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diff --git a/32863.txt b/32863.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ce28709 --- /dev/null +++ b/32863.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7730 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Cottage Economy, by William Cobbett + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Cottage Economy + To Which Is Added The Poor Man's Friend + + +Author: William Cobbett + + + +Release Date: June 17, 2010 [eBook #32863] +Last Updated: February 15, 2015 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COTTAGE ECONOMY*** + + +E-text prepared by David Clarke and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images +generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries +(http://www.archive.org/details/americana) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 32863-h.htm or 32863-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32863/32863-h/32863-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32863/32863-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/cottageeconomyco00cobb + + + + + +COTTAGE ECONOMY; + +CONTAINING + +INFORMATION RELATIVE TO THE BREWING OF BEER, MAKING OF BREAD, +KEEPING OF COWS, PIGS, BEES, EWES, GOATS, POULTRY, AND RABBITS, +AND RELATIVE TO OTHER MATTERS DEEMED USEFUL IN THE CONDUCTING +OF THE AFFAIRS OF A LABOURER'S FAMILY; TO WHICH ARE ADDED, +INSTRUCTIONS RELATIVE TO THE SELECTING, THE CUTTING AND THE +BLEACHING OF THE PLANTS OF ENGLISH GRASS AND GRAIN, FOR THE +PURPOSE OF MAKING HATS AND BONNETS; AND ALSO INSTRUCTIONS +FOR ERECTING AND USING ICE-HOUSES, AFTER THE VIRGINIAN MANNER. + + +TO WHICH IS ADDED + +THE POOR MAN'S FRIEND; +OR, +A DEFENCE OF THE RIGHTS OF THOSE WHO DO THE WORK, +AND FIGHT THE BATTLES. + + +BY WILLIAM COBBETT. + + + + + + + +New York: +Published by John Doyle, 12, Liberty-St. +Stereotyped by Conner & Cooke. +1833. + +Entered according to act of Congress, in the year of our Lord 1833, by +John Doyle, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern +District of New-York. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + No. + + I.--Introduction. To the Labouring Classes of this + Kingdom--Brewing Beer, 5 + + II.--Brewing Beer, continued, 23 + + III.--Making Bread, 41 + + IV.--Making Bread, continued--Brewing Beer--Keeping Cows, 59 + + V.--Keeping Cows, continued,--Keeping Pigs, 73 + + VI.--Keeping Pigs, continued--Salting Mutton, and Beef, 86 + + VII.--Bees, Geese, Ducks, Turkeys, Fowls, Pigeons, Rabbits, + Goats, and Ewes, Candles and Rushes, Mustard, Dress + and Household Goods, and Fuel, Hops, and Yeast, 98 + + VIII.--Selecting, Cutting and Bleaching the Plants of English + Grass and Grain, for the purpose of making Hats and + Bonnets--Constructing and using Ice-houses, 122 + + ADDITION.--Mangel Wurzel--Cobbett's Corn, 151 + + INDEX, 158 + + + + +COTTAGE ECONOMY. + + + + +No. I. + +INTRODUCTION. + +TO THE LABOURING CLASSES OF THIS KINGDOM. + + +1. Throughout this little work, I shall _number_ the Paragraphs, in order +to be able, at some stages of the work, to refer, with the more facility, +to parts that have gone before. The last Number will contain an _Index_, +by the means of which the several matters may be turned to without loss of +time; for, when _economy_ is the subject, _time_ is a thing which ought by +no means to be overlooked. + +2. The word _Economy_, like a great many others, has, in its application, +been very much abused. It is generally used as if it meant parsimony, +stinginess, or niggardliness; and, at best, merely the refraining from +expending money. Hence misers and close-fisted men disguise their +propensity and conduct under the name of _economy_; whereas the most +liberal disposition, a disposition precisely the contrary of that of the +miser, is perfectly consistent with economy. + +3. ECONOMY means _management_, and nothing more; and it is generally +applied to the affairs of a house and family, which affairs are an object +of the greatest importance, whether as relating to individuals or to a +nation. A nation is made powerful and to be honoured in the world, not so +much by the number of its people as by the ability and character of that +people; and the ability and character of a people depend, in a great +measure, upon the _economy_ of the several families, which, all taken +together, make up the nation. There never yet was, and never will be, a +nation _permanently great_, consisting, for the greater part, of wretched +and miserable families. + +4. In every view of the matter, therefore, it is desirable; that the +families of which a nation consists should be happily off: and as this +depends, in a great degree, upon the _management_ of their concerns, the +present work is intended to convey, to the families of the _labouring +classes_ in particular, such information as I think may be useful with +regard to that management. + +5. I lay it down as a maxim, that for a family to be happy, they must be +well supplied with _food_ and _raiment_. It is a sorry effort that people +make to persuade others, or to persuade themselves, that they can be happy +in a state of _want_ of the necessaries of life. The doctrines which +fanaticism preaches, and which teach men to be _content_ with _poverty_, +have a very pernicious tendency, and are calculated to favour tyrants by +giving them passive slaves. To live well, to enjoy all things that make +life pleasant, is the right of every man who constantly uses his strength +judiciously and lawfully. It is to blaspheme God to suppose, that he +created man to be miserable, to hunger, thirst, and perish with cold, in +the midst of that abundance which is the fruit of their own labour. +Instead, therefore, of applauding "_happy_ poverty," which applause is so +much the fashion of the present day, I despise the man that is _poor_ and +_contented_; for, such content is a certain proof of a base disposition, a +disposition which is the enemy of all industry, all exertion, all love of +independence. + +6. Let it be understood, however, that, by _poverty_, I mean _real want_, +a real insufficiency of the food and raiment and lodging necessary to +health and decency; and not that imaginary poverty, of which some persons +complain. The man who, by his own and his family's labour, can provide a +sufficiency of food and raiment, and a comfortable dwelling-place, is not +a _poor man_. There must be different ranks and degrees in every civil +society, and, indeed, so it is even amongst the savage tribes. There must +be different degrees of wealth; some must have more than others; and the +richest must be a great deal richer than the least rich. But it is +necessary to the very existence of a people, that nine out of ten should +live wholly by the sweat of their brow; and, is it not degrading to human +nature, that all the nine-tenths should be called _poor_; and, what is +still worse, _call themselves poor_, and be _contented_ in that degraded +state? + +7. The laws, the economy, or management, of a state may be such as to +render it impossible for the labourer, however skilful and industrious, to +maintain his family in health and decency; and such has, for many years +past, been the management of the affairs of this once truly great and +happy land. A system of paper-money, the effect of which was to take from +the labourer the half of his earnings, was what no industry and care could +make head against. I do not pretend that this system was adopted _by +design_. But, no matter for the _cause_; such was the effect. + +8. Better times, however, are approaching. The labourer now appears likely +to obtain that hire of which he is worthy; and, therefore, this appears to +me to be the time to press upon him the _duty_ of using his best exertions +for the rearing of his family in a manner that must give him the best +security for happiness to himself, his wife and children, and to make him, +in all respects, what his forefathers were. The people of England have +been famed, in all ages, for their _good living_; for the _abundance of +their food_ and _goodness of their attire_. The old sayings about English +roast beef and plum-pudding, and about English hospitality, had not their +foundation in _nothing_. And, in spite of all refinements of sickly minds, +it is _abundant living_ amongst the people at large, which is the great +test of good government, and the surest basis of national greatness and +security. + +9. If the labourer have his fair wages; if there be no false weights and +measures, whether of money or of goods, by which he is defrauded; if the +laws be equal in their effect upon all men: if he be called upon for no +more than his due share of the expenses necessary to support the +government and defend the country, he has no reason to complain. If the +largeness of his family demand extraordinary labour and care, these are +due from him to it. He is the cause of the existence of that family; and, +therefore, he is not, except in cases of accidental calamity, to throw +upon others the burden of supporting it. Besides, "little children are as +arrows in the hands of the giant, and blessed is the man that hath his +quiver full of them." That is to say, children, if they bring their +_cares_, bring also their _pleasures_ and _solid advantages_. They become, +very soon, so many assistants and props to the parents, who, when old age +comes on, are amply repaid for all the toils and all the cares that +children have occasioned in their infancy. To be without sure and safe +friends in the world makes life not worth having; and whom can we be so +sure of as of our children? Brothers and sisters are a mutual support. We +see them, in almost every case, grow up into prosperity, when they act the +part that the impulses of nature prescribe. When cordially united, a +father and sons, or a family of brothers and sisters, may, in almost any +state of life, set what is called misfortune at defiance. + +10. These considerations are much more than enough to sweeten the toils +and cares of parents, and to make them regard every additional child as an +additional blessing. But, that children may be a blessing and not a curse, +care must be taken of their _education_. This word has, of late years, +been so perverted, so corrupted; so abused, in its application, that I am +almost afraid to use it here. Yet I must not suffer it to be usurped by +cant and tyranny. I must use it: but not without clearly saying what I +mean. + +11. _Education_ means _breeding up_, _bringing up_, or _rearing up_; and +nothing more. This includes every thing with regard to the _mind_ as well +as the _body_ of a child; but, of late years, it has been so used as to +have no sense applied to it but that of _book-learning_, with which, nine +times out of ten, it has nothing at all to do. It is, indeed, proper, and +it is the duty of all parents, to teach, or cause to be taught, their +children as much as they can of books, _after_, and not before, all the +measures are safely taken for enabling them to get their living by labour, +or for _providing them a living without labour_, and that, too, out of the +means obtained and secured by the parents out of their own income. The +taste of the times is, unhappily, to give to children something of +_book-learning_, with a view of placing them to live, in some way or +other, _upon the labour of other people_. Very seldom, comparatively +speaking, has this succeeded, even during the wasteful public expenditure +of the last thirty years; and, in the times that are approaching, it +cannot, I thank God, succeed at all. When the project has failed, what +disappointment, mortification and misery, to both parent and child! The +latter is spoiled as a labourer: his book-learning has only made him +conceited: into some course of desperation he falls; and the end is but +too often not only wretched but ignominious. + +12. Understand me clearly here, however; for it is the duty of parents to +give, if they be able, book-learning to their children, having _first_ +taken care to make them capable of earning their living by _bodily +labour_. When that object has once been secured, the other may, if the +ability remain, be attended to. But I am wholly against children wasting +their time in the idleness of what is called _education_; and particularly +in schools over which the parents have no control, and where nothing is +taught but the rudiments of servility, pauperism and slavery. + +13. The _education_ that I have in view is, therefore, of a very different +kind. You should bear constantly in mind, that nine-tenths of us are, from +the very nature and necessities of the world, born to gain our livelihood +by the sweat of our brow. What reason have we, then, to presume, that our +children are not to do the same? If they be, as now and then one will be, +endued with extraordinary powers of mind, those powers may have an +opportunity of developing themselves; and if they never have that +opportunity, the harm is not very great to us or to them. Nor does it +hence follow that the descendants of labourers are _always_ to be +labourers. The path upwards is steep and long, to be sure. Industry, care, +skill, excellence, in the present parent, lay the foundation of _a rise_, +under more favourable circumstances, for his children. The children of +these take _another rise_; and, by-and-by, the descendants of the present +labourer become gentlemen. + +14. This is the natural progress. It is by attempting to reach the top at +a _single leap_ that so much misery is produced in the world; and the +propensity to make such attempts has been cherished and encouraged by the +strange projects that we have witnessed of late years for making the +labourers _virtuous_ and _happy_ by giving them what is called +_education_. The education which I speak of consists in bringing children +up to labour with _steadiness_, with _care_, and with _skill_; to show +them how to do as many useful things as possible; to teach them to do them +all in the best manner; to set them an example in industry, sobriety, +cleanliness, and neatness; to make all these _habitual_ to them, so that +they never shall be liable to fall into the contrary; to let them always +see a _good living_ proceeding from _labour_, and thus to remove from them +the temptation to get at the goods of others by violent or fraudulent +means; and to keep far from their minds all the inducements to hypocrisy +and deceit. + +15. And, bear in mind, that if the state of the labourer has its +disadvantages when compared with other callings and conditions of life, it +has also its advantages. It is free from the torments of ambition, and +from a great part of the causes of ill-health, for which not all the +riches in the world and all the circumstances of high rank are a +compensation. The able and prudent labourer is always _safe_, at the +least; and that is what few men are who are lifted above him. They have +losses and crosses to fear, the very thought of which never enters his +mind, if he act well his part towards himself, his family and his +neighbour. + +16. But, the basis of good to him, is _steady and skilful labour_. To +assist him in the pursuit of this labour, and in the turning of it to the +best account, are the principal objects of the present little work. I +propose to treat of brewing Beer, making Bread, keeping Cows and Pigs, +rearing Poultry, and of other matters; and to show, that, while, from a +very small piece of ground a large part of the food of a considerable +family may be raised, the very act of raising it will be the best possible +foundation of _education_ of the children of the labourer; that it will +teach them a great number of useful things, _add greatly to their value +when they go forth from_ their father's home, make them start in life with +all possible advantages, and give them the best chance of leading happy +lives. And is it not much more rational for parents to be employed in +teaching their children how to cultivate a garden, to feed and rear +animals, to make bread, beer, bacon, butter and cheese, and to be able to +do these things for themselves, or for others, than to leave them to prowl +about the lanes and commons, or to mope at the heels of some crafty, +sleekheaded pretended saint, who while he extracts the last penny from +their pockets, bids them be contented with their misery, and promises +them, in exchange for their pence, everlasting glory in the world to come? +It is upon the hungry and the wretched that the fanatic works. The +dejected and forlorn are his prey. As an ailing carcass engenders vermin, +a pauperized community engenders teachers of fanaticism, the very +foundation of whose doctrines is, that we are to care nothing about this +world, and that all our labours and exertions are in vain. + +17. The man, who is doing well, who is in good health, who has a blooming +and dutiful and cheerful and happy family about him, and who passes his +day of rest amongst them, is not to be made to believe, that he was born +to be miserable, and that poverty, the natural and just reward of +laziness, is to secure him a crown of glory. Far be it from me to +recommend a disregard of even outward observances as to matters of +religion; but, can it be _religion_ to believe that God hath made us to be +wretched and dejected? Can it be _religion_ to regard, as marks of his +grace, the poverty and misery that almost invariably attend our neglect to +use the means of obtaining a competence in worldly things? Can it be +_religion_ to regard as blessings those things, those very things, which +God expressly numbers amongst his curses? Poverty never finds a place +amongst the _blessings_ promised by God. His blessings are of a directly +opposite description; flocks, herds, corn, wine and oil; a smiling land; a +rejoicing people; abundance for the body and gladness of the heart: these +are the blessings which God promises to the industrious, the sober, the +careful, and the upright. Let no man, then, believe that, to be poor and +wretched is a mark of God's favour; and let no man remain in that state, +if he, by any honest means, can rescue himself from it. + +18. Poverty leads to all sorts of evil consequences. _Want_, horrid want, +is the great parent of crime. To have a dutiful family, the father's +principle of rule must be _love_ not _fear_. His sway must be gentle, or +he will have only an unwilling and short-lived obedience. But it is given +to but few men to be gentle and good-humoured amidst the various torments +attendant on pinching poverty. A competence is, therefore, the first thing +to be thought of; it is the foundation of all good in the labourer's +dwelling; without it little but misery can be expected. "_Health_, +_peace_, and _competence_," one of the wisest of men regards as the only +things needful to man: but the two former are scarcely to be had without +the latter. _Competence_ is the foundation of happiness and of exertion. +Beset with wants, having a mind continually harassed with fears of +starvation, who can act with energy, who can calmly think? To provide a +_good living_, therefore, for himself and family, is the _very first duty_ +of every man. "Two things," says AGUR, "have I asked; deny me them not +before I die: remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty +nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: lest I be full and deny +thee; or lest I be poor and steal." + +19. A _good living_ therefore, a _competence_, is the first thing to be +desired and to be sought after; and, if this little work should have the +effect of aiding only a small portion of the Labouring Classes in securing +that competence, it will afford great gratification to their friend + +WM. COBBETT. + +_Kensington, 19th July, 1821._ + + +BREWING BEER. + +20. Before I proceed to give any directions about brewing, let me mention +some of the inducements to do the thing. In former times, to set about to +show to Englishmen that it was good for them to brew beer in their houses +would have been as impertinent as gravely to insist, that they ought to +endeavour not to lose their breath; for, in those times, (only forty years +ago,) to have a _house_ and not to brew was a rare thing indeed. Mr. +ELLMAN, an old man and a large farmer, in Sussex, has recently given in +evidence, before a Committee of the House of Commons, this fact; that, +_forty years ago_, there was not a labourer in his parish that did not +_brew his own beer_; and that _now_ there is _not one that does it_, +except by chance the malt be given him. The causes of this change have +been the lowering of the wages of labour, compared with the price of +provisions, by the means of the paper-money; the enormous tax upon the +barley when made into _malt_; and the increased tax upon _hops_. These +have quite changed the customs of the English people as to their drink. +They still drink _beer_, but, in general, it is of the brewing of _common +brewers_, and in public-houses, of which the common brewers have become +the owners, and have thus, by the aid of paper-money, obtained a +_monopoly_ in the supplying of the great body of the people with one of +those things which, to the hard-working man, is almost a necessary of +life. + +21. These things will be altered. They must be altered. The nation must be +sunk into nothingness, or a new system must be adopted; and the nation +will not sink into nothingness. The malt now pays a tax of 4_s._ 6_d._[1] +a bushel, and the barley costs only 3_s._ This brings the bushel of malt +to 8_s._ including the maltster's charge for malting. If the tax were +taken off the malt, malt would be sold, at the present price of barley, +for about 3_s._ 3_d._ a bushel; because a bushel of barley makes more than +a bushel of malt, and the tax, besides its amount, causes great expenses +of various sorts to the maltster. The hops pay a tax of 2_d._[2] a pound; +and a bushel of malt requires, in general, a pound of hops; if these two +taxes were taken off, therefore, the consumption of barley and of hops +would be exceedingly increased; for double the present quantity would be +demanded, and the land is always ready to send it forth. + +22. It appears impossible that the landlords should much longer submit to +these intolerable burdens on their estates. In short, they must get off +the malt tax, or lose those estates. They must do a great _deal more_, +indeed; but that they must do at any rate. The paper-money is fast losing +its destructive power; and things are, with regard to the labourers, +coming back to what they were _forty years ago_, and therefore we may +prepare for the making of beer in our own houses, and take leave of the +poisonous stuff served out to us by common brewers. We may begin +_immediately_; for, even at _present prices_, home-brewed beer is the +_cheapest_ drink that a family can use, except _milk_, and milk can be +applicable only in certain cases. + +23. The drink which has come to supply the place of beer has, in general, +been _tea_. It is notorious that tea has no _useful strength_ in it; that +it contains nothing _nutritious_; that it, besides being _good_ for +nothing, has _badness_ in it, because it is well known to produce want of +sleep in many cases, and in all cases, to shake and weaken the nerves. It +is, in fact, a weaker kind of laudanum, which enlivens for the moment and +deadens afterwards. At any rate it communicates no strength to the body; +it does not, in any degree, assist in affording what labour demands. It +is, then, of no _use_. And, now, as to its _cost_, compared with that of +_beer_. I shall make my comparison applicable to a year, or three hundred +and sixty-five days. I shall suppose the tea to be only five shillings the +pound; the sugar only sevenpence; the milk only twopence a quart. The +prices are at the very lowest. I shall suppose a tea-pot to cost a +shilling, six cups and saucers two shillings and sixpence, and six pewter +spoons eighteen-pence. How to estimate the firing I hardly know; but +certainly there must be in the course of the year, two hundred fires made +that would not be made, were it not for tea drinking. Then comes the great +article of all, the _time_ employed in this tea-making affair. It is +impossible to make a fire, boil water, make the tea, drink it, wash up the +things, sweep up the fire-place, and put all to rights again, in a less +space of time, upon an average, than _two hours_. However, let us allow +_one hour_; and here we have a woman occupied no less than three hundred +and sixty-five hours in the year, or thirty whole days, at twelve hours in +the day; that is to say, one month out of the twelve in the year, besides +the waste of the man's time in hanging about waiting for the tea! Needs +there any thing more to make us cease to wonder at seeing labourers' +children with dirty linen and holes in the heels of their stockings? +Observe, too, that the time thus spent is, one half of it, the best time +of the day. It is the top of the morning, which, in every calling of life, +contains an hour worth two or three hours of the afternoon. By the time +that the clattering tea tackle is out of the way, the morning is spoiled; +its prime is gone; and any work that is to be done afterwards lags heavily +along. If the mother have to go out to work, the tea affair must all first +be over. She comes into the field, in summer time, when the sun has gone a +third part of his course. She has the heat of the day to encounter, +instead of having her work done and being ready to return home at any +early hour. Yet early she must go, too: for, there is the fire again to +be made, the clattering tea-tackle again to come forward; and even in the +longest day she must have _candle light_, which never ought to be seen in +a cottage (except in case of illness) from March to September. + +24. Now, then, let us take the bare cost of the use of tea. I suppose a +pound of tea to last twenty days; which is not nearly half an ounce every +morning and evening. I allow for each mess half a pint of milk. And I +allow three pounds of the red dirty sugar to each pound of tea. The +account of expenditure would then stand very high; but to these must be +added the amount of the tea tackle, one set of which will, upon an +average, be demolished every year. To these outgoings must be added the +cost of beer at the public-house; for some the man will have, after all, +and the woman too, unless they be upon the point of actual starvation. Two +pots a week is as little as will serve in this way; and here is a dead +loss of ninepence a week, seeing that two pots of beer, full as strong, +and a great deal better, can be brewed at home for threepence. The account +of the year's tea drinking will then stand thus: + + _L._ _s._ _d._ + + 18lb. of tea 4 10 0 + 54lb. of sugar 1 11 6 + 365 pints of milk 1 10 0 + Tea tackle 0 5 0 + 200 fires 0 16 8 + 30 days' work 0 15 0 + Loss by going to public-house 1 19 0 + ------------ + _L._ 11 7 2[3] + +25. I have here estimated every thing at its very lowest. The +entertainment which I have here provided is as poor, as mean, as miserable +as any thing short of starvation can set forth; and yet the wretched thing +amounts to a good third part of a good and able labourer's wages! For this +money, he and his family may drink good and wholesome beer; in a short +time, out of the mere savings from this waste, may drink it out of silver +cups and tankards. In a labourer's family, _wholesome_ beer, that has a +little life in it, is all that is wanted in _general_. Little children, +that do not work, should not have beer. Broth, porridge, or something in +that way, is the thing for them. However, I shall suppose, in order to +make my comparison as little complicated as possible, that he brews +nothing but beer as strong as the generality of beer to be had at the +public-house, and divested of the poisonous drugs which that beer but too +often contains; and I shall further suppose that he uses in his family two +quarts of this beer every day from the first of October to the last day of +March inclusive: three quarts a day during the months of April and May; +four quarts a day during the months of June and September; and five quarts +a day during the months of July and August; and if this be not enough, it +must be a family of drunkards. Here are 1097 quarts, or 274 gallons. Now, +a bushel of malt will make eighteen gallons of better beer than that which +is sold at the public-houses. And this is precisely a gallon for the price +of a quart. People should bear in mind, that the beer bought at the +public-house is loaded with a _beer tax_, with the tax on the public-house +keeper, in the shape of license, with all the taxes and expenses of the +brewer, with all the taxes, rent, and other expenses of the publican, and +with all the _profits_ of both brewer and publican; so that when a man +swallows a pot of beer at a public-house, he has all these expenses to +help to defray, besides the mere tax on the malt and on the hops. + +26. Well, then, to brew this ample supply of good beer for a labourer's +family, these 274 gallons, requires _fifteen_ bushels of malt and (for let +us do the thing well) _fifteen pounds of hops_. The malt is now eight +shillings a bushel, and very good hops may be bought for less than a +shilling a pound. The _grains_ and yeast will amply pay for the labour and +fuel employed in the brewing; seeing that there will be pigs to eat the +grains, and bread to be baked with the yeast. The account will then stand +thus: + + _L._ _s._ _d._ + + 15 bushels of malt 6 0 0 + 15 pounds of hops 0 15 0 + Wear of utensils 0 10 0 + ----------- + _L._ 7 5 0[4] + +27. Here, then, is the sum of four pounds two shillings and twopence saved +every year. The utensils for brewing are, a brass kettle, a mashing tub, +coolers, (for which washing tubs may serve,) a half hogshead, with one end +taken out, for a tun tub, about four nine-gallon casks, and a couple of +eighteen-gallon casks. This is an ample supply of utensils, each of which +will last, with proper care, a good long lifetime or two, and the whole of +which, even if purchased new from the shop, will only exceed by a few +shillings, if they exceed at all, the amount of the saving, arising _the +very first year_, from quitting the troublesome and pernicious practice of +drinking tea. The saving of each succeeding year would, if you chose it, +purchase a silver mug to hold half a pint at least. However, the saving +would naturally be applied to purposes more conducive to the well-being +and happiness of a family. + +28. It is not, however, the _mere saving_ to which I look. This is, +indeed, a matter of great importance, whether we look at the amount +itself, or at the ultimate consequences of a judicious application of it; +for _four pounds_ make a great _hole_ in a man's wages for the year; and +when we consider all the advantages that would arise to a family of +children from having these four pounds, now so miserably wasted, laid out +upon their backs, in the shape of a decent dress, it is impossible to look +at this waste without feelings of sorrow not wholly unmixed with those of +a harsher description. + +29. But, I look upon the thing in a still more serious light. I view the +tea drinking as a destroyer of health, an enfeebler of the frame, an +engenderer of effeminacy and laziness, a debaucher of youth, and a maker +of misery for old age. In the fifteen bushels of malt there are 570 pounds +weight of _sweet_; that is to say, of nutricious matter, unmixed with any +thing injurious to health. In the 730 tea messes of the year there are 54 +pounds of sweet in the sugar, and about 30 pounds of matter equal to sugar +in the milk. Here are 84 pounds instead of 570, and even the good effect +of these 84 pounds is more than over-balanced by the corrosive, gnawing +and poisonous powers of the tea. + +30. It is impossible for any one to deny the truth of this statement. Put +it to the test with a lean hog: give him the fifteen bushels of malt, and +he will repay you in ten score of bacon or thereabouts. But give him the +730 tea messes, or rather begin to give them to him, and give him nothing +else, and he is dead with hunger, and bequeaths you his skeleton, at the +end of about seven days. It is impossible to doubt in such a case. The tea +drinking has done a great deal in bringing this nation into the state of +misery in which it now is; and the tea drinking, which is carried on by +"dribs" and "drabs;" by pence and farthings going out at a time; this +miserable practice has been gradually introduced by the growing weight of +the taxes on malt and on hops, and by the everlasting penury amongst the +labourers, occasioned by the paper-money. + +31. We see better prospects however, and therefore let us now rouse +ourselves, and shake from us the degrading curse, the effects of which +have been much more extensive and infinitely more mischievous than men in +general seem to imagine. + +32. It must be evident to every one, that the practice of tea drinking +must render the frame feeble and unfit to encounter hard labour or severe +weather, while, as I have shown, it deducts from the means of replenishing +the belly and covering the back. Hence succeeds a softness, an +effeminacy, a seeking for the fire-side, a lurking in the bed, and, in +short, all the characteristics of idleness, for which, in this case, real +want of strength furnishes an apology. The tea drinking fills the +public-house, makes the frequenting of it habitual, corrupts boys as soon +as they are able to move from home, and does little less for the girls, to +whom the gossip of the tea-table is no bad preparatory school for the +brothel. At the very least, it teaches them idleness. The everlasting +dawdling about with the slops of the tea tackle, gives them a relish for +nothing that requires strength and activity. When they go from home, they +know how to do nothing that is useful. To brew, to bake, to make butter, +to milk, to rear poultry; to do any earthly thing of use they are wholly +unqualified. To shut poor young creatures up in manufactories is bad +enough; but there, at any rate, they do something that is useful; whereas, +the girl that has been brought up merely to boil the tea-kettle, and to +assist in the gossip inseparable from the practice, is a mere consumer of +food, a pest to her employer, and a curse to her husband, if any man be so +unfortunate as to fix his affections upon her. + +33. But is it in the power of any man, any good labourer, who has attained +the age of fifty, to look back upon the last thirty years of his life, +without cursing the day in which tea was introduced into England? Where is +there such a man, who cannot trace to this cause a very considerable part +of all the mortifications and sufferings of his life? When was he ever +_too late_ at his labour; when did he ever meet with a frown, with a +turning off, and pauperism on that account, without being able to trace it +to the tea-kettle? When reproached with lagging in the morning, the poor +wretch tells you that he will make up for it by _working during his +breakfast time_! I have heard this a hundred and a hundred times over. He +was up time enough; but the tea-kettle kept him lolling and lounging at +home; and now, instead of sitting down to a breakfast upon bread, bacon, +and beer, which is to carry him on to the hour of dinner, he has to force +his limbs along under the sweat of feebleness, and at dinner time to +swallow his dry bread, or slake his half-feverish thirst at the pump or +the brook. To the wretched tea-kettle he has to return at night, with legs +hardly sufficient to maintain him; and thus he makes his miserable +progress towards that death, which he finds ten or fifteen years sooner +than he would have found it had he made his wife brew beer instead of +making tea. If he now and then gladdens his heart with the drugs of the +public house, some quarrel, some accident, some illness, is the probable +consequence; to