The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-22 00:00:00

tions or living two or three miles from the acres which they
cultivate, in miserable hovels which engender sickness ar.d
weaken their energy and strength. The farmer will say
directly—" Give my labourers who reside en my acres and
reside in houses which allow them to come to their labour
full of energy and vigour, energy and vigour given by
sound sleep and pure air. The farm will then be more valu-
able to the tenant, and if so, it must be more valuable to
the proprietor, and it does tell upon the rent. In this way
the latter will find an adequate return for his investment.
I do not say this is an easy difficulty to combat. It is a great
one, but it must be met. The question, however, is usually
argued as if the proprietor was called upon suddenly to
sweep away all the miserable tenements he has inherited,
and to cover his estate with model cottages. That is im-
possible, for you cannot in an instant effect this great
change. You cannot unhouse the whole peasantry from an
estate at once. It can only be done gradually. Take a
model estate of 2,000 acres. On that estate you require a
minimum of 60 cottages. The expenditure for creating 63
cottages would probably be £6,000 or £7,000. I have sees
the estimate of such an expenditure. Well, how is a man
to expend £6,000 or £7,000, which is perhaps three times his
rental, unless he has that which we have no right to sup-
pose—other sources of capital ? No one expects anything
of the kind. No one expects that because you have dis-
covered a want in your social system and a duty to perform
that it is to be done in a manner injurious to yourselves. You
cannot expect every landed proprietor to be a Duke of
Northumberland—a man whose hand is as extensive as his
fortune, and who built cottages on 200,000 acres at an ex-
pense of some £50,000, Her Majesty conferred a riband on

the Duke of Northumberland because he created a Channel I
fleet at the moment we had none ; but the man who lays
out £500,000 in building cottages on his estate as much de-
serves a blue riband as the man who creates a Channel fleet,
or even at the head of a Channel fleet leeds us on to victory.
(Cheers.) Every man cannot do what the Duke of North-
umberland has done, but every man can do something. He
may build a few cottages, or repair others. You ought to
keep before your eyes, clearly and closely, the object you
have to attain, and avail yourselves of every opportunity of
accomplishing the result. (Hear,) The other day I saw some
inferior tenements built by persons who speculate in building
cottages. These inferior tenements were purchased and con-
verted into excellent cottages—not exactly model cottages,
but cottages in which a man may live iu health and in some
degree of comfort and happiness. These are opportunities of
which every man may avail himself. This is a duty which
must be performed. (Hear.) The question is becoming both
n town and country one of paramount interest. The great-
ness of the country depends on the race that tills it, and,
whatever our ancestors may have done to make the country
great or famous, whatever liberty they may have acquired,
whatever wealth they may have accumulated, if the race
becomes inferior, you lose all these results and all these
blessings. It is a question to which we must give our minds.
L do not touch on the scenes of life in our great cities. They

are familiar to all. They prove that wretchedness and crime
are co-ordinate ; but, while we deplore the condition of our
working classes in our gz cat cities, it is impossible any longer
to shut our eyes to the condition of our agricultural
labourers, and it is our duty to set an example on this sub-
ject. I was reading lately in an old book written more
than 200 years ago, and I was surprised to find that this
question, which is supposed to be one of modern origin dis-
covered by the philosophers of the 19th century, had ate
trated the attention of society nearly 300 years ago. Nearly

300 years ago, to the honour and glory of the Church, in.
tramural sepulture was forbidden. I may then say that
there is nothing new under the sun, and what we look upon

as the result of enlightenment and progress was practically

considered a considerable time ago. A very great scholar
observed that in his opinion the declaration of the wisest of
mankind, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity," was not a
misprint, but a mistake of the copyist, and that he believed
the words really were nut " Yanitas vanitatum, onmia
vanitas," but " Sanitas sanitatum, omnia a nitas." Now,
I quite agree that it must have been a misquotation
of the words (4" the wise King of Israel, and, if so, that this
would have constituted ono of his best claims to be consi-
dered the wisest of mankind. I have ventured to place be-
fore you the condition of the three classes of the agricul-
tural world, and I think that we may all of us look with
some interest on our position. As far as this country is
concerned, I am willing to admit that there has been some
improvement in the condition of the labouring class ; but I
do not want it to be supposed that I am making any critical
remarks on the conduct cf the landlords or the tenants. I
am sensible that as much fault lies with the labouring class
themselves ; and it is for this reason that I intend, with the
permission of the committee, to offer a prize of £5 for the
cottage that is kept in the best condition. I think it has
been said before, to show the aselessness of such prizes,
that what we want is new cottages, and not rewards for
keeping old ones in good order. I think that criticism is
quite superfluous. What we want is to bring the attention
of the people themselves to the subject. Now, although it
is humiliating to confess, yet I do confess, that cleanliness
and order are not matters of instinct ; they are matters of
education, and, like most great things—mathematics and
classics—you must cultivate a taste for them. People, from
neglect and being left alone, will wallow in the mire, like
brutes and beasts, and not complain of the condition
in which they are placed. If you offer a prize you awake
the attention of the community to the subject. They try to
obtain a prize, and although only:one man obtains a prize,
in the research and pursuit of the prize they discover such
sources of delight and such new causes of happiness and
content that you educate them to that cleanliness and order
which you want to instil into their minds. (Hear, hear.)
Therefore, I am of opinion that a priza of that kind, if I
am permitted to offer it, will not be fruitless. (Hear.) 1
thank you, gentlemen, on the part of myself and my col•
leagues, for the kindness with which our names have been
received. In making these remarks on the general condi-
tion of the agricultural interest I think it is one to which
we may generally look with satisfaction and content, but
at the same time with an increased sense of our duties,
both as proprietors and occupiers, and a conviction that in
proving the condition of the labouring classes engaged in
agriculture we aro, in fact, increasing the sources of our
own wealth, and confirming the sources of our own hap-
piness. The right hon. gentleman resumed his seat amid
loud and prolonged cheering.
SMITH,t was also responded to
wereMr BERNARD and
Mr and several other toasts afterwards given
aL d acknowledged.