause or another, 

 had accumulated upon these small properties, which at 

 last absorbed all the return. The predilection of the 

 Statesmen families for their old usages, the absence of 

 ready capital, and want of skill, rendered the land less 

 productive in their hands than in the hands of farmers 

 with a little money and more ability. Nothing can stop 

 a decay of this kind. 



In the low grounds of Cumberland coal-pits again 

 make their appearance, the produce of which is exported 

 from the ports on the coast. This trade gives employ- 

 ment to a numerous population, whose requirements as 

 usual exercise an influence upon agriculture. What- 

 ever progress the art of farming has made during the last 

 half-century, it has never been able to keep pace with the 

 local consumption ; the consequence is, that the populous 

 towns are obliged to import a part of their supplies. Thus 

 the farmers in the neighbourhood have an unlimited 

 market before them, and a certainty of profit to stimulate 

 their energies. The breed of short-horned cattle begins to 

 spread among them, and their sheep are almost all either 

 Cheviots or black-faced ; latterly, however, they have 

 preferred a cross between the Cheviot and Leicester. 