the affray abroad succeeds an affray at home; the +mischievous example reaches the children, corrupts them or scatters them, +and misery for life is the consequence. + +34. I should now proceed to the _details_ of brewing; but these, though +they will not occupy a large space, must be put off to the _second +number_. The custom of brewing at home has so long ceased amongst +labourers, and, in many cases, amongst tradesmen, that it was necessary +for me fully to state my reasons for wishing to see the custom revived. I +shall, in my next, clearly explain how the operation is performed; and it +will be found to be so _easy a thing_, that I am not without hope, that +many _tradesmen_, who now spend their evenings at the public house, amidst +tobacco smoke and empty _noise_, may be induced, by the finding of better +drink at home, at a quarter part of the price, to perceive that home is by +far the pleasantest place wherein to pass their hours of relaxation. + +35. My work is intended chiefly for the benefit of _cottagers_, who must, +of course, have some _land_; for, I purpose to show, that a large part of +the food of even a large family may be raised, without any diminution of +the labourer's earnings abroad, from forty rod, or a quarter of an acre, +of ground; but at the same time, what I have to say will be applicable to +larger establishments, in all the branches of domestic economy: and +especially to that of providing a family with _beer_. + +36. The _kind of beer_, for a labourer's family, that is to say, the +_degree of strength_, must depend on circumstances; on the numerousness of +the family; on the season of the year, and various other things. But, +generally speaking, beer _half_ the strength of that mentioned in +paragraph 25 will be quite strong enough; for that is, at least, one-third +stronger than the farm-house "_small beer_," which, however, as long +experience has proved, is best suited to the purpose. A judicious labourer +would probably always have some _ale_ in his house, and have small beer +for the general drink. There is no reason why he should not keep +_Christmas_ as well as the farmer; and when he is _mowing_, _reaping_, or +is at any other hard work, a quart, or three pints, of _really good fat +ale_ a-day is by no means too much. However, circumstances vary so much +with different labourers, that as to the _sort_ of beer, and the number of +brewings, and the times of brewing, no general rule can be laid down. + +37. Before I proceed to explain the uses of the several brewing utensils, +I must speak of the _quality_ of the materials of which beer is made; that +is to say, the _malt_, _hops_, and _water_. Malt varies very much in +quality, as, indeed, it must, with the quality of the barley. When good, +it is full of flour, and in biting a grain asunder, you find it bite +easily, and see the _shell thin_ and filled up well with flour. If it bite +_hard_ and _steely_, the malt is bad. There is _pale_ malt and _brown_ +malt; but the difference in the two arises merely from the different +degrees of heat employed in the drying. The main thing to attend to is, +the _quantity of flour_. If the barley was bad; _thin_, or _steely_, +whether from unripeness or blight, or any other cause, it will not _malt_ +so well; that is to say, it will not send out its roots in due time; and a +part of it will still be barley. Then, the world is wicked enough to +think, and even to say, that there are maltsters who, when they send you a +bushel of malt, _put a little barley amongst it_, the malt being _taxed_ +and the barley _not_! Let us hope that this is seldom the case; yet, when +we _do know_ that this terrible system of taxation induces the +beer-selling gentry to supply their customers with stuff little better +than poison, it is not very uncharitable to suppose it possible for some +maltsters to yield to the temptations of the devil so far as to play the +trick above mentioned. To detect this trick, and to discover what portion +of the barley is in an unmalted state, take a handful of the _unground_ +malt, and put it into a bowl of cold water. Mix it about with the water a +little; that is, let every grain be _just wet all over_; and whatever part +of them _sink_ are not good. If you have your malt _ground_, there is not, +as I know of, any means of detection. Therefore, if your brewing be +considerable in amount, _grind your own malt_, the means of doing which is +very easy, and neither expensive nor troublesome, as will appear, when I +come to speak of _flour_. If the barley be _well malted_, there is still a +variety in the quality of the malt; that is to say, a bushel of malt from +fine, plump, heavy barley, will be better than the same quantity from thin +and light barley. In this case, as in the case of wheat, the _weight_ is +the criterion of the quality. Only bear in mind, that as a bushel of +wheat, weighing _sixty-two_ pounds, is better worth _six_ shillings, than +a bushel weighing _fifty-two_ is worth _four_ shillings, so a bushel of +malt weighing _forty-five_ pounds is better worth _nine_ shillings, than a +bushel weighing _thirty-five_ is worth _six_ shillings. In malt, +therefore, as in every thing else, the word _cheap_ is a deception, unless +the quality be taken into view. But, bear in mind, that in the case of +_unmalted_ barley, mixed with the malt, the _weight_ can be no rule; for +barley is _heavier_ than malt. + + + + +No. II. + +BREWING BEER--(_continued._) + + +38. As to using _barley_ in the making of beer, I have given it a full and +fair trial twice over, and I would recommend it to neither rich nor poor. +The barley produces _strength_, though nothing like the malt; but the +beer is _flat_, even though you use half malt and half barley; and flat +beer lies heavy on the stomach, and of course, besides the bad taste, is +unwholesome. To pay 4_s._ 6_d._ tax upon every bushel of our own barley, +turned into malt, when the barley itself is not worth 3_s._ a bushel, is a +horrid thing; but, as long as the owners of the land shall be so dastardly +as to suffer themselves to be thus deprived of the use of their estates to +favour the slave-drivers and plunderers of the East and West Indies, we +must submit to the thing, incomprehensible to foreigners, and even to +ourselves, as the submission may be. + +39. With regard to _hops_, the quality is very various. At times when some +sell for 5_s._ a pound, others sell for _sixpence_. Provided the purchaser +understand the article, the quality is, of course, in proportion to the +price. There are two things to be considered in hops: the _power of +preserving beer_, and that of giving it a _pleasant flavour_. Hops may be +_strong_; and yet not _good_. They should be _bright_, have no _leaves_ or +bits of branches amongst them. The hop is the _husk_, or _seed-pod_, of +the hop-vine, as the _cone_ is that of the fir-tree; and the _seeds_ +themselves are deposited, like those of the fir, round a little soft +stalk, enveloped by the several folds of this pod, or cone. If, in the +gathering, leaves of the vine or bits of the branches are mixed with the +hops, these not only help to make up the _weight_, but they give a _bad +taste_ to the beer; and indeed, if they abound much, they spoil the beer. +Great attention is therefore necessary in this respect. There are, too, +numerous _sorts_ of hops, varying in size, form, and quality, quite as +much as _apples_. However, when they are in a state to be used in brewing, +the marks of goodness are an absence of _brown colour_, (for that +indicates perished hops;) a colour _between green_ and _yellow_; a great +_quantity of the yellow farina_; seeds _not too large nor too hard_; a +_clammy feel_ when rubbed between the fingers; and a _lively_, pleasant +smell. As to the _age_ of hops, they retain for twenty years, probably, +their _power of preserving beer_; but not of giving it a pleasant flavour. +I have used them at _ten years old_, and should have no fear of using +them at twenty. They lose none of their _bitterness_; none of their power +of preserving beer; but they lose the other quality; and therefore, in the +making of fine ale, or beer, new hops are to be preferred. As to the +_quantity_ of hops, it is clear, from what has been said, that that must, +in some degree depend upon their _quality_; but, supposing them to be good +in quality, a pound of hops to a bushel of malt is about the quantity. A +good deal, however, depends upon the length of time that the beer is +intended to be kept, and upon the season of the year in which it is +brewed. Beer intended to be kept a long while should have the full pound, +also beer brewed in warmer weather, though for present use: half the +quantity may do under an opposite state of circumstances. + +40. The _water_ should be soft by all means. That of brooks, or rivers, is +best. That of a _pond_, fed by a rivulet, or spring, will do very well. +_Rain-water_, if just fallen, may do; but stale rain-water, or stagnant +pond-water, makes the beer _flat_ and difficult to keep; and _hard water_, +from wells, is very bad; it does not get the sweetness out of the malt, +nor the bitterness out of the hops, like soft water; and the wort of it +does not ferment well, which is a certain proof of its unfitness for the +purpose. + +41. There are two descriptions of persons whom I am desirous to see +brewing their own beer; namely, _tradesmen_, and _labourers_ and +_journeymen_. There must, therefore, be two _distinct scales_ treated of. +In the former editions of this work, I spoke of a _machine_ for brewing, +and stated the advantages of using it in a family of any considerable +consumption of beer; but, while, from my desire to promote _private +brewing_, I strongly recommended the _machine_, I stated that, "if any of +my readers could point out any method by which we should be more likely to +restore the practice of private brewing, and especially to the _cottage_, +I should be greatly obliged to them to communicate it to me." Such +communications have been made, and I am very happy to be able, in this new +edition of my little work, to avail myself of them. There was, in the +_Patent Machine_, always, an objection on account of the _expense_; for, +even the machine for _one bushel of malt_ cost, at the reduced price, +_eight pounds_; a sum far above the reach of _a cottager_, and even above +that of a small tradesman. Its _convenience_, especially in _towns_, where +room is so valuable, was an object of great importance; but there were +_disadvantages_ attending it which, until after some experience, I did not +ascertain. It will be remembered that the method by the brewing machine +requires the malt to be put into _the cold water_, and for the water to +make the malt _swim_, or, at least, to be in such proportion as to prevent +the fire beneath from burning the malt. We found that our beer was _flat_, +and that it did _not keep_. And this arose, I have every reason to +believe, from this process. The malt should be put _into hot water_, and +the water, at first, should be but just sufficient in quantity to _stir +the malt in_, and _separate it well_. Nevertheless, when it is merely to +make _small beer_; beer _not wanted to keep_; in such cases the brewing +machine may be of use; and, as will be seen by-and-by, a moveable _boiler_ +(which has nothing to do with the _patent_) may, in many cases, be of +great convenience and utility. + +42. The two _scales_ of which I have spoken above, are now to be spoken +of; and, that I may explain my meaning the more clearly, I shall suppose, +that, for the tradesman's family, it will be requisite to brew eighteen +gallons of ale and thirty-six of small beer, to fill three casks of +eighteen gallons each. It will be observed, of course, that, for larger +quantities, larger utensils of all sorts will be wanted. I take this +quantity as the one to give directions on. The utensils wanted here will +be, FIRST, a _copper_ that will contain _forty gallons_, at least; for, +though there be to be but thirty-six gallons of small beer, there must be +space for the hops, and for the liquor that goes off in steam. SECOND, a +_mashing-tub_ to contain sixty gallons; for the malt is to be in this +along with the water. THIRD, an _underbuck_, or shallow tub to go under +the mash-tub, for the wort to run into when drawn from the grains. +FOURTH, a _tun-tub_, that will contain thirty gallons, to put the ale into +to work, the mash-tub, as we shall see, serving as a tun-tub for the small +beer. Besides these, a couple of _coolers_, shallow tubs, which may be the +heads of wine buts, or some such things, about a foot deep; or if you have +_four_ it may be as well, in order to effect the cooling more quickly. + +43. You begin by filling the copper with water, and next by making the +water _boil_. You then put into the mashing-tub water sufficient _to stir +and separate the malt in_. But now let me say more particularly what this +mashing-tub is. It is, you know, to contain _sixty gallons_. It is to be a +little broader at top than at bottom, and not quite so deep as it is wide +across the bottom. Into the middle of the bottom there is a hole about two +inches over, to draw the wort off through. In this hole goes a stick, a +foot or two longer than the tub is high. This stick is to be about two +inches through, and _tapered_ for about eight inches upwards at the end +that goes into the hole, which at last it fills up closely as a cork. Upon +the hole, before any thing else be put into the tub, you lay a little +bundle of _fine birch_, (heath or straw _may_ do,) about half the bulk of +a birch broom, and well tied at both ends. This being laid over the hole +(to keep back the grains as the wort goes out,) you put the tapered end of +the stick down through into the hole, and thus _cork_ the hole up. You +must then have something of weight sufficient to keep the birch steady at +the bottom of the tub, with a hole through it to slip down the stick; +otherwise when the stick is raised it will be apt to raise the birch with +it, and when you are stirring the mash you would move it from its place. +The best thing for this purpose will be a _leaden collar_ for the stick, +with the hole in the collar plenty large enough, and it should weigh three +or four pounds. The thing they use in some farm-houses is the iron box of +a wheel. Any thing will do that will slide down the stick, and lie with +weight enough on the birch to keep it from moving. Now, then, you are +ready to begin brewing. I allow _two bushels_ of malt for the brewing I +have supposed. You must now put into the mashing-tub as much boiling water +as will be sufficient to _stir the malt in_ and _separate it well_. But +here occur some of the nicest points of all; namely, the _degree of heat_ +that the water is to be at, before you put in the malt. This heat is _one +hundred and seventy degrees_ by the thermometer. If you have a +thermometer, this is ascertained easily; but, without one, take this rule, +by which so much good beer has been made in England for hundreds of years: +when you can, by looking down into the tub, _see your face clearly in the +water_, the water is become cool enough; and you must not put the malt in +before. Now put in the malt and _stir it well in the water_. To perform +this stirring, which is very necessary, you have a stick, somewhat bigger +than a broom-stick, with two or three smaller sticks, eight or ten inches +long, put through the lower end of it at about three or four inches +asunder, and sticking out on each side of the long stick. These small +cross sticks serve to search the malt and separate it well in the stirring +or _mashing_. Thus, then, the _malt is in_; and in this state it should +continue for about a quarter of an hour. In the mean while you will have +filled up your copper, and made it _boil_; and now (at the end of the +quarter of an hour) you put in boiling water sufficient to give you your +eighteen gallons of _ale_. But, perhaps, you must have thirty gallons of +water in the whole; for the grains will retain at least ten gallons of +water; and it is better to have rather too much wort than too little. When +your proper quantity of water is in, stir the malt again well. Cover the +mashing-tub over with _sacks_, or something that will answer the same +purpose; and there let the mash stand for _two hours_. When it has stood +the two hours, you draw off the wort. And now, mind, the mashing-tub is +placed on a _couple of stools_, or on something, that will enable you to +put the _underbuck_ under it, so as to receive the wort as it comes out of +the hole before-mentioned. When you have put the underbuck in its place, +you let out the wort by pulling up the stick that corks the whole. But, +observe, this stick (which goes six or eight inches through the hole) must +be raised by degrees, and the wort must be let out _slowly_, in order to +keep back the _sediment_. So that it is necessary to have something to +_keep the stick up_ at the point where you are to raise it, and wish to +fix it at for the time. To do this, the simplest, cheapest and best thing +in the world is a _cleft stick_. Take a _rod_ of ash, hazel, birch, or +almost any wood; let it be a foot or two longer than your mashing-tub is +wide over the top; _split_ it, as if for making hoops; tie it round with a +string at each end; lay it across your mashing-tub; pull it open in the +middle, and let the upper part of the wort-stick through it, and when you +raise that stick, by degrees as before directed, the cleft stick _will +hold it up_ at whatever height you please. + +44. When you have drawn off the _ale-wort_, you proceed to put into the +mashing tub water for the _small beer_. But, I shall go on with my +directions about the _ale_ till I have got it into the _cask_ and +_cellar_; and shall then return to the small-beer. + +45. As you draw off the ale-wort into the underbuck, you must lade it out +of that into the tun-tub, for which work, as well as for various other +purposes in the brewing, you must have a _bowl-dish_ with a handle to it. +The underbuck will not hold the whole of the wort. It is, as before +described, a shallow tub, to go _under_ the mashing-tub to draw off the +wort into. Out of this underbuck you must lade the ale-wort into the +_tun-tub_; and there it must remain till your _copper_ be emptied and +ready to receive it. + +46. The copper being empty, you put the wort into it, and put in after the +wort, or before it, _a pound and a half of good hops_, well rubbed and +separated as you put them in. You now make the copper boil, and keep it, +with the lid off, at a good _brisk_ boil, for a _full hour_, and if it be +an hour and a half it is none the worse. + +47. When the boiling is done, put out your fire, and put the liquor into +the _coolers_. But it must be put into the coolers _without the hops_. +Therefore, in order to get the hops out of the liquor, you must have a +_strainer_. The best for your purpose is a small _clothes-basket_, or any +other wicker-basket. You set your coolers in the most convenient place. It +may be in-doors or out of doors, as most convenient. You lay a couple of +sticks across one of the coolers, and put the basket upon them. Put your +liquor, hops and all, into the basket, which will _keep back the hops_. +When you have got liquor enough in one cooler, you go to another with your +sticks and basket, till you have got all your liquor out. If you find your +liquor deeper in one cooler than the other, you can make an alteration in +that respect, till you have the liquor so distributed as to cool equally +fast in both, or all, the coolers. + +48. The next stage of the liquor is in the _tun-tub_, where it is _set to +work_. Now, a very great point is, the _degree of heat_ that the liquor is +to be at when it is set to working. The proper heat is seventy degrees; so +that a thermometer makes this matter sure. In the country they determine +the degree of heat by merely putting a finger into the liquor. Seventy +degrees is but _just warm_, a gentle _luke-warmth_. Nothing like _heat_. A +little experience makes perfectness in such a matter. When at the proper +heat, or nearly, (for the liquor will cool a little in being removed,) put +it into the _tun-tub_. And now, before I speak of the act of setting the +beer to work, I must describe this _tun-tub_, which I first mentioned in +Paragraph 42. It is to hold _thirty gallons_, as you have seen; and +nothing is better than an old _cask_ of that size, or somewhat larger, +with the head taken out, or cut off. But, indeed, any tub of sufficient +dimensions, and of about the same depth proportioned to the width as a +cask or barrel has, will do for the purpose. Having put the liquor into +the tun-tub, you put in the _yeast_. About _half a pint_ of good yeast is +sufficient. This should first be put into a thing of some sort that will +hold about a gallon of your liquor; the thing should then be nearly filled +with liquor, and with a stick or spoon you should mix the yeast well with +the liquor in this bowl, or other thing, and stir in along with the yeast +a handful of _wheat or rye flour_. This mixture is then to be poured out +clean into the tun-tub, and the whole mass of the liquor is then to be +agitated well by lading up and pouring down again with your bowl-dish, +till the yeast be well mixed with the liquor. Some people do the thing in +another manner. They mix up the yeast and flour with some liquor (as just +mentioned) taken out of the coolers; and then they set the little vessel +that contains this mixture down _on the bottom of the tun-tub_; and, +leaving it there, put the liquor out of the coolers into the tun-tub. +Being placed at the bottom, and having the liquor poured on it, the +mixture is, perhaps, more perfectly effected in this way than in any way. +The _flour_ may not be necessary; but, as the country people use it, it +is, doubtless, of some use; for their hereditary experience has not been +for nothing. When your liquor is thus properly put into the tun-tub and +set a working, cover over the top of the tub by laying across it a sack or +two, or something that will answer the purpose. + +49. We now come to the _last stage_; the _cask_ or _barrel_. But I must +first speak of the place for the tun-tub to stand in. The place should be +such as to avoid too much warmth or cold. The air should, if possible, be +at about 55 degrees. Any cool place in summer and any _warmish_ place in +winter. If the weather be _very cold_, some cloths or sacks should be put +round the tun-tub while the beer is working. In about six or eight hours, +a _frothy_ head will rise upon the liquor; and it will keep rising, more +or less slowly, for about forty-eight hours. But, the _length of time_ +required for the working depends on various circumstances; so that no +precise time can be fixed. The best way is, to take off the froth (which +is indeed _yeast_) at the end of about twenty-four hours, with a common +skimmer, and put it into a pan or vessel of some sort; then, in twelve +hours' time, take it off again in the same way; and so on till the liquor +has _done working_, and sends up no more yeast. Then it is _beer_; and +when it is _quite cold_ (for _ale_ or _strong beer_) put it into the +_cask_ by means of a _funnel_. It must be cold before you do this, or it +will be what the country-people call _foxed_; that is to say, have a rank +and disagreeable taste. Now, as to the _cask_, it must be _sound_ and +_sweet_. I thought, when writing the former edition of this work, that the +_bell-shaped_ were the best casks. I am now convinced that that was an +error. The bell-shaped, by contracting the width of the top of the beer, +as that top descends, in consequence of the draft for use, certainly +prevents the _head_ (which always gathers on beer as soon as you begin to +draw it off) from breaking and mixing in amongst the beer. This is an +advantage in the bell-shape; but then the bell-shape, which places the +widest end of the cask uppermost, exposes the cask to the admission of +_external air_ much more than the other shape. This danger approaches from +the _ends_ of the cask; and, in the bell-shape, you have the _broadest_ +end wholly exposed the moment you have drawn out the first gallon of beer, +which is not the case with the casks of the common shape. Directions are +given, in the case of the bell-casks, to put _damp sand_ on the top to +keep out the air. But, it is very difficult to make this effectual; and +yet, if you do not keep out the air, your beer will be _flat_; and when +flat, it really is good for nothing but the pigs. It is very difficult to +_fill_ the bell-cask, which you will easily see if you consider its shape. +It must be placed on the _level_ with the greatest possible _truth_, or +there will be a space left; and to place it with such truth is, perhaps, +as difficult a thing as a mason or bricklayer ever had to perform. And +yet, if this be not done, there will be an _empty space_ in the cask, +though it may, at the same time, run over. With the common casks there are +none of these difficulties. A common eye will see when it is well placed; +and, at any rate, any little vacant space that may be left is not at an +_end_ of the cask, and will, without great carelessness, be so small as to +be of no consequence. We now come to the act of putting in the beer. The +cask should be placed on a stand with legs about a foot long. The cask, +being round, must have a little wedge, or block, on each side to keep it +steady. _Bricks_ do very well. Bring your beer down into the cellar in +buckets, and pour it in through the funnel, until the cask be full. The +cask should _lean a little on one side_, when you fill it; because the +beer will _work again_ here, and send more yeast out of the bung-hole; +and, if the cask were not a little on one side, the yeast would flow over +both sides of the cask, and would not descend in _one stream_ into a pan, +put underneath to receive it. Here the bell-cask is extremely +inconvenient; for the yeast works up all _over the head_, and _cannot run +off_, and makes a very nasty affair. This _alone_, to say nothing of the +other disadvantages, would decide the question against the bell-casks. +Something will _go off in this working_, which may continue for two or +three days. When you put the beer in the cask, you should have a _gallon +or two left_, to keep filling up with as the working produces emptiness. +At last, when the working is completely over, _right_ the cask. That is to +say, block it up to its level. Put in a handful of _fresh hops_. Fill the +cask quite full. Put in the bung, with a bit of _coarse linen_ stuff round +it; hammer it down tight; and, if you like, fill a coarse bag with sand, +and lay it, well pressed down, over the bung. + +50. As to the length of time that you are to keep the beer before you +begin to use it, that must, in some measure, depend on taste. _Such beer_ +as this _ale_ will keep almost any length of time. As to the mode of +_tapping_, that is as easy almost as _drinking_. When the cask is _empty_, +great care must be taken to cork it _tightly up_, so that no air get in; +for, if it do, the cask is _moulded_, and when once moulded, it is +_spoiled for ever_. It is never again fit to be used about beer. Before +the cask be used again, the grounds must be poured out, and the cask +cleaned by several times scalding; by putting in _stones_ (or a _chain_,) +and rolling and shaking about till it be quite clean. Here again the round +casks have the decided advantage; it being almost impossible to make the +bell-casks thoroughly clean, without _taking the head out_, which is both +troublesome and expensive; as it cannot be well done by any one but a +_cooper_, who is not always at hand, and who, when he is, must be _paid_. + +51. I have now done with the _ale_, and it remains for me to speak of the +_small beer_. In Paragraph 47 (which now see) I left you drawing off the +_ale-wort_, and with your copper full of boiling water. Thirty-six gallons +of that boiling water are, as soon as you have got your ale-wort out, and +have put down your mash-tub stick to close up the hole at the bottom; as +soon as you have done this, thirty-six gallons of the boiling water are to +go into the mashing-tub; the grains are to be well stirred up, as before; +the mashing-tub is to be covered over again, as mentioned in Paragraph 43; +and the mash is to stand in that state for _an hour_, and not two hours, +as for the ale-wort. + +52. When the small beer mash has stood its hour, draw it off as in +Paragraph 47, and put it into the tun-tub as you did the ale-wort. + +53. By this time your copper will be _empty_ again, by putting your +ale-liquor to cool, as mentioned in Paragraph 47. And you now put the +small beer wort _into the copper_, with the hops that you used before, and +with _half a pound of fresh hops_ added to them; and this liquor you boil +briskly for _an hour_. + +54. By this time you will have taken the grains and the sediment clean out +of the mashing-tub, and taken out the bunch of birch twigs, and made all +clean. Now put in the birch twigs again, and put down your stick as +before. Lay your two or three sticks across the mashing-tub, put your +basket on them, and take your liquor from the copper (putting the fire out +first) and pour it into the mashing-tub through the basket. Take the +basket away, throw the hops to the dunghill, and leave the small beer +liquid _to cool in the mashing-tub_. + +55. Here it is to remain to be _set to working_ as mentioned for the ale, +in Paragraph 48; only, in this case, you will want _more yeast in +proportion_; and should have for your thirty-six gallons of small beer, +three half pints of good yeast. + +56. Proceed, as to all the rest of the business, as with the ale, only, in +the case of the small beer, it should be put into the cask, not _quite +cold_, but a _little warm_; or else it will not work at all in the barrel, +which it ought to do. It will not work so strongly or so long as the ale; +and may be put in the barrel much sooner; in general the next day after it +is brewed. + +57. All the utensils should be well cleaned and put away as soon as they +are done with; the _little_ things as well as the great things; for it is +_loss of time_ to make new ones. And, now, let us see the _expense_ of +these utensils. The copper, _new_, 5_l._; the mashing-tub, _new_, 30_s._; +the tun-tub, not new, 5_s._; the underbuck and three coolers, not new, +20_s._ The whole cost is 7_l._ 10_s._ which is ten shillings less than the +_one bushel machine_. I am now in a farm-house, where the _same set_ of +utensils has been used for _forty years_; and the owner tells me, that, +with the same use, they may last for _forty years longer_. The machine +will not, I think, last _four years_, if in any thing like regular use. It +is of sheet-iron, _tinned on the inside_, and this tin _rusts_ +exceedingly, and is not to be kept clean without such _rubbing_ as must +soon take off the tin. The great advantage of the machine is, that it can +be _removed_. You can brew without a _brew-house_.