The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-25 00:00:00

N, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 25, 1844.

It has been proposed to open a subscription for
the compensation of Mr. Ronge, the gentleman in
question, his parish is called Laura Hutte."
The Journal des Debats gives a translation
of the letter which has caused this great sen-
sation in Germany. It is an earnest and eloquent
protest against the exhibition by Arnoldi, Bishop of
Treves, of some rag which he offers for public worship,
as part of our blessed Lord's raiment. The letter has
a good deal of the plainness and vigour of Luther's
earlier style, but with much more of classical polish.

FREE TRADE IN ALL THINGS.
(From the Struggle.)
There are very few that seem to understand, or are
willing to trace, the workings of monopoly. It
always shields itself under the plea of supporting
some feeble class whose interest the public should
consider more than their own. "Oh you should
stop French shoes, for if they are allowed to
come, whatever is to become of our shoemakers ?"
" You should stop foreign gloves, foreign silks, and
all that, or the people employed in making these
articles will be ruined." Free-traders, to be con-
sistent, connot lend themselves to stop any of these;
for they maintain that it is the interest of the public
to " buy in the cheapest market," both as to grain and
every other article. And if they cannot show that
such freedom of imports is the greatest advantage to
the greatest number, they ought at once to abandon
their principles. Let us, for instance, take shoes
as a specimen. Suppose that, quality for quality,
we can get foreign shoes for eight shillings for which
we now pay ten shillings. I don't suppose we can
in reality get them any cheaper than the English
shoemakers can sell them for, having the advantage
of a market at home ; but, for illustration's sake, we
will suppose so. The shoe maker is a loser by this
free trade, but all the shoe wearers are gainers, and
they, of course, are the most numerous class. Nay,
we shall see that others are gainers as well as they.
What becomes of all the two shillings saved at every
pair of shoes ? These are not thrown away, but ex-
pended with other artisans in purchasing additional
articles. The shillings will soon be converted into
new umbrellas, new pots or spoons, new shirts or
sheets, new books, or perhaps into an additional pair
of shoes in the year. Persons engaged in the manu-
facture of these articles are sure to get the difference.
Free importation, which is nothing more than free
competition, I believe is beneficial to all the parties
concerned, and to the shoemaker among the rest. It
is almost certain to set his wits to work, to enable
him to make as good and as cheap an article as his
Parisian competitor, who has to pay all the ex-
penses of import; and if he find out that one disad-
vantage he labours under in the contest is dear eating,
he will be ready, as he ought, to enforce the principle
of competition in this also. To the purchaser of the
article it must necessarily be an advantage. To the
country at large it is equally so. Every country gains
in proporion as it possesses itself of the greatest
amount of necessaries and enjoyments by the least
amount of labour. Whatever quantity of shoes are
imported, they must be paid for by something made
in this country ; that is, the labour expended on shoe-
making in France must be exchanged for the labour
expended on something in England, say linen yarn,
or whatever else it may be. Whether the linen yarn
be sent direct to France, or whether it be exported
to some other place for gold, and that gold paid to
France, it amounts to the same thing. The cheaper
shoes can be got, and the better it must be to the
whole country. And if the English have a genius
for shoe-making this competition will stimulate it to
their advantage.; and if not, they will soon move
into other branches of labour wherein they really excel.
I believe we want nothing but perfect freedom to
bring out the capabilities of every country—freedom
to carry our labour to any part of the world we
please—freedom to the whole world to bring their
labour to us—and freedom for every workman
at home to apply his genius and talent in any depart-
ment of enterprise he thinks proper, without control.
If we are not prepared to go this full length in
carrying out our free trade principles, we ought never
to complain of the monopolist landlord who interdicts
the supply of foreign corn to keep up his own rents

