THE CULTIVATOR. 
251 
1817. 
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOMY OF EUROPE. 
NOTES OF A TRAVELLER IN ENGLAND-No.6. 
Laborers. —The condition and character of the 
laboring population in England, is widely different 
from that of the same class of persons in this coun¬ 
try. The laborers there have no more associations 
with the nobility, gentry, and larger tenant farmers, 
than have the slaves at the south with their masters. 
The line of demarkation is as decided and as stringent 
in the one case as in the Other. Never have I seen a 
laborer approach the farmer without doffing his hat, 
and in various other ways manifesting the utmost ser¬ 
vility. The prospect of their condition being altered, 
in the present state of things, seems utterly hopeless. 
Their opportunities for education are of the most mea¬ 
gre description at the best, and the scantiness of their 
wages prevents them from resorting to any special 
conveniences for their improvement, or for the educa¬ 
tion of their children. 
I found on conversing with them, that they were 
just able to live, with all their time devoted to the in¬ 
terests. of the landlord or farmer, together with the 
services of their wives and children, when married. 
The children, at a very tender age, are brought into 
the field to labor, and thus continue on through -life, 
and in many cases with little more intelligence, appa¬ 
rently, than the animals upon the farm. The wages 
which a man receives would not vary much from $8 
or $9 per month, in those parts of the kingdom I visi¬ 
ted. This does not include his board—that he must 
provide for himself. This is usually very scanty, as com¬ 
pared with the provision made for laborers in this coun¬ 
try. In the morning a little bread, and coffee, and oat¬ 
meal; at noon, bread, potatoes, and cabbage, or some¬ 
thing of the kind, and supper equally limited. Beer 
in some cases allowed daily, in addition to wages, but 
not very general. I frequently conversed with them 
on their prospects for the future, and found almost in¬ 
variably, that they were toiling on without hope, ex¬ 
cept to provide for their daily wants—never expecting 
to procure a competency for their families in the event 
of their being removed by death. 
In Wales, where living is cheap, oatmeal being a 
very prominent and truly nutritious food, the laborers 
do rather better than in England. Still the hope of 
ever realizing anything for a wet day was scarcely 
thought of. I met in Anglesea, Wales, a Welshman 
who had lived with me in America a year and a half, 
and who returned home in the fall of 1845, for the 
purpose of endeavoring to persuade his father’s family 
to return with him to America. The family were in 
comfortable circumstances, and could have sold the 
lease of their farm of about 180 acres for a sum that 
would have purchased a large freehold in this country. 
The heads of the family were advanced in life, and the 
terrors of a sea voyage prevented their acceding to his 
request. He had been in America about six years, 
had labored very industriously, and had taken the pre¬ 
caution to place his wages at the end of each year at 
interest, (after clothing himself,) and when he re¬ 
turned to Wales he took with him $500 in money, be¬ 
sides a supply of clothing that rendered him in the 
eyes of the Welsh, a man of wealth indeed. He went 
with me to church on the sabbath, with his blue Yan¬ 
kee coat, white hat, and the rest of his clothes to 
match, and in his outward appearance had no more 
resemblance to the native population than I had my¬ 
self. It was entirely beyond the comprehension of h ; 
family and of his neighbors how he could have acquire 
this money by his labor alone. When I arrived at tj 
house, it was just about sunset in July, when ti 
workmen had come in from their labor, aiid the a; 
pearance of a strange carriage coming up the law; 
drew all to the door; the Welshman recognized me a. 
once, and addressed me by name, and as I descended 
from the carriage, I observed his mother was very 
much agitated, and addressed him earnestly in Welsh. 
I went into the house, and he left me for a few mo¬ 
ments, and returning, informed me that his mother, 
on hearing my name, was so much affected, fearing I 
had come on account of the money he had brought 
with him—she never having been satisfied that he had 
honestly earned it. As the old lady could speak Eng¬ 
lish readily, I was enabled to relieve her entirely, and 
to satisfy her that the labors of her son had been only 
justly rewarded with the amount which he had brought 
with him. It gave them an impression of the vast 
difference between the condition of a laboring man in 
Wales and America which nothing else could so ef¬ 
fectually have done. 
I was often surprised at the ignorance in relation to 
America, among not only the laboring classes, but 
also among farmers of considerable intelligence. In 
conversing Avith a farmer who held an important office 
in the parish Avhere he resided, who was a man of 
wealth, and on matters relating to his own country 
was peculiarly intelligent, I stated to him, among 
other things, that a passage from New-York to Liver¬ 
pool or London could ordinarily be made about as soon 
as from New-York to New Orleans. He was utterly 
astonished—supposing that these ports were not pro-, 
bably further distant from each other than London and 
Liverpool. But when I told him that the river on 
which New Orleans was situated was over 3000 mil 
in length, he looked at me as much as to say, Y< 
must be a Yankee ! To satisfy him, however, I appee 
ed to an atlas, which was fortunately in the hou 
where we were visiting, and was enabled to satis 
him that this was literally true. His ideas of Amei 
can rivers had nevei reached beyond the length of the 
Thames, or the Mersey, or some other of no greater 
magnitude. 
In Ireland, too, it was not uncommon when it was 
ascertained that I was from New-York, to have inqui¬ 
ries made, if I did not know Patrick McQuade, or 
some other Irish friend who had settled in Wisconsin. 
Iowa, or New Orleans ! I was often, as you may well 
imagine, obliged to say that I had not the plea¬ 
sure of their acquaintance. To them this seemed pass¬ 
ing strange. 
There is a peculiar class among the Irish, the dri¬ 
vers of their jaunting cars, a vehicle in which the dri¬ 
ver is in front, and the passengers set with their backs 
to each other, and their feet over the wheels. These 
are among the finest specimens of Irish ingenuity and 
wit of any class I met with. In riding from Dro¬ 
gheda to the railroad depot, in one of the cars, the 
driver began a conversation by inquiring of me—“ Your 
honor came from Belfast by coach ?” I answered him. 
No. “ From Cork then?” and so on, until at last he 
ascertained that I was neither English, Scotch, or 
Irish, but actually from America, the land of bliss, in 
his imagination, and every inhabitant of which was 
truly the Irishman’s friend. In the whole of this con- 