--You can set the boiler +up against any fire-place, or any window. You can brew under a cart-shed, +and even out of doors. But all this may be done with _these utensils_, if +your _copper_ be moveable. Make the boiler of _copper_, and not of +sheet-iron, and fix it on a stand with a fire-place and stove-pipe; and +then you have the whole to brew out of doors with as well as in-doors, +which is a very great convenience. + +58. Now with regard to the _other_ scale of brewing, little need be said; +because, all the principles being the same, the utensils only are to be +proportioned to the _quantity_. If only one sort of beer be to be brewed +at a time, all the difference is, that, in order to extract the whole of +the goodness of the malt, the mashing ought to be at _twice_. The two +worts are then put together, and then you boil them together with the +hops. + +59. A Correspondent at _Morpeth_ says, the whole of the utensils used by +him are a twenty-gallon _pot_, a mashing-tub, that also answers for a +tun-tub, and a shallow tub for a cooler; and that these are plenty for a +person who is any thing of a contriver. This is very true; and these +things will cost no more, perhaps, than _forty shillings_. A nine gallon +cask of beer can be brewed very well with such utensils. Indeed, it is +what used to be done by almost every labouring man in the kingdom, until +the high price of malt and comparatively low price of wages rendered the +people too poor and miserable to be able to brew at all. A Correspondent +at Bristol has obligingly sent me the model of utensils for _brewing on a +small scale_; but as they consist chiefly of _brittle ware_, I am of +opinion that they would not so well answer the purpose. + +60. Indeed, as to the country labourers, all they want is the ability to +_get the malt_. Mr. ELLMAN, in his evidence before the Agricultural +Committee, said, that, when he began farming, forty-five years ago, there +was not a labourer's family in the parish that did not brew their own beer +and enjoy it by their own fire-sides; and that, _now, not one single +family did it, from want of ability to get the malt_. It is the _tax_ that +prevents their getting the malt; for, the barley is cheap enough. The tax +causes a monopoly in the hands of the maltsters, who, when the tax is +_two_ and _sixpence_, make the malt, cost 7_s._ 6_d._, though the barley +cost but 2_s._ 6_d._; and though the malt, tax and all, ought to cost him +about 5_s._ 6_d._ If the tax were taken off, this _pernicious monopoly_ +would be destroyed. + +61. The reader will easily see, that, in proportion to the quantity wanted +to be brewed must be the size of the utensils; but, I may observe here, +that the above utensils are sufficient for three, or even four, bushels of +malt, if stronger beer be wanted. + +62. When it is necessary, in case of falling short in the quantity wanted +to fill up the ale cask, some may be taken from the small beer. But, upon +the _whole brewing_, there ought to be no falling short; because, if the +casks be not _filled up_, the beer will not be good, and certainly will +not _keep_. Great care should be taken as to the _cleansing_ of the +_casks_. They should be made perfectly _sweet_; or it is impossible to +have good beer. + +63. The cellar, for beer to keep any length of time, should be cool. Under +_a hill_ is the best place for a cellar; but, at any rate, a cellar of +good depth, and _dry_. At certain times of the year, beer that is kept +long will ferment. The vent-pegs must, in such cases, be loosened a +little, and afterwards fastened. + +64. Small beer may be tapped almost directly. It is a sort of joke that it +should _see a Sunday_; but, that it may do before it be two days old. In +short, any beer is better than water; but it should have some strength and +some _weeks_ of age at any rate. + +65. I cannot conclude this Essay without expressing my pleasure, that a +law has been recently passed to authorize the general retail of beer. This +really seems necessary to prevent the King's subjects from being +_poisoned_. The brewers and porter quacks have carried their tricks to +such an extent, that there is _no safety_ for those who drink brewer's +beer. + +66. The best and most effectual thing is, however, for people to _brew +their own beer_, to enable them and induce them to do which, I have done +all that lies in my power. A longer treatise on the subject would have +been of no use. These few plain directions will suffice for those who have +a disposition to do the thing, and those who have not would remain unmoved +by any thing that I could say. + +67. There seems to be a _great number of things to do_ in brewing, but the +greater part of them require only about a _minute_ each. A brewing, such +as I have given the detail of above, may be completed in _a day_; but, by +the word _day_, I mean to include the _morning_, beginning at four +o'clock. + +68. The putting of the beer into barrel is not more than an hour's work +for a servant woman, or a tradesman's or a farmer's wife. There is no +_heavy_ work, no work too heavy for a woman in any part of the business, +otherwise I would not recommend it to be performed by the women, who, +though so amiable in themselves, are never quite so amiable as when they +are _useful_; and as to beauty, though men may fall in love with girls at +_play_, there is nothing to make them stand to their love like seeing them +at _work_. In conclusion of these remarks on beer brewing, I once more +express my most anxious desire to see abolished for ever the accursed tax +on _malt_, which, I verily believe, has done more harm to the people of +England than was ever done to any people by plague, pestilence, famine, +and civil war. + +69. In Paragraph 76, in Paragraph 108, and perhaps in another place or two +(of the last edition,) I spoke of the _machine_ for brewing. The work +being _stereotyped_, it would have been troublesome to alter those +paragraphs; but, of course, the public, in reading them, will bear in mind +what has been _now_ said relative to the _machine_. The inventor of that +machine deserves great praise for his efforts to promote private brewing; +and, as I said before, in certain confined situations, and where the beer +is to be merely _small beer_, and for _immediate use_, and where _time_ +and _room_ are of such importance as to make the _cost_ of the machine +comparatively of trifling consideration, the machine may possibly be found +to be an useful utensil. + +70. Having stated the inducements to the brewing of beer, and given the +plainest directions that I was able to give for the doing of the thing, I +shall, next, proceed to the subject of _bread_. But this subject is too +large and of too much moment to be treated with brevity, and must, +therefore, be put off till my next Number. I cannot, in the mean while, +dismiss the subject of _brewing beer_ without once more adverting to its +many advantages, as set forth in the foregoing Number of this work. + +71. The following instructions for the making of _porter_, will clearly +show what sort of stuff is sold at _public-houses_ in London; and we may +pretty fairly suppose that the public-house beer in the country is not +superior to it in quality, "A quarter of malt, with these ingredients, +will make _five barrels of good porter_. Take one quarter of high-coloured +malt, eight pounds of hops, nine pounds of _treacle_, eight pounds of +_colour_, eight pounds of sliced _liquorice-root_, two drams of _salt of +tartar_, two ounces of _Spanish-liquorice_, and half an ounce of +_capsicum_." The author says, that he merely gives the ingredients, as +_used by many persons_. + +72. This extract is taken from a _book on brewing_, recently published in +London. What a curious composition! What a mess of drugs! But, if the +brewers _openly avow_ this, what have we to expect from the _secret +practices_ of them, and the _retailers_ of the article! When we know, that +_beer-doctor_ and _brewers'-druggist_ are professions, practised as openly +as those of _bug-man_ and _rat-killer_, are we simple enough to suppose +that the above-named are the _only_ drugs that people swallow in those +potions, which they call _pots of beer_? Indeed, we know the contrary; for +scarcely a week passes without witnessing the detection of some greedy +wretch, who has used, in making or in _doctoring_ his beer, drugs, +forbidden by the law. And, it is not many weeks since one of these was +convicted, in the Court of Excise, for using potent and dangerous drugs, +by the means of which, and a suitable quantity of water, he made _two buts +of beer into three_. Upon this occasion, it appeared that no less than +_ninety_ of these worthies were in the habit of pursuing the same +practices. The drugs are not unpleasant to the taste; they sting the +palate: they give a present relish: they communicate a momentary +exhilaration: but, they give no force to the body, which, on the contrary, +they enfeeble, and, in many instances, with time, destroy; producing +diseases from which the drinker would otherwise have been free to the end +of his days. + +73. But, look again at the receipt for making porter. Here are _eight_ +bushels of malt to 180 gallons of beer; that is to say, twenty-fire +gallons from the bushel. Now the malt is eight shillings a bushel, and +eight pounds of the very _best hops_ will cost but a shilling a pound. The +malt and hops, then, for the 180 gallons, cost but _seventy-two +shillings_; that is to say, only a little more than _fourpence three +farthings a gallon_, for stuff which is now retailed for _sixteen pence a +gallon_! If this be not an abomination, I should be glad to know what is. +Even if the treacle, colour, and the drugs, be included, the cost is not +_fivepence a gallon_; and yet, not content with this enormous extortion, +there are wretches who resort to the use of other and pernicious drugs, in +order to increase their gains! + +74. To provide against this dreadful evil there is, and there can be, no +_law_; for, it is _created by the law_. The _law_ it is that imposes the +enormous tax on the _malt_ and _hops_; the _law_ it is that imposes the +_license tax_, and places the power of granting the license at the +discretion of persons appointed by the government; the _law_ it is that +checks, in this way, the private brewing, and that prevents _free and fair +competition_ in the selling of beer, and as long as the _law_ does these, +it will in vain endeavour to prevent the people from being destroyed by +slow poison. + +75. Innumerable are the benefits that would arise from a repeal of the +taxes on malt and on hops. Tippling-houses might then be shut up with +justice and propriety. The labourer, the artisan, the tradesman, the +landlord, all would instantly feel the benefit. But the _landlord_ more, +perhaps, in this case, than any other member of the community. The four or +five pounds a year which the day-labourer now drizzles away in tea-messes, +he would divide with the farmer, if he had untaxed beer. His wages would +_fall_, and fall to his _advantage_ too. The fall of wages would be not +less than 40_l._ upon a hundred acres. Thus 40_l._ would go, in the end, a +fourth, perhaps to the farmer, and three-fourths to the landlord. This is +the kind of work to _reduce poor-rates_, and to restore _husbandry to +prosperity_. Undertaken this work _must_ be, and _performed too_; but +whether we shall see this until the estates have passed away from the +_present race_ of landlords, is a question which must be referred to +_time_. + +76. Surely we may hope, that, when the American farmers shall see this +little Essay, they will begin seriously to think of leaving off the use of +the liver-burning and palsy-producing _spirits_. Their _climate_, indeed, +is something: _extremely hot_ in one part of the year, and _extremely +cold_ in the other part of it. Nevertheless, they may have, and do have, +very good beer if they will. _Negligence_ is the greatest impediment in +their way. I like the Americans very much; and that, if there were no +other, would be a reason for my not hiding their faults. + + + + +No. III. + +MAKING BREAD. + + +77. Little time need be spent in dwelling on the necessity of _this_ +article to all families; though, on account of the modern custom of using +_potatoes_ to supply the place of _bread_, it seems necessary to say a few +words here on the subject, which, in another work I have so amply, and, I +think, so triumphantly discussed. I am the more disposed to revive the +subject for a moment, in this place, from having read, in the evidence +recently given before the Agricultural Committee, that many labourers, +especially in the West of England, use potatoes _instead_ of bread to a +very great extent. And I find, from the same evidence, that it is the +custom to allot to labourers "_a potatoe ground_" in part payment of their +wages! This has a tendency to bring English labourers down to the state of +the Irish, whose mode of living, as to food, is but one remove from that +of the pig, and of the ill-fed pig too. + +78. I was, in reading the above-mentioned Evidence, glad to find, that +Mr. EDWARD WAKEFIELD, the best informed and most candid of all the +witnesses, gave it as his opinion, that the increase which had taken place +in the cultivation of potatoes was "_injurious to the country_;" an +opinion which must, I think, be adopted by every one who takes the trouble +to reflect a little upon the subject. For leaving out of the question the +slovenly and beastly habits engendered amongst the labouring classes by +constantly lifting their principal food at once out of the earth to their +mouths, by eating without the necessity of any implements other than the +hands and the teeth, and by dispensing with everything requiring skill in +the preparation of the food, and requiring cleanliness in its consumption +or preservation; leaving these out of the question, though they are all +matters of great moment, when we consider their effects in the rearing of +a family, we shall find, that, in mere quantity of food, that is to say of +_nourishment_, bread is the preferable diet. + +79. An acre of land that will produce 300 bushels of potatoes, will +produce 32 bushels of wheat. I state this as an average fact, and am not +at all afraid of being contradicted by any one well acquainted with +husbandry. The potatoes are supposed to be of a _good sort_, as it is +called, and the wheat may be supposed to weigh 60 pounds a bushel. It is a +fact clearly established, that, after the _water_, the _stringy_ +substance, and the _earth_, are taken from the potatoe, there remains only +one _tenth_ of the rough raw weight of nutritious matter, or matter which +is deemed equally nutritious with bread, and, as the raw potatoes weigh +56lb. a bushel, the acre will yield 1,830lb. of nutritious matter. Now +mind, a bushel of wheat, weighing 60lb. will make of _household bread_ +(that is to say, taking out only the _bran_) 65lb. Thus, the acre yields +2,080lb. of bread. As to the _expenses_, the seed and act of planting are +about equal in the two cases. But, while the potatoes _must_ have +cultivation during their growth, the wheat needs none; and while the wheat +straw is worth from three to five pounds an acre, the haulm of the +potatoes is not worth one single truss of that straw. Then, as to the +expense of gathering, housing, and keeping the potatoe crop, it is +enormous, besides the risk of loss by frost, which may be safely taken, on +an average, at a tenth of the crop. Then comes the expense of _cooking_. +The thirty-two bushels of wheat, supposing a bushel to be baked at a time, +(which would be the case in a large family,) would demand _thirty-two +heatings of the oven_. Suppose a bushel of potatoes to be cooked every day +in order to supply the place of this bread, then we have _nine hundred +boilings of the pot_, unless _cold potatoes_ be eaten at some of the +meals; and, in that case, the diet must be _cheering_ indeed! Think of the +_labour_; think of the _time_; think of all the peelings and scrapings and +washings and messings attending these _nine hundred boilings of the pot_! +For it must be a considerable time before English people can be brought to +eat potatoes in the Irish style; that is to say, scratch them out of the +earth with their paws, toss them into a pot without washing, and when +boiled, turn them out upon a dirty board, and then sit round that board, +peel the skin and dirt from one at a time and eat the inside. Mr. Curwen +was delighted with "_Irish hospitality_," because the people there receive +no parish relief; upon which I can only say, that I wish him the exclusive +benefit of such hospitality. + +80. I have here spoken of a large quantity of each of the sorts of food. I +will now come to a comparative view, more immediately applicable to a +labourer's family. When wheat is _ten_ shillings the bushel, potatoes, +bought at best hand, (I am speaking of the country generally,) are about +_two_ shillings (English) a bushel. Last spring the average price of wheat +might be _six and sixpence_, (English;) and the average price of potatoes +(in small quantities) was about _eighteen-pence_; though, by the +wagon-load, I saw potatoes bought at a _shilling_ (English) a bushel, to +give to sheep; then, observe, these were of the coarsest kind, and the +farmer had to fetch them at a considerable expense. I think, therefore, +that I give the advantage to the potatoes when I say that they sell, upon +an average, for full a _fifth_ part as much as the wheat sells for, per +bushel, while they contain four pounds less weight than the bushel of +wheat; while they yield only five pounds and a half of nutritious matter +equal to bread; and while the bushel of wheat will yield _sixty-five +pounds of bread_, besides the ten pounds of bran. Hence it is clear, that, +instead of that _saving_, which is everlastingly dinned in our ears, from +the use of potatoes, there is a _waste of more than one half_; seeing +that, when wheat is _ten shillings_ (English) the bushel, you can have +_sixty-five pounds of bread for the ten shillings_; and can have out of +potatoes only five pounds and a half of nutritious matter equal to bread +for _two shillings_! (English.) This being the case, I trust that we shall +soon hear no more of those _savings_ which the labourer makes by the use +of potatoes; I hope we shall, in the words of Dr. DRENNAN, "leave Ireland +to her _lazy_ root," if she choose still to adhere to it. It is the root, +also, of slovenliness, filth, misery, and slavery; its cultivation has +increased in England with the increase of the paupers: both, I thank God, +are upon the decline. Englishmen seem to be upon the return to beer and +bread, from water and potatoes: and, therefore, I shall now proceed to +offer some observations to the cottager, calculated to induce him to bake +his own bread. + +81. As I have before stated, sixty pounds of wheat, that is to say, where +the Winchester bushel weighs sixty pounds, will make sixty-five pounds of +bread, besides the leaving of about ten pounds of bran. This is household +bread, made of flour from which the bran only is taken. If you make fine +flour, you take out pollard, as they call it, as well as bran, and then +you have a smaller quantity of bread and a greater quantity of offal; but, +even of this finer bread, bread equal in fineness to the baker's bread, +you get from _fifty-eight to fifty-nine_ pounds out of the bushel of +wheat. Now, then, let us see how many quartern loaves you get out of the +bushel of wheat, supposing it to be fine flour, in the first place. You +get thirteen quartern loaves and a half; these cost you, at the present +average price of wheat (seven and sixpence a bushel,) in the first place +7_s_. 6_d._;[5] then 3_d._ for yeast; then not more than 3_d._ for +grinding; because you have about thirteen pounds of offal, which is worth +more than a 1/2_d._ a pound, while the grinding is 9_d._ a bushel. Thus, +then, the bushel of bread of fifty-nine pounds costs you _eight +shillings_; and it yields you the weight of thirteen and a half quartern +loaves: these quartern loaves _now_ (Dec. 1821) sell at Kensington, at the +baker's shop, at 1_s._ 1/2_d._; that is to say, the thirteen quartern +loaves and a half cost 14_s._ 7-1/2_d._ I omitted to mention the salt, +which would cost you 4_d._ more. So that, here is 6_s._ 3-1/2_d._ saved +upon the baking of a bushel of bread. The baker's quartern loaf is indeed +cheaper in the country than at Kensington, by, probably, a penny in the +loaf; which would still, however, leave a saving of 5_s._ upon the bushel +of bread. But, besides this, pray think a little of the materials of which +the baker's loaf is composed. The _alum_, the _ground potatoes_, and other +materials; it being a notorious fact, that the bakers, in London at least, +have _mills_ wherein to grind their potatoes; so large is the scale upon +which they use that material. It is probable, that, out of a bushel of +wheat, they make between _sixty_ and _seventy_ pounds of bread, though +they have no more _flour_, and, of course, no more nutritious matter, than +you have in your fifty-nine pounds of bread. But, at the least, supposing +their bread to be as good as yours in quality, you have, allowing a +shilling for the heating of the oven, a clear 4_s._ saved upon every +bushel of bread. If you consume half a bushel a week, that is to say about +a quartern loaf a day, this is a saving of 5_l._ 4_s._ a year, or full a +sixth part, if not a fifth part, of the earnings of a labourer in +husbandry. + +82. How wasteful, then, and, indeed, how shameful, for a labourer's wife +to go to the baker's shop; and how negligent, how criminally careless of +the welfare of his family, must the labourer be, who permits so scandalous +a use of the proceeds of his labour! But I have hitherto taken a view of +the matter the least possibly advantageous to the home-baked bread. For, +ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the fuel for heating the oven costs +very little. The hedgers, the copsers, the woodmen of all descriptions, +have fuel for little or nothing. At any rate, to heat the oven cannot, +upon an average, take the country through, cost the labourer more than +6_d._ a bushel. Then, again, fine flour need not ever be used, and ought +not to be used. This adds six pounds of bread to the bushel, or nearly +another quartern loaf and a half, making nearly fifteen quartern loaves +out of the bushel of wheat. The finest flour is by no means the most +wholesome; and, at any rate, there is more nutritious matter in a pound of +household bread than in a pound of baker's bread. Besides this, rye, and +even barley, especially when mixed with wheat, make very good bread. Few +people upon the face of the earth live better than the Long Islanders. Yet +nine families out of ten seldom eat wheaten-bread. Rye is the flour that +they principally make use of. Now, rye is seldom more than two-thirds the +price of wheat, and barley is seldom more than half the price of wheat. +Half rye and half wheat, taking out a little more of the offal, make very +good bread. Half wheat, a quarter rye and a quarter barley, nay, one-third +of each, make bread that I could be very well content to live upon all my +lifetime; and, even barley alone, if the barley be good, and none but the +finest flour taken out of it, has in it, measure for measure, ten times +the nutrition of potatoes. Indeed the fact is well known, that our +forefathers used barley bread to a very great extent. Its only fault, with +those who dislike it, is its sweetness, a fault which we certainly have +not to find with the baker's loaf, which has in it little more of the +_sweetness_ of grain than is to be found in the offal which comes from +the sawings of deal boards. The nutritious nature of barley is amply +proved by the effect, and very rapid effect, of its meal, in the fatting +of hogs and of poultry of all descriptions. They will fatten quicker upon +meal of barley than upon any other thing. The flesh, too, is sweeter than +that proceeding from any other food, with the exception of that which +proceeds from _buck wheat_, a grain little used in England. That +proceeding from Indian corn is, indeed, still sweeter and finer; but this +is wholly out of the question with us. + +83. I am, by-and-by, to speak of the _cow_ to be kept by the labourer in +husbandry. Then there will be _milk_ to wet the bread with, an exceedingly +great improvement in its taste as well as in its quality! This, of all the +ways of using skim milk, is the most advantageous: and this great +advantage must be wholly thrown away, if the bread of the family be bought +at the shop. With milk, bread with very little wheat in it may be made far +better than baker's bread; and, leaving the milk out of the question, +taking a third of each sort of grain, you would get bread weighing as much +as fourteen quartern loaves, for about 5_s._ 9_d._ at present prices of +grain; that is to say, you would get it for about 5_d._ the quartern loaf, +all expenses included; thus you have nine pounds and ten ounces of bread a +day for about 5_s._ 9_d._ a week. Here is enough for a very large family. +Very few labourers' families can want so much as this, unless indeed there +be several persons in it capable of earning something by their daily +labour. Here is cut and come again. Here is bread always for the table. +Bread to carry a field; always a hunch of bread ready to put into the hand +of a hungry child. We hear a great deal about "_children crying for +bread_," and objects of compassion they and their parents are, when the +latter have not the means of obtaining a sufficiency of bread. But I +should be glad to be informed, how it is possible for a labouring man, who +earns, upon an average, 10_s._ a week, who has not more than four +children (and if he have more, some ought to be doing something;) who has +a garden of a quarter of an acre of land (for that makes part of my plan;) +who has a wife as industrious as she ought to be; who does not waste his +earnings at the ale-house or the tea shop: I should be glad to know how +such a man, while wheat shall be at the price of about 6_s._ a bushel, +_can possibly have children crying for bread_! + +84. Cry, indeed, they must, if he will persist in giving 13_s._ for a +bushel of bread instead of 5_s._ 9_d._ Such a man is not to say that the +bread which I have described is _not good enough_. It was good enough for +his forefathers, who were too proud to be paupers, that is to say, abject +and willing slaves. "Hogs eat barley." And hogs will eat wheat, too, when +they can get at it. Convicts in condemned cells eat wheaten bread; but we +think it no degradation to eat wheaten bread, too. I am for depriving the +labourer of none of his rights; I would have him oppressed in no manner or +shape; I would have him bold and free; but to have him such, he must have +bread in his house, sufficient for all his family, and whether that bread +be fine or coarse must depend upon the different circumstances which +present themselves in the cases of different individuals. + +85. The married man has no right to expect the same plenty of food and of +raiment that the single man has. The time before marriage is the time to +lay by, or, if the party choose, to indulge himself in the absence of +labour. To marry is a voluntary act, and it is attended in the result with +great pleasures and advantages. If, therefore, the laws be fair and equal; +if the state of things be such that a labouring man can, with the usual +ability of labourers, and with constant industry, care and sobriety; with +decency of deportment towards all his neighbours, cheerful obedience to +his employer, and a due subordination to the laws; if the state of things +be such, that such a man's earnings be sufficient to maintain himself and +family with food, raiment, and lodging needful for them; such a man has +no reason to complain; and no labouring man has reason to complain, if the +numerousness of his family should call upon him for extraordinary +exertion, or for frugality uncommonly rigid. The man with a large family +has, if it be not in a great measure his own fault, a greater number of +pleasures and of blessings than other men. If he be wise, and _just_ as +well as wise, he will see that it is reasonable for him to expect less +delicate fare than his neighbours, who have a less number of children, or +no children at all. He will see the justice as well as the necessity of +his resorting to the use of coarser bread, and thus endeavour to make up +that, or at least a part of that, which he loses in comparison with his +neighbours. The quality of the bread ought, in every case, to be +proportioned to the number of the family and the means of the head of that +family. Here is no injury to health proposed; but, on the contrary, the +best security for its preservation. Without bread, all is misery. The +Scripture truly calls it the staff of life; and it may be called, too, the +pledge of peace and happiness in the labourer's dwelling. + +86. As to the act of making bread, it would be shocking indeed if that had +to be taught by the means of books. Every woman, high or low, ought to +know how to make bread. If she do not, she is unworthy of trust and +confidence; and, indeed, a mere burden upon the community. Yet, it is but +too true, that many women, even amongst those who have to get their living +by their labour, know nothing of the making of bread; and seem to +understand little more about it than the part which belongs to its +consumption. A Frenchman, a Mr. CUSAR, who had been born in the West +Indies, told me, that till he came to Long Island, he never knew _how the +flour came_: that he was surprised when he learnt that it was squeezed out +of little grains that grew at the tops of straw; for that he had always +had an idea that it was got out of some large substances, like the yams +that grow in tropical climates. He was a very sincere and good man, and I +am sure he told me truth. And this may be the more readily believed, when +we see so many women in England, who seem to know no more of the +constituent parts of a loaf than they know of those of the moon. Servant +women in abundance appear to think that loaves are made by the baker, as +knights are made by the king; things of their pure creation, a creation, +too, in which no one else can participate. Now, is not this an enormous +evil? And whence does it come? Servant women are the children of the +labouring classes; and they would all know how to make bread, and know +well how to make it too, if they had been fed on bread of their mother's +and their own making. + +87. How serious a matter, then, is this, even in this point of view! A +servant that cannot make bread is not entitled to the same wages as one +that can. If she can neither bake nor brew; if she be ignorant of the +nature of flour, yeast, malt, and hops, what is she good for? If she +understand these matters well; if she be able to supply her employer with +bread and with beer, she is really _valuable_; she is entitled to good +wages, and to consideration and respect into the bargain; but if she be +wholly deficient in these particulars, and can merely dawdle about with a +bucket and a broom, she can be of very little consequence; to lose her, is +merely to lose a consumer of food, and she can expect very little indeed +in the way of desire to make her life easy and pleasant. Why should any +one have such desire? She is not a child of the family. She is not a +relation. Any one as well as she can take in a loaf from the baker, or a +barrel of beer from the brewer. She has nothing whereby to bind her +employer to her. To sweep a room any thing is capable of that has got two +hands. In short, she has no useful skill, no useful ability; she is an +ordinary drudge, and she is treated accordingly. + +88. But, if such be her state in the house of an employer, what is her +state in the house of a _husband_? The lover is blind; but the husband has +eyes to see with. He soon discovers that there is something wanted +besides dimples and cherry cheeks; and I would have fathers seriously +reflect, and to be well assured, that the way to make their daughters to +be long admired, beloved and respected by their husbands, is to make them +skilful, able and active in the most necessary concerns of a family. +Eating and drinking come three times every day; the preparations for +these, and all the ministry necessary to them, belong to the wife; and I +hold it to be impossible, that at the end of two years, a really ignorant, +sluttish wife should possess any thing worthy of the name of love from her +husband. This, therefore, is a matter of far greater moment to the father +of a family, than, whether the Parson of the parish, or the Methodist +Priest, be the most "_Evangelical_" of the two; for it is here a question +of the daughter's happiness or misery for life. And I have no hesitation +to say, that if I were a labouring man, I should prefer teaching my +daughters to bake, brew, milk, make butter and cheese, to teaching them to +read the Bible till they had got every word of it by heart; and I should +think, too, nay I should know, that I was in the former case doing my duty +towards God as well as towards my children. + +89. When we see a family of dirty, ragged little creatures, let us inquire +into the cause; and ninety-nine times out of every hundred we shall find +that the parents themselves have been brought up in the same way. But a +consideration which ought of itself to be sufficient, is the contempt in +which a husband will naturally hold a wife that is ignorant of the matters +necessary to the conducting of a family. A woman who understands all the +things above mentioned, is really a skilful person; a person worthy of +respect, and that will be treated with respect too, by all but brutish +employers or brutish husbands; and such, though sometimes, are not very +frequently found. Besides, if natural justice and our own interest had not +the weight which they have, such valuable persons will be treated with +respect. They know their own worth; and, accordingly, they are more +careful of their character, more careful not to lessen by misconduct the +value which they possess from their skill and ability. + +90. Thus, then, the interest of the labourer; his health; the health of +his family; the peace and happiness of his home; the prospects of his +children through life; their skill, their ability, their habits of +cleanliness, and even their moral deportment; all combine to press upon +him the adoption and the constant practice of this branch of domestic +economy. "Can she _bake_?" is the question that I always put. If she can, +she is _worth a pound or two a year more_. Is that nothing? Is it nothing +for a labouring man to make his four or five daughters worth eight or ten +pounds a year more; and that too while he is by the same means providing +the more plentifully for himself and the rest of his family? The reasons +on the side of the thing that I contend for are endless; but if this one +motive be not sufficient, I am sure, all that I have said, and all that I +could say, must be wholly unavailing. + +91. Before, however, I dismiss this subject, let me say a word or two to +those persons who do not come under the denomination of labourers. In +London, or in any very large town where the space is so confined, and +where the proper fuel is not handily to be come at and stored for use, to +bake your own bread may be attended with too much difficulty; but in all +other situations there appears to me to be hardly any excuse for not +baking bread at home. If the family consist of twelve or fourteen persons, +the money actually saved in this way (even at present prices) would be +little short of from twenty to thirty pounds a year. At the utmost here is +only the time of one woman occupied one day in the week. Now mind, here +are twenty-five pounds to be employed in some way different from that of +giving it to the baker. If you add five of these pounds to a woman's +wages, is not that full as well employed as giving it in wages to the +baker's men? Is it not better employed for you? and is it not better +employed for the community? It is very certain, that if the practice were +as prevalent as I could wish, there would be a large deduction from the +regular baking population; but would there be any harm if less alum were +imported into England, and if some of those youths were left at the +plough, who are now bound in apprenticeships to learn the art and mystery +of doing that which every girl in the kingdom ought to be taught to do by +her mother? It ought to be a maxim with every master and every mistress, +never to employ another to do that which can be done as well by their own +servants. The more of their money that is retained in the hands of their +own people, the better it is for them altogether. Besides, a man of a +right mind must be pleased with the reflection, that there is a great mass +of skill and ability under his own roof. He feels stronger and more +independent on this account, all pecuniary advantage out of the question. +It is impossible to conceive any thing more contemptible than a crowd of +men and women living together in a house, and constantly looking out of it +for people to bring them food and drink, and to fetch their garments to +and fro. Such a crowd resemble a nest of unfledged birds, absolutely +dependent for their very existence on the activity and success of the old +ones. + +92. Yet, on men go, from year to year, in this state of wretched +dependence, even when they have all the means of living within themselves, +which is certainly the happiest state of life that any one can enjoy. It +may be asked, Where is the mill to be found? where is the wheat to be got? +The answer is, Where is there not a mill? where is there not a market? +They are every where, and the difficulty is to discover what can be the +particular attractions contained in that long and luminous manuscript, a +baker's half-yearly bill. + +93. With regard to the mill, in speaking of families of any considerable +number of persons, the mill has, with me, been more than once a subject of +observation in print. I for a good while experienced the great +inconvenience and expense of sending my wheat and other grain to be ground +at a mill. This expense, in case of a considerable family, living at only +a mile from a mill, is something; but the inconveniency and uncertainty +are great. In my "Year's Residence in America," from Paragraphs 1031 and +onwards, I give an account of a horse-mill which I had in my farm yard; +and I showed, I think very clearly, that corn could be ground cheaper in +this way than by wind or water, and that it would answer well to grind for +sale in this way as well as for home use. Since my return to England I +have seen a mill, erected in consequence of what the owner had read in my +book. This mill belongs to a small farmer, who, when he cannot work on his +land with his horses, or in the season when he has little for them to do, +grinds wheat, sells the flour; and he takes in grists to grind, as other +millers do. This mill goes with three small horses; but what I would +recommend to gentlemen with considerable families, or to farmers, is a +mill such as I myself have at present. + +94. With this mill, turned by a man and a stout boy, I can grind six +bushels of wheat in a day and dress the flour. The grinding of six bushels +of wheat at ninepence a bushel comes to four and sixpence, which pays the +man and the boy, supposing them (which is not and seldom can be the case) +to be hired for the express purpose out of the street. With the same mill +you grind meat for your pigs; and of this you will get eight or ten +bushels ground in a day. You have no trouble about sending to the mill; +you are sure to have your _own wheat_; for strange as it may seem, I used +sometimes to find that I sent white Essex wheat to the mill, and that it +brought me flour from very coarse red wheat. There is no accounting for +this, except by supposing that wind and water power has something in it to +change the very nature of the grain; as, when I came to grind by horses, +such as the wheat went into the hopper, so the flour came out into the +bin. + +95. But mine now is only on the petty scale of providing for a dozen of +persons and a small lot of pigs. For a farm-house, or a gentleman's house +in the country, where there would be _room_ to have a walk for a horse, +you might take the labour from the men, clap any little horse, pony, or +even ass to the wheel; and he would grind you off eight or ten bushels of +wheat in a day, and both he and you would have the thanks of your men into +the bargain. + +96. The cost of