NEWSPAPER PRESS OF FRANCE.
In this present year, 1844, when the several parties
in the Chambers have their various echoes in the
journals of the country, and when the principal func-
tion of the press is to diffuse the ideas which are dis-
cussed there, we shall be able to give the best general
impression of the different portions of the periodical
press, by classifying the parties of which they are re-
spectively the organs. Whatever may be the sub-
divisions of parties in the Chamber of Deputies, one
broad line passes through it and divides the whole
house into two sections. On one side are the dynasties
or those who support the Orleans family : on the other
those who are hostile to that family and who fovour
the Duc de Bordeaux or a republic. The dynasties,
who occupy the centre droll and the centre gauche,
are subdivided into doctrinaires, juste milieu, tiers
parti, and ministeriel: of these the section most de-
voted to the preservation of the royal authority, calls
its members Conservateurs. The principal organs of
the Conservative party are Le Journal des Debats, La
Presse, Le Moniteur Parisien, Le Messager des Cham-
bres, La Revue des Deux Mondes, Le Globe, La
Revue de Paris. This party also has the direction of
Le Moniteur, the only jonrnal which gives a complete
and regular report of the Parliamentary debates.
The centre gauche, conductrd in an irresponsible
manner by M. Thiers has its representatives in Le
Courier Francais, Le Constitutionnel and La Patrie.
The tiers parti—a moveable body, now voting with
the centre droit, now with the centre gauche at the
bidding of M. Dufaure, is alternately blamed and
praised by the journals representing those various
shades of opinion. La gauche, directed by M. Odillon
Barrot, has its official interpreter in Le Siecle, of which
the principal editor is another deputy, M. Chambolle.
L'extreme gauche, or gaucheradicale, is sustained by Le
Nationel, La Refome, La Revue Indepentlante. The views
of these three papers are very decided and uncompro-
mising, and they exercise at least as much influence upon
their friends in the Chamber, as the latter upon them.
La droite legitimiste, the different portions of which
differ very materially in some respects, notwithstand-
ing their agreement in the general principle from
which they derive their name, is represented in the
press by La Quotidienne, La Gazette de France, La
France, L'Echo Francais and La Mode. Each party
thus retains several counsel on its side, who plead its
cause before the bar of the public—a judge who some
sometimes, indeed, appears to nod amidst the most
impassioned speeches, but who, at others, takes per-
haps only too lively an interest in the pleadings, and
sums up and passes sentence with somewhat more of
heat and empressement than becomes the gravity of
the judicial character. Of course these counsel are
none of them paid : nothing could be more offensive
than such a supposition. They are none of them
paid : but some are feed—(subventione is the proper
term as applied to a journal)—and this subvention, as
far as the Ministerial journals are concerned, is
avowed in secret according to circumstances.—Foreign
and Colonial Quarterly Review.

Love's DESPHRATION.—On Wednesday last, some
excitement was created in Ulverston, by a respectably
attired female casting herself out of the window of a
room in the Queen's Arms Inn there. She tied a hand-
kerchief round her face, then slipped it up over her eyes
thus becoming" blind" to all danger, and putting up the
sash of the window, got out backwards, and after hang.
ing by her hands for a short time, dropped down. She
alighted on her feet on the pavement, but losing her ba-
lance she fell backwards, her head coming in contact
with the stones. She was immediately taken up in a
state of insensibility, and carried into the inn. From
inquiries, it appears that the female is the daughter of
a respectable tradesman in Kendal, and is about nineteen
years of age; that she has become enamoured of a young
man about the same age, who is connected with a corn-
pany of itinerant players which were at Kendal last
week, and removed from that place to Ulverston, where
she also proceeded on the wings of love, in pursuit of the
`• cushla ma chree." She was, however, followed by a
relative, who took her to the Queen's Arms, where she
had her under restraint, when the incident above related
took place.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.-At a Committee of
the Court of Aldermen, held on Saturday, the proposi-
tion of Alderman Wood, to abolish the evening sittings
of the Central Criminal Court for the trial of prisoners at
the Old Bailey, was taken into consideration, and it was
unanimously resolved that the experiment should be
tried, commencing with the sittings in the month of
December next. The consideration of the second part
Alderman Wood's proposition, as to having a third court
tiler the greater dispatch of business and the accommoda-
tion of the public, was reserved until the result of the
experiment of abolishing the evening sittings should be
ascertained.

