402 



Labourers' 1 Cottages. 



To the kind and considerate proprietor — to the zealous paro- 

 chial clergyman — to all who consider the bearing- and tendency 

 of such a measure upon the moral and physical condition of 

 the labourer, this step in the right direction will at once re- 

 commend itself ; and all, practical men especially, who have had 

 opportunity of seeing and forming a judgment of the necessities 

 and privations of the agricultural labourer, must hail with satis- 

 faction well-considered and matured plans for the amelioration of 

 his condition. 



Before proceeding to detail the construction of the cottage I 

 have found best adapted for the dwelling of the labourer, I beg 

 to offer a few remarks upon the auxiliaries connected therewith, 

 for the improvement of his condition, which I trust will with 

 the aforegoing not be deemed altogether irrelevant to the subject 

 now under view. 



Considering it most desirable that the bands of mutual good- 

 will and attachment should be strengthened between the pro- 

 prietor and his cottager, we would hold out to the latter a fair and 

 reasonable prospect that industry and good conduct will assuredly 

 lead to his advancement in life and the increase of his comforts. 



Those who are acquainted with the wishes and ambition of the 

 industrious cottager well know how ardently he desires to be- 

 come the occupier of land sufficient for the keeping of one or two 

 cows ; an advantage which, connected with the cottage garden or 

 allotment, will effect a most salutary and beneficial influence on 

 his life and morals, by giving him something to look forward to, 

 as a prop in his old age, or an assistance when his strength through 

 sickness has failed, and, although willing, not so able for work as 

 heretofore. 



And here let me not be misunderstood : I deprecate the idea 

 of the cottager becoming a poor and needy husbandman ; but 

 no dread of this result need be entertained by an extensive pro- 

 prietor allotting in his different parishes to the most deserving 

 cottagers in his village a convenient portion of grass-land, at a 

 rent not exceeding that which would be charged to the farmer. 



In the next place, I would recommend that the cottage holdings 

 should be rented direct from the landlord, as it induces him to 

 exert a greater influence in correcting and removing any evils 

 which may exist either in the state of the cottage dwellings or in 

 the habits or morals of their inmates. These considerations are 

 too frequently overlooked when they are sublet. 



In support of my argument, that cottages should be held direct 

 from the landlord, I gladly quote the following remarks made 

 by His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch at the last general meeting 

 of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, lately held 

 at Edinburgh : — 