this mill is twenty pounds. The dresser is four more; the +horse-path and wheel might, possibly, be four or five more; and, I am very +certain, that to any farmer living at a mile from a mill, (and that is +less than the average distance perhaps;) having twelve persons in family, +having forty pigs to feed, and twenty hogs to fatten, the savings of such +a mill would pay the whole expenses of it the very first year. Such a +farmer cannot send less than _fifty times_ a year to the mill. Think of +that, in the first place! The elements are not always propitious: +sometimes the water fails, and sometimes the wind. Many a farmer's wife +has been tempted to vent her spleen on both. At best, there must be horse +and man, or boy, and, perhaps, cart, to go to the mill; and that, too, +observe, in all weathers, and in the harvest as well as at other times of +the year. The case is one of imperious necessity: neither floods nor +droughts, nor storms nor calms, will allay the cravings of the kitchen, +nor quiet the clamorous uproar of the stye. Go, somebody must, to some +place or other, and back they must come with flour and with meal. One +summer many persons came down the country more than fifty miles to a mill +that I knew in Pennsylvania; and I have known farmers in England carry +their grists more than fifteen miles to be ground. It is surprising, that, +under these circumstances, hand-mills and horse-mills should not, long +ago, have become of more general use; especially when one considers that +the labour, in this case, would cost the farmer next to nothing. To grind +would be the work of a wet day. There is no farmer who does not at least +fifty days in every year exclaim, when he gets up in the morning, "What +shall I set _them_ at to-day?" If he had a mill, he would make them pull +off their shoes, sweep all out clean, winnow up some corn, if he had it +not already done, and grind and dress, and have every thing in order. No +scolding within doors about the grist; no squeaking in the stye; no boy +sent off in the rain to the mill. + +97. But there is one advantage which I have not yet mentioned; and which +is the greatest of all; namely, that you would have the power of supplying +your married labourers; your blacksmith's men sometimes; your +wheelwright's men at other times; and, indeed, the greater part of the +persons that you employed, with good flour, instead of their going to +purchase their flour, after it had passed through the hands of a Corn +Merchant, a Miller, a Flour Merchant, and a Huckster, every one of whom +does and must have a profit out of the flour, arising from wheat grown +upon, and sent away from, your very farm! I used to let all my people have +flour at the same price that they would otherwise have been compelled to +give for worse flour. _Every Farmer_ will understand me when I say, that +he ought to pay for nothing in _money_, which he can pay for in any thing +but money. His maxim is to keep the money that he takes as long as he can. +Now here is a most effectual way of putting that maxim in practice to a +very great extent. Farmers know well that it is the Saturday night which +empties their pockets; and here is the means of cutting off a good half of +the Saturday night. The men have better flour for the same money, and +still the farmer keeps at home those profits which would go to the +maintaining of the dealers in wheat and in flour. + +98. The maker of my little mill is Mr. HILL, of Oxford-street. The expense +is what I have stated it to be. I, with my small establishment, find the +thing convenient and advantageous; what then must it be to a gentleman in +the country who has room and horses, and a considerable family to provide +for? The dresser is so contrived as to give you at once, meal, of four +degrees of fineness; so that, for certain purposes, you may take the very +finest; and, indeed, you may have your flour, and your bread of course, of +what degree of fineness you please. But there is also a _steel mill_, much +less _expensive_, requiring _less labour_, and yet quite sufficient for a +_family_. Mills of this sort, very good, and at a reasonable price, are to +be had of Mr. PARKES, in _Fenchurch-street_, London. These are very +complete things of their kind. Mr. PARKES has, also, excellent Malt-Mills. + +99. In concluding this part of my Treatise, I cannot help expressing my +hope of being instrumental in inducing a part of the labourers, at any +rate, to bake their own bread; and, above all things, to abandon the use +of "Ireland's _lazy_ root." Nevertheless, so extensive is the erroneous +opinion relative to this villanous root, that I really began to despair of +checking its cultivation and use, till I saw the declaration which Mr. +WAKEFIELD had the good sense and the spirit to make before the +"AGRICULTURAL COMMITTEE." Be it observed, too, that Mr. WAKEFIELD had +himself made a survey of the state of Ireland. What he saw there did not +encourage him, doubtless, to be an advocate for the growing of this root +of wretchedness. It is an undeniable fact, that, in the proportion that +this root is in use, as a _substitute for bread_, the people are wretched; +the reasons for which I have explained and enforced a hundred times over. +Mr. WILLIAM HANNING told the Committee that the labourers in his part of +Somersetshire were "almost wholly supplied with potatoes, _breakfast_ and +_dinner_, brought them _in the fields_, and nothing but potatoes; and that +they used, in better times, to get a certain portion of bacon and cheese, +which, on account of their "poverty, they do not eat now." It is +impossible that men can be _contented_ in such a state of things: it is +unjust to desire them to be contented: it is a state of misery and +degradation to which no part of any community can have any show of right +to reduce another part: men so degraded have no protection; and it is a +disgrace to form part of a community to which they belong. This +degradation has been occasioned by a silent change in the value of the +money of the country. This has purloined the wages of the labourer; it has +reduced him by degrees to housel with the spider and the bat, and to feed +with the pig. It has changed the habits, and, in a great measure, the +character of the people. The sins of this system are enormous and +undescribable; but, thank God! they seem to be approaching to their end! +Money is resuming its value, labour is recovering its price: let us hope +that the wretched potatoe is disappearing, and that we shall, once more, +see the knife in the labourer's hand and the loaf upon his board. + +[This was written in 1821. _Now_ (1823) we have had the experience of +1822, when, for the first time, the world saw a considerable part of a +people, plunged into all the horrors of _famine_, at a moment when the +government of that nation declared _food to be abundant_! Yes, the year +1822 saw Ireland in this state; saw the people of whole parishes receiving +the _extreme unction_ preparatory to yielding up their breath for want of +food; and this while large exports of meat and flour were taking place in +that country! But horrible as this was, disgraceful as it was to the name +of Ireland, it was attended with this good effect: it brought out, from +many members of Parliament (in their places,) and from the public in +general, the acknowledgment, that the _misery_ and _degradation_ of the +Irish were chiefly owing to the _use of the potatoe as the almost sole +food of the people_.] + +100. In my next number I shall treat of the _keeping of cows_. I have said +that I will teach the cottager how to keep a cow all the year round upon +the produce of a quarter of an acre, or, in other words, _forty rods_, of +land; and, in my next, I will make good my promise. + + + + +No. IV + +MAKING BREAD--(CONTINUED.) + + +101. In the last number, at Paragraph 86, I observed that I hoped it was +unnecessary for me to give any directions as to the mere _act_ of making +bread. But several correspondents inform me that, without these +directions, a conviction of the utility of baking bread at home is of _no +use to them_. Therefore, I shall here give those directions, receiving my +instructions here from one, who, I thank God, does know how to perform +this act. + +102. Suppose the quantity be a bushel of flour. Put this flour into a +_trough_ that people have for the purpose, or it may be in a clean smooth +tub of any shape, if not too deep, and if sufficiently large. Make a +pretty deep hole in the middle of this heap of flour. Take (for a bushel) +a pint of good fresh yeast, mix it and stir it well up in a pint of _soft_ +water milk-warm. Pour this into the hole in the heap of flour. Then take a +spoon and work it round the outside of this body of moisture so as to +bring into that body, by degrees, flour enough to make it form a _thin +batter_, which you must stir about well for a minute or two. Then take a +handful of flour and scatter it thinly over the head of this batter, so as +to _hide_ it. Then cover the whole over with a cloth to keep it _warm_; +and this covering, as well as the situation of the trough, as to distance +from the fire, must depend on the nature of the place and state of the +weather as to heat and cold. When you perceive that the batter has risen +enough to make _cracks_ in the flour that you covered it over with, you +begin to form the whole mass into _dough_, thus: you begin round the hole +containing the batter, working the flour into the batter, and pouring in, +as it is wanted to make the flour mix with the batter, soft water +milk-warm, or milk, as hereafter to be mentioned. Before you begin this, +you scatter the _salt_ over the heap at the rate of _half a pound_ to a +bushel of flour. When you have got the whole _sufficiently moist_, you +_knead it well_. This is a grand part of the business; for, unless the +dough be _well worked_, there will be _little round lumps of flour in the +loaves_; and, besides, the original batter, which is to give fermentation +to the whole, will not be duly mixed. The dough must, therefore, be well +worked. The _fists_ must go heartily into it. It must be rolled over; +pressed out; folded up and pressed out again, until it be completely +mixed, and formed into a _stiff_ and _tough dough_. This is _labour_, +mind. I have never quite liked baker's bread since I saw a great heavy +fellow, in a bakehouse in France, kneading bread with his _naked feet_! +His feet looked very _white_, to be sure: whether they were of that colour +_before he got into the trough_ I could not tell. God forbid, that I +should suspect that this is ever done _in England_! It is _labour_; but, +what is _exercise_ other than labour? Let a young woman bake a bushel once +a week, and she will do very well without phials and gallipots. + +103. Thus, then, the dough is made. And, when made, it is to be formed +into a lump in the middle of the trough, and, with a little dry flour +thinly scattered over it, covered over again to be kept warm and to +ferment; and in this state, if all be done rightly, it will not have to +remain more than about 15 or 20 minutes. + +104. In the mean while _the oven is to be heated_; and this is much more +than half the art of the operation. When an oven is properly heated, can +be known only by _actual observation_. Women who understand the matter, +know when the heat is right the moment they put their faces within a yard +of the oven-mouth; and once or twice observing is enough for any person of +common capacity. But this much may be said in the way of _rule_: that the +fuel (I am supposing a brick oven) should be _dry_ (not _rotten_) wood, +and not mere _brush-wood_, but rather _fagot-sticks_. If larger wood, it +ought to be split up into sticks not more than two, or two and a half +inches through. Bush-wood that is _strong_, not green and not too old, if +it be hard in its nature and has some _sticks_ in it, may do. The _woody_ +parts of furze, or ling, will heat an oven very well. But the thing is, to +have a _lively_ and yet _somewhat strong_ fire; so that the oven may be +heated in about 15 minutes, and retain its heat sufficiently long. + +105. The oven should be hot by the time that the dough, as mentioned in +Paragraph 103, has remained in the lump about 20 minutes. When both are +ready, take out the fire, and wipe the oven out clean, and, at nearly +about the same moment, take the dough out upon the lid of the baking +trough, or some proper place, cut it up into pieces, and make it up into +loaves, kneading it again into these separate parcels; and, as you go on, +shaking a little flour over your board, to prevent the dough from adhering +to it. The loaves should be put into the oven as _quickly_ as possible +after they are formed; when in, the oven-lid, or door, should be fastened +up _very closely_; and, if all be properly managed, loaves of about the +size of quartern loaves will be sufficiently baked in about _two hours_. +But they usually take down the _lid_, and _look_ at the bread, in order to +see how it is going on. + +106. And what is there worthy of the name of _plague_, or _trouble_, in +all this? Here is no dirt, no filth, no rubbish, no _litter_, no _slop_. +And, pray, what can be pleasanter to _behold_? Talk, indeed, of your +pantomimes and gaudy shows; your processions and installations and +coronations! Give me, for a beautiful sight, a neat and smart woman, +heating her oven and setting in her bread! And, if the bustle does make +the sign of labour glisten on her brow, where is the man that would not +kiss that off, rather than lick the plaster from the cheek of a duchess. + +107. And what is the _result_? Why, good, wholesome food, sufficient for a +considerable family for a week, prepared in three or four hours. To get +this quantity of food, fit to be _eaten_, in the shape of potatoes, _how +many fires_! what a washing, what a boiling, what a peeling, what a +slopping, and what a messing! The cottage everlastingly in a litter; the +woman's hands everlastingly wet and dirty; the children grimed up to the +eyes with dust fixed on by potato-starch; and ragged as colts, the poor +mother's time all being devoted to the everlasting boilings of the pot! +Can any man, who knows any thing of the labourer's life, deny this? And +will, then, any body, except the old shuffle-breeches band of the +Quarterly Review, who have all their lives been moving from garret to +garret, who have seldom seen the sun, and never the dew except in print; +will any body except these men say, that the people ought to be taught to +use potatoes as a _substitute for bread_? + + +BREWING BEER. + +108. This matter has been fully treated of in the two last numbers. But +several correspondents wishing to fall upon some means of rendering the +practice beneficial to those who are _unable to purchase_ brewing +utensils, have recommended the _lending_ of them, or letting out, round a +neighbourhood. Another correspondent has, therefore, pointed out to me _an +Act of Parliament_ which touches upon this subject; and, indeed, what of +Excise Laws and Custom Laws and Combination Laws and Libel Laws, a human +being in this country scarcely knows what he dares do or what he dares +say. What father, for instance, would have imagined, that, having brewing +utensils, which two men carry from house to house as easily as they can a +basket, _he dared not lend them to his son, living in the next street, or +at the next door_? Yet such really is the law; for, according to the Act +5th of the 22 and 23 of that honest and sincere gentleman Charles II., +there is a penalty of 50_l._ for lending or letting brewing utensils. +However, it has this limit; that the penalty is confined to _Cities_, +_Corporate Towns_, and _Market Towns_, WHERE THERE IS A PUBLIC BREWHOUSE. +So that, in the first place, you may let, or lend, in _any_ place where +there is _no public brewhouse_; and in all towns not _corporate or +market_, and in all villages, hamlets, and scattered places. + +109. Another thing is, can a man who has brewed beer at his own house in +the country, bring that beer into town to his own house, and for the use +of his family there? This has been asked of me. I cannot give a positive +answer without reading about _seven large volumes in quarto of taxing +laws_. The best way would be to _try it_; and, if any penalty, pay it by +_subscription_, if that would not come under the law of _conspiracy_! +However, I _think_, there can be no danger here. So monstrous a thing as +this can, surely, not exist. If there be such a law, it is daily violated; +for nothing is more common than for country gentlemen, who have a dislike +to die by poison, bringing their home-brewed beer to London. + +110. Another correspondent recommends _parishes to make their own malt_. +But, surely, the landlords mean to get rid of the _malt and salt tax_! +Many dairies, I dare say, pay 50_l._ a year each in salt tax. How, then, +are they to contend against Irish butter and Dutch butter and cheese? And +as to the malt tax, it is a dreadful drain from the land. I have heard of +labourers, living "in _unkent places_," making their _own malt_, even now! +Nothing is so easy as to make your own malt, if you were permitted. You +soak the barley about three days (according to the state of the weather.) +and then you put it upon stones or bricks _and keep it turned_, till the +root _shoots out_; and then to know when to _stop_, and to put it to dry, +take up a corn (which you will find nearly transparent) and look through +the skin of it. You will see the _spear_, that is to say, the shoot that +would come out of the ground, pushing on towards the _point_ of the +barley-corn. It starts from the bottom, where the root comes out; and it +goes on towards the other end; and would, if _kept moist_, come out at +that other end when the root was about an inch long. So that, when you +have got the _root to start_, by soaking and turning in heap, the spear is +_on its way_. If you look in through the skin, you will see it; and now +observe; when the _point of the spear_ has got along as far as the +_middle of the barley-corn_, you should take your barley and _dry it_. How +easy would every family, and especially every farmer, do this, if it were +not for the punishment attached to it! The persons in the "unkent places" +before mentioned, dry the malt in their _oven_! But let us hope that the +labourer will soon be able to get malt without exposing himself to +punishment as a _violater of the law_. + + +KEEPING COWS. + +111. As to the _use_ of _milk_ and of that which proceeds from milk, in a +family, very little need be said. At a certain age bread and milk are +_all_ that a child wants. At a later age they furnish one meal a day for +children. Milk is, at all seasons, good to _drink_. In the making of +puddings, and in the making of _bread_ too, how useful is it! Let any one +who has eaten none but baker's bread for a good while, taste bread +home-baked, mixed with milk instead of with water; and he will find what +the difference is. There is this only to be observed, that in _hot +weather_, bread mixed with milk will not _keep so long_ as that mixed with +water. It will of course turn _sour_ sooner. + +112. Whether the milk of a cow be to be consumed by a cottage family in +the shape of milk, or whether it be to be made to yield butter, skim-milk, +and buttermilk, must depend on circumstances. A woman that has no child, +or only one, would, perhaps, find it best to make _some butter_ at any +rate. Besides, skim-milk and bread (the milk being boiled) is quite strong +food enough for any children's breakfast, even when they begin to go to +work; a fact which I state upon the most ample and satisfactory +experience, very seldom having ever had any other sort of breakfast myself +till I was more than ten years old, and I was in the fields at work full +four years before that. I will here mention that it gave me singular +pleasure to see a boy, just turned of _six_, helping his father to _reap_, +in Sussex, this last summer. He did little, to be sure; but it was +_something_. His father set him into the ridge at a great distance before +him; and when he came up to the place, he found a _sheaf_ cut; and, those +who know what it is to reap, know how pleasant it is to find now and then +a sheaf cut ready to their hand. It was no small thing to see a boy fit to +be trusted with so dangerous a thing as a reap-hook in his hands, at an +age when "young masters" have nursery-maids to cut their victuals for +them, and to see that they do not fall out of the window, tumble down +stairs, or run under carriage-wheels or horses' bellies. Was not this +father discharging his duty by this boy much better than he would have +been by sending him to a place called a _school_? The boy is in a school +here; and an excellent school too: the school of useful labour. I must +hear a great deal more than I ever have heard, to convince me, that +teaching children to _read_ tends so much to their happiness, their +independence of spirit, their manliness of character, as teaching them to +_reap_. The creature that is in _want_ must be a _slave_; and to be +habituated _to labour cheerfully_ is the only means of preventing +nineteen-twentieths of mankind from being in want. I have digressed here; +but observations of this sort can, in my opinion, never be too often +repeated; especially at a time when all sorts of mad projects are on foot, +for what is falsely called _educating_ the people, and when some would do +this by a _tax_ that would compel the single man to give part of his +earnings to teach the married man's children to read and write. + +113. Before I quit the _uses_ to which milk may be put, let me mention, +that, as mere _drink_, it is, unless perhaps in case of heavy labour, +better, in my opinion, than any beer, however good. I have drinked little +else for the last five years, at any time of the day. Skim-milk I mean. If +you have not milk enough to wet up your bread with (for a bushel of flour +requires about 16 to 18 pints,) you make up the quantity with water, of +course; or, which is a very good way, with water that has been put, +boiling hot, upon _bran_, and then drained off. This takes the goodness +out of the bran to be sure; but _really good bread_ is a thing of so much +importance, that it always ought to be the very first object in domestic +economy. + +114. The cases vary so much, that it is impossible to lay down rules for +the application of the produce of a cow, which rules shall fit all cases. +I content myself, therefore, with what has already been said on this +subject; and shall only make an observation on the _act of milking_, +before I come to the chief matter; namely, the _getting of the food for +the cow_. A cow should be milked _clean_. Not a drop, if it can be +avoided, should be left in the udder. It has been proved that the half +pint that comes out _last_ has _twelve times_, I think it is, as much +butter in it, as the half pint that comes out _first_. I tried the milk of +ten Alderney cows, and, as nearly as I, without being very nice about the +matter, could ascertain, I found the difference to be about what I have +stated. The udder would seem to be a sort of milk-pan in which the cream +is uppermost, and, of course, comes out last, seeing that the outlet is at +the bottom. But, besides this, if you do not milk clean, the cow will give +less and less milk, and will become dry much sooner than she ought. The +_cause_ of this I do not know, but experience has long established the +fact. + +115. In providing food for a cow we must look, first, at the _sort of +cow_; seeing that a cow of one sort will certainly require more than twice +as much food as a cow of another sort. For a cottage, a cow of the +smallest sort common in England is, on every account, the best; and such a +cow will not require above 70 or 80 pounds of good moist food in the +twenty-four hours. + +116. Now, how to raise this food on 40 rods of ground is what we want to +know. It frequently happens that a labourer has _more_ than 40 rods of +ground. It more frequently happens, that he has some _common_, some +_lane_, some little out-let or other, for a part of the year, at least. In +such cases he may make a different disposition of his ground; or may do +with less than the 40 rods. I am here, for simplicity's sake, to suppose, +that he have 40 rods of clear, unshaded land, besides what his house and +sheds stand upon; and that he have nothing further in the way of means to +keep his cow. + +117. I suppose the 40 rods to be _clean_ and _unshaded_; for I am to +suppose, that when a man thinks of 5 quarts _of milk a day_, on an +average, all the year round, he will not suffer his ground to be +encumbered by apple-trees that give him only the means of treating his +children to fits of the belly-ache, or with currant and gooseberry bushes, +which, though their fruit do very well to _amuse_, really give nothing +worthy of the name of _food_, except to the blackbirds and thrushes. The +ground is to be _clear_ of trees; and, in the spring, we will suppose it +to be _clean_. Then, dig it up _deeply_, or, which is better, _trench_ it, +keeping, however, the top _spit_ of the soil _at the top_. Lay it in +_ridges_ in April or May about two feet apart, and made high and sharp. +When the weeds appear about three inches high, turn the ridges into the +furrows (_never moving the ground but in dry weather_,) and bury all the +weeds. Do this as often as the weeds get three inches high; and by the +fall, you will have really clean ground, and not poor ground. + +118. There is the ground then, ready. About the 26th of August, but _not +earlier_, prepare a rod of your ground; and put some _manure_ in it (for +_some_ you must have,) and sow one half of it with Early York Cabbage +Seed, and the other half with Sugar-loaf Cabbage Seed, both of the _true_ +sort, in little drills at 8 inches apart, and the seeds thin in the drill. +If the plants come up at two inches apart (and they should be thinned if +thicker,) you will have a plenty. As soon as fairly out of ground, hoe the +ground nicely, and pretty deeply, and again in a few days. When the plants +have six leaves, which will be very soon, dig up, make fine, and manure +another rod or two, and prick out the plants, 4000 of each in rows at +eight inches apart and three inches in the row. Hoe the ground between +them often, and they will grow fast and be _straight_ and strong. I +suppose that these beds for plants take 4 rods of your ground. Early in +November, or, as the weather may serve, a little earlier or later, lay +some manure (of which I shall say more hereafter) between the ridges, in +the other 36 rods, and turn the ridges over on this manure, and then +transplant your plants on the ridges at 15 inches apart. Here they will +stand the winter; and you must see that the slugs do not eat them. If any +plants fail, you have plenty in the bed where you prick them out; for your +36 rods will not require more than 4000 plants. If the winter be very +hard, and bad for plants, you cannot _cover_ 36 rods; but you may the +_bed_ where the rest of your plants are. A little litter, or straw, or +dead grass, or fern, laid along between the rows and the plants, not to +cover the leaves, will preserve them completely. When people complain of +_all_ their plants being "_cut off_," they have, in fact nothing to +_complain_ of but their own extreme carelessness. If I had a gardener who +complained of _all_ his plants being cut off, I should cut him off pretty +quickly. If those in the 36 rods fail, or fail in part, fill up their +places, later in the winter, by plants from the bed. + +119. If you find the ground dry at the top during the winter, hoe it, and +particularly near the plants, and rout out all slugs and insects. And when +March comes, and the ground _is dry_, hoe deep and well, and earth the +plants up close to the lower leaves. As soon as the plants begin to +_grow_, dig the ground with a spade clean and well, and let the spade go +as near to the plants as you can without actually _displacing the plants_. +Give them another digging in a month; and, if weeds come in the +mean-while, _hoe_, and let not one live a week. Oh! "what a deal of +_work_!" Well! but it is for _yourself_, and, besides, it is not all to be +done in a day; and we shall by-and-by see what it is altogether. + +120. By the first of June; I speak of the South of England, and there is +also some difference in seasons and soils; but, generally speaking, by the +first of June you will have _turned-in cabbages_, and soon you will have +the Early Yorks _solid_. And by the first of June you may get your cow, +one that is about to calve, or that has just calved, and at this time such +a cow as you will want will not, thank God, cost above five pounds. + +121. I shall speak of the place to keep her in, and of the manure and +litter, by-and-by. At present I confine myself to her mere food. The 36 +rods, if the cabbages all stood till they got _solid_, would give her food +for 200 days, at 80 pounds weight per day, which is more than she would +eat. But you must use some, at first, that are not solid; and, then, some +of them will split before you can use them. But you will have pigs to help +off with them, and to gnaw the heads of the stumps. Some of the +sugar-loaves may have been planted out in the spring; and thus these 36 +rods will get you along to some time in September. + +122. Now mind, in March, and again in April, sow more _Early Yorks_, and +get them to be fine stout plants, as you did those in the fall. Dig up the +ground and manure it, and, as fast as you cut cabbages, plant cabbages; +and in the same manner and with the same cultivation as before. Your last +planting will be about the middle of August, with _stout plants_, and +these will serve you into the month of November. + +123. Now we have to provide from _December to May inclusive_; and that, +too, out of this same piece of ground. In November there must be, arrived +at perfection, 3000 turnip plants. These, _without the greens_, must +weigh, on an average, 5 pounds, and this, at 80 pounds a day, will keep +the cow 187 days; and there are but 182 days in these six months. The +greens will have helped put the latest cabbages to carry you through +November, and perhaps into December. But for these six months, you must +_depend_ on nothing but the Swedish turnips. + +124. And now, how are these to be had _upon the same ground that bears_ +the cabbages? That we are now going to see. When you plant out your +cabbages at the out-set, put first a row of Early Yorks, then a row of +Sugar-loaves, and so on throughout the piece. Of course, as you are to use +the Early Yorks first, you will cut every other row; and the Early Yorks +that you are to plant in summer will go into the intervals. By-and-by the +Sugar-loaves are cut away, and in their place will come Swedish turnips, +you digging and manuring the ground as in the case of the cabbages: and, +at last, you will find about 16 rods where you will have found it too +late, and _unnecessary_ besides, to plant any second crop of cabbages. +Here the Swedish turnips will stand in rows at two feet apart, (and always +a foot apart in the row,) and thus you will have three thousand turnips; +and if these do not weigh five pounds each on an average, the fault must +be in the _seed_ or in the management. + +125. The Swedish turnips are raised in this manner. You will bear in mind +the _four rods_ of ground in which you have sowed and pricked out your +cabbage plants. The plants that will be left there will, in April, serve +you for _greens_, if you ever eat any, though bread and bacon are very +good without greens, and rather better than with. At any rate, the pig, +which has strong powers of digestion, will consume this herbage. In a part +of these four rods you will, in March and April, as before directed, have +sown and raised your Early Yorks for the summer planting. Now, in the +_last week of May_, prepare a quarter of a rod of this ground, and sow it, +precisely as directed for the Cabbage-seed, with Swedish turnip-seed; and +sow a quarter of a rod _every three days_, till you have sowed _two rods_. +If the _fly appear_, cover the rows over in the _day-time_ with cabbage +leaves, and take the leaves off at night; hoe well between the plants; and +when they are safe from the fly, _thin_ them to four inches apart in the +row. The two rods will give you nearly _five thousand plants_, which is +2000 more than you will want. From this bed you draw your plants to +transplant in the ground where the cabbages have stood, as before +directed. You should transplant none much _before_ the middle of July, and +not much _later_ than the middle of August. In the two rods, whence you +take your turnip plants, you may leave plants to come to perfection, at +two feet distances each way; and this will give you _over and above_, 840 +pounds weight of turnips. For the other two rods will be ground enough for +you to sow your cabbage plants in at the end of August, as directed for +last year. + +126. I should now proceed to speak of the manner of harvesting, +preserving, and using the crops; of the manner of feeding the cow; of the +shed for her; of the managing of the manure, and several other less +important things; but these, for want of room here, must be reserved for +the beginning of my next Number. After, therefore, observing that the +Turnip plants must be transplanted in the same way that Cabbage plants +are; and that both ought to be transplanted in _dry_ weather and in ground +just _fresh digged_, I shall close this Number with the notice of two +points which I am most anxious to impress upon the mind of every reader. + +127. The first is, whether these crops give an _ill taste_ to milk and +butter. It is very certain, that the taste and smell of certain sorts of +cattle-food will do this; for, in some parts of America, where the wild +_garlick_, of which the cows are very fond, and which, like other +bulbous-rooted plants, springs before the grass, not only the milk and +butter have a strong taste of garlick, but even the _veal_, when the +calves suck milk from such sources. None can be more common expressions, +than, in Philadelphia market, are those of _Garlicky Butter_ and _Garlicky +Veal_, I have distinctly tasted the _Whiskey_ in milk of cows fed on +distiller's wash. It is also certain, that, if the cow eat _putrid_ leaves +of cabbages and turnips, the butter will be offensive. And the +white-turnip, which is at best but a poor thing, and often half putrid, +makes miserable butter. The large _cattle-cabbage_, which, when loaved +hard, has a strong and even an offensive smell, will give a bad taste and +smell to milk and butter, whether there be putrid leaves or not. If you +boil one of these rank cabbages, the water is extremely offensive to the +smell. But I state upon positive and recent experience, that Early York +and Sugar-loaf Cabbages will yield as sweet milk and butter _as any food +that can be given to a cow_. During this last summer, I have, with the +exception about to be noticed, kept, from the 1st of May to the 22d of +October, _five cows_ upon the grass _of two acres and a quarter of ground, +the grass_ being generally _cut up for them_ and given to them in the +stall. I had in the spring 5000 cabbage plants, intended for my pigs, +eleven in number. But the pigs could not eat _half_ their allowance, +though they were not very small when they began upon it. We were compelled +to resort to the aid of the cows; and, in order to see _the effect on the +milk and butter_, we did not _mix_ the food; but gave the cows two +_distinct spells_ at the cabbages, each spell about 10 _days in duration_. +The cabbages were cut off the stump with little or no care about _dead +leaves_. And sweeter, finer butter, butter of a finer colour, than these +cabbages made, never was made in this world. I never had better from cows +feeding in the sweetest pasture. Now, as to _Swedish turnips_, they do +give a little taste, especially if boiling of the milk pans be neglected, +and if the greatest care be not taken about _all_ the dairy tackle. Yet we +have, for months together, had the butter so fine from Swedish turnips, +that nobody could well distinguish it from grass-butter. But to secure +this, there must be no _sluttishness_. Churn, pans, pail, shelves, wall, +floor, and all about the dairy, must be clean; and, above all things, the +pans must be _boiled_. However, after all, it is not here a case of +delicacy of smell so refined as to faint at any thing that meets it except +the stink of perfumes. If the butter do taste a little of the Swedish +turnip, it will do very well where there is plenty of that sweet sauce +which early rising and bodily labour are ever sure to bring. + +128. The _other point_ (about which I am still more anxious) is the +_seed_; for if the seed be not _sound_, and especially if it be not _true +to its kind_, all your labour _is in vain_. It is best, if you can do it, +to get your seed from some friend, or some one that you know and can +trust. If you save seed, observe all the precautions mentioned in my book +on _Gardening_. This very year I have some Swedish turnips, _so called_, +about 7000 in number, and should, if my seed had been _true_, have had +about _twenty tons_ weight; instead of which I have about _three_! Indeed, +they are not _Swedish turnips_, but a sort of mixture between that plant +and _rape_. I am sure the seedsman did not wilfully deceive me. He was +deceived himself. The truth is, that seedsmen are compelled to _buy_ their +seeds of this plant. _Farmers_ save it; and they but too often pay very +little attention to the manner of doing it. The best way is to get a dozen +of fine turnip plants, perfect in all respects, and plant them in a +situation where the smell of the blossoms of nothing of the cabbage or +rape or turnip or even _charlock_ kind, can reach them. The seed will keep +perfectly good for _four years_. + + + + +No. V + +KEEPING COWS--(_continued._) + + +129. I have now, in the conclusion of this article, to speak of the manner +of _harvesting_ and _preserving_ the _Swedes_; of the place _to keep the +cow in_; of the _manure_ for the land; and of the _quantity of labour_ +that the cultivation of the land and the harvesting of the crop will +require. + +130. _Harvesting and preserving the Swedes._ When they are ready to take +up, the tops must be cut off, if not cut off before, and also the _roots_; +but neither tops nor roots should be cut off _very close_. You will have +room for ten bushels of the _bulbs_ in the house, or shed. Put the rest +into ten-bushel heaps. Make the heap _upon_ the ground in a _round form_, +and let it rise up to a point. Lay over it a little litter, straw, or dead +grass, about three inches thick, and then earth upon that about six inches +thick. Then cut a thin round _green turf_, about eighteen inches over, and +put it upon the crown of the heap to prevent the earth from being washed +off. Thus these heaps will remain till wanted for use. When given to the +cow, it will be best to _wash_ the Swedes and cut each into two or three +pieces with a spade or some other tool. You can take in ten bushels at a +time. If you find them _sprouting_ in the spring, open the remaining +heaps, and expose them to the sun and wind; and cover them again slightly +with straw or litter of some sort.