BUY SALT MEAT IN THE MORNlNG.—Selrera
butchers, from Leadenhall-market, who were summoned
on Friday and fined for having a draught of from one to
two ounces against purchasers, each declared that the
scale, being wooden, became saturated with the salt and
brine front the quantity of salt beef and pork weighed
therein throughout the day. The Lord Mayor asked
the defendants whether the draught was only against the
purchaser in the evening, and being answered in the
affirmative, his Lordship said that under such circum-
stances he would advise the public " to buy their salt
meat in the morning."
The majority of the residents in the Tower of
London, belonging to the civil departments there, have
received notice from the Secretary to the Board of Ord-
nance to quit their respective dwellings by the end of
March next. It is understood that the tenements which
they occupy are to be pulled down, and that barracks
and store houses are to be erected on the site.—United
Service Gazette.

On the 14th inst. there was picked up on Broad
Haven Sands, in St. Bride's Bay, a new boat, having
" Simeon, of Langharne, John Sael," painted thereon,
and had one oar and a piece of chain and rope in her.—
Cambrian.
THE MAGISTRACY.--John Kelly, Esq., has been
appointed resident magistrate of Shinrone, King's
County, replacing Sir William Lynar, who succeeds Mr.
Kelly in Waterford.—Dublin Evening Post.

