The Sun.
London, England, 1828-04-23 00:00:00

portions of the East of Europe that I have visited.
A kind of convertible husbandry, the best, I must
presume, adapted to the sail and climate, has been
introduced. The whole is inclosed and divided into
fields, of sizes appropriate to the extent of the farms,.
and thus present the most English face of any country
I know. Very few vestiges of the feudal system re-
main. The land may be purchased by any person,
whether noble, citizen, or peasant. It has on its
coasts the most convenient ports for shipping its pro-
duce." We learn, that " the average of the wheat
of Mecklenburg would cost, by the time it was
landed and sold in this market, 455. per quarter,
without leaving any profit to the farmer or merchant,
or any rent to the proprietor of the soil ;" laid that
" when English was selling at sixty shillings, it
would not produce more than 525." The wheat
of Holstein is not generally of good quality, and
would not sell for more then 545. or 555. when

the price in England is 605.; and supposing the far-
mew to sell without profit—that is, at 30s.—the ex-
pence of shipping, the profit or commission of the
merchant at Hamburgh, the freight, primage, insur-
ance, risk of damage,. landing charges, factorage,
connnission, and market dues would amount to 10s.
per quarter." The severity of the climate renders
it necessary to be provided with buildings sufficiently
extensive to contain all the live stock, and all the
hay, corn, and straw. Hence, " a gentleman's
house, commonly very large, displays around it,
besides labourers' cottages, ranges of barns, stables,
cow-houses, sheep-houses, granaries, cart-lodges,
and harness-rooms, more than five times as great as
would be required in England for the same extent
of land." The buildings are estimated at one-third
of the value'of the land. The quantity of wheat
could be furnished by all the countries of Europe
together, except at an enormous cost, would hardly
be felt in the consumption of England. Prussia is
the greatest exporting country. In the nine years
from 1819 to 1827, both inclusive, the whole
export amounted to 1,971,577 qrs. and this amount
comprehends the whole of that which descends by
the several rivers from Poland. Mr. Jacob gives
the following as the average annual exportation
from the countries on the 13ultic :
Prussia 219,064 Quarters.
Mecklenburg
Denmark 104,768
Hamburgh
Bremen

435,557 Quarters.

The exports of this small annual quantity, added
to the rapidly increasing internal consumption, have
reduced the stocks of wheat through the north of
Europe to a very low state. The most interesting
part of Mr. Jaco.b's Report to us, is the light ►which
it throws on the situation of the lower orders of the
different countries visited by him. Ihe population
appears every where to be increasing with more or
less rapidity. In Prussia, the increase from ISI7
to 1827, amounts to 1,849,561 ; at which rate the
inhabitants would double themselves in little mere
than thirty-six years. The population in 1826 was
12,243,603. On examining the statement in the
Appendix, we find that the increase has been chiefly
in the Polish a►id Prussian provinces. Thus, for in-
stance,while the five provinces of Cologne, Dusseldorf,
Coblentz, Treves,and Aix-la-Chapelle have increased,
in ten years, from 1,889,360 to 2,112,616, that is,
223,256, the five provinces of Konigsburg, Gum-
bingen, Dantzig, Marienwerder, and Posen, have in
the same time increased from 2,057,304 to 2,640,428,
that is, 583,124—m0re than double the rate of the
former. Hanover has increased 14 per cent. since
the peace. The Netherlands have increased, since
1815, from 5,424,502 to 6,013,4i8. In Denmark
the rate of increase would double the inhabitants in
thirty-two years. The condition of the agricnitural
labourers in Mecklenburgh may he inferred from
the following Estimate of the annual cost of a
labourer and his f►mily on the estate of Tellew :-
1. Interest on the capital laid out for erecting
his cottage, repairs, and insurance in the
Country Fire Offices .£1 9 9
2. Garden Ground, 25 square poles
S. Potatoe Grounds in the fields, 34 ditto 0 8 6
4. Flax Ground, 12 ditto 0 3 2

5. Fowl, 2 fodder of wood
6. Turf

7. Pasture for one cow and heifer
S. Pasture for hogs and geese . . 0 1 8
9. Five and a half bushels of rye, at the price
of 2s. 9d. on the estate (that of Rostock being
_ _

•
3s. Id.)
10. Conveyance of the labourers to and from
other villages, at the occasion of marriages,
christenings, &c 0 4 0
11. Expence of the harvest festivities per family 0 3 5
12, Brandy during harvest, and at some other
occasions, per family 0 3 0
13. Fees, &c. to the Physician and Apothecary,

per family
14. Sick diet per family 0 3 5
li3. Assistance to the old and poor 0 7 8
10. The average earnings of a labourer amount
annually, according to a separate Estimate, in
which the wages for thrashing have been cal-
culated after the money price of corn 9 17 2
17. Average labour of the labourer's wife, 168
days, at 3 3-3ds a day

£l9 4 0

Against which the labourer pays— .
1. Rent for his Cottage . . 1 9 G
2. He furnishes besides, annually,
two geese, at Is. Sd. each 0 3 1
3. His wife spins gratis eight pounds
of flax of an inferior quality, at 2 ?(I
the pound 0 1 8
1 14 6

The annual cost of a labourer and family to
the Estate
It would seem, from the above statement, that
the allowance to labourers in the North of Europe
is much what it is in the North of England and
South of Scotland. It appears from answers to
queries addressed to the Society of Agriculture at
Copenhagen, that the poor in Denmark are provided
for nearly in the same manner as in England. " All
the poor who are really in distress are supported by
the parish to which they belong. In each parish
there is a Commission, consisting of the Clergyman,
the Master of the Police, and a Number of the In-
habitants, who regulate what the pow. are to have,
and impose the contribution on all the inhabitants. It
eeldoin happens that those who are out of the vil-
lageg, and are able to work, want occupation, and if
it happens it is but momentary; but if
.such person
is able to prove ha is not able to procure any work,
lie is supported by the parish until he can procure it.•
as the laws of the country provide against any one
suffering from the absolute want of food. The pro-
portion of the number of poor who are supported
by the parish to that of the inhabitants in general
is uncertain : but in general it may be considered,
that one-sixteenth or one-twentieth part, receives
support ; but of these only one-fourth is a permanent
charge on the parish. If the parents arc unable to
maintain all their children, they obtain assistance.
Orphans are r.:aitained at the expence of the parish.
. . . It cannot 4:2 denied that the Fre-
sent regulation, which obliges i.-r?ry child to go to
school from its seventh year, has ContribAted in a
great measure to the increase of the number of chil-
dren supported hy the parishes ; for it will not
the, purpose of either manufacturer or peasant
to take child= Into their service who are obliged to
spend half the day ai school, until they have attained
their fourteenth
year, the period at-which they are
confirmed." This is the English Poor Law system,
down to the allowance for children. The system to
which recourse been had in the Netherlands,
would seem to be pursud in several other countries.
Mr. Jacob alludes to the Colonies nf Mendicity in
Oldenbargh, East Friesland, Bze. speaking Qf
Oldenburg!), he says, " In passing through this
Duehy, 1 remarked a great ri of4;Pber, new colonial
establishment:, especially within a Eery miles of the
city of Oldenburg!), These resemble what have
been noticed in East Friesland, and exhibit the va-
rious shades between the result of activity and skill
in cultivation on the one hand, and that of indolence
and awkwardness on the other. This mode of dis-
posing- of that portion of the population which,
when capital is scanty, can obtain no employment,
seems both humane and beneficial, and appears to