[6] + +131. _As to the place to keep the cow in_, much will depend upon +_situation_ and circumstances. I am always supposing that the cottage is a +real _cottage_, and not a house in a town or village street; though, +wherever there is the quarter of an acre of ground, the cow _may_ be kept. +Let me, however, suppose that which will generally happen; namely, that +the cottage stands by the side of a road, or lane, and amongst fields and +woods, if not on the side of a common. To pretend to tell a country +labourer how to build a shed for a cow, how to stick it up against the end +of his house, or to make it an independent erection; or to dwell on the +materials, where poles, rods, wattles, rushes, furze, heath, and +cooper-chips, are all to be gotten by him for nothing or next to nothing, +would be useless; because a man who, thus situated, can be at any loss for +a shed for his cow, is not only unfit to keep a cow, but unfit to keep a +cat. The warmer the shed is the better it is. The floor should _slope_, +but not too much. There are _stones_, of some sort or other, every-where, +and about six wheel-barrow-fulls will _pave_ the shed, a thing to be by no +means neglected. A broad trough, or box, fixed up at the head of the cow, +is the thing to give her food in; and she should be fed three times a day, +at least; always at _day-light_ and at _sun-set_. It is not _absolutely +necessary_ that a cow ever quit her shed, except just at calving time, or +when taken to the bull. In the former case the time is, nine times out of +ten, known to within forty-eight hours. Any enclosed field or place will +do for her during a day or two; and for such purpose, if there be not room +at home, no man will refuse place for her in a fallow field. It will, +however, be good, where there is no _common_ to turn her out upon, to have +her led by a string, two or three times a week, which may be done by a +child only five years old, to graze, or pick, along the sides of roads and +lanes. Where there is a _common_, she will, of course, be turned out in +the day time, except in very wet or severe weather; and in a case like +this, a smaller quantity of ground will suffice for the keeping of her. +According to the present practice, a miserable "_tallet_" of bad hay is, +in such cases, the winter provision for the cow. It can scarcely be called +food; and the consequence is, the cow is both _dry_ and _lousy_ nearly +half the year; instead of being dry only about fifteen days before +calving, and being sleek and lusty at the end of the winter, to which a +_warm lodging_ greatly contributes. For, observe, if you keep a cow, any +time between September and June, out in a field or yard, to endure the +chances of the weather, she will not, though she have food precisely the +same in quantity and quality, yield above _two-thirds_ as much as if she +were lodged in house; and in _wet_ weather she will not yield _half_ so +much. It is not so much the _cold_ as the _wet_ that is injurious to all +our stock in England. + +132. _The Manure._ At the _beginning_ this must be provided by collections +made on the road; by the results of the residence in a cottage. Let any +man clean out _every place_ about his dwelling; rake and scrape and sweep +all into a heap; and he will find that he has a _great deal_. Earth of +almost any sort that has long lain on the surface, and has been trodden +on, is a species of manure. Every act that tends to neatness round a +dwelling, tends to the creating of a mass of manure. And I have very +seldom seen a cottage, with a plat of ground of a quarter of an acre +belonging to it, round about which I could not have collected a very large +heap of manure. Every thing of animal or vegetable substance that comes +into a house, must _go out of it again_, in one shape or another. The very +emptying of vessels of various kinds, on a heap of common earth, makes it +a heap of the best of manure. Thus goes on the work of _reproduction_; and +thus is verified the words of the Scripture, "_Flesh is grass_, and there +is _nothing new under the sun_." Thus far as to the _outset_. When you +have _got the cow_, there is no more care about manure; for, and +especially if you have a _pig_ also, you must have enough annually for _an +acre_ of ground. And let it be observed, that, after a time, it will be +unnecessary, and would be injurious, to manure _for every crop_; for that +would produce more stalk and green than substantial part; as it is well +known, that wheat plants, standing in ground too full of manure, will +yield very thick and long _straws_, but grains of little or no substance. +You ought to depend more on the spade and the hoe than on the dung-heap. +Nevertheless, the greatest care should be taken to preserve the manure; +because you will want _straw_, unless you be by the side of a common which +gives you rushes, grassy furze, or fern; and to get straw you must give a +part of your dung from the cow-stall and pig-sty. The best way to preserve +manure, is to have a pit of sufficient dimensions close behind the +cow-shed and pig-sty, for the run from these to go into, and from which +all runs of _rain water_ should be kept. Into this pit would go the +emptying of the shed and of the sty, and the produce of all sweepings and +cleanings round the house; and thus a large mass of manure would soon grow +together. Much too large a quantity for a quarter of an acre of ground. +One good load of wheat or rye straw is all that you would want for the +winter, and half of one for the summer; and you would have more than +enough dung to exchange against this straw. + +133. Now, as to _the quantity of labour_ that the cultivation of the land +will demand in _a year_. We will suppose the whole to have _five complete +diggings_, and say nothing about the little matters of sowing and planting +and hoeing and harvesting, all which are a mere trifle. We are supposing +the owner to be _an able labouring man_; and such a man will dig 12 rods +of ground in a day. Here are 200 rods to be digged, and here are little +less than 17 days of work at 12 hours in the day; or 200 _hours'_ work, to +be done in the course of the long days of spring and summer, while it is +light long before _six_ in the morning, and long after six at night. What +_is it_, then? Is it not better than time spent in the ale-house, or in +creeping about after a miserable hare? Frequently, and most frequently, +there will be a _boy_, if not two, big enough to help. And (I only give +this as a _hint_) I saw, on the 7th of November last (1822,) _a very +pretty woman_, in the village of _Hannington, in Wiltshire, digging_ a +piece of ground and planting it with Early Cabbages, which she did as +handily and as neatly as any gardener that ever I saw. The ground was +_wet_, and therefore, _to avoid treading the digged ground in that state_, +she had her line extended, and put in the rows as she advanced in her +digging, standing _in the trench_ while she performed the act of planting, +which she did with great nimbleness and precision. Nothing could be more +skilfully or beautifully done. Her clothes were neat, clean, and tight +about her. She had turned her handkerchief down from her neck, which, with +the glow that the work had brought into her cheeks, formed an object which +I do not say would have made me _actually stop my chaise_, had it not been +for the occupation in which she was engaged; but, all taken together, the +temptation was too strong to be resisted. But there is the _Sunday_; and I +know of no law, human or divine, that forbids a labouring man to dig or +plant his garden on Sunday, if the good of his family demand it; and if +he cannot, without injury to that family, find other time to do it in. +Shepherds, carters, pigfeeders, drovers, coachmen, cooks, footmen, +printers, and numerous others, work on the Sundays. Theirs are deemed by +the law _works of necessity_. Harvesting and haymaking are allowed to be +carried on on the Sunday, in certain cases; when they are always carried +on by _provident farmers_. And I should be glad to know the case which is +more a _case of necessity_ than that now under our view. In fact, the +labouring people _do work on the Sunday_ morning in particular, all over +the country, at something or other, or they are engaged in pursuits a good +deal less religious than that of digging and planting. So that, as to _the +200 hours_, they are easily found, without the loss of any of the time +required for constant daily labour. + +134. And what a _produce_ is that of a cow! I suppose only an average of +5 _quarts of milk a day_. If made into butter, it will be _equal every +week to two days of the man's wages_, besides the value of the skim milk: +and this can hardly be of less value than another day's wages. What a +thing, then, is this cow, if she earn half as much as the man! I am +greatly under-rating her produce; but I wish to put all the advantages at +the lowest. To be sure, there is work for the wife, or daughter, to milk +and make butter. But the former is done at the two ends of the day, and +the latter only about once in the week. And, whatever these may subtract +from the _labours of the field_, which all country women ought to be +engaged in whenever they conveniently can; whatever the cares created by +the cow may subtract from these, is amply compensated for by the +_education_ that these cares will give to the children. They will _all_ +learn to milk,[7] and the girls to make butter. And which is a thing of +the very first importance, they will all learn, from their infancy, to +_set a just value upon dumb animals_, and will grow up in the _habit_ of +treating them with gentleness and feeding them with care. To those who +have not been brought up in the midst of rural affairs, it is hardly +possible to give an adequate idea of the importance of this part of +_education_. I should be very loth to intrust the care of my horses, +cattle, sheep, or pigs, to any one whose father never had cow or pig of +his _own_. It is a general complaint, that servants, and especially +farm-servants, are not _so good as they used to be_. How should they? They +were formerly the sons and daughters of _small farmers_; they are now the +progeny of miserable property-less labourers. They have never seen an +animal in which they had any interest. They are careless by habit. This +monstrous evil has arisen from causes which I have a thousand times +described; and which causes must now be speedily removed; or, they will +produce a dissolution of society, and give us a _beginning afresh_. + +135. The circumstances vary so much, that it is impossible to lay down +precise rules suited to all cases. The cottage may be on the side of a +forest or common; it may be on the side of a lane or of a great road, +distant from town or village; it may be on the skirts of one of these +latter: and then, again, the family may be few or great in number, the +children small or big, according to all which circumstances, the extent +and application of the cow-food, and also the application of the produce, +will naturally be regulated. Under some circumstances, half the above crop +may be enough; especially where good commons are at hand. Sometimes it may +be the best way to sell the calf as soon as calved; at others, to fat it; +and, at others, if you cannot sell it, which sometimes happens, to knock +it on the head as soon as calved; for, where there is a family of small +children, the price of a calf of two months old cannot be equal to the +half of the value of the two months' milk. It is pure weakness to call it +"_a pity_." It is a much greater pity to see hungry children crying for +the milk that a calf is sucking to no useful purpose; and as to the cow +and the calf, the one must lose her young, and the other its life, after +all; and the respite only makes an addition to the sufferings of both. + +136. As to the pretended _unwholesomeness_ of milk in certain cases; as to +its not being adapted to _some constitutions_, I do not believe one word +of the matter. When we talk of the _fruits_, indeed, which were formerly +the chief food of a great part of mankind, we should recollect, that those +fruits grew in countries that had a _sun to ripen_ the fruits, and to put +nutritious matter into them. But as to _milk_, England yields to no +country upon the face of the earth. Neat cattle will touch nothing that is +not wholesome in its nature; nothing that is not wholly innoxious. Out of +a pail that has ever had grease in it, they will not drink a drop, though +they be raging with thirst. Their very breath is fragrance. And how, then, +is it possible, that unwholesomeness should distil from the udder of a +cow? The milk varies, indeed, in its quality and taste according to the +variations in the nature of the food; but no food will a cow touch that is +any way hostile to health. Feed young puppies upon _milk from the cow_, +and they will never die with that ravaging disease called "_the +distemper_." In short, to suppose that milk contains any thing essentially +unwholesome is monstrous. When, indeed, the appetite becomes vitiated: +when the organs have been long accustomed to food of a more stimulating +nature; when it has been resolved to eat ragouts at dinner, and drink +wine, and to swallow "a devil," and a glass of strong grog at night; then +milk for breakfast may be "_heavy_" and disgusting, and the feeder may +stand in need of tea or laudanum, which differ only as to degrees of +strength. But, and I speak from the most ample experience, milk is not +"_heavy_," and much less is it _unwholesome_, when he who uses it rises +early, never swallows strong drink, and never _stuffs_ himself with flesh +of any kind. Many and many a day I scarcely taste of meat, and then +chiefly at _breakfast_, and that, too, at an early hour. Milk is the +natural food of _young people_; if it be too rich, _skim_ it again and +again till it be not too rich. This is an evil easily cured. If you have +now to _begin_ with a family of children, they may not like it at first. +But _persevere_; and the parent who does not do this, having the means in +his hands, shamefully neglects his duty. A son who prefers a "devil" and a +glass of grog to a hunch of bread and a bowl of cold milk, I regard as a +pest; and for this pest the father has to thank himself. + +137. Before I dismiss this article, let me offer an observation or two to +those persons who live in the vicinity of towns, or in towns, and who, +though they have _large gardens_, have "_no land to keep a cow_," a +circumstance which they "_exceedingly regret_." I have, I dare say, +witnessed this case at least a thousand times. Now, how much garden ground +does it require to supply even a large family with _garden vegetables_? +The market gardeners round the metropolis of this wen-headed country; +round this Wen of all wens;[8] round this prodigious and monstrous +collection of human beings; these market gardeners have about _three +hundred thousand families to supply with vegetables_, and these they +supply well too, and with summer fruits into the bargain. Now, if it +demanded _ten rods to a family_, the whole would demand, all but a +fraction, _nineteen thousand acres of garden ground_. We have only to cast +our eyes over what there is to know that there is not a _fourth_ of that +quantity. A _square mile_ contains, leaving out parts of a hundred, 700 +acres of land; and 19,000 acres occupy more than _twenty-two square +miles_. Are there twenty-two square miles covered with the Wen's market +gardens? The very question is absurd. The whole of the market gardens from +Brompton to Hammersmith, extending to Battersea Rise on the one side, and +to the Bayswater road on the other side, and leaving out loads, lanes, +nurseries; pastures, corn-fields, and pleasure-grounds, do not, in my +opinion, cover _one square mile_. To the north and south of the Wen there +is very little in the way of market garden; and if, on both sides of the +Thames, to the eastward of the Wen, there be _three square miles_ actually +covered with market gardens, that is the full extent. How, then, could the +Wen be supplied, if it required _ten rods_ to each family? To be sure, +potatoes, carrots, and turnips, and especially the first of these, are +brought, for the use of the Wen, from a great distance, in many cases. +But, so they are for the use of the persons I am speaking of; for a +gentleman thinks no more of raising a large quantity of these things in +his _garden_, than he thinks of _raising wheat there_. How is it, then, +that it requires half an acre, or eighty rods, in a _private_ garden to +supply a family, while these market gardeners supply all these families +(and so amply too) from ten, or more likely, five rods of ground to a +family? I have shown, in the last Number, that nearly fifteen tons of +vegetables can be raised in a year upon forty rods of ground; that is to +say, _ten loads for a wagon and four good horses_. And is not a fourth, or +even an eighth, part of this weight, sufficient to go down the throats of +a family in a year? Nay, allow that only _a ton_ goes to a family in a +year, it is more than _six pound weight a day_; and what sort of a family +must that be that really _swallows_ six pounds weight a day? and this a +market gardener will raise for them upon less than _three rods_ of ground; +for he will raise, in the course of the year, even more than fifteen tons +upon forty rods of ground. What is it, then, that they _do_ with the +eighty rods of ground in a private garden? Why, in the first place, they +have _one crop_ where they ought to have _three_. Then they do not half +_till_ the ground. Then they grow things that are _not wanted_. Plant +cabbages and other things, let them stand till they be good for nothing, +and then wheel them to the rubbish heap. Raise as many radishes, lettuces, +and as much endive, and as many kidney-beans, as would serve for ten +families; and finally throw nine-tenths of them away. I once saw not less +than three rods of ground, in a garden of this sort, with lettuces all +bearing _seed_. Seed enough for half a county. They cut a cabbage _here_ +and a cabbage _there_, and so let the whole of the piece of ground remain +undug, till the _last_ cabbage be cut. But, after all, the produce, even +in this way, is so great, that it never could be gotten rid of, if the +main part were not _thrown away_. The rubbish heap always receives +four-fifths even of the _eatable_ part of the produce. + +138. It is not thus that the market gardeners proceed. Their rubbish heap +consists of little besides mere cabbage stumps. No sooner is one crop _on_ +the ground than they settle in their minds what is to follow it. They +_clear as they go_ in taking off a crop, and, as they clear they dig and +plant. The ground is never without seed in it or plants on it. And thus, +in the course of the year, they raise a prodigious bulk of vegetables from +eighty rods of ground. Such vigilance and industry are not to be expected +in a _servant_; for it is foolish to expect that a man will exert himself +for another as much as he will for himself. But if I was situated as one +of the persons is that I have spoken of in Paragraph 137; that is to say, +if I had a garden of eighty rods, or even of sixty rods of ground, I would +out of that garden, draw a sufficiency of vegetables for my family, and +would make it yield enough for a _cow_ besides. I should go a short way to +work with my gardener. I should put _Cottage Economy_ into his hands, and +tell him, that if he could furnish me with vegetables, and my cow with +food, he was my man; and that if he could not, I must get one that could +and would. I am not for making a man toil like a slave; but what would +become of the world, if a well-fed healthy man could exhaust himself in +tilling and cropping and clearing half an acre of ground? I have known +many men _dig_ thirty rods of garden ground in a day; I have, before I was +fourteen, digged twenty rods in a day, for more than ten days +successively; and I have heard, and believe the fact, of a man at Portsea, +who digged forty rods in one single day, between daylight and dark. So +that it is no slavish toil that I am here recommending. + + +KEEPING PIGS. + +139. Next after the _Cow_ comes the _Pig_; and, in many cases, where a cow +cannot be kept, a pig or pigs may be kept. But these are animals not to be +ventured on without due consideration as to the means of _feeding_ them; +for a starved pig is a great deal worse than none at all. You cannot make +bacon as you can milk, merely out of the garden. There must be _something +more_. A couple of flitches of bacon are worth fifty thousand Methodist +sermons and religious tracts. The sight of them upon the rack tends more +to keep a man from poaching and stealing than whole volumes of penal +statutes, though assisted by the terrors of the hulks and the gibbet. They +are great softeners of the temper, and promoters of domestic harmony. They +are a great blessing; but they are not to be had from _herbage_ or _roots_ +of any kind; and, therefore, before a _pig_ be attempted, the means ought +to be considered. + +140. _Breeding sows_ are great favourites with Cottagers in general; but I +have seldom known them to answer their purpose. Where there is an outlet, +the sow will, indeed, keep herself by grazing in summer, with a little +_wash_ to help her out: and when her pigs come, they are many in number; +but they are a heavy expense. The sow must live as well as a _fatting +hog_, or the pigs will be good for little. It is a great mistake, too, to +suppose that the condition of the sow _previous to pigging_ is of no +consequence; and, indeed, some suppose, that she ought to be rather _bare +of flesh_ at the pigging time. Never was a greater mistake; for if she be +in this state, she presently becomes a mere rack of bones; and then, do +what you will, the pigs will be poor things. However fat she may be before +she farrow, the pigs will make her lean in a week. All her fat goes away +in her milk, and unless the pigs have a _store_ to draw upon, they pull +her down directly; and, by the time they are three weeks old, they are +starving for want; and then they never come to good. + +141. Now, a cottager's sow cannot, without great expense, be kept in a way +to enable her to meet the demands of her farrow. She may _look_ pretty +well; but the flesh she has upon her is not of the same nature as that +which the _farm-yard_ sow carries about her. It is the result of grass, +and of poor grass, too, or other weak food; and not made partly out of +corn and whey and strong wash, as in the case of the farmer's sow. No food +short of that of a fatting hog will enable her to keep her pigs _alive_; +and this she must have for _ten weeks_, and that at a great expense. Then +comes the operation, upon the principle of _Parson Malthus_, in order to +_check population_; and there is some risk here, though not very great. +But there is the _weaning_; and who, that knows any thing about the +matter, will think lightly of the weaning of a farrow of pigs! By having +nice food given them, they seem, for a few days, not to miss their mother. +But their appearance soon shows the want of her. Nothing but the very best +food, and that given in the most judicious manner, will keep them up to +any thing like good condition; and, indeed, there is nothing short of +_milk_ that will effect the thing well. How should it be otherwise? The +very richest cow's milk is poor, compared with that of the sow; and, to be +taken from this and put upon food, one ingredient of which is _water_, is +quite sufficient to reduce the poor little things to bare bones and +staring hair, a state to which cottagers' pigs very soon come in general; +and, at last, he frequently drives them to market, and sells them for less +than the cost of the food which they and the sow have devoured since they +were farrowed. It was, doubtless, pigs of this description that were sold +the other day at Newbury market, for _fifteen pence a piece_, and which +were, I dare say, dear even as a gift. To get such a pig to _begin_ to +grow will require _three months_, and with good feeding too in winter +time. To be sure it does come to be a hog at last; but, do what you can, +it is a dear hog. + +142. The _Cottager_, then, can hold no competition with the _Farmer_ in +the _breeding_ of pigs, to do which, with advantage, there must be _milk_, +and milk, too, that can be advantageously applied to no other use. The +cottager's pig must be bought ready weaned to his hand, and, indeed, at +_four months old_, at which age, if he be in good condition, he will eat +any-thing that an old hog will eat. He will graze, eat cabbage leaves, and +almost the stumps. Swedish turnip tops or roots, and such things, with a +little wash, will keep him along in very good growing order. I have now to +speak of the time of purchasing, the manner of keeping, of fatting, +killing, and curing; but these I must reserve till my next Number. + + + + +No. VI. + +KEEPING PIGS--(_continued._) + + +143. As in the case of cows so in that of pigs, much must depend upon the +situation of the cottage; because all pigs will _graze_; and therefore, on +the skirts of forests or commons, a couple or three pigs may be kept, if +the family be considerable; and especially if the cottager brew his own +beer, which will give him grains to assist the wash. Even in _lanes_, or +on the sides of great roads, a pig will find a good part of his food from +May to November; and if he be _yoked_, the occupiers of the neighbourhood +must be churlish and brutish indeed, if they give the owner any annoyance. + +144. Let me break off here for a moment to point out to my readers the +truly excellent conduct of Lord WINCHILSEA and Lord STANHOPE, who, as I +read, have taken great pains to make the labourers on their estates +comfortable, by allotting to each a piece of ground sufficient for the +keeping of a cow. I once, when I lived at Botley, proposed to the +copyholders and other farmers in my neighbourhood, that we should petition +the Bishop of Winchester, who was lord of the manors thereabouts, to grant +titles to all the numerous persons called _trespassers on the wastes_; and +also to give titles to others of the poor parishioners, who were willing +to make, on the skirts of the wastes, enclosures not exceeding an acre +each. This I am convinced, would have done a great deal towards relieving +the parishes, then greatly burdened by men out of work. This would have +been better than digging holes one day to fill them up the next. Not a +single man would agree to my proposal! One, a bullfrog farmer (now, I +hear, pretty well sweated down,) said it would only make them _saucy_! And +one, a true disciple of _Malthus_, said, that to facilitate their rearing +of children _was a harm_! This man had, at the time, in his own +occupation, land that had formerly been _six farms_, and he had, too, ten +or a dozen children. I will not mention names; but this farmer will _now_, +perhaps, have occasion to call to mind what I told him on that day, when +his opposition, and particularly the ground of it, gave me the more pain, +as he was a very industrious, civil, and honest man. Never was there a +greater mistake than to suppose that men are made saucy and idle by just +and kind treatment. _Slaves_ are always lazy and saucy; nothing but the +lash will extort from them either labour or respectful deportment. I never +met with a _saucy_ Yankee (New Englander) in my life. Never servile; +always civil. This must necessarily be the character of _freemen living in +a state of competence_. They have nobody to envy; nobody to complain of; +they are in good humour with mankind. It must, however, be confessed, that +very little, comparatively speaking, is to be accomplished by the +individual efforts even of benevolent men like the two noblemen before +mentioned. They have a strife to maintain against the _general tendency of +the national state of things_. It is by general and indirect means, and +not by partial and direct and positive regulations, that so great a good +as that which they generously aim at can be accomplished. When we are to +see such means adopted, God only knows; but, if much longer delayed, I am +of opinion, that they will come too late to prevent something very much +resembling a dissolution of society. + +145. The cottager's pig should be bought in the spring, or late in winter; +and being then four months old, he will be a year old before killing time; +for it should always be borne in mind, that this age is required in order +to insure the greatest quantity of meat from a given quantity of food. If +a hog be more than a year old, he is the better for it. The flesh is more +solid and more nutritious than that of a young hog, much in the same +degree that the mutton of a full-mouthed wether is better than that of a +younger wether. The pork or bacon of young hogs, even if fatted on corn, +is very apt to _boil out_, as they call it; that is to say, come out of +the pot smaller in bulk than it goes in. When you begin to fat, do it by +degrees, especially in the case of hogs under a year old. If you feed +_high_ all at once, the hog is apt to _surfeit_, and then a great loss of +food takes place. Peas, or barley-meal is the food; the latter rather the +best, and does the work quicker. Make him _quite fat_ by all means. The +last bushel, even if he sit as he eat, is the most profitable. If he can +walk two hundred yards at a time, he is not well fatted. Lean bacon is the +most wasteful thing that any family can use. In short, it is uneatable, +except by drunkards, who want something to stimulate their sickly +appetite. The man who cannot live on _solid fat_ bacon, well-fed and +well-cured, wants the sweet sauce of labour, or is fit for the hospital. +But, then, it must be _bacon_, the effect of barley or peas, (not beans,) +and not of whey, potatoes, or _messes_ of any kind. It is frequently said, +and I know that even farmers say it, that bacon, made from corn, _costs +more than it is worth_! Why do they take care to have it then? They know +better. They know well, that it is the very _cheapest_ they can have; and +they, who look at both ends and both sides of every cost, would as soon +think of shooting their hogs as of fatting them on _messes_; that is to +say, for _their own use_, however willing they might now-and-then be to +regale the Londoners with a bit of potato-pork. + +146. About _Christmas_, if the weather be coldish, is a good time to kill. +If the weather be very mild, you may wait a little longer; for the hog +cannot be too fat. The day before killing he should have no food. To kill +a hog nicely is so much of a profession, that it is better to pay a +shilling for having it done, than to stab and hack and tear the carcass +about. I shall not speak of _pork_; for I would by no means recommend it. +There are two ways of going to work to make bacon; in the one you take off +the hair by _scalding_. This is the practice in most parts of England, and +all over America. But the _Hampshire_ way, and the best way, is to _burn +the hair off_. There is a great deal of difference in the consequences. +The first method slackens the skin, opens all the pores of it, makes it +loose and flabby by drawing out the roots of the hair. The second tightens +the skin in every part, contracts all the sinews and veins in the skin, +makes the flitch a solider thing, and the skin a better protection to the +meat. The taste of the meat is very different from that of a scalded hog; +and to this chiefly it was that Hampshire bacon owed its reputation for +excellence. As the hair is to be _burnt_ off it must be _dry_, and care +must be taken, that the hog be kept on dry litter of some sort the day +previous to killing. When killed he is laid upon a narrow bed of straw, +not wider than his carcass, and only two or three inches thick. He is then +covered all over thinly with straw, to which, according as the wind may +be, the fire is put at one end. As the straw burns, it burns the hair. It +requires two or three coverings and burnings, and care is taken, that the +skin be not in any part burnt, or parched. When the hair is all burnt off +close, the hog is _scraped_ clean, but never touched with _water_. The +upper side being finished, the hog is turned over, and the other side is +treated in like manner. This work should always be done _before +day-light_; for in the day-light you cannot so nicely