4 
THE RAT. 
understanding, we shall then see one of the greatest causes 
of agricultural distress. 
The old adage says, that a constant dropping wears a 
hole in a stone. " So is it with rats ; for with their 
astonishing fecundity and omnivorous habits, they are eating 
like a cancer into the very foundation of British prosperity. 
Still they are allowed to live, and to revel witliout any 
effectual means being resorted to for checking their devas- 
tations. But let our farm vermin be destroyed, our hedges 
levelled, and our lands fully cultivated ; and I believe there 
is little doubt but that our home-grown produce v/ould "be 
more than amply sufficient to supply all our domestic wants. 
Then, and not till then, do I believe that Great Britain and 
Ireland will feel themselves to be — what in truth they ought 
to be — a great and independent people. 
