282 RURAL ECONOMY OF ENGLAND. 



thousand acres, half of which only is susceptible of cul- 

 tivation ; and still the island raises a surplus of wheat, 

 barley, and cattle for exportation. With agriculture the 

 inhabitants combine the occupations of fishing, naviga- 

 tion, and mining. Comfort is pretty general throughout 

 the island. For the most part the land belongs to small 

 proprietors, or yeomen, who till the land themselves. 

 This division of property and farming is very ancient in 

 the island ; and here, at all events, the English Govern- 

 ment has had the prudence not to interfere with it. 



But the triumph of small property and farming is to 

 be found, as I have already had occasion to show, in the 

 island of Jersey, close upon our own coast. The extra- 

 ordinary richness of this small island, which contains 

 only forty thousand acres, with a population of fifty- 

 seven thousand, may partly be attributed to the large 

 sums expended there by the British Government to 

 maintain it against us. But France also lays out enor- 

 mous sums in Corsica, which has many more natural 

 resources than Jersey, and still it remains poor and un- 

 productive, notwithstanding the sum it costs us. The 

 population of Jersey is twelve times denser than that of 

 Corsica, and yet the former enjoy a greater degree of 

 comfort. Guernsey and Alderney almost rival Jersey, 

 and truly all three islands rank among the finest jewels 

 in the British Crown. 



Nowhere is the difference which at present exists be- 

 tween a French district and most parts of England more 

 painfully striking than in comparing Jersey with the 

 French coast opposite to it. It lies at the entrance of 

 a bay, the two sides of which are formed by the depart- 

 ment of La Manche on one side, and that of the Cotes- 

 du-Nord on the other. Climate, soil, products, race of 

 people, all resemble each other. These two departments 



