The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1867-10-29 00:00:00

THE AGRICULTURAL LABOURER'S DESTINY.

re du Editor.

shall he glad if you will permit se to osy •
few words in referenos to the speech of Mr. John Pops,
of Symondsbury, at the annual dinner of the Ifs=
Agricultural Society. which is reported in the
Cpulti )1 Ex prise .4 Sept. 22. I read—

was not g.4ne to my arlvther he thougtit It erould te
prudent mamma for the legidature to adopt, that children
under twelve should not he employed but Mould be mot to
snot; hot If ruck • measure were pwat el. then ..Uki wove
the quedi•.., could the parent •Iford to pay for such se• noting}
hear)—and would he not be keening something In
art. ins • ploiteh?—(applaute)—for in driving a plough he waa
qualifying hinseelf for that powition In life to •hleb wee
4wined by Providence—thew, hear). FolumUon wan all right
nut nearmery to keen pace with thug. In •hleh we bred.
hetet the Name time, It to. neeeriary thnt • youth shook'
*moire n knowledge of that employment by •Itleh he to. to
gain ks breed he.eafter—(hear, bear)."
- • ••

„ Now, it appears to me, that these remarks, while they
show much common aeon contsin • fallacy which lies
at the very soot of she quentiost of making the labourer
• more useful and independent member of society.
Everybody will admit it is of the trot insportanee that
• boy whould anion* a knowledge of the employment by
which lie is to gain his bread in after life. but I. for
one, moot wisest', dissent from the statement that the
ma of an finglishman—labourer though be be, "in
driving the plough is qualifying himself for that position
in life to which he seas deemed by Providebee.” I don't
believe that Providence desliaty any boy to the life of
an agricultural labourer, or to any other special employ. I
,rent. any more than be destined Wiggins to in a
murderer and to be hung. or the poor workhouse eel
est Lancaster to be the servant of the inhuman wretch
that bee just been sentenced to six mouths'
Imprison-
ment at Derby for flogging her and then robbing
turpentine into her wounds, or the child of Mr. Lennox
at Margate to be brutally ill-treated by her stepmother
and to have chloride of lime put upon her agonised
body to born out the bruises. No, air, this modern
fatalism which is preached 10 frequently, wool bear
ammioation. but hie as deadly in ita effects sv the miser-
able belief of the Turk "Allah. Allah, what is to be will
be." therefore, it is onion to try to help ourselves, or
to avert any impending calamity. The agricultural
labourer is gait.. sisthargie enough, and his olio. rtunithe ,
of doing better for his children then be hes doors for I
himself are quite few enough, to render the preachitig I
of such • disheartening doctrine • thing to be regretted
by all who &aire the emetic, ation of their sad lot;
and when leap sad lot I do not refer to the food their
wages provide, or the plains where they live though
I =jilt say something on thine subject.—but bemuse
of the wmte of human power such • life involves—that
generation after generation should do the work and
lend the life far too nearly of one of the lower animalp.
when the world need. thettvery man's energies and
abilities should be made the moat of—a lot undimmed
by the glad hopes which other men have of seeing their
children rise in the world, and one, doomed to
which, • men is alike incapable and careless of providing
for his declining years, but when old age comes
upon him he quietly sinks into tbe union
poorbouse, and at the last comes to a
_pauper'.
grave. But this preaching of destiny it not only, es I
think, impolitic, but I hope it is also without warrant.
It involves • very special knowledge about the original
designs of Providence. and particularly ail to who are
pre-ordalowl to be kept down, which I am Ines that
Mr. John Pope would not pretend to to say he poeseseed,
and touching which it is only nature' that the subjects of
It should desire to know the special revelation indicating
them as doomed to perpetual bondage. Will Mr. Pope
give us • little information on this point? But then
another view of the subject presents Hasa Many men
—I wish their number was far greater than it ti—bane
been bold enough ti fly in the fans of the Providence
that destined them to the plough-tail, according ,
to the theory of Mr. Pope, and have become
engineers. and navigators, and posts, and I know not
what besides. The history of our country teems with
instaoces of men, who, despite the greatest diM•
miner, have raieed themselves from the liamhleet
sphere to an elevated and woeful position, where
they have worked out for theineelves an honourable
competency and a solid reputation. Take • few of
them : Brindley the engineer, Cob the oatigater, and
Berns the poet, all common agricultural labourer.;
Osardinel Welny, De You, "themes's. and Kirke White,
the sons of butchers ; Banyan was • tinker. Step-
betimes an enfrine•teeinan, Michael Faraday the son of a
goer blackimith, Admiral Hobson • taflor's apprentice,
Huntingdon the preacher was originally a coal-b ,
Bir Thomas LSI/MOOS the eon of a tavern-keeper, Sir
Cloadealey Bhovell the great aimiral use a shoemaker,
as waa Bloomfield the poet, and William Carey the
missionary. Yet all these came out from their fellow. I
end bane made a name for themselves which will Dever
die, but will ever remain as height examples of well-
directed Industry triumphing over the ansidents of birth
and fortune. Let our acricultural labourers then dispel
From their minds the cloud, of deetiny, and struggle
onward and upward. If they eao't get out of the old
rot themselves they may help their children out of it
by keeping them at school as long as possible, by send•
leg them to the village night-school, and by loading
them to look forward to • better position in the world
than they themselves occupy. I am glad to be able to set
before them the example of • labourer in the neighbour.
hood of Wareham. Mr. George Keynes, speaking
at the maivereary at the Wareham and Purbeck
Labourer,' Friend Society, said—
' • - •

•
" A fa. be h. then tin tbe pieuchlel'este)thet„ V had
on eieol Wm, together glib his tioyr and whet beso
the con•equenee he had apprenticed his be to • mechanic.
and nor, he w. • y.ong Tom of tl or 11, earning indeed of
Do'. weal.. • fleY—iapi.lause I. That eras through the or
the lather mad* of the Looney be got by' the rime'hi "D—
(loud applau.)."
.

--- • • •
I never knew • better proof then thia promote that the
Wareham eticiet, is a true " lelsourer's friend," and I
hope the ble of Potheak haa miusl such labourers as
that noble ploughman. I.e. aorry that his name is not
mentioned. Remembering the low market value of •
labourer's mrviors, and the natural inclination such a man
must feel to devote any prises be may win to adding to
U.. autos ta of himself and hisfamily, it t. en aot of true
heroism that he should deny himself, and devote that
money to giving his son • better start in life than he
himself had. All honour to the ploughman of Yr.
George Keynes, and may he win ninny ,00ni, "4. ;
and al praise to hia mechanic son, may be be teomfort to
be father in him old age, sad keep him from the
labourer's last boom (the workhoumi). Let the lebouren
of Dorset learn to iwto themselves u this man has
done, and than they will not only do good to them-
solve. bat be an honour to their coantry•—Youni. se.,
DORSET.

-
teas arid coffees have bog since taken their
potitioa ea ertieles of the best and purest diaoriptioa.
They are preferred by fernilies in all parte of the king.
dom, who oonsteetly 1:I•11 them. These choice teas sod
ooffese are sold by law agents, as Dented is our
advertising columns. To meet the increasing derasod.
addition.' agent. are required. Particulars of agency
sent free by pat by ossesb, Baulk jtOn., SD, resieareh-
Ftreet, Loudon.

I-4--- It

eatesiastital Intstlima.