350 Reflections on the superabundant 



grateful recollection. The innate civility and 

 intelligence of the lower orders have frequently 

 made me ashamed of the prejudices I had so 

 incautiously imbibed to their disadvantage. 



I have contemplated with astonishment how 

 the existence of so many rational beings could 

 be preserved, and have wondered how their 

 lives should be endured, under circumstances of 

 such cruel privation ; and have not less lament- 

 ed the sufferings which bigotry and ignorance 

 have inflicted, than the misery and crimes 

 which thus have been engendered and perpe- 

 tuated. 



The superabundant population I have regard- 

 ed with surprise : the application of every hand 

 to agriculture has been destructive of its in- 

 terests, and has impaired the general happiness 

 of the people. So great is the competition for 

 land, that its rent has advanced beyond what the 

 occupier with a living profit can afford to pay : 

 the necessary consequence is, that the landlord's 

 due furnishes the tenant's capital; and as no ex- 

 pense is incurred by the proprietor in respect of 

 buildings, so there are noconveniences,generally 

 speaking, on small farms, to encourage the least 

 effort towards better management. 