DREADFUL RAILWAY ACCIDENT
AND LOSS OF LIFE.
INQUEST ON ONE OF THE BODIES.
At eleven o'clock, on Friday morning, the coroner,
Mr. Swann, and a jury, held an inquest on the body
of William Varnalls, at the Three Wheat Sheaves,
Old Lenton.
William Gell identified the body.
Thomas Cooper, of New Lenton, lace-maker, said,
I was akßeeston station at half-past two o'clock, in-
tending to come to Nottingham by the Derby train.
The Derby train being delayed, I was standing at
the Beeston station, and saw a train coming from
Nottingham upon the down-line instead of the up-
line. That was the line nearest Beeston; I saw Mr.
Lightfoot upon the tender of that lot of carriages.
They whistled very much coming up. I saw it go
past, and they shouted to a boy (Tom) to turn
the point just above the station, so as to place them
on the right line. Mr. Lightfoot there got off, and
came back to the station-house ; he went into a
little room, began to talk to a policeman, and I over-
heard Mr. Lightfoot say, that there was a tender off
the line, and that was the reason they came on
the down-line, and he had come to stop the
Derby train. After they had been talking some time,
the policeman fetched a red flag and gave it to the
boy, and said, " Go full half a mile up the Derby
line." In about ten minutes, the Derby train came
down at a slow pace, as I thought, in consequence of
the flag; it stopped at the station some time. Whilst
the Derby train was standing, I saw a policeman
running up the centre of the road as if he had come
from Nottingham, and I heard him say to Mr. Light-
foot, " If I were you, I wouldn't start the train yet."
This I heard him say above once or twice.—(The
witness here minutely described the policeman, who
was called into the room, and stated that his name
was James Howitt.)—ln fire or ten minutes after
that, I heard Mr. Lightfoot say, " I think they have
had time enough to get the tender off." Mr. Light-
foot then came out of the little room, and mounted
the tender. I should have gone down by that train,
but I was alarmed after what Mowitt had said, and
determined not to go. This I state upon my oath. I
was very near Mr. Lightfoot when he got upon the
tender, and I heard him tell the engine-
driver to go at a slow speed. The train then
started at a slow pace. I stopped at Beeston station,
and in a short time (it might be a couple of minutes)
I heard a loud crash. I was listening to hear whether
all was safe. There was a very thick fog, and I could
not see the trains, nor half way to them. I thought
there had been an accident on the line. I and two or
three other persons ran down the line to see what was
the matter. Before I could see the train I met the
guard of the down-train running towards Beeston.—
(Joseph Coleburn was then called, and identified by
the witness. Coleburn is an engineer, who occasionally
acts as guard, and was doing so on this particular
occasion.) I said to him, "Is there as an accident ?"
He raised up his hands and said, "Oh, yes, there is a
serious accident, but I havn't seen what I " I ran
forward, and he went on to Beeston. I came up to
the trains ; they were, I should say, about three-
quarters of a mile:or a mile from Beeston. I saw two
trains, both upon the same line, crushed into one
another. Some of the passengers were still
in the carriages, and I saw some lying on
the ground, as if hurt. I saw some men car-
rying Mr. Dean into an adjoining field, and as-
sisted in lifting him into a cart. I also saw a stout
elderly man in the same field as Mr. Dean ; he was
bleeding very much from his head, or his eyes, or
his ears. I saw nothing the matter with his leg. I
helped to lift him into the cart, and he complained of
his chest. He said, " I feel very tizzy ; for God's
sake, let me lie down." I never saw that his leg was
broken after he had been placed in the cart. There
was ene other person in the cart before the deceased.
Mr. Dean was also lifted into the cart. He was
alive, but I said to Stanton, " George, you may
depend upon it, Mr. Dean is dying." I saw no more
put into the cart, and I don't know who drove it
away. I then went back to see if any other person.
wanted assistance. I helped Mrs. Dean, (Mr
Dean's brother's wife) to Beeston ; she was hurt, but
not so much so as to be unablelto walk with my as-
sistance. I saw several other persons injured ; I
shouldZthink ten or twelve. I did not return again to
the train. The engines and carrges were very much
shattered, but I cannot give any description of the
damage. I know none of them.
William Murden, of Old Lenton, labourer, said, at
the time of the accident I was working in Mr.
Cheetham's field, which adjoins the railway, and I
had a horse and cart there. I heard the crash, and
immediately I and Mr. Cheetham, who was the only
person with me, ran to see what was the matter. I
saw two trains on the same line, and they appeared
to have met each other. When I first saw them they
had run one into the other; one or two of the carriages
were broken.
By a Juryman—l recollect no whistling; I was
taking no notice. I was about a hundred yards
distant from the rails, and could have seen the trains
except on account of the fog. I did not see any
engineer that was wounded.
James Howitt, lodge-keeper at the Wilford-gate,
said that a train arrived at Nottingham from Derby
at a little before two o'clock in the afternoon of the
same day, with coals and passengers. It left the latter
in the station-yard, and came back with the coals
again, on the departing line, to the points just above
my gate, to cross, in order to come in on the arrival
line, for me to turn the coals into the coal line. I saw
that as they were crossing the points the engine went
on one line, and the tender on the other, which threw the
tender off the line. I cannot say how this happened,
for the points had always worked properly before.
There was no man there then, for the points being
self-acting points, it was not necessary to have a man
stationed there. Trains had passed over them two or
three times that day. I have known the points to
stick sometimes in winter and bad weather, but never
to get wrong before in such weather as it was yester-
day. The man had oiled them on the day before in
my presence. The engine and tender stuck fast, and
we could not move them. I ran into the yard, and
called the labourers and engine-:nen to assist, but we
were unable to move them, as it required jacks and levers
to get the tender on the line. Kearsley (an engineer,
amongst those who came up), when he saw what had
occurred, told me to go off to Beeston, to stop any
trains that might be coming down, because he s/id
they should have to go on the down line with the
next train. That was about two o'clock, and a train
had to start at a quarter-past two. I immediately
set off, and ran as hard as I could towards Beeston,
but Kearsley's train caught me about 300 yards
below the station, and passed me there. I called to
the engine as it passed, and could hear the whistle
blowing behind me before they caught me. I kept
running on as fast as I could, and when I got to the
station, the train had got on the right line, and had
gone forward. The station-master at Beeston was
there, and I said to him, " Turn the red board up the
line, until you see a train coming up. We have got
a train off at the bottom end, and one line is blocked
up." The person who was with him went and turned
the signal directly. I waited about there until three
o'clock, exactli at which hour a train from Derby
came down. The train stopped on seeing the signal.
Mr. Lightfoot said, " You and I will go down by this
train to Nottingham." I said, "We had better wait
until the train from Nottingham comes up, it may
come on this line." He said, "Oh no, it will come
up on the right line ; John Kearsley's there, and he
will see all is right."
The CORONER—Stop, I shall not put that down.
After some discussion all the hearsay evidence was
struck out, and the inquest was adjourned till Tuesday.
INQUEST ON MR. JOHN DEAN.
At five o'clock on Friday afternoon, M. Browne,
Gent., Coroner, and a very respectable jury, of which
Mr. rilliam aylor was foreman, assembled at the
General Hospital, to inquire into the cause of the
death of Mr. John Dean.
Thomas Cooper, James Ilowitt, and Jonathan
Raven, were examined, and gave evidence vary similar
to that given at Lenton.
Mr. Sibson, house-surgeon, attributed death, which
took place before deceased reached the hospital, to
internal injuries received by the sudden concussion of
the carriages, which caused a doubling or sudden
twisting, striking the body against a hard substance,
had caused the liver to be nearly divided into two parts.
Messrs. Wadsworth and Patchitt appeared on be-
half of the Directors, and Mr. Campbell for Mr.
Lightfoot, superintendent of the railway.
The inquiry was continued till a quarter past ten,
and then adjourned till Monday, at two o'clock in the
afternoon.

