ought to be done to check the practice of building cottages for paupers. Various plans have been proposed for this purpose. Some have suggested that the proprietor of the ground on which a cottage is built, should be made responsible for its occupiers; and that if they become chargeable, he should be bound to provide for them. Perhaps, however, the object in view may be secured by directly assessing cottages to the poor's rate; making the assessment, in all cases, fall upon the landlord, and not upon the occupier. At present, it often happens that the public economy of a parish, otherwise in a very healthy condition, is vitiated by the proprietor of a few acres, speculating upon turning them to good account, by covering them with cottages, that ultimately become the receptacles of paupers; the support of such paupers falling almost entirely on others, the rate affecting the small patch of land upon which the cottages are built being quite inconsiderable. This is a flagrant abuse; and one the influence of which is most extensive, and calls loudly for amendment. Nothing, indeed, has done more to multiply the number of paupers, than the encouragement that has thus been held out to the improper increase of cottages; and there is nothing, with the exception of the abolition of the allowance system, that would do more to arrest the progress of pauperism, than the enactment of a law that should render such sort of speculations as unprofitable to the speculators as they are injurious to the public.

The evils arising from the temptations at present held out to the erection of cottages were forcibly alluded to by Mr. Hodges in his evidence already quoted.

"Perhaps," said this very intelligent gentleman, "I am taking a liberty in adverting to what I stated the other day; but without an attention to the fact there disclosed, of the prodigious increase of cottages of late years, all other regulations will be nugatory: and I cannot forbear urging again, that this [a plan of emigration] or any similar measure, having for its object the relief of parishes from their over-population, must of necessity become perfectly useless, unless the act of Parliament contain some regulations with regard to the erecting and maintaining of cottages; this may be done in parishes taking the benefit of such act, either by rating the proprietors of them, and not the occupiers, or, perhaps, it might be thought advisable even to rate the proprietor of any cottage whose inhabitants might become chargeable, for want of regular employ, to the maintenance of that pauper to the full amount of the rent agreed to be paid to his landlord by the said pauper." -"It is notorious," said Mr. Hodges, in answer to another question, "that almost numberless cottages have of late years been built by persons speculating on the parish rates for their rents."-(First Emig. Rep. Evid. p. 185.)

We may remark, by the way, that among a certain class of speculators as to the causes of the late disturbances, much stress has been laid upon the disappearance of small farms, and the conversion of cottagers into mere labourers. But we are satisfied that these circumstances have been as innocent of the disturbances, and of the depressed condition of the labourers, as they are of the Parisian revolution. We have the means, and propose taking an early opportunity of showing, that the labourers of all those counties where the allowance system has not been introduced, are, speaking generally, at this moment in a decidedly better condition than they have ever previously been in. They are better fed-that is, they eat more butcher meat, and use more wheat-better clothed, better lodged, and healthier, than at any former period of our history, And, what is still more conclusive as to the groundlessness of the statements in question, Durham, Northumberland, the Lothians, and all those counties where farms are largest, are those where the condition of the peasantry is most prosperous. Let us, therefore, hear no more of this senseless cry against large farms and "gentlemen farmers." We are ready to admit, and have, indeed, always con

tended, that the condition of cottagers is materially improved by attaching a moderate-sized garden to their cottages; but no landlord or farmer, who has a just sense of what is either for his own advantage, or for that of his workmen, will suffer them to possess more land. This is the practice of Northumberland and the Lothians, and where else are the peasantry so comfortable?

Next to the helotism occasioned by the abuse of the poor laws, we are inclined to think that the game laws have had the greatest influence in degrading the peasantry, and in spreading irritation amongst them. The southern counties have been peculiarly afflicted with this scourge; and we have been assured, by those who have the best means of knowing, that the oppressions perpetrated for offences against these laws have been the main cause of the late fires. They have long been rankling in the minds of the peasantry, and the desire to avenge them might, perhaps, have been suppressed for some time longer, but for the excitement caused by the late events on the Continent. If we would prevent the recurrence of still darker atrocities, the existing game laws must be totally abolished. It is not easy, indeed, to imagine for what other purpose this detestable code could be so long kept up, except to fill the country with bloodshed and crime. The law prohibiting the sale of game, ought to have been entitled "A Law for the encouragement of Murder and Robbery." More than half the rich men of the empire have no land, and no qualification entitling them to kill game; and as the legislature, in its wisdom, would not allow them to be supplied with this luxury in a legitimate way, they were forced to buy it, though at a higher price, from poachers. In vain has statute after statute, and penalty after penalty, been added to this barbarous code. Instead of putting down poaching, they have rendered it universal; and have produced a degree of irritation and disgust, and a yearning after vengeance among the peasantry, that has been and may be turned to the most dangerous purposes.

