The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-01 00:00:00

THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY S HAR-
VEST-HOME.

During the last two or three years the Earl of
Shaftesbury has given a series of harvest-homes
-upon different parts of his extensive estates in the
neighbourhood of Wimborne St. Giles, Dorsetshire ;
and that for the parishes of Horton, Chalbury,
Woodlands, and Hinton Martel was held upon
Chalhury-hill, on Saturday last. The day was
beautifully fine, and a more appropriate spot for
such a gathering could scarcely be desired, afford-
ing, as it does, a magnificent prospect of the sur-
rounding country. After attending divine service,
the
.labourers, both male and female, to the number
of about 430, assembled in a large marquee, on the
top of the hill, where a bountiful good old English
dinner was spread with much taste for their enter-
tainment. His Lordship presided at one of the
tables, and several ladies and gentlemen assisted
in dispensing the good things provided. On the
repast being concluded, and thanks offered up, the
health of the noble earl was proposed by Mr. John
Newman, and drunk amid enthusiastic cheers.
The Earl of SHAFTESBURY, after impressing on
his hearers the duty of thanking God for the boun-
ties of the harvest, and for the good things they
had received that day, said,—My good friends,
having you here, I must take this opportunity of
offering to you one or two words of counsel—
sound and good counsel—the result of experience,
and stimulated by the great desire I have for
your welfare. Now, you men, I address you first.
T do implore you to turn to good account the ad-
vantages you now enjoy. It is within your
power greatly to improve your own condition.
You are, I am happy to say, now placed
in far better circumstances than you used to be •,
you have more indulgent and more kindly disposed
employers, you have a greater amount of occupa-
tion offered to you, and if you will but go zealously
into the work before you—more particularly into
those large works of drainage I am carrying on now
and shall continue to carry on for the benefit of the
estate—it is in your power to realise such wages as
may place you and your families in a far superior
condition than hitherto. But when you make these
wages, recollect they are not to be expended in
idleness and indulgence. Above all things, beware
of the pot-house ; above all things, beware of drink.
It is the great, the besetting curse of the working
population of these realms. I have told you before,
and I will tell you, again, lest you forget the fact,
that the working people of the three kingdoms of
England, Scotland, and Ireland expend upon beer,
ardent spirits, and tobacco—l am almost ashamed
and regret to say it, no less than £65,000,000 every
year of their lives. Why, only conceive what such
a sum of money would be in the pockets of the work-
ing men—only conceive what such a sum of money
would be expended in the improvement of their
homes, in the education of their children for the
general benefit of themselves, to be laid up in
savinga banks for an evil day, or the period of old
age ! Wt all this you have within your own reach;
and that enormous sum of money—which if the
Queen were to endeavour to take out of your
pockets in the shape of taxation would cause a
revolution—you spend yourselves, to your own
misery, the misery of your families, and those
who come after you. His lordship then alluded
to the system of evening classes which he was en-
deavoming to,extenal, urging them to avail them-
selves of the advantasses thus afforded, and after-
wards proceeded :—Now, my good women, I wish
to say a few words on the responsibilities which
rest upon you. I wish to impress updn the women,
especially the daughters of toil, how great are your
responsibilities, how vast your power, and what a
wonderful influence you can exert over those com-
mitted to your care. Why, you women, are you
aware of this, that more depends upon you,
upon your conduct, upon your principles, upon the
mode in which you treat and bring up your chil-
dren—more depends upon you than all the men in
the world put together ? You have the children
tinder your care, and you have almost absolute com-
mand over them until eight or nine years of age ;
and during that time what is there you may not
implant in their raiads ? What is there you may
not teach them 'to do and believe ? Do you dis-
charge this duty, or do you neglect the obligation
imposed upon you ? Oh ! let me impress upon you
that your own happiness, the happiness of your
husbands, the happiness of your children—more,
the dignity and happiness of the country to which
you belong, depend upon the way in which you
rform your duties. What makes a great nation ?
What are lords and ladies—what are all the great
folks without a moral and happy people living in
the realms ? You it is who constitute the strength of
a nation ; andyou it is who will constitute the weak-
ness of a nation if you do not bestow yourselves,
by the blessing of Almighty God, to giving to
the children committed to your care the advice
and instruction you may learn from the lips of your
pastors and from the open Bible. God has com-
mitted to every one a duty ; and bear in mind your
first duty to your children and your husbands im-
poses upon you the necessity of giving them a
cleanly, cheerful, happy home. Many a husband
has been driven to the pothouse by indifference to
this and the conduct of the wife, and many a hus-
band may be won back by the attractions of a
comfortable home and the decent and cheerful
demeanour of the wife. Depend upon it, there is
nothing more honourable, nothing more dignified,
nothing more captivating, nothing more attractive
to the heart, nothing that can more deeply impress
the mind of a thinking man than to see the decent
happy home of one of the working classes. Let me
remind you that there sits on the throne of these
realms one who is a bright exrmple to every one,
even the poorest in her dominions. There can be
nothing more beautiful or more simple than her
domestic life—nothing more respectful to her
husband—nothing more tender to her children ;
but of this I am sure, that nothing would give her
more delight than that we might be able to say—
" After all, good as you are, happy and honourable
as your life may be, your _Majesty is no better than
any of your subjects." Would to God we might
be able to say it. Do you labour to obtain that
happy end? I shall not be wanting, by God's
blessing, to aid you in the work. I have donewhat
I can ; and by the blessing of God I will go on
to improve your dwellings and to take care
thut every peasant on the estate shall have a
dwelling with everything that decency and
comfort require. But then if I do these
things at considerable expense and labour you
must join with me and strengthen my hands, and
show the work I undertake is not altogether fruit-
less. My good men, my good women, can I trust
and believe that from this day forward you will
labour with me in this happy work, for the honour
of the estate, for your own comfort, and for the
good of all ? His lordship concluded with a few
words of earnest exhortation, reminding them of
the blessings they enjoyed, that they were a free
people, a British people, and that it was their own
fault if they were not a Christian people.
The observations of the noble earl were listened
to with profound attention throughout. After
drinking the health of the Countess of Shaftesbury,
Lord Ashley, &c., the party rose to join in the
dance or participate in the rural sports which had
been provided for their amusement, thus spending
a most pleasant and happy day.