discover whether the +hair be sufficiently burnt off. The light of the fire is weakened by that +of the day. Besides, it makes the boys get up very early for once at any +rate, and that is something; for boys always like a bonfire. + +147. The _inwards_ are next taken out, and if the wife be not a slattern, +here, in the mere offal, in the mere garbage, there is food, and delicate +food too, for a large family for a week; and hog's puddings for the +children, and some for neighbours' children, who come to play with them; +for these things are by no means to be overlooked, seeing that they tend +to the keeping alive of that affection in children for their parents, +which, later in life, will be found absolutely necessary to give effect to +wholesome precept, especially when opposed to the boisterous passions of +youth. + +148. The butcher, the next day, cuts the hog up; and then the house is +_filled with meat_! Souse, griskins, blade-bones, thigh-bones, spare-ribs, +chines, belly-pieces, cheeks, all coming into use one after the other, and +the last of the latter not before the end of about four or five weeks. But +about this time, it is more than possible that the Methodist parson will +pay you a visit. It is remarked in America, that these gentry are +attracted by the squeaking of the pigs, as the fox is by the cackling of +the hen. This may be called slander; but I will tell you what I did know +to happen. A good honest careful fellow had a spare-rib, on which he +intended to sup with his family after a long and hard day's work at +coppice-cutting. Home he came at dark with his two little boys, each with +a nitch of wood that they had carried four miles, cheered with the thought +of the repast that awaited them. In he went, found his wife, the Methodist +parson, and a whole troop of the sisterhood, engaged in prayer, and on the +table lay scattered the clean-polished bones of the spare-rib! Can any +reasonable creature believe, that, to save the soul, God requires us to +give up the food necessary to sustain the body? Did Saint Paul preach +this? He, who, while he spread the gospel abroad, _worked himself_, in +order to have it to give to those who were unable to work? Upon what, +then, do these modern saints; these evangelical gentlemen, found their +claim to live on the labour of others. + +149. All the other parts taken away, the two sides that remain, and that +are called _flitches_, are to be cured for _bacon_. They are first rubbed +with salt on their insides, or flesh sides, then placed, one on the other, +the flesh sides uppermost, in a salting trough which has a gutter round +its edges to drain away the _brine_; for, to have sweet and fine bacon, +the flitches must not lie sopping in brine; which gives it that sort of +taste which barrel-pork and sea-jonk have, and than which nothing is more +villanous. Every one knows how different is the taste of fresh, dry salt, +from that of salt in a dissolved state. The one is savoury, the other +nauseous. Therefore, _change the salt often_. Once in four or five days. +Let it melt, and sink in; but let it not lie too long. Change the +flitches. Put that at bottom which was first put on the top. Do this a +couple of times. This mode will cost you a great deal more in salt, or +rather in _taxes_, than the _sopping mode_; but without it, your bacon +will not be sweet and fine, and _will not keep so well_. As to the _time_ +required for making the flitches sufficiently salt, it depends on +circumstances; the thickness of the flitch, the state of the weather, the +place wherein the salting is going on. It takes a longer time for a thick +than for a thin flitch; it takes longer in dry, than in damp weather; it +takes longer in a dry than in a damp place. But for the flitches of a hog +of twelve score, in weather not very dry or very damp, about six weeks may +do; and as yours is to be _fat_, which receives little injury from +over-salting, give time enough; for you are to have bacon till Christmas +comes again. The place for salting should, like a dairy, always be cool, +but always admit of a _free circulation of air_: _confined_ air, though +_cool_, will taint meat sooner than the mid-day sun accompanied with a +breeze. Ice will not melt in the hottest sun so soon as in a close and +damp cellar. Put a lump of ice in _cold water_, and one of the same size +before a _hot fire_, and the former will dissolve in half the time that +the latter will. Let me take this occasion of observing, that an ice-house +should never be _under ground_, or _under the shade of trees_. That the +bed of it ought to be three feet above the level of the ground; that this +bed ought to consist of something that will admit the drippings to go +instantly off; and that the house should stand in a place _open to the sun +and air_. This is the way they have the ice-houses under the burning sun +of Virginia; and here they keep their fish and meat as fresh and sweet as +in winter, when at the same time neither will keep for twelve hours, +though let down to the depth of a hundred feet in a well. A Virginian, +with some poles and straw, will stick up an ice-house for ten dollars, +worth a dozen of those ice-houses, each of which costs our men of taste as +many scores of pounds. It is very hard to imagine, indeed, what any one +should want ice _for_, in a country like this, except for clodpole boys to +slide upon, and to drown cockneys in skaiting-time; but if people must +have ice in summer, they may as well go a right way as a wrong way to get +it. + +150. However, the patient that I have at this time under my hands wants +nothing to cool his blood, but something to warm it, and, therefore, I +will get back to the flitches of bacon, which are now to be _smoked_; for +smoking is a great deal better than merely _drying_, as is the fashion in +the dairy countries in the West of England. When there were plenty of +_farm_-houses there were plenty of places to smoke bacon in; since farmers +have lived in gentleman's houses, and the main part of the farm-houses +have been knocked down, these places are not so plenty. However, there is +scarcely any neighbourhood without a chimney left to hang bacon up in. Two +precautions are necessary: first, to hang the flitches where no _rain_ +comes down upon them: second, not to let them be so near the fire as to +_melt_. These precautions taken, the next is, that the smoke must proceed +from _wood_, not turf, peat, or coal. Stubble or litter might do; but the +trouble would be great. _Fir_, or _deal_, smoke is not fit for the +purpose. I take it, that the absence of wood, as fuel, in the dairy +countries, and in the North, has led to the making of pork and dried +bacon. As to the _time_ that it requires to smoke a flitch, it must depend +a good deal upon whether there be a _constant fire beneath_, and whether +the fire be large or small. A month may do, if the fire be pretty +constant, and such as a farm-house fire usually is. But over smoking, or, +rather, too long hanging in the air, makes the bacon _rust_. Great +attention should, therefore, be paid to this matter. The flitch ought not +be dried up to the hardness of a board, and yet it ought to be perfectly +dry. Before you hang it up, lay it on the floor, scatter the flesh-side +pretty thickly over with bran, or with some fine saw-dust other than that +of deal or fir. Rub it on the flesh, or pat it well down upon it. This +keeps the smoke from getting into the little openings, and makes a sort of +crust to be dried on; and, in short, keeps the flesh cleaner than it would +otherwise be. + +151. To keep the bacon sweet and good, and free from nasty things that +they call _hoppers_; that is to say, a sort of skipping maggots, +engendered by a fly which has a great relish for bacon: to provide against +this mischief, and also to keep the bacon from becoming rusty, the +Americans, whose country is so hot in summer, have two methods. They smoke +no part of the hog except the hams, or gammons. They cover these with +coarse linen cloth such as the finest hop-bags are made of, which they sew +neatly on. They then _white-wash_ the cloth all over with _lime_ +white-wash, such as we put on walls, their lime being excellent +stone-lime. They give the ham four or five washings, the one succeeding as +the former gets dry; and in the sun, all these washings are put on in a +few hours. The flies cannot get through this; and thus the meat is +preserved from them. The _other_ mode, and that is the mode for you, is, +to sift _fine_ some clean and dry _wood-ashes_. Put some at the bottom of +a box, or chest, which is long enough to hold a flitch of bacon. Lay in +one flitch; then put in more ashes; then the _other flitch_; and then +cover this with six or eight inches of the ashes. This will effectually +keep away all flies; and will keep the bacon as fresh and good as when it +came out of the chimney, which it will not be for any great length of +time, if put on a rack, or kept hung up in the open air. _Dust_, or even +_sand_, very, very _dry_, would, perhaps, do as well. The object is not +only to keep out the flies, but the _air_. The place where the chest, or +box, is kept, ought to be _dry_; and, if the ashes should get damp (as +they are apt to do from the salts they contain,) they should be put in the +fire-place to dry, and then be put back again. Peat-ashes, or turf-ashes, +might do very well for this purpose. With these precautions, the bacon +will be as good at the end of the year as on the first day; and it will +keep two, and even three years, perfectly good, for which, however, there +can be no necessity. + +152. Now, then, this hog is altogether a capital thing. The other parts +will be meat for about four or five weeks. The _lard_, nicely put down, +will last a long while for all the purposes for which it is wanted. To +make it keep well there should be some salt put into it. Country children +are badly brought up if they do not like sweet lard spread upon bread, as +we spread butter. Many a score hunches of this sort have I eaten, and I +never knew what poverty was. I have eaten it for luncheon at the houses of +good substantial farmers in France and Flanders. I am not now frequently +so hungry as I ought to be; but I should think it no hardship to eat +_sweet_ lard instead of butter. But, now-a-days, the labourers, and +especially the female part of them, have fallen into the taste of +_niceness_ in food and _finery in dress_; a quarter of a bellyful and rags +are the consequence. The food of their choice is high-priced, so that, for +the greater part of their time, they are half-starved. The dress of their +choice is _showy_ and _flimsy_, so that, to-day, they are _ladies_, and +to-morrow ragged as sheep with the scab. But has not Nature made the +country girls as pretty as ladies? Oh, yes! (bless their rosy cheeks and +white teeth!) and a great deal prettier too! But are they _less_ pretty, +when their dress is plain and substantial, and when the natural +presumption is, that they have smocks as well as gowns, than they are when +drawn off in the frail fabric of Sir Robert Peel,[9] "where tawdry colours +strive with dirty white," exciting violent suspicions that all is not as +it ought to be nearer the skin, and calling up a train of ideas extremely +hostile to that sort of feeling which every lass innocently and +commendably wishes to awaken in her male beholders? Are they prettiest +when they come through the wet and dirt safe and neat; or when their +draggled dress is plastered to their backs by a shower of rain? However, +the fault has not been theirs, nor that of their parents. It is _the +system_ of managing the affairs of the nation. This system has made all +_flashy_ and _false_, and has put all things out of their place. +Pomposity, bombast, hyperbole, redundancy, and obscurity, both in speaking +and in writing; mock-delicacy in manners; mock-liberality, mock-humanity, +and mock-religion. Pitt's false money, Peel's flimsy dresses, +Wilberforce's potatoe diet, Castlereagh's and Mackintosh's oratory, Walter +Scott's poems, Walter's and Stoddart's[10] paragraphs, with all the bad +taste and baseness and hypocrisy which they spread over this country; all +have arisen, grown, branched out, bloomed, and borne together; and we are +now beginning to taste of their fruit. But, as the fat of the adder is, as +is said, the antidote to its sting; so in the Son of the great worker of +Spinning-Jennies, we have, thanks to the Proctors and Doctors of Oxford, +the author of that _Bill_, before which this false, this flashy, this +flimsy, this rotten system will dissolve as one of his father's pasted +calicoes does at the sight of the washing-tub. + +153. "What," says the cottager, "has all this to do with hogs and bacon?" +Not directly with hogs and bacon, indeed; but it has a great deal to do, +my good fellow with your affairs, as I shall, probably, hereafter more +fully show, though I shall now leave you to the enjoyment of your flitches +of bacon, which, as I before observed, will do ten thousand times more +than any Methodist parson, or any other parson (except, of course, those +of _our_ church) to make you happy, not only in this world, but in the +world to come. _Meat in the house_ is a great source of _harmony_, a great +preventer of the temptation to commit those things, which, from small +beginnings, lead, finally, to the most fatal and atrocious results; and I +hold that doctrine to be _truly damnable_, which teaches that God has made +any selection, any condition relative to belief, which is to save from +punishment those who violate the principles of _natural justice_. + +154. _Some_ other meat you may have; but, bacon is the great thing. It is +always ready; as good cold as hot; goes to the field or the coppice +conveniently; in harvest, and other busy times, demands the pot to be +boiled only on a Sunday; has twice as much strength in it as any other +thing of the same weight; and in short, has in it every quality that tends +to make a labourer's family able to work and well off. One pound of bacon, +such as that which I have described, is, in a labourer's family, worth +four or five of ordinary mutton or beef, which are great part _bone_, and +which, in short, are gone in a moment. But always observe, it is _fat +bacon_ that I am talking about. There will, in spite of all that can be +done, be _some_ lean in the gammons, though comparatively very little; and +therefore you ought to begin at that end of the flitches; for, _old lean +bacon_ is not good. + +155. Now, as to the _cost_. A pig (a _spayed sow_ is best) bought in March +four months old, can be had now for fifteen shillings. The cost till +fatting time is next to nothing to a Cottager; and then the cost, at the +present price of corn, would, for a hog of twelve score, not exceed _three +pounds_; in the whole _four pounds five_; a pot of poison a week bought at +the public-house comes to _twenty-six shillings_ of the money; and more +than _three times the remainder_ is generally flung away upon the +miserable _tea_, as I have clearly shown in the First Number, at Paragraph +24. I have, indeed, there shown, that if the tea were laid aside, the +labourer might supply his family well with beer all the year round, and +have a fat hog of even _fifteen score_ for the _cost of the tea_, which +does him and can do him _no good at all_. + +156. The feet, the cheeks, and other bone, being considered, the _bacon +and lard_, taken together, would not exceed _sixpence a pound_. Irish +bacon is "_cheaper_." Yes, _lower-priced_. But, I will engage that a pound +of mine, when it comes _out_ of the pot (to say nothing of the _taste_,) +shall weigh as much as a _pound and a half_ of Irish, or any dairy or +slop-fed bacon, when that comes out of the pot. No, no: the farmers joke +when they say, that their bacon _costs them more than_ they could buy +bacon for. They know well what it is they are doing; and besides, they +always forget, or, rather, remember not to say, that the fatting of a +large hog yields them three or four load of dung, really worth more than +ten or fifteen of common yard dung. In short, without hogs, farming _could +not go on_; and it never has gone on in any country in the world. The hogs +are the great _stay_ of the whole concern. They are _much in small space_; +they make no _show_, as flocks and herds do; but with out them, the +cultivation of the land would be a poor, a miserably barren concern. + + +SALTING MUTTON AND BEEF. + +157. _VERY FAT_ Mutton may be salted to great advantage, and also smoked, +and may be kept thus a long while. Not the shoulders and legs, but the +_back_ of the sheep. I have never made any flitch of _sheep-bacon_; but I +will; for there is nothing like having a _store_ of meat in a house. The +running to the butchers daily is a ridiculous thing. The very idea of +being fed, of a _family_ being fed, by daily supplies, has something in it +perfectly _tormenting_. One half of the time of a mistress of a house, +the affairs of which are carried on in this way, is taken up in talking +about what is to be got for dinner, and in negotiations with the butcher. +One single moment spent at table beyond what is absolutely necessary, is a +moment very shamefully spent; but, to suffer a system of domestic economy, +which unnecessarily wastes daily an hour or two of the mistress's time in +hunting for the provision for the repast, is a shame indeed; and when we +consider how much time is generally spent in this and in equally absurd +ways, it is no wonder that we see so little performed by numerous +individuals as they do perform during the course of their lives. + +158. _Very fat parts of Beef_ may be salted and smoked in a like manner. +Not the _lean_; for that is a great waste, and is, in short, good for +nothing. Poor fellows on board of ships are compelled to eat it, but it is +a very bad thing. + + + + +No. VII. + +BEES, FOWLS, &C. &C. + + +159. I now proceed to treat of objects of less importance than the +foregoing, but still such as may be worthy of great attention. If all of +them cannot be expected to come within the scope of a labourer's family, +some of them must, and others may: and it is always of great consequence, +that children be brought up to set a just value upon all useful things, +and especially upon all _living things_; to know the _utility_ of them: +for, without this, they never, when grown up, are worthy of being +entrusted with the _care_ of them. One of the greatest, and, perhaps, the +very commonest, fault of servants, is their inadequate care of animals +committed to their charge. It is a well-known saying that "the _master's +eye_ makes the horse fat," and the remissness to which this alludes, is +generally owing to the servant not having been brought up to feel _an +interest_ in the well-being of animals. + + +BEES. + +160. It is not my intention to enter into a history of this insect about +which so much has been written, especially by the French naturalists. It +is the _useful_ that I shall treat of, and that is done in not many words. +The best _hives_ are those made of clean unblighted _rye-straw_. Boards +are too cold in England. A swarm should always be put into a _new_ hive, +and the sticks should be _new_ that are put into the hive for the bees to +work on; for, if the hive be old, it is not so _wholesome_, and a thousand +to one but it contain the embryos of _moths_ and other insects injurious +to bees. Over the hive itself there should be a cap of thatch, made also +of clean rye straw; and it should not only be _new_ when first put on the +hive; but a new one should be made to supply the place of the former one +every three or four months; for when the straw begins to get rotten, as it +soon does, insects breed in it, its smell is bad, and its effect on the +bees is dangerous. + +161. The hive should be placed on a bench, the legs of which mice and rats +cannot creep up. Tin round the legs is best. But even this will not keep +down _ants_, which are mortal enemies of bees. To keep these away, if you +find them infest the hive, take a green stick and twist it round in the +shape of a ring to lay on the ground round the leg of the bench, and at a +few inches from it; and cover this stick with _tar_. This will keep away +the ants. If the ants come from one home, you may easily _trace them to +it_; and when you have found it, pour _boiling water_ on it in the night, +when all the family are at home. + +This is the only effectual way of destroying ants, which are frequently so +troublesome. It would be cruel to cause this destruction, if it were not +necessary to do it, in order to preserve the honey, and indeed the bees +too. + +162. Besides the hive and its cap, there should be a sort of shed, with +top, back, and ends, to give additional protection in winter; though in +summer hives may be kept _too hot_, and in that case the bees become +sickly and the produce becomes light. The _situation_ of the hive is to +face the South-east; or, at any rate, to be sheltered from the _North_ and +the _West_. From the North always, and from the West in winter. If it be a +very dry season in summer, it contributes greatly to the success of the +bees, to place clear water near their home, in a thing that they can +conveniently drink out of; for if they have to go a great way for drink, +they have not much time for work. + +163. It is supposed that bees live only a year; at any rate it is best +never to keep the same stall, or family, over two years, except you want +to increase your number of hives. The swarm of _this summer_ should always +be taken in the autumn of next year. It is whimsical to _save_ the bees +when you take the honey. You must _feed_ them; and, if saved, they will +die of old age before the next fall; and though young ones will supply the +place of the dead, this is nothing like a good swarm put up during the +summer. + +164. As to the things that bees make their collections from, we do not, +perhaps, know a thousandth part of them; but of all the blossoms that they +seek eagerly that of the _Buck-wheat_ stands foremost. Go round a piece of +this grain just towards sunset, when the buck-wheat is in bloom, and you +will see the air filled with bees going home from it in all directions. +The buck-wheat, too, continues in bloom a long while; for the grain is +dead ripe on one part of the plant, while there are fresh blossoms coming +out on the other part. + +165. A good stall of bees, that is to say, the produce of one, is always +worth about _two bushels of good wheat_. The _cost_ is nothing to the +labourer. He must be a stupid countryman indeed who cannot make a +bee-hive; and a lazy one indeed if he _will_ not, if he can. In short, +there is nothing but _care_ demanded; and there are very few situations in +the country, especially in the south of England, where a labouring man may +not have half a dozen stalls of bees to take every year. The main things +are to keep away insects, mice, and birds, and especially a little bird +called the bee-bird; and to keep all clean and fresh as to the hives and +coverings. Never put a swarm into an _old hive_. If wasps, or hornets, +annoy you, watch them home in the day time; and in the night kill them by +fire, or by boiling water. Fowls should not go where bees are, for they +eat them. + +166. Suppose a man get three stalls of bees in a year. Six bushels of +wheat give him bread for an _eighth part of the year_. Scarcely any thing +is a greater misfortune than _shiftlessness_. It is an evil little short +of the loss of eyes or of limbs. + + +GEESE. + +167. They can be kept to advantage only where there are _green commons_, +and there they are easily kept; live to a very great age; and are amongst +the hardiest animals in the world. If _well kept_, a goose will lay a +hundred eggs in a year. The French put their eggs under large hens of +common fowls, to each of which they give four or five eggs; or under +turkies, to which they give nine or ten goose-eggs. If the goose herself +sit, she must be well and _regularly fed_, at, or near to, her nest. When +the young ones are hatched, they should be kept in a warm place for about +four days, and fed on barley-meal, mixed, if possible, with milk; and then +they will begin to _graze_. Water for them, or for the old ones to _swim_ +in, is by no means _necessary_, nor, perhaps, ever even _useful_. Or, how +is it, that you see such fine flocks of fine geese all over Long Island +(in America) where there is scarcely such a thing as a pond or a run of +water? + +168. Geese are raised by _grazing_; but to _fat_ them something more is +required. Corn of some sort, or boiled Swedish turnips. Some corn and some +raw Swedish turnips, or carrots, or white cabbages, or lettuces, make the +best fatting. The modes that are resorted to by the French for fatting +geese, _nailing_ them down by their webs, and other acts of cruelty, are, +I hope, such as Englishmen will never think of. They will get fat enough +without the use of any of these unfeeling means being employed. He who can +deliberately inflict _torture_ upon an animal, in order to heighten the +pleasure his palate is to receive in eating it, is an abuser of the +authority which God has given him, and is, indeed, a tyrant in his heart. +Who would think himself safe, if at the _mercy_ of such a man? Since the +first edition of this work was published, I have had a good deal of +experience with regard to geese. It is a very great error to suppose that +what is called a Michaelmas goose is _the thing_. Geese are, in general, +eaten at the age when they are called green geese; or after they have got +their full and entire growth, which is not until the latter part of +October. Green geese are tasteless squabs; loose flabby things; no rich +taste in them; and, in short, a very indifferent sort of dish. The +full-grown goose has solidity in it; but it is _hard_, as well as solid; +and in place of being _rich_, it is strong. Now, there is a middle course +to take; and if you take this course, you produce the finest birds of +which we can know any thing in England. For three years, including the +present year, I have had the finest geese that I ever saw, or ever heard +of. I have bought from twenty to thirty every one of these years. I buy +them off the common late in June, or very early in July. They have cost me +from two shillings to three shillings each, first purchase. I bring the +flock home, and put them in a pen, about twenty feet square, where I keep +them well littered with straw, so as for them not to get filthy. They have +one trough in which I give them dry oats, and they have another trough +where they have constantly plenty of clean water. Besides these, we give +them, two or three times a day, a parcel of lettuces out of the garden. We +give them such as are going to seed generally; but the better the lettuces +are, the better the geese. If we have no lettuces to spare, we give them +cabbages, either loaved or not loaved; though, observe, the white cabbage +as well as the white lettuce, that is to say, the loaved cabbage and +lettuce, are a great deal better than those that are not loaved. This is +the food of my geese. They thrive exceedingly upon this food. After we +have had the flock about ten days, we begin to kill, and we proceed once +or twice a week till about the middle of October, sometimes later. A great +number of persons who have eaten of these geese have all declared that +they did not imagine that a goose could be brought to be so good a bird. +These geese are altogether different from the hard, strong things that +come out of the stubble fields, and equally different from the flabby +things called a green goose. I should think that the cabbages or lettuces +perform half the work of keeping and fatting my geese; and these are +things that really cost nothing. I should think that the geese, upon an +average, do not consume more than a shilling's worth of oats each. So that +we have these beautiful geese for about four shillings each. No money will +buy me such a goose in London; but the thing that I can get nearest to it, +will cost me _seven_ shillings. Every gentleman has a garden. That garden +has, in the month of July, a wagon-load, at least, of lettuces and +cabbages to throw away. Nothing is attended with so little trouble as +these geese. There is hardly any body near London that has not room for +the purposes here mentioned. The reader will be apt to exclaim, as my +friends very often do, "Cobbett's Geese are all _Swans_." Well, better +that way than not to be pleased with what one has. However, let gentlemen +try this method of fatting geese. It saves money, mind, at the same time. +Let them try it; and if any one, who shall try it, shall find the effect +not to be that which I say it is, let him reproach me publicly with being +a deceiver. The thing is no _invention_ of mine. While I could buy a goose +off the common for half-a-crown, I did not like to give seven shillings +for one in London, and yet I wished that geese should not be excluded from +my house. Therefore I bought a flock of geese, and brought them home to +Kensington. They could not be eaten all at once. It was necessary, +therefore, to fix upon a mode of feeding them. The above mode was adopted +by my servant, as far as I know, without any knowledge of mine; but the +very agreeable result made me look into the matter; and my opinion, that +the information will be useful to many persons, at any rate, is sufficient +to induce me to communicate it to my readers. + + +DUCKS. + +169. No water, to _swim_ in, is necessary to the old, and is _injurious_ +to the very young. They never should be suffered to swim (if water be +near) till _more than a month old_. The old duck will lay, in the year, if +_well kept_, ten dozen of eggs; and that is her best employment; for +common hens are the best mothers. It is not good to let young ducks out in +the morning to eat _slugs_ and _worms_; for, though they like them, these +things kill them if they eat a great quantity. Grass, corn, white +cabbages, and lettuces, and especially buck-wheat, cut, when half ripe, +and flung down in the haulm. This makes fine ducks. Ducks will feed on +garbage and all sorts of filthy things; but their flesh is _strong_, and +bad in proportion. They are, in Long Island, fatted upon a coarse sort of +_crab_, called a horse-foot fish, prodigious quantities of which are cast +on the shores. The young ducks grow very fast upon this, and very fat; but +wo unto him that has to _smell_ them when they come from the spit; and, as +for _eating_ them, a man must have a stomach indeed to do that! + +170. When young, they should be fed upon barley-meal, or _curds_, and kept +in a warm place in the night-time, and not let out _early_ in the morning. +They should, if possible, be kept from water to _swim_ in. It always does +them harm; and, if intended to be sold to be killed _young_, they should +never go near ponds, ditches, or streams. When you come to fat ducks, you +must take care that they get at _no filth_ whatever. They will eat garbage +of all sorts; they will suck down the most nauseous particles of all those +substances which go for manure. A dead rat three parts rotten is a feast +to them. For these reasons I should never eat any ducks, unless there were +some mode of keeping them from this horrible food. I treat them precisely +as I do my geese. I buy a troop when they are young, and put them in a +pen, and feed them upon oats, cabbages, lettuces, and water, and have the +place kept very clean. My ducks are, in consequence of this, a great deal +more fine and delicate than any others that I know any-thing of. + + +TURKEYS. + +171. These are _flying_ things, and so are _common fowls_. But it may +happen that a few hints respecting them may be of use. To raise turkeys in +this chilly climate, is a matter of much greater difficulty than in the +climates that give great warmth. But the great enemy to young turkeys (for +old ones are hardy enough) _is the wet_. This they will endure in _no +climate_; and so true is this, that, in America, where there is always "_a +wet spell_" in April, the farmers' wives take care never to have a brood +come out until that spell is passed. In England, where the wet spells come +at haphazard, the first thing is to take care that young turkeys never go +out, on any account, except in dry weather, till the _dew be quite off the +ground_; and this should be adhered to till they get to be of the size of +an old partridge, and have their backs well covered with feathers. And, in +wet weather, they should be kept under cover all day long. + +172. As to the _feeding_ of them, when young, various nice things are +recommended. Hard eggs chopped fine, with crumbs of bread, and a great +many other things; but that which I have seen used, and always with +success, and for all sorts of young poultry, is milk _turned into curds_. +This is the food for young poultry of all sorts. Some should be made +_fresh every_ day; and if this be done, and the young turkeys kept warm, +and especially _from wet_, not one out of a score will die. When they get +to be strong, they may have meal and grain, but still they always love +the curds. + +173. When they get their _head feathers_ they are hardy enough; and what +they then want is _room_ to prowl about. It is best to breed them under a +_common hen_; because she does not _ramble_ like a hen-turkey; and it is a +very curious thing that the turkeys bred up by a hen of the common fowl, +_do not themselves ramble much when they get old_; and for this reason, +when they buy turkeys for _stock_, in America, (where there are such large +woods, and where the distant rambling of turkeys is inconvenient,) they +always buy such as have been bred under the hens of the common fowl; than +which a more complete proof of the great powers of _habit_ is, perhaps, +not to be found. And ought not this to be a lesson to fathers and mothers +of families? Ought not they to consider that the habits which they give +their children are to stick by those children during their whole lives? + +174. The _hen_ should be fed _exceedingly well_, too, while she is +_sitting_ and _after_ she has hatched; for though she does not give +_milk_, she gives _heat_; and, let it be observed, that as no man ever yet +saw healthy pigs with a poor sow, so no man ever saw healthy chickens with +a poor hen. This is a matter much too little thought of in the rearing of +poultry; but it is a matter of the greatest consequence. Never let a poor +hen sit; feed the hen well while she is sitting, and feed her most +abundantly when she has young ones; for then her _labour_ is very great; +she is making exertions of some sort or other during the whole twenty-four +hours; she has no rest; is constantly doing something or other to provide +food or safety for her young ones. + +175. As to _fatting_ turkeys, the best way is, never to let them be poor. +_Cramming_ is a nasty thing, and quite unnecessary. Barley-meal, mixed +with skim-milk, given to them, fresh and fresh, will make them fat in a +short time, either in a coop, in a house, or running about. Boiled carrots +and Swedish turnips will help, and it is a change of sweet food. In +France they sometimes _pick turkeys alive_, to make them _tender_; of +which I shall only say, that the man that can do this, or order it to be +done, ought to be skinned alive himself. + + +FOWLS. + +176. These are kept for two objects; their _flesh_ and their _eggs_. As to +_rearing them_, every thing said about rearing turkeys is applicable here. +They are best _fatted_, too, in the same manner. But, as to _laying-hens_, +there are some means to be used to secure the use of them in _winter_. +They ought not to be _old hens_. Pullets, that is, birds hatched in the +foregoing spring, are, perhaps, the best. At any rate, let them not be +more than _two years old_. They should be kept in a _warm_ place, and not +let out, even in the day-time, in _wet_ weather; for