Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1845-01-09
From "The Friend"
COllllan's Reports.

| Our intelligent countrymen, Henry. Colman,
who is at this time making the tour Of Europe un-
der The auspices of the State of Massachusetts, in
order 10 obtain, by personal observation, informa-
tion upon the present condition of European aeri-
culture and rural economy, is from time to time
publishing the result of his inquiries in the form
of Reports two Of which have reached this coun-
try. In the first, which relates chiefly to the
northern and middle counties of England, along
with much other interesting matter he gives a
minute account of the condition of the agrcultu-
raj labourers. 1t does not present pleasing pic
;ure, yet it is one upon which it is well for an
American to look, that he may more fully under
stand the great advantages enjoyed by the poor in
his own country. under the blessing of bountifu
Providence, and how ungrateful is the feeling Of
discomfort and habit of complaining, SO common
among us.
" Next to the farmers come the laborers; and
the three classes Landlords, farmers, and labour-
ersl preserve the lines of distinction among them
with as much caution and strictness, as they pre-
| serve the lines and boundaries Of their estates-
These distinctions strike visiter from the United
States with much force but, in England they
have been so long established--are so interviewer
in the texture of society, and men are, by educa-
tion and habit, so trained in them, that their pro-
priety or expediency is never matter of question
The nobleman will sometimes, as an act of cour-
tesy and kindness, invite his tenant farmer to his
table; but such visit is never expected to be re-
turned. The farmer would, under no circumstan-
stances, invite the abourer to his table, or visit
him as a friend OF neighbour. / do not mean to
imply that there is the part Of the higher class
es OF society in England, any insolence or arro-
gance in the treatment of their interiors. Free as
my intercourse has been with the highest and the
middle classes, have seen no instance of this.
1.-The farm labourers are in very low condi-
tion, and extremely ignorant and servile. They
rarely, as with u.s. live in the house of their en-
ployers, but either in cottages the farm, or in
neighboring village. They are, usually, comfort
ably clad, in this respect contrasting most favour
ably with the mechanics and manufacturers in the
cities and large towns: but they are, in general,
very poorly fed. Their wages, compared with
the wages Of labor in the United States, very
| low. The cash wages paid to them seldom equals
the cash wages paid TO labourers with us, and our
labourers, in addition TO their wages in money,
have their board but the English labourers are
obliged to subsist themselves, with an occasional
allowance, in some instances, of beer, in haying
or harvesting. The division oflabour among them
is quite PARTICULAR plOughman being always q
ploughman. and almost inseparable from his hor.
ses; ditcher, dtcher; shepherd, shepherd
only; the consequence of this is, that what they
do, they do extremely WELL Their ploughing
sowing, drilling, and ditching or draining, ex
ecuted with an admirable neainess and exactDess
indeed, the lines of their work could not be more
true and straight than they usually are. if they
were measured with marked scale, inch by inch
They speak of ploughing and drilling or ridginl
by the inch or the half-nch; and the width Of th'
furrow SLICE the depth of the urrow, or the dis
tance of the drills from each other, will be fount
to correspond, with remarkable precision, to th
measurement designed. But they appear totall
destitute of invention, and have, evidently, littl
skill or neenuity when called upon to apply them
selves TO work different from that to which the
, have been accustomed. Their gait is very slow
: and they seem, TO me, to grow old quite early
, The former circumstance explained itself to me
, when examined and lifted the shoes which the
are accustomed to wear, and which, when, in ad
diton to being well charged with iron, they gahe
the usual amount OF clay which adheres to ther
4 in heavy soils, furnish at least some reason why
i like an Alexandsine verse, they drag their slo'
length along
"They are little given 10 change situations, an
MANY of them, both men and women. live and di
: in the same service. Several instances have com
under my observation, of thirty. thirty-five, an
forty years reputable service; and many, wher
! persons, even upon the most limited means, hav
brought up large families of children without an
parochial assistance. But, in this case, they ar
all workers; the children put to some sort G
service as soon they are able to drive the rook
from the corn, AID no drones are suffered in th
hive | visited one labourer's cottage, TO which
was carried by The farmer himself, who was des
irous of showing me, as he said, one of the bes
: examples, within his knowledge, Of that conditlo
of life. The house, though very small, was eA
ii tremely neat and tidy the Bible lay upon the she
w,thost al, unbroken cobweb over its covers; III