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Leader (1850-1860), 26th November 1853, Edition Town of 2, Page 1140

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      instead of being the fervid expression of vital truths , welling up from the heart , and moulding the conduct of a life . From our point of view , tlie attempt to fix and crystalize religious trutk in creeds and articles of faith , is not only a vain work , but a blasphemy on humanity—a violation of the broad right of private judgment , which all sects claim for themselves , but not a few deny to their neighbours . The attempt to arrest religious truth at a certain

      point , and to limit its source to one book , is one of the highest flights ever made by human arrogance . If science and thought in all ages have made one thing more certain than another , it is this : that truth comes to us , not alone from books , not alone from traditions , not alone from the intellect , not alone even from the heart . _ It enters through all the inlets of our physical , mental , and spiritual being ; and how arrogant the effort of the sects to confine it to a set of

      fragmentary chronicles of the history of an eastern tribe , and the subsequent struggles of a rising faith ! " Who knows not the limitations of logic , and who has not felt how short is the distance which it carries us out from " that side of our nature which is in contact with the infinite . " Religious truth , in all its fulness , cannot even be expressed in words—it can only be felt ; andthe

      utmost we can do , through the imperfect medium of language , is to set down approximations to the truth we feel and apprehend . The dogmatic religious sects , however , totally disregard this cardinal fact , attempt the impossible task of expressing absolute truth in approximate language , and then demand our absolute assent to it . The inevitable consequence of taking verbal standards is that which we now see—universal contention

      respecting their correct interpretation . iVor will that contention cease , until , through long and painful conflicts , men discover that religious truth is not limited to one book , but makes itself apparent coming in upon us on all sides , and approving itself to the highest and holiest dictates of the human heart . In those days there shall bo no mechanical religions .

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      AGRICULTURAL STATICS . Mr . Cobden tells the English manufacturers and operatives that they run a chance of losing trade in the competition with America , because the Americans are better educated . But how much more the same remark must apply to the condition of our agricultural labourers . There is an education which precedes even that of the schoolmaster—a training of the mind and limb , which renders both efficient for the work in hand . Our agriculturists have heretofore relied upon the artificial protection of exclusive duties , and upon

      the natural protection which proximity to the homo ninrlcet gives them . The latter they retain ; but bow can they take advantage of it r It his been their custom to consider that they could not . "live" unless wheat were 04 v . or more , and they actually liavo contemplated leaving this wealthy country to bo supplied by wheat from abroad ; : is if their natural protection were no real aid vantage to tliem ! It seems never to have occurred to them that if they made a smaller per oenhigc on a smaller price , still their income might he compensated by an increased gross

      amount , and by diminishing tlie cost of production . Their conduct lias been such as almost to imply tl » n . t they desired to make tho produce Rmnll . and the cost great , in order toreduce the cost , of production labour must , be rendered as efficient as possible-, and ( lie produce must , be large in proportion to the field whence it , is < 1 <> - rivod . The practice lias been for the fanner to o Timyniorc ground I hit n he had tho capital and the

      nkill or the industry lo work thoroughly ; and lie has treated bin labour as if . be did not ( 'are whether it . were efficient or not . Amongst ; the subjects oi the statist icul enquiries promoted by . LordAshlmrton and Mi " . . Philip . Pusey , none can bo of greater importance to the development ; of agriculture and the prosperity of I he farmer and landlord , us well as the country , than the . stale of the agricultural labourer .

      In . order to render a man oflicient to his work , ho should be . strong in limb , quirk in his perceptions , and trained in the . skilful use of bis implement , if not ; instructed also in such science us enables him to appreeiale the natural diflicultiew with which ho must , contend . Wlinl . is the state of the agricultural labourer P 'We have accounts from all purls of the country : in . some they represent t ) i ( J labourer an improving ; in others