THE LATE ACCIDENT ON THE
GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.
INQUEST ON THE BODIES.
On Saturday, Mr. Wakley, M.P., held an inquest
at the Du Burgh Arms Tavern, West Drayton, on
the bodies of Samuel Brooks and William Tuckwell,
two labourers in the employ of the Great Western
Railway Company, who were killed near the West
Drayton station on the morning of Thursday last.
George Inglis deposed that he was an engine-driver,
in the employ of the Great Western Railway Com-
pany. On the morning of Thursday last he left the
Paddington terminus with the Bellona engine and
train, which was the eight o'clock train from Pad-
dington. He was not aware of the accident at the
time of its occurrence, but discovered it when he
reached Slough, by seeing blood on the guard-
Iron of the wheels. After witness arrived at the
Swindon station, he, for the first time, learned the
extent of the accident. The journey was foggy
throughout. Witness's train had no lights When
witness was close to the West Drayton station be
sounded the whistle, which it was customary for
him to do. That was when he was twenty or thirty I
yards distatit from the station. Witness had sounded
the whistle' full a hundred times between Paddington
and West Drayton. The fog was so dense that be
was quite close to the station before he could ale

that the signal was right, and the policeman's arm up.
Witness's train did not stop at West Drayton. It
was a quick train. Did not notice any labourers on
the line that morning, nor any getting out of the way.
Patrick Hearn, a labourer on the railway, deposed
that he was at the West Drayton station when the
accident happened. He heard of it about eight or
nine minutes afterwards. He immediately hastened
to the spot, and found the body of Samuel Brooks
about 140 yards from the spot where the occurrence
took place, lying on the middle of the line. His
body was knocked to pieces, and the head was bat-
tered. The two men had not left witness five
minutes before. Witnees was not on the line when
the trains passed.

Benjamin White deposed that he was stoker to the
Bellona engine, and was with it on Thursday morn-
ing. It was very foggy, and the whistle was blown
about every quarter of a mile. The engine-driver
also whistled about ten yards from the bridge, and
again as soon as they had passed West Drayton
station.

A lengthened and desultory discussion then ensued
between the coroner, jury, witnesses, and officers of
the Company, as to the best means of preventing the
recurrence of such accidents in future. All the wit-
nesses and the officers of the Company agreed that
they were quite satisfied with the present arrange-
ments, and said that if the men would not themselves
take the necessary precautions by getting off the line
earlier, instead of waiting until a train is close to
them, all the restrictions in the world would not pre-
vent such accidents; they could not, therefore, sug-
gest anything that would IN an improvement.
The CORONER said, that being the case, that the
men who were the most interested in the matter did
not see how it could be altered, and could not make
any suggestion for its improvement, he did not see
that the jury could go advantageously further into the
case. It was clearly an accident, arising from the de-
ceased's negligence and incaution.

