Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1853-02-03

hned to the laDorerS coHfSlSeU Will
some of the renters, and found similar
complaints coming from them. Here,
they we're directed against burthensome
taxes and removed protection. [ found
most of them anxious for the ministerial
candidates in the then pending election.
They hoped that something would be
done for their benefit, though few were
sanguine enough to expect the re-enact-
ment of corn-laws; indeed few seemed to
desire it, but they looked for some inde-
fuable good from ministerial victory
Those whose expectations took definite
form, thought that D'Israeli's indemnity
would be a removal of some of the many
taxes that weigh upon the agriculturists,
from the shoulders of the renter to those
of the land owner. | thought it required
q large amount of hope, to suppose that
party, made up largely oflanded aristocra-
cy, would ignore its past practice to this
extent.
The gathering of the hay and grain
presented some features of novelty to me;
some marked contrasts to the methods l
had seen employed in my visits to Amer
iban farms. Patent reapers have not yet
found their way into those parts in which
it was my fortune to spend the harvest; /;
but as they are not yet very common in
Pennsylvania, this did not seem strange
to ne. 1t seemed odd, however, to find
the sickle still holding its place, in spite
of the cradle, and to see thirty or. forty
hands turned into the corn with no weap-
on but this insignificant knife; to see
them trudging home in the evening, with
no ponderous cradle on their shoulders
but the scarce noticeable sickle in hand.
Ny earliest recollections of country life,
bring the sickle to my mind as rusty,
discarded instrument, only brought into
use in some case of special difficulty, when
fingered or unfngured scythe was une-
quail to the emergency. | was not little
surprised, therefore, when [ found it still
hold its place in a country so much older
than ours. The absence of innovation is
shown in other agricultural implements.
You see wagons that are themselves a
load. You see, in the hay field, the hand
rake, used as cleaner, almost invariably;
instead of man, horse and horse-rake
you will see a long row of men and wo-
men diligently canvassing the field. 1t
is possible that the rate of wages, and
the greater heaviness Of the crops, may
lead to the continuation of old customs,
quite as much dread of change. There
vas one popularity in reference to the
harvest field, that was novel and pleasant
the cleaning. AL that is left behind,
after the binder has done his work, be-
longs to the poor of the parish, and in ev-
cry recently shocked field, you will see
women and children, scattered here and
there, gathering the ungathered stalks,
and preserving them in little bundles for
the winter. / was told that not unfre-
quently a fortunate individual succeeded,
in the course of the harvest, in obtaining
wheat enough in this way to last through
the year. The sheaves standing much
more tbickly over the fields than you find
them on the farms near Philadelphia,
speak the same language that heard
from the workmen, that their crops are
heavier than with US. Forty or fifty
bushels of wheat per acre was considered
so they said-no extraordinary yield +;
if my recollection serves me, half of the
latter number would satisfy some Penn
sylvanians who call themselves good farm
ers upon good farms
To pass from the country and the con-
dition of the agricultural population, let
US enter the manufacturing towns, and
see if anything of interest can be found
there. England is becoming far more a
making than a groacl1ag country. 1t is
her manufactures that make her what
she is; it is her manufacturing interest
that she is fostering or freeing. In the
great centre of manufacturing industry
you will see the type of life which is
EngIand's hope and England's problem.
The retrospect of visits to these hives, is
not, altogether, so pleasant as when | re-
member the worse paid but better look
ing peasantry. In Birmingham, Shelf
field, Leeds and Manchester, | had the
best opportunities of inspecting the work
shops and warehouses, and of observing
the habits and condition of the workmen
and workwomen. In Manchester alone,
1 found an approach to what hoped to
see. Birmingham was the first of these
towns that | visited, and going in as l
did, late in the afternoon, and at time
when an election was being contested, the
worst face was presented to me. The
circumstances under which I entered it,
made my mind receptive of the shadow,
not the sun. had left Warwick and
Kenilworth Castle, and succession Of
lovely landscapes behind, and plunged
suddenly into the smoke-crowned, dust
filed town. / met the hands just releas-
ed from the shops, very many standing