      There are , indeed , replies . " One of the Belled Dorsetshire Farmers , " gives an account of one family ; which , in wages to the father at 10 s . a-week , and to four sons , at rates ranging from 9 s . to 3 * . a-week , with house-rent , fuel , and a few extras , makes up a total of 1021 . a-year , enough to bring the agricultural labourer within the income-tax . Sir Arthur Hallam Elton , an esteemed country gentleman of Somersetshire , represented that wages in his neighbourhood ranee from 9 s . to 10 s . a-week , with advantages in

      they show us how miserable the condition still is . Not long ago "A Dorsetshire Clergyman" began the statement of practical details under this head , in the Times , giving a financial statement for a week in a labourer ' s family : — " The family consists of a father , mother , and fpur children , all under nine years of age . " EABNINGS—OCT . 23 TO 29 . 8 . d . Father , as day-labourer 8 0 ~ Mother , by weeding , or milking . . . 1 6 9 6 EXPEND 1 TUBE . # . d . House-rent ( very moderate ) . . . . .. 1 0 61 b . of bread per diem , at 8 ^ d . the 41 b . loaf 7 5 4 lb . of candles . . 04 Soap , for washing linen 0 4 loz . of tea . ° 3 9 4 Leaving l % d . for clothes , fuel , shoes , schooling of the children , and the father ' s benefit club subscription . The common necessaries of meat , cheese , and butter are out of the question . " This has been followed . up . by similar accounts from Somersetshire , Suffolk , Kent , Essex , and other agricultural counties . The rate , indeed , is not always level . In Kent wages range from 10 s . to 15 s . a-week , with extras during the hop season , which , perhaps , bring in 24 s . a-week more . But the lower the level , the broader it is .

      low house rent ( 41 . and 71 . a-year ) , allotment grounds— " which are not uncommon , " and certain extras . The farmer , he says , cannot afford to pay higher wages ; for perhaps his landlord exacts too much . " The great want of our times , " according to Sir Arthur , "is such an education of the poorer class as will enable them to understand correctly their present position , " and "to use brain as well as hands" in making the best of that position .

      There is some truth in this ; but it is more true , that it would be well for the employer to understand the position of the labourer . Although nine or ten shillings may be given in Sir Arthur Elton's district , six or seven shillings are given in others , the shilling being the equivalent of three pints a-day of hard cider , and rent being exacted to the amount of 3 Z ., 4 < l ., or 51 . a-year . But let us take , as a specimen of an agricultural district , an account given by a clever correspondent of tho Coventry Jlerald and Observer , who has been taking " a peep at the social condition of Suffolk , in 1853 . " We shall take his description of two districts , Bacton and Crowficlcl : —

      '' I visited several of the cottages , and the appearance of tho men gave me a strong impression that as a clans they were overworked and badly fed . There was a want of cheerfulness in their manner , and in some cases a recklesH disregard of prudent habits . " When out of" employment thoy relied upon parochial aid , and were insenniblo to the degradation of pauper relief . The women and older girl . s went out occasionally to field work . The cottages wore small comfortless places , having very often only one bedroom , and the familios are then crowded together so an to outrage all decency . Where adult boys and girls ; ire compelled to occupy

      the r . iune sleeping apartment , c ; in wo anticipate that the young women will exhibit much modesty , or thai tho inon Avill have regard for tho decencies of life ? Tho rents of these cottages Avert ) four pounds per anmun . They paid no rates . There wan generally a Hinall piece of garden , but many were entirely without . In tho parish of Orowfield , a few miles from Stowmarket , in an opposite direction to J » aeton , I . found 08 cottages , and only one out of tho US had a quarter of an aero of garden ground . In one case there , were three

      cottages to eleven perches of laud . There is about seventeen hundred acres of laml in the parish , and three-fourths of this quantity i « the property of Sir W . ¥ . F . Middleton , Hart ., of Shrubland Hall ) a splendid modem mansion in tho vicinity of Crowfield . Hir William , who is one of the largest landowners in tho county of { Suffolk , generally invites the judges to dine with him at the Summer Assizes , and specially entertained Prince Albert at the late meeting of the British Association in this district . The land is in Hinall

      occupations ; only one of Kir " William ' s tenants m thin parish has above ifiO acres of land . 1 ( 5 of them have less than 100 acres , and 1 ) of them less than 50 acres .

