fers, who seem all to have been, put forth to teach labouring peoby nature, formed for negro- ple how to avoid having children. drivers, have an insuperable ob- Now, look at this Valley of Avon. jection to all those establishments Here the people raise nearly and customs, which occasion ho- twenty times as much food and lidays. They call them a great clothing as they consume. They hinderance, a great bar to indus- raise five times as much, even actry, a great drawback from "na-cording to my scale of living. tional wealth." I wish each of They have been doing this for these unfeeling fellows had a many, many years. They have spade put into his hand for ten been doing it for several generadays, only ten days, and that he tions. Where, then, is their NAwere compelled to dig only just TURAL TENDENCY to inas much as one of the common crease beyond the means of suslabourers at Fulham. The me- tenance for them? Beyond, intaphysical gentleman would, Ideed, the means of that sustenance believe, soon discover the use of holidays! But, why should men, why should any men, work hard? Why, I ask, should they work incessantly, if working part of the days of the week be sufficient! Why should the people at MILTON, for instance, work inces-the poor-book: they must cease to santly, when they now raise food and clothing and fuel and every necessary to maintain well five times their number? Why should they not have some holidays And, pray, say, thou conceited Scotch feelosofer, how the "national wealth" can be increased, by making these people work incessantly, that they may raise food and clothing, to go to feed and clothe people who do not

work at all.

which a system like this will leave them. Say that, Sawneys, and F agree with you. Far beyond the means that the taxing and monopolizing system will leave in their hands: that is very true; for it leaves them nothing but the scale of

breed at all, or they must exceed, this mark; but, the earth, give them their fair share of its products, will always give sustenance in sufficiency to those who apply to it by skilful and diligent labour.

The villages down this Valley of Avon, and, indeed, it was the same in almost every part of this county, and in the North and West of Hampshire also, used to have great employment for the women and children in the cardThe state of this Valley seems ing and spinning of wool for the to illustrate the infamous and really making of broad-cloth. This was diabolical assertion of MALTHUS, a very general employment for which is, that the human kind the women and girls; but, it is have a NATURAL TEND- now wholly gone; and this has ENCY to increase beyond the made a vast change in the conmeans of sustenance for them.dition of the people, and in the Hence all the schemes of this state of property and of manners and the other Scotch writers for and of morals. In 1816, I wrote what they call checking popula- and published a LETTER TO THE tion. Hence all the beastly, the LUDDITES, the object of which nasty, the abominable writings, was to combat their hostility to the

use of machinery. The arguments without them this rich and beauI there made use of were general. tiful Valley becomes worth noI took the matter in the abstract. thing except to wild animals and The principles were all correct their pursuers. The labourers enough; but their application are men and boys. Women and cannot be universal; and, we girls occasionally; but the men have a case here before us, at and the boys are as necessary as this moment, which, in my opi- the light of day, or as the air and nion, shows, that the mechanic the water. Now, if beastly MALinventions, pushed to the extent THUS, or any of his nasty disci❤ that they have been, have been ples, can discover a mode of havproductive of great calamity to ing men and boys without having this country, and that they will women and girls, then, certainly, be productive of still greater ca- the machine must be a good thing; lamity; unless, indeed, it be their but, if this Valley must absolutely brilliant destiny to be the imme- have the women and the girls, then diate cause of putting an end to the machine, by leaving them the present system. with nothing to do, is a mischievThe greater part of manufac-ous thing; and a producer of most tures consist of clothing and bed-dreadful misery. What, with reding. Now, if by using a ma-gard to the poor, is the great comchine, we can get our coat with plaint now? Why, that the sin, less labour than we got it before, gle man does not receive the the machine is a desirable thing. same, or any thing like the same, But, then, mind, we must have wages as the married man. Aye, the machine at home and we our-it is the wife and girls that are selves must have the profit of it; the burden; and, to be sure, a for, if the machine be elsewhere; burden they must be, under a if it be worked by other hands; system of taxation like the preif other persons have the profit of sent, and with no work to do. it; and if, in consequence of the Therefore, whatever may be saved existence of the machine, we in labour by the machine is no have hands at home, who have benefit, but an injury to the mass nothing to do, and whom we must of the people. For, in fact, all keep, then the machine is an in- that the women and children jury to us, however advantageous earned was so much clear addiit may be to those who use it, tion to what the family earns now, and whatever traffic it may occa- The greatest part of the clothing sion with foreign States. in the United States of America Such is the case with regard to is made by the farm women and this cloth-making. The machines girls. They do almost the whole are at Upton-Level, Warminster, of it; and all that they do is done Bradford, Westbury, and Trow- at home. To be sure, they might bridge, and here are some of the buy cheap; but they must buy for hands in the Valley of Avon. less than nothing, if it would not This Valley raises food and cloth-answer their purpose to make the ing; but, in order to raise them, things. it must have labourers. These The survey of this Valley is, I are absolutely necessary; for, think, the finest answer in the