one good sound +wetting will keep them back for a fortnight. The dry cold, even in the +severest cold, if _dry_, is less injurious than even a little _wet_ in +winter-time. If the feathers get wet, in our climate, in winter, or in +short days, they do not get dry for a long time; and this it is that +spoils and kills many of our fowls. + +177. The French, who are great egg-eaters, take singular pains as to the +_food_ of laying-hens in winter. They let them out very little, even in +their fine climate, and give them very stimulating food; barley boiled, +and given them warm; curds, _buck-wheat_, (which, I believe, is the best +thing of all except curds;) parsley and other herbs chopped fine; leeks +chopped in the same way; also apples and pears chopped very fine; oats and +wheat cribbled; and sometimes they give them hemp-seed, and the seed of +nettles; or dried nettles, harvested in summer, and boiled in the winter. +Some give them ordinary food, and, once a day, toasted bread sopped in +wine. White cabbages chopped up are very good in winter for all sorts of +poultry. + +178. This is taking a great deal of pains; but the produce is also great +and very valuable in winter; for, as to _preserved_ eggs, they are things +to run _from_ and not after. All this supposes, however, a proper +_hen-house_, about which we, in England, take very little pains. The +_vermin_, that is to say, the _lice_, that poultry breed, are the greatest +annoyance. And as our wet climate furnishes them, for a great part of the +year, with no _dust_ by which to get rid of these vermin, we should be +very careful about _cleanliness_ in the hen-houses. Many a hen, when +sitting, is compelled to quit her nest to get rid of the lice. They +torment the young chickens. And, in short, are a great injury. The +fowl-house should, therefore, be very often cleaned out; and sand, or +fresh earth, should be thrown on the floor. The nest should not be on +_shelves_, or on any-thing fixed; but little flat baskets, something like +those that the gardeners have in the markets in London, and which they +call _sieves_, should be placed against the sides of the house upon pieces +of wood nailed up for the purpose. By this means the nests are kept +perfectly clean, because the baskets are, when necessary, taken down, the +hay thrown out, and the baskets washed; which cannot be done, if the nest +be made in any-thing forming a part of the building. Besides this, the +roosts ought to be cleaned every week, and the hay changed in the nests of +laying-hens. It is good to _fumigate_ the house frequently by burning dry +herbs, juniper wood, cedar wood, or with brimstone; for nothing stands so +much in need of cleanliness as a fowl-house, in order to have fine fowls +and plenty of eggs. + +179. The _ailments_ of fowls are numerous, but they would seldom be seen, +if the proper care were taken. It is useless to talk of _remedies_ in a +case where you have complete power to prevent the evil. If well fed, and +kept perfectly clean, fowls will seldom be sick; and, as to old age, they +never ought to be kept more than a couple or three years; for they get to +be good for little as layers, and no _teeth_ can face them as food. + +180. It is, perhaps, seldom that fowls can be kept conveniently about a +cottage; but when they can, three, four, or half a dozen hens to lay in +_winter_, when the wife is at _home_ the greater part of the time, are +worth attention. They would require but little room, might be bought in +November and sold in April, and six of them, with proper care, might be +made to clear every week the price of a gallon of flour. If the labour +were great, I should not think of it; but it is _none_; and I am for +neglecting nothing in the way of pains in order to ensure a hot dinner +every day in winter, when the man comes home from work. As to the +_fatting_ of fowls, information can be of no use to those who live in a +cottage all their lives; but it may be of some use to those who are born +in cottages, and go to have the care of poultry at richer persons' houses. +Fowls should be put to fat about a fortnight before they are wanted to be +killed. The best food is barley-meal wetted with milk, but not wetted too +much. They should have clear water to drink, and it should be frequently +changed. Crammed fowls are very nasty things: but "_barn-door_" fowls, as +they are called, are sometimes a great deal more nasty. _Barn_-door would, +indeed, do exceedingly well; but it unfortunately happens that the +_stable_ is generally pretty near to the barn. And now let any gentleman +who talks about sweet barn-door fowls, have one caught in the yard, where +the stable is also. Let him have it brought in, killed, and the craw taken +out and cut open. Then let him take a ball of horse-dung from the +stable-door; and let his nose tell him how very small is the difference +between the smell of the horse-dung, and the smell of the craw of his +fowl. In short, roast the fowl, and then pull aside the skin at the neck, +put your nose to the place, and you will almost think that you are at the +stable door. Hence the necessity of taking them away from the barn-door a +fortnight, at least, before they are killed. We know very well that ducks +that have been fed upon fish, either wild ducks, or tame ducks, will scent +a whole room, and drive out of it all those who have not pretty good +constitutions. It must be so. Solomon says that all flesh is grass; and +those who know any-thing about beef, know the difference between the +effect of the grass in Herefordshire and Lincolnshire, and the effect of +turnips and oil cake. In America they always take the fowls from the +farm-yard, and shut them up a fortnight or three weeks before they be +killed. One thing, however, about fowls ought always to be borne in mind. +They are never good for any-thing when they have attained their full +growth, unless they be _capons_ or _poullards_. If the poulets be old +enough to have little eggs in them, they are not worth one farthing; and +as to the cocks of the same age, they are fit for nothing but to make soup +for soldiers on their march, and they ought to be taken for that purpose. + + +PIGEONS. + +181. A few of these may be kept about any cottage, for they are kept even +in towns by labourers and artizans. They cause but little trouble. They +take care of their own young ones; and they do not scratch, or do any +other mischief in gardens. They want feeding with tares, peas, or small +beans; and buck-wheat is very good for them. To _begin_ keeping them, they +must not have _flown at large_ before you get them. You must keep them for +two or three days, shut into the place which is to be their home; and then +they may be let out, and will never leave you, as long as they can get +proper food, and are undisturbed by vermin, or unannoyed exceedingly by +lice. + +182. The common dove-house pigeons are the best to keep. They breed +oftenest, and feed their young ones best. They begin to breed at about +_nine months old_, and if well kept, they will give you eight or nine pair +in the year. Any little place, a shelf in the cow shed; a board or two +under the eaves of the house; or, in short, any place under cover, even on +the ground floor, they will sit and hatch and breed up their young ones +in. + +183. It is not supposed that there could be much _profit_ attached to +them; but they are of this use; they are very pretty creatures; very +interesting in their manners; they are an object to delight _children_, +and to give them the _early habit_ of fondness for animals and of +_setting a value_ on them, which, as I have often had to observe before, +is a very great thing. A considerable part of all the _property_ of a +nation consists of animals. Of course a proportionate part of the cares +and labours of a people appertain to the breeding and bringing to +perfection those animals; and, if you consult your experience, you will +find that a labourer is, generally speaking, of value in proportion as he +is worthy of being intrusted with the care of animals. The most careless +fellow cannot _hurt_ a hedge or ditch; but to trust him with the _team_, +or the _flock_, is another matter. And, mind, for the _man_ to be +trust-worthy in this respect, the _boy_ must have been in the _habit_ of +being kind and considerate towards animals; and nothing is so likely to +give him that excellent habit as his seeing, from his very birth, animals +taken great care of, and treated with great kindness by his parents, and +now-and-then having a little thing to _call his own_. + + +RABBITS. + +184. In this case, too, the chief use, perhaps, is to give children those +habits of which I have been just speaking. Nevertheless, rabbits are +really profitable. Three does and a buck will give you a rabbit to eat for +_every three days in the year_, which is a much larger quantity of food +than any man will get by spending half his time in the pursuit of _wild_ +animals, to say nothing of the toil, the tearing of clothes, and the +danger of pursuing the latter. + +185. Every-body knows how to knock up a rabbit hutch. The does should not +be allowed to have more than _seven litters_ in a year. Six young ones to +a doe is all that ought to be kept; and then they will be fine. _Abundant +food_ is the main thing; and what is there that a rabbit will _not eat_? I +know of nothing _green_ that they will not eat; and if hard pushed, they +will eat bark, and even wood. The best thing to feed the young ones on +when taken from the mother, is the _carrot_, wild or garden. Parsnips, +Swedish turnips, roots of dandelion; for too much green or _watery_ stuff +is not good for _weaning_ rabbits. They should remain as long as possible +with the mother. They should have oats once a-day; and, after a time, they +may eat any-thing with safety. But if you give them too much _green_ at +first when they are weaned, they _rot_ as sheep do. A _variety_ of food is +a great thing; and, surely, the fields and gardens and hedges furnish this +variety! All sorts of grasses, strawberry-leaves, ivy, dandelions, the +_hog-weed_ or _wild parsnip_, in root, stem, and leaves. I have fed +working horses, six or eight in number, upon this plant for weeks +together. It is a tall bold plant that grows in prodigious quantities in +the hedges and coppices in some parts of England. It is the _perennial +parsnip_. It has flower and seed precisely like those of the parsnip; and +hogs, cows, and horses, are equally fond of it. Many a half-starved pig +have I seen within a few yards of cart-loads of this pig-meat! This arises +from want of the early habit of attention to such matters. I, who used to +get hog-weed for pigs and for rabbits when a little chap, have never +forgotten that the wild parsnip is good food for pigs and rabbits. + +186. When the doe has young ones, feed her most abundantly with all sorts +of greens and herbage and with carrots and the other things mentioned +before, besides giving her a few oats once a-day. That is the way to have +fine healthy young ones, which, if they come from the mother in good case, +will very seldom die. But do not think, that because she is a small +animal, a little feeding is sufficient! Rabbits eat a great deal more than +cows or sheep in proportion to their bulk. + +187. Of all animals rabbits are those that _boys_ are most fond of. They +are extremely pretty, nimble in their movements, engaging in their +attitudes, and always completely under immediate control. The produce has +not long to be waited for. In short, they keep an interest constantly +alive in a little chap's mind; and they really _cost nothing_; for as to +the _oats_, where is the boy that cannot, in harvest-time, pick up enough +along the _lanes_ to serve his rabbits for a year? The _care_ is all; and +the habit of taking care of things is, of itself, a most valuable +possession. + +188. To those gentlemen who keep rabbits for the use of their family (and +a very useful and convenient article they are,) I would observe, that when +they find their rabbits die, they may depend on it, that ninety-nine times +out of the hundred _starvation_ is the malady. And particularly short +feeding of the doe, while, and before she has young ones; that is to say, +short feeding of her _at all times_; for, if she be poor, the young ones +will be good for nothing. She will _live_ being poor, but she will not, +and cannot breed up fine young ones. + + +GOATS AND EWES. + +189. In some places where a cow cannot be kept, a goat may. A +correspondent points out to me, that a Dorset ewe or two might be kept on +a common near a cottage to give milk; and certainly this might be done +very well; but I should prefer a goat, which is hardier and much more +domestic. When I was in the army, in New Brunswick, where, be it observed, +the snow lies on the ground seven months in the year, there were many +goats that _belonged to the regiment_, and that went about with it on +shipboard and every-where else. Some of them had gone through nearly the +whole of the _American War_. We _never fed_ them. In summer they picked +about wherever they could find grass; and in winter they lived on +cabbage-leaves, turnip-peelings, potatoe-peelings, and other things flung +out of the soldiers' rooms and huts. One of these goats belonged to me, +and, on an average throughout the year, she gave me more than three +half-pints of milk a day. I used to have the kid killed when a few days +old; and, for some time, the goat would give nearly or quite, two quarts +of milk a day. She was seldom dry more than three weeks in the year. + +190. There is one great inconvenience belonging to goats; that is, they +bark all young trees that they come near; so that, if they get into a +_garden_, they destroy every thing. But there are seldom trees on commons, +except such as are too large to be injured by goats; and I can see no +reason against keeping a goat where a cow cannot be kept. Nothing is so +hardy; nothing is so little nice as to its food. Goats will pick peelings +out of the kennel and eat them. They will eat mouldy bread or biscuit; +fusty hay, and almost rotten straw; furze-bushes, heath-thistles; and, +indeed, what will they not eat, when they will make a hearty meal on +_paper_, brown or white, printed on or not printed on, and give milk all +the while! They will lie in any dog-hole. They do very well clogged, or +stumped out. And, then, they are very _healthy_ things into the bargain, +however closely they may be confined. When sea voyages are so stormy as to +kill geese, ducks, fowls, and almost pigs, the goats are well and lively; +and when a dog of no kind can keep the deck for a minute, a goat will skip +about upon it as bold as brass. + +191. Goats do not _ramble_ from home. They come in regularly in the +evening, and if called, they come like dogs. Now, though ewes, when taken +great care of, will be very gentle, and though their milk may be rather +more delicate than that of the goat, the ewes must be fed with nice and +clean food, and they will not do much in the milk-giving way upon a +common; and, as to _feeding them_, provision must be made pretty nearly as +for a cow. They will not endure _confinement_ like goats; and they are +subject to numerous ailments that goats know nothing of. Then the ewes are +done by the time they are about six years old; for they then lose their +teeth; whereas a goat will continue to breed and to give milk in abundance +for a great many years. The sheep is _frightened_ at everything, and +especially at the least sound of a dog. A goat, on the contrary, will +_face a dog_, and if he be not a big and courageous one, beat him off. + +192. I have often wondered how it happened that none of our labourers kept +goats; and I really should be glad to see the thing tried. They are +pretty creatures, domestic as a dog, will stand and watch, as a dog does, +for a crumb of bread, as you are eating; give you no trouble in the +milking; and I cannot help being of opinion, that it might be of great use +to introduce them amongst our labourers. + + +CANDLES AND RUSHES. + +193. We are not permitted to make candles ourselves, and if we were, they +ought seldom to be used in a labourer's family. I was bred and brought up +mostly by _rush-light_, and I do not find that I see less clearly than +other people. Candles certainly were not much used in English labourers' +dwellings in the days when they had meat dinners and Sunday coats. +Potatoes and taxed candles seem to have grown into fashion together; and, +perhaps, for this reason: that when the pot ceased to afford _grease_ for +the rushes, the potatoe-gorger was compelled to go to the chandler's shop +for light to swallow the potatoes by, else he might have devoured peeling +and all! + +194. My grandmother, who lived to be pretty nearly ninety, never, I +believe, burnt a candle in her house in her life. I know that I never saw +one there, and she, in a great measure, brought me up. She used to get the +meadow-rushes, such as they tie the hop-shoots to the poles with. She cut +them when they had attained their full substance, but were still _green_. +The rush at this age, consists of a body of _pith_ with a green _skin_ on +it. You cut off both ends of the rush, and leave the prime part, which, on +an average, may be about a foot and a half long. Then you take off all the +green skin, except for about a fifth part of the way round the pith. Thus +it is a piece of pith all but a little strip of skin in one part all the +way up, which, observe, is necessary to hold the pith together all the way +along. + +195. The rushes being thus prepared, the _grease_ is melted, and put in a +melted state into something that is as _long_ as the rushes are. The +rushes are put into the grease; soaked in it sufficiently; then taken out +and laid in a bit of bark taken from a young tree, so as not to be too +large. This bark is fixed up against the wall by a couple of straps put +round it; and there it hangs for the purpose of holding the rushes. + +196. The rushes are carried about _in the hand_; but to sit by, to work +by, or to go to bed by, they are fixed in _stands_ made for the purpose, +some of which are high to stand on the ground, and some low, to stand on a +table. These stands have an iron port something like a pair of _pliers_ to +hold the rush in, and the rush is shifted forward from time to time, as it +burns down to the thing that holds it. + +197. Now these rushes give a _better light_ than a common small +dip-candle; and they cost next to nothing, though the labourer may with +them have as much light as he pleases, and though, without them he must +sit the far greater part of the winter evenings _in the dark_, even if he +expend _fifteen shillings_ a year in candles. You may do any sort of work +by this light; and, if reading be your taste, you may read the foul +libels, the lies and abuse, which are circulated gratis about _me_ by the +"Society for promoting _Christian Knowledge_," as well by rush-light, as +you can by the light of taxed candles; and, at any rate, you would have +one evil less; for to be deceived and to pay a tax for the deception are a +little too much for even modern loyalty openly to demand. + + +MUSTARD. + +198. Why _buy_ this, when you can _grow_ it in your garden? The stuff you +buy is half _drugs_; and is injurious to health. A _yard square_ of +ground, sown with common Mustard, the crop of which you would grind for +use, in a little mustard-mill, as you wanted it, would save you _some +money_, and probably save your _life_. Your mustard would look _brown_ +instead of _yellow_; but the former colour is as good as the latter: and, +as to the _taste_, the _real_ mustard has certainly a much better than +that of the _drugs_ and flour which go under the name of mustard. Let any +one _try_ it, and I am sure he will never use the drugs again. The drugs, +if you take them freely, leave _a burning at the pit of your stomach_, +which the real mustard does not. + + +DRESS, HOUSEHOLD GOODS, AND FUEL. + +199. In Paragraph 152, I said, I think, enough to caution you, the English +labourer, against the taste, now too prevalent, for _fine_ and _flimsy_ +dress. It was, for hundreds of years, amongst the characteristics of the +English people, that their taste was, in all matters, for things solid, +sound, and good; for the _useful_, and _decent_, the _cleanly_ in dress, +and not for the _showy_. Let us hope that this may be the taste again; and +let us, my friends, fear no troubles, no perils, that may be necessary to +produce a return of that taste, accompanied with full bellies and warm +backs to the labouring classes. + +200. In _household goods_, the _warm_, the _strong_, the _durable_, ought +always to be kept in view. Oak tables, bedsteads and stools, chairs of oak +or of yew tree, and never a bit of miserable deal board. Things of this +sort ought to last several lifetimes. A labourer ought to inherit from his +great grandfather something besides his toil. As to bedding, and other +things of that sort, all ought to be good in their nature, of a durable +quality, and plain in their colour and form. The plates, dishes, mugs, and +things of that kind, should be of _pewter_, or even of wood. Any-thing is +better than crockery-ware. Bottles to carry a-field should be of wood. +Formerly, nobody but the gypsies and mumpers, that went a hop-picking in +the season, carried glass or earthen bottles. As to _glass_ of any sort, I +do not know what business it has in any man's house, unless he be rich +enough to live on his means. It pays a tax, in many cases, to the amount +of two-thirds of its cost. In short, when a house is once furnished with +sufficient goods, there ought to be no renewal of hardly any part of them +wanted for half an age, except in case of destruction by fire. Good +management in this way leaves the man's wages to provide an _abundance of +good food and good raiment_; and these are the things that make happy +families; these are the things that make a good, kind, sincere, and brave +people; not little pamphlets about "loyalty" and "content." A good man +will be contented fast enough, if he be fed and clad sufficiently; but if +a man be not well fed and clad, he is a base wretch to be contented. + +201. _Fuel_ should be, if possible, provided in summer, or at least some +of it. Turf and peat must be got in summer, and some _wood_ may. In the +woodland countries, the next winter ought to be thought of in _June_, when +people hardly know what to do with the fuelwood; and something should, if +possible, be saved in the bark-harvest to get a part of the fuel for the +next winter. Fire is a capital article. To have no fire, or a bad fire, to +sit by, is a most dismal thing. In such a state man and wife must be +something out of the common way to be in good humour with each other, to +say nothing of colds and other ailments which are the natural consequence +of such misery. If we suppose the great Creator to condescend to survey +his works in detail, what object can be so pleasing to him as that of the +labourer, after his return from the toils of a cold winter day, sitting +with his wife and children round a cheerful fire, while the wind whistles +in the chimney and the rain pelts the roof? But, of all God's creation, +what is so miserable to behold or to think of as a wretched, half-starved +family creeping to their nest of flocks or straw, there to lie shivering, +till sent forth by the fear of absolutely expiring from want? + + +HOPS. + +202. I treated of them before; but before I conclude this little Work, it +is necessary to speak of them again. I made a mistake as to the _tax_ on +the Hops. The positive tax is 2_d._ a pound, and I (in former editions) +stated it at 4_d._ However, in all such cases, there falls upon the +_consumer_ the _expenses_ attending the paying of the tax. That is to say, +the cost of interest of capital in the grower who pays the tax, and who +must pay for it, whether his hops be cheap or dear. Then the _trouble_ it +gives him, and the rules he is compelled to obey in the drying and +bagging, and which cause him great _expense_. So that the tax on hops of +our own English growth, may _now be reckoned_ to cost the _consumer_ about +3-1/4_d._ a pound. + + +YEAST. + +203. Yeast is a great thing in domestic management. I have once before +published a receipt for making _yeast-cakes_, I will do it again here. + +204. In Long Island they make _yeast-cakes_. A parcel of these cakes is +made _once a year_. That is often enough. And, when you bake, you take one +of these cakes (or more according to the bulk of the batch) and with them +raise your bread. The very best bread I ever ate in my life was lightened +with these cakes. + +205. The materials for a good batch of cakes are as follows:--3 ounces of +good fresh Hops; 3-1/2 pounds of Rye Flour; 7 pounds of Indian Corn Meal; +and one Gallon of Water.--Rub the hops, so as to separate them. Put them +into the water, which is to be boiling at the time. Let them boil half an +hour. Then strain the liquor through a fine sieve into an earthen vessel. +While the liquor is hot, put in the Rye-Flour; stirring the liquor well, +and quickly, as the Rye-Flour goes into it. The day after, when it is +working, put in the Indian Meal, stirring it well as it goes in. Before +the Indian Meal be all in, the mess will be very stiff; and it will, in +fact, be _dough_, very much of the consistence of the dough that bread is +made of.--Take this dough; knead it well, as you would for _pie-crust_. +Roll it out with a rolling-pin, as you roll out pie-crust, to the +thickness of about a third of an inch. When you have it (or a part of it +at a time) rolled out, cut it up into cakes with a tumbler glass turned +upside down, or with something else that will answer the same purpose. +Take a clean board (a _tin_ may be better) and put the cakes _to dry in +the sun_. Turn them every day; let them receive _no wet_; and they will +become as hard as ship biscuit. Put them into a bag, or box, and keep them +in a place _perfectly free from damp_. When you bake, take two cakes, of +the thickness above-mentioned, and about 3 inches in diameter; put them +into hot water, _over-night_, having cracked them first. Let the vessel +containing them stand near the fire-place all night. They will dissolve by +the morning, and then you use them in setting your sponge (as it is +called) precisely as you would use the yeast of beer. + +206. There are _two things_ which may be considered by the reader as +obstacles. FIRST, where are _we_ to get the _Indian Meal_? Indian Meal is +used merely because it is of a _less adhesive_ nature than that of wheat. +White pea-meal, or even barley-meal, would do just as well. But SECOND, to +_dry_ the cakes, to make them (and _quickly_ too, mind) _as hard as ship +biscuit_ (which is much harder than the timber of Scotch firs or Canada +firs;) and to do this _in the sun_ (for it must not be _fire_,) where are +we, in this climate, to _get the sun_? In 1816 we could not; for, that +year, melons rotted in the _glazed frames_ and never ripened. But, in +every nine summers out of ten, we have in June, in July, or in August, _a +fortnight of hot sun_, and that is enough. Nature has not given us a +_peach-climate_; but we _get peaches_. The cakes, when put in the sun, may +have a _glass sash_, or a _hand-light_, put over them. This would make +their birth _hotter_ than that of the hottest open-air situation in +America. In short to a farmer's wife, or any good housewife, all the +little difficulties to the attainment of such an object would appear as +nothing. The _will_ only is required; and, if there be not that, it is +useless to think of the attempt. + + +SOWING SWEDISH TURNIP SEED. + +207. It is necessary to be a little more full than I have been before as +to the _manner of sowing_ this seed; and I shall make my directions such +as to be applied on a small or a large scale.--Those that want to +transplant on a large scale will, of course, as to the other parts of the +business, refer to my larger work.--It is to get plants for +_transplanting_ that I mean to sow the Swedish Turnip Seed. The _time_ for +sowing must depend a little upon the nature of the situation and soil. In +the north of England, perhaps early in April may be best; but, in any of +these southern counties, any time after the _middle of April and before +the 10th of May_, is quite early enough. The ground which is to receive +the seed should be made very _fine_, and manured with wood-ashes, or with +good compost well mixed with the earth. Dung is not so good; for it breeds +the fly more; or, at least, I think so. The seed should be sown in drills +_an inch deep_, made as pointed out under the head of _Sowing_ in my book +on _Gardening_. When deposited in the drills _evenly_ but _not thickly_, +the ground should be raked across the drills, so as to fill them up; and +then the whole of the ground should be _trodden hard_, with shoes not +nailed, and not very thick in the sole. The ground should be laid out in +four-feet _beds_ for the reasons mentioned in the "_Gardener_." When the +seeds come up, thin the plants to two inches apart as soon as you think +them clear from the fly; for, if left thicker, they injure each other even +in this infant state. Hoe frequently between the rows even before thinning +the plants; and when they are thinned, hoe well and frequently between +them; for this has a tendency to make them strong; and the hoeing _before +thinning_ helps to keep off the fly. A rod of ground, the rows being eight +inches apart, and plants two inches apart in the row, will contain about +_two thousand two hundred_ plants. An acre in rows four feet apart and the +plants a foot apart in the row, will take about ten thousand four hundred +and sixty plants. So that to transplant an acre, you must sow about _five +rods of ground_. The plants should be kept very clean; and, by the last +week in June, or first in July, you put them out. I have put them out (in +England) at all times between 7th of June and middle of August. The first +is certainly earlier than I like; and the very finest I ever grew in +England, and the finest I ever saw for a large piece, were transplanted on +the 14th of July. But one year with another, the last week in June is the +best time. For size of plants, manner of transplanting, intercultivation, +preparing the land, and the rest, see "_Year's Residence in America_." + + + + +No. VIII. + +_On the converting of English Grass, and Grain Plants cut green, into +Straw, for the purpose of making Plat for Hats and Bonnets._ + + +KENSINGTON, MAY 30, 1823. + +208. The foregoing Numbers have treated, chiefly, of the management of the +affairs of a labourer's family, and more particularly of the mode of +disposing of the money earned by the labour of the family. The present +Number will point out what I hope may become _an advantageous kind of +labour_. All along I have proceeded upon the supposition, that the wife +and children of the labourer be, as constantly as possible, employed _in +work of some sort or other_. The cutting, the bleaching, the sorting, and +the platting of straw, seem to be, of all employments, the best suited to +the wives and children of country labourers; and the discovery which I +have made, as to the means of obtaining the necessary materials, will +enable them to enter at once upon that employment. + +209. Before I proceed to give my directions relative to the performance of +this sort of labour, I shall give a sort of history of the discovery to +which I have just alluded. + +210. The practice of making hats, bonnets, and other things, of _straw_, +is perhaps of very ancient date; but not to waste time in fruitless +inquiries, it is very well known that, for many years past, straw +coverings for the head have been greatly in use in England, in America, +and, indeed, in almost all the countries that we know much of. In this +country the manufacture was, only a few years ago, _very flourishing_; but +it has now greatly declined, and has left in poverty and misery those whom +it once well fed and clothed. + +211. The cause of this change has been, the importation of the straw hats +and bonnets from _Italy_, greatly superior, in durability and beauty, to +those made in England. The plat made in England was made of the straw of +_ripened grain_. It was, in general, _split_; but the main circumstance +was, that it was made of the straw of _ripened grain_; while the Italian +plat was made of the straw of grain, or grass, _cut green_. Now, the straw +of ripened grain or grass is brittle; or, rather, rotten. It _dies_ while +standing, and, in point of toughness, the difference between it and straw +from plants cut green is much about the same as the difference between a +stick that has _died on the tree_, and one that has been _cut from the +tree_. But besides the difference in point of toughness, strength, and +durability, there was the difference in beauty. The colour of the Italian +plat was better; the plat was brighter; and the Indian straws, being +_small whole_ straws, instead of small straws made by the splitting of +large ones, here was a _roundness_ in them, that gave _light and shade_ to +the plat, which could not be given by our flat bits of straw. + +212. It seems odd, that nobody should have set to work to find out how the +Italians _came_ by this fine straw. The importation of these Italian +articles was chiefly from the port of LEGHORN; and therefore the bonnets +imported were called _Leghorn Bonnets_. The straw manufacturers in this +country seem to have made no effort to resist this invasion from Leghorn. +And, which is very curious, the Leghorn _straw_ has now began to be +imported, and to be _platted in this country_. So that we had _hands_ to +plat as well as the Italians. All that we wanted was the _same kind of +straw_ that the Italians had: and it is truly wonderful that these +importations from Leghorn should have gone on increasing year after year, +and our domestic manufacture dwindling away at a like pace, without there +having been any inquiry relative to the way in which the Italians _got +their straw_! Strange, that we should have imported even _straw_ from +Italy, without inquiring whether similar straw could not be got in +England! There really seems to have been an opinion, that England could no +more produce this straw than it could produce the sugar-cane. + +213. Things were in this state, when in 1821, a Miss WOODHOUSE, a farmer's +daughter in CONNECTICUT, sent a straw-bonnet of her own making to the +_Society of Arts_ in London. This bonnet, superior in fineness and beauty +to anything of the kind that had come from Leghorn, the maker stated to +consist of a sort of grass of which she sent along with the bonnet some of +the _seeds_. The question was, then, would these precious seeds _grow and +produce plants in perfection in England_? A large quantity of the seed had +not been sent: and it was therefore, by a member of the Society, thought +desirable to get, with as little delay as possible, a considerable +quantity of the seed. + +214. It was in this stage of the affair that my attention was called to +it. The member just alluded to applied to me to get the seed from America. +I was of opinion that there could be no sort of grass in Connecticut that +would not, and that _did not_, grow and flourish in England. My son JAMES, +who was then at New-York, had instructions from me, in June 1821, to go to +Miss WOODHOUSE, and to send me home an account of the matter. In +September, the same year, I heard from him, who sent me an account of the +cutting and bleaching, and also a specimen of the plat and grass of +Connecticut. Miss WOODHOUSE had told the Society of Arts, that the grass +used was the _Poa Pratensis_. This is the _smooth-stalked meadow-grass_. +So that it was quite useless to send for _seed_. It was clear, that we had +_grass enough_ in England, if we could but make it into straw as handsome +as