The jury- immediately said they were quite satisfied
on that point,'and returned a verdict of—Accidental
death.

THE FATAL ACCIDENT NEAR
LEICESTER.

LEICESTER, SATURDAY MORNING.—An inquiry into
the circumstances attending the death of Edward Jowett,
the unfortunate man killed on the railway near this place
on Thursday night, took place last evening, at six
o'clock, before Mr. John Gregory, coroner for South
Leicestershire, and a respectable jury at the Marl-
borough's Head, near the station.
.....

From the evidence of the two principal witnesses, the
driver and stoker of a coal train which left Leicester for
Rugby, about seven o'clock on Thursday night, it
appeared that deceased acted as breaksman to the same
train, and accompaniod them on that occasion. After
passing through the Kingston-hill Tunnel', which is
little more than a mile from Leicester, one of the coupling
chains connecting the coal trucks broke, and the train
was stopped to remedy the accident. This having been
done, the engine was again set in motion, but owing to
the humid state of the atmosphere, and consequent
slipperiness of the rails, the wheels did not " bite,"
and the deceased got down off the truck on which
he was riding, and taking a small spade or shovel with
him, crossed the line for the purpose of obtaining
a little sand to throw upon the rails. While in
the act of doing this, the second goods train from London
came along the down line at a rapid pace, but, from the
fog which prevailed at the time, it was not observed by
the driver of the coal train until within a few yards'
distance. When the train had swept past, the driver
called out to the deceased, and, obtaining no answer,
commenced a search for him. In a very tew moments
he was discovered in a senseless state by the road side,
with a frightful wound over the right temple, from which
the brains protruded, and other contusions about the
face. He was immediately placed on one of the trucks,
and conveyed back to Leicester, where he lingered until
ten o'clock, and then expired. In the absence of all
positive knowledge, it is conjectured that, in consequence
of the noise from the engine of the coal train, the
deceased was altogether unaware of the approach of the
down train, the connecting bar between the wheels of
the locomotive attached to which appears to have struck
his head, aad inflicted the wound above described.
After hearing evidence to this effect, the jury expressed.
themselves satisfied, and returned a verdict of " Acci-
dental death."

The deceased was a very well conducted and respect-
able young man, and the solo support of an aged mother.
He had been employed on the railway for some years.

