177 



PART II. 



REVIEWS. 



Art. I. Essay on the beneficial Direction of Rural Expenditure. 

 By Robert Slaney, Esq. 



{Continued from Vol.11, p. 58.) 



Having dwelt so long on the proofs of our position, that 

 the condition of the agricultural labourer- is much worse at 

 present than it was half a century ago ; that they have been 

 stationary or retrograding, while all other classes have been 

 advancing; and that, whereas their labour is at present more 

 productive than it ever was, what they obtain for it is less ; — 

 it will not be necessary to dwell long on our second position, 

 viz. that the character, as well as the condition of the agricul- 

 tural labourer, has deteriorated. 



This is almost a necessary, certainly a very common conse- 

 quence of a degradation in the condition of any class of 

 society. It may be that, in some instances, a falling off in 

 character precedes and occasions a falling off in condition; in 

 other cases, % falling off in condition precedes and occasions a 

 falling off in character ; and in other cases again, these two 

 changes exhibit themselves alternately as cause and effect. 

 For there is no truth more certain, more important, and less 

 attended to than this, that in all that relates to the advance^ 

 ment or retrogradation of mankind, the same circumstances 

 are alternately cause and effect. A despotic government pro- 

 duces those habits of thought, feeling, and action, which rivet 

 despotism : a free government cherishes those opposite habits, 

 which, in their turn, establish on a firmer and broader basis? 

 the principles of freedom. 



So it is with respect to the character and condition of all 

 classes more or less; and most especially of those who from 

 their birth are placed in the lowest ranks of society, depend- 

 ing entirely on their labour for the support of themselves and 

 children. Let them be sunk, from whatever causes, in their 

 condition ; and their hopes and efforts first, and then their 

 wishes and desires, and ultimately their principles and habits 

 sink. 



Vol. II. — No. 6. n 