world to the "EMIGRATION COM-rates ought to be called wages. MITTEE" fellows, and to JERRY But, at any rate, what has all this CURTEIS (one of the Members for to do with the necessity of emigra Sussex), who has been giving tion? To make out such neces"evidence" before it. I shall find sity, you must make out that you ont, when I can get to see the re- have more mouths than the proport, what this "EMIGRATION duce of the parish will feed? Do, COMMITTEE" would be after! I then, JERRY, tell us, another time, remember, that, last winter, a a little about the quantity of food young woman complained to one annually raised in four or five adof the Police Justices, that the joining parishes; for, is it not soine➡ Overseers of some parish were go-thing rather, damnable, JERRY, ing to transport her orphan brother to talk of transporting Englishmen, to Canada, because he became on account of the excess of their chargeable to their parish! I re-numbers, when the fact is notorimember also, that the Justice said, that the intention of the Overseers was "premature"; for that "the BILL had not yet passed"! This was rather an ugly story; and I However, to drop JERRY, for do think, that we shall find, that the present, the baseness, the foul, there have been, and are, some the stinking, the carrion baseness, pretty propositions before this of the fellows that call themselves "COMMITTEE." We shall see all" country gentlemen," is, that the about the matter, however, by-wretches, while railing against the and-by; and, when we get the poor and the poor-rates; while transporting project fairly before affecting to believe, that the poor us, shall we not then loudly pro-are wicked and lazy; while comclaim" the envy of surrounding nations and admiration of the world"!

ous, that their labour produces five or ten times as much food and raiment as they and their families consume!

plaining that the poor, the working people, are too numerous, and that the country villages are too popuBut, what ignorance, impudence lous: the carrion baseness of these and insolence must those base wretches, is, that, while they are wretches have, who propose to thus bold with regard to the worktransport the labouring people, as ing and poor people, they never being too numerous, while the even whisper a word against penproduce, which is obtained by sioners, placemen, soldiers, partheir labour, is more than sufficient sons, fundholders, tax-gatherers, for three, four, or five, or even ten or tax-eaters! They say not a times their numbers! JERRY CUR-word against the prolific deadTEIS, who has, it seems, been a weight, to whom they GIVE A famous witness on this occasion, PREMIUM FOR BREEDING, says that the poor-rates, in many while they want to check the pocases, amount to as much as the pulation of labourers! They never rent. Well; and what then, say a word about the too great JERRY! The rent may be high populousness of the WEN; nor enough too, and the farmer may about that of Liverpool, Manchesafford to pay them both; for, a very ter, Cheltenham, and the like! large part of what you call poor-¡Oh! they are the most cowardly,

the very basest, the most scandalously base, reptiles that ever were warmed into life by the rays of the sun!

This Netheravon was formerly a great lordship, and in the parish there were three considerable mansion-houses, besides the one In taking my leave of this beau- near the church. These mansions tiful vale I have to express my are all down now; and it is cudeep shame, as an Englishman,rious enough to see the former at beholding the general extreme walled gardens become orchards, poverty of those who cause this together with other changes, all vale to produce such quantities of tending to prove the gradual decay food and raiment. This is, I ve-in all except what appertains rily believe it, the worst used la-merely to the land as a thing of bouring people upon the face of production for the distant market. the earth. Dogs and hogs and But, indeed, the people and the horses are treated with more civi- means of enjoyment must go away.. lity; and as to food and lodging, They are drawn away by the how gladly would the labourers taxes and the paper-money. How change with them! This state of are twenty thousand new houses things never can continue many to be, all at once, building in the years! By some means or other WEN, without people and food there must be an end to it; and and raiment going from this valley my firm belief is, that that end will be dreadful. In the mean while I see, and I see it with pleasure, that the common people know that they are ill used; and that they cordially, most cordially, hate those who ill-treat them.

towards the WEN? It must be so; and this unnatural, this dilapidating, this ruining and debasing work must go on, until that which produces it be destroyed.