STATE OF THE AGRICULTURAL !
POOR.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir,—The sympathy you evince for the distressing
condition of the agricultural labourers induces me to
hope that the following remarks may not be unaccept-
able. The Times has treated the subject with so much
feeling and truth, that in the end a beneficial effect must
be produced upon those who have the power of apply-
ing a remedy to the evils of which we all so loudly com-
plain. The remedy is in the hands of the Government
of the country and its landed proprietors, to whom re-
spectively my suggestions are addressed.
As regards any Government measure of relief, I will
say, in a word, that the only principle upon which it can
proceed must be that of providing work for the labourer,
instead of the system at present pursued. This might
be done simply and effectually by the adoption of either
of the following plans, or by a judicious combination of
them:—
I would propose, in the first place, that, in accordance
with the recommendation of a Committee of the House
I of Commons, the clauses of the present Highway Act
for forming parishes into districts, and for appointing
' district surveyors, be made compulsory; that the appoint-
ment of the surveyors and the management of the high-
ways devolve upon the board of guardians ; and that
labourers in want of work be employed by the surveyors
under the authority of the board, being paid by the
piece, and at a rate of remuneration lower by twenty per
cent. than the average wages of independent labourers
in the neighbourhood. lam satisfied that the offer of
the workhouse as a test of destitution might thus be
safely withdrawn, as no man would accept the inferior
wages and hard labour of the surveyor unless compelled
by actual necessity.
My second proposal is, that a labour rate be established
by law, to be applied solely in the payment of agricultu-
ral labourers who require employment, and to be levied
exclusively on lands of the value of 20L a year and up-
wards, as persons assessed below that amount are una-
ble to employ labourers, and very frequently in difficul-
ties themselves. (See note 1.) -
A third measure measure would be to prohibit the ad-
mission into the workhouse of unemployed labourers,
excepting a very small portion (say one in ten) of the
whole number who might at any time be without work ;
the remaining nine to be entitled to out-door relief suffi-
cient for the maintenance of themselves and families.
This would operate as a strong inducement to the rate-
payers to provide the labourers with work ; it would put
an end to offers of employment at low wages, with the
alternative of the workhouse ; while at the same time,
by permitting the offer of the house in a few cases, it
would furnish a security against wilful and profligate
idleness.
On the adoption of any of these plans, it should be
rendered penal to combine for the purpose of defeating
their operation. It is a frequent practice at present
to collect private subscriptions as well as the paro-
chial rates, with the view of giving a cheaper relief
than that authorised by law and sanctioned by the
board of guardians ; the object being, under the dis-
guise of charity, to relieve the pockets of the rate-
payers by obliging the labourer, under threat of the
workhouse, to accept an inferior rate of wages, or a
lower amount of relief than would be ordered him by
the board. And I may take this occasion to reprobate
another injurious practice, by which many children are
deprived of the opportunity of education. The young
children of widows and others receiving out-door relief
are compelled to work ; their trilling earnings are de-
ducted from the relief given to their parents, whose
forlorn condition is rendered even more miserable by
increased expenses in food and clothing consequent upon
the labour and exposure of the children. The employ-
ment of such children under the age of twelve should be
prohibited by law.
The last measure for the relief of the labourer falling
within the province of Government which I am prepared
to recommend, is the encouragement of well-combined
plans of emigration, in which labourers contributing
their labour and binding themselves to the fulfilment of
their part in the undertaking during a term of years,
would, at the expiration of the term, receive an equitable
share upon a division of the lands reclaimed. (See
note 2.)
By carrying out one or more of these measures, or
rather a combination of them, all with suitable modifica-
tions, the Government of this country would, I am con-
vinced, greatly ameliorate the condition of the agricul-
tural labourer, and that upon the only sound and safe
principle—the only principle that is consistent with his
independence and self-respect, viz., giving him occupation
instead of alms.
I now proceed to remedies which are in the hands of
individuals; and these, though ineffectual unless sup-
ported by legislative interference, are simple in their ap-
plication, and in no respect open to objection. Let the
landed proprietors act upon a proper sense of their re-
sponsibilities, and not to be deterred by any personal
trouble, or tho appearance (for I am persuaded it would
be only an appearance) of personal sacrifice, and I ven-
ture to predict that we shall hear much less of the suf-
fering and disorder of the labouring population.
It will not be out of place here to remark, that I be-
lieve the existing distress to be aggravated in no small
degree by the recent changes in the laws affecting agri-
cultural produce. At any time it would be natural that
the tenant (who has agreed to take upon himself the
payment of the rates) should endeavour to reduce, the
burden ; but, under the present depression of prices, it
cannot be expected that he should fulfil his obligation, or
find work for the unemployed labourers, which many
landlords have insisted on, unless he be relieved by a
corresponding reduction of rent.
Having hazarded this observation, I proceed to express
my conviction that a judicious system of allotment is cal-
culated in the highest degree to insure the well-being,
both moral and physical, of the agricultural labourer.
Let the landed proprietor begin by putting a moderate
rent upon his cottages, refusing in every case to let them
in conjunction with the farms. It is unreasonable to ex.
pect a labouring man to lay by more than Is. a week at
the very utmost to meet his rent, yet 51 a year is not an
uncommon rental. Let every man ofgood character upon
an estate occupy a rood of garden ground. To a certain
proportion (perhaps one-half) of the whole number, let
an additional allotment be made of three acres of pasture
land, or so much as will enable them to keep a cow and
three or four sheep ; and, as a still further stimulus to
industry and frugality, let there be on the estate a cer-
tain number of small farms of forty acres, or large
enough to employ two horses, and support a family above
the condition of a labourer, thus encouraging the in-
dustrious by a prospect of advancement in life, and re-
storing to the community a most valuable class of men,
now almost extinct, between the mete labourer and the
large farmer. At present the agricultural labourer is
deprived even of hope—he has no opening before him—
nothing to look forward to but a life of toil, and an old
age of destitution. (See note 3.)
It must, however, be remembered, that such a system
of allotment as I have recommended is on no account
to be looked upon as affording the labourer the means
of support. or rendering him independent of his
regular work. It is a means of bettering his con-
dition, and giving him some comforts and advantages ;
but these he only acquires by working at extra hours.
It delivers him also from the ruinous consequences of
occasional want of employment, to which he is liable,
even if all other causes were removed, from bad weather
alone—such consequences, for instance, as becoming in-
volved in debt with tho small shopkeepers, whose prices
are naturally high in proportion to the length of credit
and uncertainty of payment.
I have now laid before you my sentiments upon this
anxious and important subject, and will only make a re-
mark in conclusion. It is the opinion of persons more
conversant with these matters than myself, that under
such legislative regulations as I propose, the occupiers
of land would immediately find it their interest to leave
no labourer without employ, and the powers given by
law would seldom or never be called into direct operation.
I must also state, that the plans which I have recom-
mended for private adoption have been found by expe-
rience to be both easily practicable and singularly bene-
ficial. In many instances they have been defeated by
the selfishness and prejudices of individuals, but their
value has not been the less evident. As to the facts
stated, I am prepared to prove them by a host of wi-
tnesses.—l have the honour to remain, Sir, your faithful
and obedient servant,