We therefore hail, with infinite satisfaction, the bill introduced by Lord Althorp, for legalizing the sale of game, and for abolishing all those regulations, devised by the Nimrods of former days, as to qualifications. This bill declares that game shall be the property of the individual on whose land it is found; and that every individual, on taking out a license, costing 67. a-year, shall be entitled to kill game on his obtaining leave from the proprietors of the lands over which he shoots. Dealers in game are to take out a license. Poachers taken at night with guns, dogs, etc., for the killing of game, are, for the first offence, to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for any period not more than four months; for a second offence, the party may be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for eight months; and every subsequent offence is to be deemed a misdemeanor, and the party offending may be imprisoned at the discretion of the court, and kept to hard labour for any period not exceeding two years.

Should this bill pass into a law, it will confer the greatest benefit upon the public. It is one of the first instances in which an attempt to amend the game laws has been bottomed on the principles of common sense, and will do much to rid them of their enormities. At the same time, we must say, that the proposed penalties on poaching seem to be a great deal too rigorous. It is all very well for the legislature to declare that animals feræ naturæ are property; but mankind will never be brought to believe that the right of property is as much violated by killing a partridge or a hare,

which may, by a volition of its own, become the property of twenty individuals in a day, as it is by killing a turkey or a sheep; or that the former offence should be visited with the same penalties as the latter. We, however, agree in opinion with those who consider that the practice of breeding and preserving vast quantities of game in particular places, for the purpose of a battue, that is, for enabling the lame and the blind to rival the shooting feats of Mr. Osbaldiston and Lord Kennedy, is the principal cause of poaching. We do not say that this is a practice that ought to be directly suppressed by legislative enactment; but certainly we know of none that is less entitled to protection. This accumulation of game creates an over-powering temptation to poaching; and so long as preserves are multiplied all over the country,-as over-fed pheasants and. half-fed cottagers are brought into contact, so long will the latter prey upon the former. Surely, then, there can be neither hardship nor injustice in laying it down, that those who choose to regale themselves with a luxury of this sort,-who choose to indulge in a sport that tempts their fellow-men to commit what the law has declared to be a crime of no common dye, should be made to pay smartly for the gratification of their tastes. And we would, therefore, beg to suggest, that all individuals employed, for whatever period, as gamekeepers or as keepers of preserves, whether by night or by day, should be charged with an excise license of at least 121. 128. or 157. 15s. a-year. This would not entirely prevent the formation of preserves, but it would confine the practice within reasonable bounds, and render it infinitely less noxious than at present.

But supposing that the present unemployed labourers were conveyed to the colonies, that the abuses of the poor laws were corrected, and the gamelaws abolished or reconciled to the obvious principles of justice and common sense, still we should not have done enough to secure the public tranquillity. The situation of Great Britain is at present without any parallel in the history of the world, and is pregnant with many difficulties. The very large proportion of our population depending for subsistence on manufactures and commerce, and liable, consequently, to sudden and severe reverses, is one of those circumstances that merits the most anxious attention of statesmen. No one can doubt that it is the bounden duty of government to do every thing that is possible to diminish the chances of commercial distress, by giving freedom to the merchant, and especially by abolishing the existing restrictions on the corn trade-restrictions which multiply the chances of famine at the same time that they injure the agriculturist. But, do what we will, the manufacturing population must always be liable to be thrown out of employment, and deprived of their accustomed means of support, by changes of fashion or policy abroad and at home. Surely, then, it is of the utmost importance that they should be taught to meet such trying vicissitudes, when they do occur, with patient fortitude, and without aggravating the pressure of calamity by any rash proceedings of their own. The outrages of the agriculturists may be repressed and put down with comparatively little difficulty; but were such a spirit to arise among the manufacturers of Lancashire as has recently prevailed in the southern counties, national bankruptcy and ruin would be the result. Let no man think that,

if the spirit of discontent and outrage should once insinuate itself into the manufacturing districts, it could be suppressed or kept down by force. So mighty a mass cannot be dragooned and coerced into obedience. If we would prolong that security which has been the principal foundation of our

VOL. VI.

prosperity, we must show the labourers that they are interested in its support; and that whatever has any tendency to weaken it, is even more injurious to them than to any other class. For this reason, we are deeply impressed with the conviction that Parliament ought to lose no time in setting about the organisation of a really useful system of public education. The safety of the empire depends wholly on the conduct of the multitude; and such being the case, can any one doubt the paramount importance of the diffusion of sound instruction?