      They are poor tenants ; the land is undrained , and they have not the means of accomplishing so desirable an object , although there are plenty of labourers wanting employment . This wealthy proprietor has apparently forgotten that property has its duties as well as its rights , or at least , he would expend a portion of his princely wealth in improving the land for his tenants , and prepare a , small plot of his soil for the use of the labourers as allotments . The poor rate for this parish for the year 1852 , was Is . 10 c ? . in the pound , whilst at Nettlestead it was only 8 d ., and at Willisham only Qd . in the pound . The estimated rental of the parish of Crowfield is 2745 ? ., and the annual rateable value is 26271 . "

      Will any stable-keeper tell us what would be the effect of keeping horses over-crowded , underfed , and untrained . A horse , however , is seldom required to think , and never expected to co-operate in processes like those of agriculture . It is evident , from the whole course of discussion , that much higher offices will be exacted from the farmer ; and the first instrument in the hands of the farmer is the labourer . The farmer will be required to use machines , of . which the present improved specimen must be considered only rude examples : let the farmer ask any iron or cotton , manufacturer how he would like to entrust the

      working of a machine in the hands of a Bacton labourer , ill-fed , untaught , untrained ? The Staffordshire or Lancashire men will tell you that it would be to risk as much as the machine is worth . Mr . Philip Pusey shows how necessary it is for the farmer to increase the number of his stock , to improve their character , and to bring them forward rapidly for the butcher ' s market—a process which not only increases the farmer ' s means by the sale of a fourfold number of sheep for a given quantity of land ; but also , as Mr . Pusey observes , supplies the measure of

      the productivity of his land ; for stock under fattening supplies the productive force of the farm . But how much the condition of stock , and its value from hour to hour , must depend upon the zeal and care of the stock-keeper—sustained zeal as well as skill being the result of education , which teaches men to appreciate the objects of careful attention , and the worth of the process . It is not only the ploughing a straight furrow which the farmer will have to exact from his labourer ; the man will also be expected to tend the stock with the care now expected in a master

      grazier , to tend machinery with an insight into mechanical laws , and , in short , to take a share in carrying on agriculture upon scientific principles . Upon such means depends , wholly and solely , that distinction between agriculture as it is to be , and agriculture as it has been , which is to itfscuo the British farmer from the " distress" to « luch he was doomed by protection and its demoralizing consequences . The condition of the labourer , therefore , should be as much the object of inquiry by the agriculturist as the condition of his musket to the soldier , his lancet to the surgeon , or his running rigging to the mariner .

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      MR . BENNOOH'S PLAN . Of all the witnesses who have been examined by the Commissioners of Inquiry into tho City Corporation , Mr . Bennoch , the common councillor , is the one who has presented the most consistent , view of the actual state of the Corporation , ami the most complete suggestion for a now system in lieu of the present . The present system is condemned on two grounds . When we speak o the present system , " wo include not only tho old Corporation in the City , but tho whole of tho metropolis . Tho two grounds upon winch Uio general system , is condemned arc these * , Am ' City Corporation , preserving many antiquated privileges , causes obstructions to the management of tho town , to tho trade of individual * . and to tho convenience even of private persons . On tbo other band , notwithstanding tho existence of an expensive municipality within a Imuteu fragment of tho whole metropolis , and the parum organization in tho metropolitan boroug hs , t » o entire capital remains without a municipal incorporation sufficient to nrnii » f ? e its lo « al »« ' »] «» or to reduce the great , metropolis to a real . who " x The proneiit system , therefore , is condemned wi insufficiency and for oppressiveness . Tho finance ; of the Corporation which at present exists in tho City demands reforming on in ' lvA LivVl Hi J

      ,. , .. several , grounds of extravagance , » au "" J"" *' and bad appropriation . The t' ^^^ 'JJ apparent . While tho Corporation ol ManehcHtoi administer * a sum of money amounting to n | '"/ half a million at an expense falling Bhortoi JW *» .,

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      1140 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 26, 1853, page 1140, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2014/page/12/