WILLOUGHBY DE ERESBY.
Grimsthorpe, Nov. 15.

Note I.—SUppose the number of labourers in a parish
to be 120—viz., 40 whose labour is valued at 12s. weekly,
40 at 103., and 40s. at Vs.
Then 40 at its. would require weekly £24
40 at 10s.
40 at 83 IR

And the 12. would require for a month's wages 240

Or in shillings
And suppose (to make the calculation as simple as
possible) the amount of rateable property in the parish
to be 4,8004, excluding all occupations below 20/., then
the monthly rate would be Is. in the pound.
As an example, Mr. A. is assessed at 100/., his
monthly rate therefore is SL.
He has in his employment, during
a month, one man at 125., for £ s. d. £ s. d.
two weeks
Two men, at 10s., for one week
Three men, at Bs., for two weeks 2 a 0 412 0

Remaining to be paid to the rate,
or, in other words, to be ex-
pended in additional labour, by
Mr. A 0 8 0
Note 2.-1 wish to see in our emigration agricultural
projects undertaken by a combination of different classes
on an extensive scale, and with unity of design. Thus,
the capitalist and manufacturer at home—the one fur-
nishing money, the other goods—would combine with
the man of science and the labourer on the spot. At the
end of such a term as would enable the lands to be
brought into cultivation, a division would take place,
adjusted upon a fair estimate of the contributions of all.
Thus, for example, the services of a labourer for a year
might fairly be equivalent to a 50L share.
Note 3.—The occupation of three acres of pasture
would give him that great necessary of life, a supply of
milk for his family, which he can very rarely buy, and
at the same time afford him a profitable investment for
his money, by the purchase of a cow and sheep, which
would produce him as many pounds yearly as he could
get shillings in the savings' bank. It would conse-
quently enable him to accumulate the capital necessary ,
to stock a small farm. I cannot refrain from adding 1
two very significant facts for the benefit of those who
talk of the impossibility of a labourer's purchasing a
cow :—I have seen the plan of a parish, of the date of
1717, in which every cottage had an allotment of pasture.
At some subsequent periods all these were taken away,
and let with the large farms. Ten years ago they were 1