This is not a subject that ought any longer to be trifled with, or left to individuals or societies. The astounding exhibition of ignorance made at the late trials for rioting, shows how wretchedly the agricultural population is educated. A larger proportion of the manufacturing population can read and write; but a knowledge of these arts is not enough. Besides being instructed in them, and in the duties and obligations enjoined by religion and morality, the poor ought to be made acquainted with those circumstances which principally determine their condition in life. They ought, above all, to be instructed in the plain and elementary doctrines respecting population and wages; in the advantages derived from the institution of private property, and the introduction and improvement of machinery; and in the causes which give rise to that gradation of ranks, and inequality of fortunes, that are as natural to society as heat to fire and cold to ice. The interests of the poor are identified with the support of all those great principles, the maintenance of which is essential to the welfare of the other classes. And, were they made fully aware that such is the fact, it would be a 'contradiction and an absurdity to suppose, that the securities for peace and good order would not be immeasurably increased. Those revolutionary and anti-social doctrines, now so copiously distributed, would be rejected at once by an instructed population. But it is not easy to estimate what may be their influence in a period of political excitement and public distress, when addressed to those whose education has been entirely neglected, and whose judgment is, in consequence, guided by prejudice, and not by principle.

We hope that the attention of Parliament and the country will be speedily called to this most important subject. The foundations of real security are beyond and above the law. They depend on the knowledge and morals of the people. Nor can there be a doubt, that rulers who neglect to provide their subjects with the means of procuring cheap and really useful instruction, are justly chargeable with the neglect of a most essential duty.

We have not chosen to encumber this article with any remarks as to the condition of the Irish poor, and their emigration into England. are subjects that require, and must have, a separate discussion.

These

ABOLITION OF THE CORN LAWS.*

In whatever point of view the question with respect to the Abolition or modification of the existing Corn Laws may be considered-whether as affecting the interests of the landlords and farmers, or those of the manufacturing, mercantile, and monied classes-it must be allowed to be one of the very highest importance. We do not, certainly, think that it is in itself difficult question; but it is one with respect to which the greatest misapprehensions are universally entertained. The deceitful statements and declamatory harangues of the agricultural orators on the one hand, and the intemperate invectives of many of their opponents on the other, have given rise to the most erroneous and contradictory opinions with respect to the practical bearing and real operation of the existing Corn Laws, and the effects that would follow from their repeal; and have rendered a patient investigation of facts, and a recurrence to first principles, indispensable to clear away the obscurity in which the question has been studiously involved, and to enable us to arrive at a sound conclusion with respect to it.

In order to simplify our investigation, we shall begin by endeavouring to estimate the total annual consumption of the different kinds of grain in the British empire; and, having done this, we shall next endeavour to ascertain the quantity of grain that would most probably be imported into Great Britain in ordinary years, and the price at which it could be sold in the event of the ports being thrown open. If we succeed in determining these points with tolerable accuracy, it will be easy to deduce from them an estimate of the effect that a repeal of the Corn Laws would have in reducing the price of raw produce, and in throwing inferior land out of tillage. The facts of the case being thus brought before the reader, we shall next apply ourselves to unfold the consequences which they involve, and to exhibit the principles that ought to be kept in view, in abolishing or modifying the existing restrictions. We shall endeavour to be as brief as possible; but the importance of the subject, and the multiplicity of details which it involves, render a pretty large discussion absolutely unavoidable.

Attempts have sometimes been made to compute the quantity of corn raised in a country, from calculations founded on the number of acres in tillage, and on the average produce per acre. But it is plain that no accurate estimate can ever be framed of the extent of land under cultivation. It is perpetually changing from year to year; and the amount of produce varies not only with the differences of seasons, but also with every improvement of agriculture. This method, therefore, is now rarely resorted to; and the growth of corn is generally estimated from the consumption. The conclusions deduced from this criterion must indeed be subject to error, as well from variations in the consumption, occasioned by variations in the price of corn, as from the varying extent to which other food is used. But supposing the prices of corn to be reduced to an average, if the consumption of a considerable number of persons of all ranks and orders, and of all ages and sexes, were accurately determined, we should be able, supposing the

* Mr. Jacob's Report on the Trade in Corn, and on the Agriculture of the North of Europe. Printed by order of the House of Commons, 14th March, 1826.-Vol. x'iv. page 319. September, 1826.