When I came down to STRATFORD DEAN (29 in map), I wanted During the day I crossed the to go across to LAVERSTOKE, river about fifteen or sixteen which lay to my left of Salisbury; times; and in such hot weather but just on the side of the road it was very pleasant to be so much here, at Stratford Dean, rises the amongst meadows and water. I ACCURSED HILL. It is very had been at NETHERÁVON (18) lofty. It was originally a hill in about eighteen years ago, where an irregular sort of sugar-loaf I had seen a great quantity of shape: but, it was so altered by hares. It is a place belonging to the Romans, or by somebody, that Mr. HICKS BEACH, or BEECH, the upper three-quarter parts of who was once a member of par- the hill now, when seen from a liament. I found the place altered distance, somewhat resemble three a good deal; out of repair; the cheeses, laid one upon another; gates rather rotten; and (a very the bottom one a great deal broader bad sign) the roof of the dog- than the next, and the top one like kennel falling in! There is a a Stilton cheese, in proportion to church, at this village of NETHER-a Gloucester one. I resolved to AVON, large enough to hold a ride over this ACCURSED thousand or two of people, and the HILL. As I was going up a field whole parish contains only 350 towards it, I met a man going souls, men, women and children. home from work. I asked how he

66

got on. He said, very badly. I him here), the Judge, lives. I asked him what was the cause of have not heard much about “JEMit. He said the hard times. MY" since he tried and condemn"What times,” said I; "was there ed the two young men who had ever a finer summer, a finer har-wounded the game-keepers of "vest, and is there not an old ASHTON SMITH and LORD PAL"wheat-rick in every farm-yard?" MERSTON. His Lordship (Pal"Ah!" said he, they make "it bad for poor people, for all "that." They?" said I," who is they?" He was silent. Oh, "no! my friend," said I, "it is not "they: it is that ACCURSED "HILL that has robbed you of "the supper that you ought to find "smoking on the table when you "gef home." I gave him the price of a pot of beer, and on 1 went, leaving the poor dejected assemblage of skin and bone to wonder at my words.

merston) is, I see, making a tolerable figure in the newspapers as a share-man! I got into Salisbury about half-past seven o'clock, less tired than I recollect ever to have been after so long a ride; for, including my several crossings of the river and my deviations to look at churches and farm-yards, and rick-yards, I think I must have ridden nearly forty miles.

WA. COBBETT.

CORN PROCLAMATION.

The hill is very steep, and I dismounted and led my horse up. Being as near to the top as I could conveniently get, I stood a little while reflecting, not so much on the changes which that hill had seen, as on the changes, the terri- Ir appears to me, that the Mible changes, which, in all human nisters have taken their part; probability, it had yet to see, and that they are resolved, that the which it would have greatly helped main body of the people shall not to produce. It was to

stand on this accursed spot, with- complain of them. They are out swelling with indignation right. They will now, at any rate, against the base and plundering,

and murderous sons of corruption. especially if they follow up their I have often wished, and I, speak-blow, have the people with them. ing out loud, expressed the wish As to the Landowners, they have now; "May that man perish for

"ever and ever, who, having the a remedy always in their hands; "power, neglects to bring to jus- namely, NORFOLK NORFOLK PETI"Lice the perjured, the suborn- TION; and, if they do not adopt "ing, the insolent and perfidious "miscreants, who openly sell their country's rights and their own "souls."

it, they must, and they ought, to lose their estates. Let them not hope to reduce the interest of the I went to LAVER STOKE, where Debt without reform! They will “JEMMY BOROUGH" (as they call not be able to do it.

From the ACCURSED HILL

The de