that of Italy. + +215. Upon my publishing an account of what had taken place with regard to +the American Bonnet, _an importer of Italian straw_ applied to me to know +whether I would _undertake to import American straw_. He was in the habit +of importing Italian straw, and of having it platted in this country; but +having seen the bonnet of Miss WOODHOUSE, he was anxious to get the +American straw. This gentleman showed me some Italian straw which he had +imported, and as the seed heads were not on, I could not see what plant it +was. The gentleman who showed the straw to me, told me (and, doubtless, he +believed) that the plant was one that _would not grow in England_. I +however, who looked at the straw with the eyes of a farmer, perceived that +it consisted of dry _oat_, _wheat_, and _rye_ plants, and of _Bennet_ and +other _common grass_ plants. + +216. This quite settled the point of _growth in England_. It was now +certain that we had the plants in abundance; and the only question that +remained to be determined was, Had we SUN to give to those plants the +beautiful colour which the American and Italian straw had? If that colour +were to be obtained by _art_, by any chemical applications, we could +obtain it as easily as the Americans or the Italians; but, if it were the +gift of the SUN solely, here might be a difficulty impossible for us to +overcome. My experiments have proved that the fear of such difficulty was +wholly groundless. + +217. It was late in September 1821 that I obtained this knowledge, as to +the kind of plants that produced the foreign straw. I could, at that time +of the year, do nothing in the way of removing my doubts as to the _powers +of our Sun_ in the bleaching of grass; but I resolved to do this when the +proper season for bleaching should return. Accordingly, when the next +month of _June_ came, I went into the country for the purpose. I made my +experiments, and, in short, I proved to demonstration, that we had not +only the _plants_, but the _sun_ also, necessary for the making of straw, +yielding in no respect to that of America or of Italy. I think that, upon +the whole, we have greatly the advantage of those countries; for grass is +more abundant in this country than in any other. It flourishes here more +than in any other country. It is here in a greater variety of sorts; and +for _fineness_ in point of size, there is no part of the world which can +equal what might be obtained from some of our _downs_, merely by keeping +the land ungrazed till the month of July. + +218. When I had obtained the straw, I got some of it made into plat. One +piece of this plat was equal in point of colour, and superior in point of +fineness, even to the plat of the bonnet, of Miss WOODHOUSE. It seemed, +therefore, now to be necessary to do nothing more than to _make all this +well known to the country_. As the SOCIETY OF ARTS had interested itself +in the matter, and as I heard that, through its laudable zeal, several +_sowings of the foreign grass-seed_ had been made in England, I +communicated an account of my experiments to that Society. The first +communication was made by me on the 19th of February last, when I sent to +the Society, specimens of my straw and also of the plat. Some time after +this I attended a committee of the Society on the subject, and gave them a +verbal account of the way in which I had gone to work. + +219. The committee had, before this, given some of my straw to certain +_manufacturers_ of plat, in order to see what it would produce. These +manufacturers, with the exception of one, brought _such_ specimens of plat +as to induce, at first sight, any one to believe that it was nonsense to +think of bringing the thing to any degree of perfection! But, was it +_possible_ to believe this? Was it possible to believe that it could +_answer_ to import straw from Italy, to pay a twenty per cent. duty on +that straw, and to have it platted here; and that it would _not answer_ +to turn into plat straw of just the same sort grown in England? It was +impossible to believe _this_; but possible enough to believe, that persons +now making profit by Italian straw, or plat, or bonnets, would rather that +English straw should come to shut out the Italian and to put an end to the +Leghorn trade. + +220. In order to show the character of the reports of those manufacturers, +I sent some parcels of straw into Hertfordshire, and got back, in the +course of five days, _fifteen specimens of plat_. These I sent to the +Society of Arts on the 3d of April; and I here insert a copy of the letter +which accompanied them. + +TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS. + +KENSINGTON, April 3, 1823. + +SIR,--With this letter I send you sixteen specimens of plat, and also +eight parcels of straw, in order to show the sorts that the plat is made +out of. The numbers of the plat correspond with those of the straw; but +each parcel of straw has two numbers attached to it, except in the case of +the first number, which is the _wheat straw_. Of each kind of straw a +parcel of the _stoutest_ and a parcel of the _smallest_ were sent to be +platted; so that each parcel of the straw now sent, except that of the +wheat, refers to _two of the pieces of plat_. For instance, 2 and 3 of the +plat is of the sort of straw marked 2 and 3; 4 and 12 of the plat is of +the sort of straw marked 4 and 12; and so on. These parcels of straw are +sent in order that you may know the _kind_ of straw, or rather, of grass, +from which the several pieces of plat have been made. This is very +_material_; because it is by those parcels of straw that the _kinds of +grass_ are to be known. + +The piece of plat No. 16 is _American_; all the rest are from my straw. +You will see, that 15 is the _finest plat of all_. No. 7 is from the +_stout_ straws of the same _kind_ as No. 15. By looking at the parcel of +straw Nos. 7 and 15, you will see what sort of grass this is. The next, in +point of beauty and fineness combined, are the pieces Nos. 13 and 8; and +by looking at the parcel of straw, Nos. 13 and 8, you will see what sort +of grass that is. Next comes 10 and 5, which are very beautiful too; and +the sort of grass, you will see, is the _common Bennet_. The wheat, you +see, is too coarse; and the rest of the sorts are either _too hard_ or +_too brittle_. I beg you to look at Nos. 10 and 5. Those appear to me to +be the thing to supplant the Leghorn. The colour is good, the straws _work +well_, they afford a great _variety of sizes_, and they come from the +common _Bennet grass_, which grows all over the kingdom, which is +cultivated in all our fields, which is in bloom in the fair month of June, +which may be grown as fine or as coarse as we please, and ten acres of +which would, I dare say, make ten thousand bonnets. However, 7 and 15, and +8 and 13, are very good; and they are to be got in every part of the +kingdom. + +As to _platters_, it is to be too childish to believe that they are not to +be got, when I could send off these straws, and get back the plat, in the +course of five days. Far _better work_ than this would have been obtained +if I could have gone on the errand myself. What then will people not do, +who regularly undertake the business for their livelihood? + +I will, as soon as possible, send you an account of the manner in which I +went to work with the grass. The card or plat, which I sent you some time +ago, you will be so good as to give me back again some time; because I +have now not a bit of the American plat left. + +I am, Sir, your most humble and most obedient servant, + +WM. COBBETT. + +221. I should observe, that these written communications, of mine to the +Society, _belong_, in fact, to it, and will be published in its +PROCEEDINGS, a volume of which comes out every year; but, in this case, +there would have been _a year lost_ to those who may act in consequence of +these communications being made public. The grass is to be got, in great +quantities and of the best sorts, only in _June_ and _July_; and the +Society's volume does not come out till _December_. The Society has, +therefore, given its consent to the making of the communications public +through the means of this little work of mine. + +222. Having shown what sort of plat could be produced from English +grass-straw, I next communicated to the Society an account of the method +which I pursued in the cutting and bleaching of the grass. The letter in +which I did this I shall here insert a copy of, before I proceed further. +In the original the paragraphs were _numbered_ from _one_ to _seventeen_: +they are here marked by _letters_, in order to avoid confusion, the +paragraphs of the work itself being marked by _numbers_. + +TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS. + +KENSINGTON, April 14, 1823. + +A.--SIR,--Agreeably to your request, I now communicate to you a statement +of those particulars which you wished to possess, relative to the +specimens of straw and of plat which I have at different times sent to you +for the inspection of the Society. + +B.--That my statement may not come too abruptly upon those members of the +Society who have not had an opportunity of witnessing the progress of this +interesting inquiry, I will take a short review of the circumstances which +led to the making of my experiments. + +C.--In the month of June, 1821, a gentleman, a member of the Society, +informed me, by letter, that a Miss WOODHOUSE, a farmer's daughter, of +Weathersfield, in Connecticut, had transmitted to the Society a +straw-bonnet of very fine materials and manufacture; that this bonnet +(according to her account) was made from the straw of a sort of grass +called _poa pratensis_; that it seemed to be unknown whether the same +grass would grow in England; that it was desirable to ascertain whether +this grass would grow in England; that, at all events, it was desirable +to get from America some of the seed of this grass; and that, for this +purpose, my informant, knowing that I had a son in America; addressed +himself to me, it being his opinion that, if materials similar to those +used by Miss WOODHOUSE could by any means be _grown in England_, the +benefit to the nation must be considerable. + +D.--In consequence of this application, I wrote to my son James, (then at +New York,) directing him to do what he was able in order to cause success +to the undertaking. On the receipt of my letter, in July, he went from New +York to Weathersfield, (about a hundred and twenty miles;) saw Miss +WOODHOUSE; made the necessary inquiries; obtained a specimen of the grass, +and also of the plat, which other persons at Weathersfield, as well as +Miss WOODHOUSE, were in the habit of making; and having acquired the +necessary information as to cutting the grass and bleaching the straw, he +transmitted to me an account of the matter; which account, together with +his specimens of grass and plat, I received in the month of September. + +E.--I was now, when I came to see the specimen of grass, convinced that +Miss WOODHOUSE'S materials could be _grown in England_; a conviction +which, if it had not been complete at once, would have been made complete +immediately afterwards by the sight of a bunch of bonnet-straw _imported +from Leghorn_, which straw was shown to me by the importer, and which I +found to be that of two or three sorts of our common grass, and of oats, +wheat, and rye. + +F.--That the grass, or plants, could be _grown in England_ was, therefore, +now certain, and indeed that they were, in point of commonness, next to +the earth itself. But before the grass could, with propriety, be called +materials for bonnet-making, there was the _bleaching_ to be performed; +and it was by no means certain that this could be accomplished by means of +an _English sun_, the difference between which and that of Italy or +Connecticut was well known to be very great. + +G.--My experiments have, I presume, completely removed this doubt. I think +that the straw produced by me to the Society, and also some of the pieces +of plat, are of a colour which no straw or plat can surpass. All that +remains, therefore, is for me to give an account of the manner in which I +cut and bleached the grass which I have submitted to the Society in the +state of straw. + +H.--First, as to the _season_ of the year, all the straw, except that of +one sort of couch-grass, and the long coppice-grass, which two were got in +Sussex, were got from grass cut in Hertfordshire on the 21st of June. A +grass head-land, in a wheat-field, had been mowed during the forepart of +the day, and in the afternoon I went and took a handful here and a handful +there out of the swaths. When I had collected as much as I could well +carry, I took it to my friend's house, and proceeded to prepare it for +bleaching, according to the information sent me from America by my son; +that is to say, I put my grass into a shallow tub, put boiling water upon +it until it was covered by the water, let it remain in that state for ten +minutes, then took it out, and laid it very thinly on a closely-mowed lawn +in a garden. But I should observe, that, before I put the grass into the +tub, I tied it up in small bundles, or sheaves, each bundle being about +six inches through at the butt-end. This was necessary, in order to be +able to take the grass, at the end of ten minutes, out of the water, +without throwing it into a confused mixture as to tops and tails. Being +tied up in little bundles, I could easily, with a prong, take it out of +the hot water. The bundles were put into a large wicker basket, carried to +the lawn in the garden, and there taken out, one by one, and laid in +swaths as before-mentioned. + +I.--It was laid _very thinly_; almost might I say, that no stalk of grass +covered another. The swaths were _turned_ once a day. The bleaching was +completed at the end of _seven days_ from time of scalding and laying +out. June is a fine month. The grass was, as it happened, cut on the +_longest day in the year_; and the weather was remarkably fine and clear. +But the grass which I afterwards cut in Sussex, was cut in the first week +in August; and as to the weather my journal speaks thus:-- + + August, 1822. + + 2d.--Thunder and rain.--_Began cutting grass._ + 3d.--Beautiful day. + 4th.--Fine day. + 5th.--Cloudy day--_Began scalding grass, and laying it out._ + 6th.--Cloudy greater part of the day. + 7th.--Same weather. + 8th.--Cloudy and rather misty.--_Finished cutting grass._ + 9th.--Dry but cloudy. + 10th.--Very close and hot.--_Packed up part of the grass._ + 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th.--Same weather. + 15th.--Hot and clear.--_Finished packing the grass._ + +K.--The grass cut in Sussex was as _well bleached_ as that cut in +Hertfordshire; so that it is evident that we never can have a summer that +will not afford sun sufficient for this business. + +L.--The part of the straw used for platting; that part of the stalk which +is _above the upper joint_; that part which is between the _upper joint_ +and the seed-branches. This part is taken out, and the rest of the straw +thrown away. But the _whole plant must be cut and bleached_; because, if +you were to take off, _when green_, the part above described, that part +would wither up next to nothing. This part must die in company with the +whole plants, and be separated from the other parts after the bleaching +has been performed. + +M.--The time of cutting must vary with the seasons, the situation, and the +sort of grass. The grass which I got in Hertfordshire, than which nothing +can, I think, be more beautiful, was, when cut, generally in _bloom_; just +in bloom. The _wheat_ was in full bloom; so that a good time for getting +grass may be considered to be that when the _wheat is in bloom_. When I +cut the grass in Sussex, the _wheat was ripe_, for reaping had begun; but +that grass is of a very backward sort, and, besides, grew in the _shade_ +amongst coppice-wood and under trees, which stood pretty thick. + +N.--As to the sorts of grass, I have to observe generally, that in +proportion as the colour of the grass is _deep_; that is to say, getting +further from the _yellow_, and nearer to the _blue_, it is of a deep and +_dead yellow_ when it becomes straw. Those kinds of grass are best which +are, in point of colour, nearest to that of wheat, which is a fresh pale +green. Another thing is, the quality of the straw as to _pliancy_ and +_toughness_. Experience must be our guide here. I had not time to make a +large collection of sorts; but those which I have sent to you contain +three sorts which are proved to be good. In my letter of the 3d instant I +sent you _sixteen_ pieces of plat and _eight_ bunches of straw, having the +seed heads on, in order to show the sorts of grass. The sixteenth piece of +plat was American. The first piece was from _wheat_ cut and bleached by +me; the rest from _grass_ cut and bleached by me. I will here, for fear of +mistake, give a list of the names of the several sorts of grass, the straw +of which was sent with my letter of the 3d instant, referring to the +numbers, as placed on the plat and on the bunches of straw. + + PIECES BUNCHES SORTS + OF PLAT. OF STRAW. OF GRASS. + + No 1.-- No. 1. --Wheat. + + 2.} { Melica Caerulea; or, Purple Melica + 3.} 2 and 3 { Grass. + + 4.} { Agrostis Stolonifera; or, Fiorin Grass; + 12.} 4 and 12 { that is to say, one sort of Couch-grass. + + 5.} + 10.} 5 and 10 Lolium Perenne; or Ray-grass. + + 6.} { Avena Flavescens; or, Yellow Oat + 11.} 6 and 11 { grass. + + 7.} { Cynosurus Cristatus; or Crested + 15.} 7 and 15 { Dog's-tail grass. + + 8.} { Anthoxanthum Odoratum; or, Sweet + 13.} 8 and 13 { scented Vernal grass. + + 9.} { Agrostis Canina; or, Brown Bent + 14.} 9 and 14 { grass. + +O.--These names are those given at the Botanical Garden _at Kew_. But the +same English names are not in the country given to these sorts of grass. +The _Fiorin grass_, the _Yellow Oat-grass_, and the _Brown-Bent_, are all +called _couch-grass_; except that the latter is, in Sussex, called _Red +Robin_. It is the native grass of the _plains_ of Long Island; and they +call it _Red Top_. The _Ray-grass_ is the common field grass, which is, +all over the kingdom, sown with clover. The farmers, in a great part of +the kingdom, call it _Bent_, or _Bennett_, grass; and sometimes it is +galled _Darnel-grass_. The _Crested Dog's-tail_ goes, in Sussex, by the +name of _Hendonbent_; for what reason I know not. The _sweet-scented +Vernal-grass_ I have never, amongst the farmers, heard any name for. Miss +WOODHOUSE'S grass appears, from the _plants_ that I saw in the Adelphi, to +be one of the sorts of Couch-grass. Indeed, I am sure that it is a +Couch-grass, if the plants I there saw came from her seed. My son, who +went into Connecticut, who saw the grass growing, and who sent me home a +specimen of it, is now in England: he was with me when I cut the grass in +Sussex; and he says that Miss WOODHOUSE'S was a Couch-grass. However, it +is impossible to look at the specimens of straw and of plat which I have +sent you, without being convinced that there is no want of the raw +material in England. I was, after my first hearing of the subject, very +soon convinced that the grass grew in England; but I had great doubts as +to the capacity of our _sun_. Those doubts my own experiments have +completely removed; but then I was not aware of the great effect of the +_scalding_, of which, by the way, Miss WOODHOUSE had said nothing, and the +knowledge of which we owe entirely to my son James' journey into +Connecticut. + +P.--Having thus given you an account of the time and manner of cutting the +grass, of the mode of cutting and bleaching; having given you the best +account I am able, as to the sorts of grass to be employed in this +business; and having, in my former communications, given you specimens of +the plat wrought from the several sorts of straw, I might here close my +letter; but as it may be useful to speak of _the expense_ of cutting and +bleaching, I shall trouble you with a few words relating to it. If there +were a field of _Ray-grass_, or of _Crested Dog's-tail_, or any other good +sort, and nothing else growing with it, the expense of _cutting_ would be +very little indeed, seeing that the _scythe_ or _reap-hook_ would do the +business at a great rate. Doubtless there _will be_ such fields; but even +if the grass have to be cut by the handful, my opinion is, that the +expense of cutting and bleaching would not exceed _fourpence_ for straw +enough to make a large bonnet. I should be willing to contract to supply +straw, at this rate, for half a million of bonnets. The _scalding_ must +constitute a considerable part of the expense; because there must be +_fresh water_ for every parcel of grass that you put in the tub. When +water has scalded one parcel of cold grass, it will not scald another +parcel. Besides, the scalding draws out the _sweet matter_ of the grass, +and makes the water the colour of that horrible stuff called London +porter. It would be very good, by-the-by, to give to pigs. Many people +give _hay-tea_ to pigs and calves; and this is _grass-tea_. To scald a +large quantity, therefore would require means not usually at hand, and the +scalding is an essential part of the business. Perhaps, in a large and +convenient farm-house, with a good brewing copper, good fuel and water +handy, four or five women might scald a wagon load in a day; and a wagon +would, I think, carry straw enough (in the rough) to furnish the means of +making a thousand bonnets. However, the scalding _might_ take place _in +the field itself_, by means of a portable boiler, especially if water were +at hand; and perhaps it would be better to carry the water to the field +than to carry the grass to the farm-house, for there must be _ground to +lay it out upon the moment it has been scalded_, and no ground can be so +proper as the newly-mowed ground where the grass has stood. The _space_, +too, must be _large_, for any considerable quantity of grass. As to all +these things, however, the best and cheapest methods will soon be +discovered when people set about the work with a view to profit. + +Q.--The Society will want nothing from me, nor from any-body else, to +convince it of the importance of this matter; but I cannot, in concluding +these communications to you, Sir, refrain from making an observation or +two on the consequences likely to arise out of these inquiries. The +manufacture is alone of considerable magnitude. Not less than about _five +millions_ of persons in this kingdom have a dress which consists partly of +manufactured straw; and a large part, and all the most expensive part, of +the articles thus used, now come from abroad. In cases where you can get +from abroad any article at _less expense than you can get it at home_, the +wisdom of fabricating that article at home may be doubted. But, in this +case, you get the raw material by labour performed at home, and the cost +of that labour is not nearly so great as would be the cost of the mere +carriage of the straw from a foreign country to this. If our own people +had all plenty of employment, and that too more profitable to them and to +the country than the turning of a part of our own grass into articles of +dress, then it would be advisable still to import Leghorn bonnets; but the +facts being the reverse, it is clear, that whatever money, or money's +worth things, be sent out of the country, in exchange for Leghorn bonnets, +is, while we have the raw material here for next to nothing, just so much +thrown away. The Italians, it may be said, take some of our manufactures +in exchange; and let us suppose, for the purpose of illustration, that +they take cloth from Yorkshire. Stop the exchange between Leghorn and +Yorkshire, and, does Yorkshire _lose part of its custom_? No: for though +those who make the bonnets out of English grass, prevent the Leghorners +from buying Yorkshire cloth, they, with the money which they now get, +instead of its being got by the Leghorners, buy the Yorkshire cloth +themselves; and they wear this cloth too, instead of its being worn by the +people of Italy; ay, Sir, and many, now in rags, will be well clad, if the +laudable object of the Society be effected. Besides this, however, why +should we not _export_ the articles of this manufacture? To America we +certainly should; and I should not be at all surprised if we were to +export them to Leghorn itself. + +R.--Notwithstanding all this, however, if the manufacture were of a +description to require, in order to give it success, the _collecting of +the manufacturers together in great numbers_, I should, however great the +wealth that it might promise, never have done any thing to promote its +establishment. The contrary is happily the case: here all is not only +performed _by hand_, but by hand _singly_, without any combination of +hands. Here there is no power of machinery or of chemistry wanted. All is +performed out in the open fields, or sitting in the cottage. There wants +no coal mines and no rivers to assist; no water-powers nor powers of fire. +No part of the kingdom is unfit for the business. Every-where there are +grass, water, sun, and women and children's fingers; and these are all +that are wanted. But, the great thing of all is this; that, to obtain the +materials for the making of this article of dress, at once so gay, so +useful, and in some cases so expensive, there requires not _a penny of +capital_. Many of the labourers now make their own straw hats to wear in +summer. Poor rotten things, made out of straw of ripened grain. With what +satisfaction will they learn that straw, twenty times as durable, to say +nothing of the beauty, is to be got from every hedge? In short when the +people are well and clearly informed of the facts, which I have through +you, Sir, had the honour to lay before the Society, it is next to +impossible that the manufacture should not become general throughout the +country. In every labourer's house a pot of water can be boiled. What +labourer's wife cannot, in the summer months, find time to cut and bleach +grass enough to give her and her children work for a part of the winter? +There is no necessity for all to be _platters_. Some may cut and bleach +only. Others may prepare the straw, as mentioned in paragraph L. of this +letter. And doubtless, as the farmers in Hertfordshire now sell their +straw to the platters, grass collectors and bleachers and preparers would +do the same. So that there is scarcely any country labourer's family that +might not derive some advantage from this discovery; and, while I am +convinced that this consideration has been by no means over-looked by the +Society, it has been, I assure you, the great consideration of all with, + + Sir, your most obedient and + most humble Servant, + WM. COBBETT. + +223. In the last edition, this closing part of the work, relative to the +straw plat, was not presented to the public as a thing which admitted of +no alteration; but, on the contrary, it was presented to the public with +the following concluding remark: "In conclusion I have to observe, that I +by no means send forth this essay as containing opinions and instructions +that are to undergo no alteration. I am, indeed, endeavouring to teach +others; but I am myself only a learner. Experience will, doubtless, make +me much more perfect in a knowledge of the several parts of the subject; +and the fruit of this experience I shall be careful to communicate to the +public." I now proceed to make good this promise. Experience has proved +that very beautiful and very fine plat can be made of the straw of divers +kinds of _grass_. But the most ample experience has also proved to us that +it is to the straw of _wheat_, that we are to look for a manufacture to +supplant the Leghorn. This was mentioned as a strong suspicion in my +former edition of this work. And I urged my readers to sow wheat for the +purpose. The fact is now proved beyond all contradiction, that the straw +of wheat or rye, but particularly of wheat, is the straw for this purpose. +_Finer_ plat may be made from the straw of grass than can possibly be made +from the straw of wheat or rye: but the grass plat is, all of it, more or +less _brittle_; and none of it has the beautiful and uniform colour of the +straw of wheat. Since the last edition of this work, I have received +packets of the straw _from Tuscany_, all of _wheat_; and, indeed, I am +_convinced_ that no other straw is any-thing like so well calculated for +the purpose. Wheat straw bleaches better than any other. It has that fine, +pale, golden colour which no other straw has; it is much more simple, more +pliant than any other straw; and, in short, this is the material. I did +not urge in vain. A good quantity of wheat was sowed for this purpose. A +great deal of it has been well harvested; and I have the pleasure to know +that several hundreds of persons are now employed in the platting of +straw. One more year; one more crop of wheat; and another Leghorn bonnet +will never be imported in England. Some great errors have been committed +in the sowing of the wheat, and in the cutting of it. I shall now, +therefore, availing myself of the experience which I have gained, offer to +the public some observations on the _sort of wheat_ to be sowed for this +purpose; on the _season_ for sowing; on the _land_ to be used for the +purpose; on the _quantity of seed_, and the _manner_ of sowing: on the +_season_ for cutting; on the manner of _cutting_, _bleaching_, and +_housing_; on the _platting_; on the _knitting_, and on the _pressing_. + +224. The SORT OF WHEAT. The Leghorn plat is all made of the straw of the +spring wheat. This spring wheat is so called by us, because it is sowed in +the spring, at the same time that barley is sowed. The botanical name of +it is TRITICUM AESTIVUM. It is a small-grained bearded wheat. It has very +fine straw; but experience has convinced me, that the little brown-grained +winter wheat is just as good for the purpose. In short, any wheat will do. +I have now in my possession specimens of plat made of both winter and +spring wheat, and I see no difference at all. I am decidedly of opinion +that the winter wheat is as good as the spring wheat for the purpose. I +have plat, and I have straw both now before me, and the above is the +result of my experience. + +225. THE LAND PROPER FOR THE GROWING OF WHEAT. The object is to have the +straw as small as we can get it. The land must not, therefore, be too +rich; yet it ought not to be _very poor_. If it be, you get the straw of +no length. I saw an acre this year, as beautiful as possible, sowed upon a +light loam, which bore last year a fine crop of potatoes. The land ought +to be perfectly clean, at any rate; so that, when the crop is taken off, +the wheat straw may not be mixed with weeds and grass. + +226. SEASON FOR SOWING. This will be more conveniently stated in paragraph +228. + +227. QUANTITY OF SEED AND MANNER OF SOWING. When first this subject was +started in 1821, I said, in the Register, that I would engage to grow as +fine straw in England as the Italians could grow. I recommended then, as a +first guess, _fifteen_ bushels of wheat to the acre. Since that, +reflection told me that that was not quite enough. I therefore recommended +_twenty_ bushels to the acre. Upon the beautiful acre which I have +mentioned above, eighteen bushels, I am told, were sowed; fine and +beautiful as it was, I think it would have been better if it had had +twenty bushels; twenty bushels, therefore, is what I recommend. You must +sow broad cast, of course, and you must take great pains to cover the seed +well. It must be a good even-handed seedsman, and there must be very nice +covering. + +228. SEASON FOR CUTTING. Now, mind, it is fit to cut in just about one +week _after the bloom has dropped_. If you examine the ear at that time, +you will find the grain just beginning to be formed, and that is precisely +the time to cut the wheat: The straw has then got its full substance in +it. But I must now point out a very material thing. It is by no means +desirable to have _all_ your wheat _fit to cut at the same time_. It is a +great misfortune, indeed, so to have it. If fit to cut altogether, it +ought to be cut all at the same time; for supposing you to have an acre, +it will require a fortnight or three weeks to cut it and bleach it, unless +you have a very great number of hands, and very great vessels to prepare +water in. Therefore, if I were to have an acre of wheat for this, purpose, +and were to sow all spring wheat, I would sow a twelfth part of the acre +every week from the first week in March to the last week in May. If I +relied partly upon winter wheat, I would sow some every month, from the +latter end of September to March. If I employed the two sorts of wheat, or +indeed if I employed only the spring wheat, the TRITICUM AESTIVUM, I should +have some wheat fit to cut in June, and some not fit to cut till +September. I should be sure to have a fair chance as to the weather. And, +in short, it would be next to impossible for me to fail of securing a +considerable part of my crop. I beg the reader's particular attention to +the contents of this paragraph. + +229. MANNER OF CUTTING THE WHEAT. It is cut by a little reap-hook, close +to the ground as possible. It is then tied in little sheaves, with two +pieces of string, one near the butt, and the other about half-way up. This +little bundle or sheaf ought to be six inches through at the butt, and no +more. It ought not to be tied too tightly, lest the scalding should not be +perfect. + +230. MANNER OF BLEACHING. The little sheaves mentioned in the last +paragraph are carried to a brewing mash, vat, or other tub. You must not +put them into the tub in too large a quantity, lest the water get chilled +before it get to the bottom. Pour on scalding water till you cover the +whole of the little sheaves, and let the water be a foot above the top +sheaves. When the sheaves have remained thus a full quarter of an hour, +take them out with a prong, lay them in a clothes-basket, or upon a +hurdle, and carry them to the ground where the bleaching is to be +finished. This should be, if possible, a piece of grass land, where the +grass is very short. Take the sheaves, and lay some of them along in a +row; untie them, and lay the straw along in that row as thin as it can +possibly be laid. If it were possible, no one straw ought to have another +lying upon it, or across it. If the sun be clear, it will require to lie +twenty-four hours thus, then to be turned, and lie twenty-four hours on +the other side. If the sun be not very clear, it must lie longer. But the +numerous sowings which I have mentioned will afford you so many chances, +so many opportunities of having fine weather, that the risk about weather +would necessarily be very small. If wet weather should come, and if your +straw remain out in it any length of time, it will be spoiled; but, +according to the mode of sowing above pointed out, you really could stand +very little chance of losing straw by bad weather. If you had some straw +out bleaching, and the weather were to appear suddenly to be about to +change, the quantity that you would have out would not be large enough to +prevent you from putting it under cover, and keeping it there till the +weather changed. + +231. HOUSING THE STRAW. When your straw is nicely bleached, gather it up, +and with the same string that you used to tie it when green, tie it up +again into little sheaves. Put it by in some room where there is no +_damp_, and where mice and rats are not suffered to inhabit. Here it is +always ready for use, and it will keep, I dare say, four or five years +very well. + +232. THE PLATTING. This is now so well understood that nothing need be +said about the manner of doing the work. But much might be said about the +measures to be pursued by land-owners, by parish officers, by farmers, and +more especially by gentlemen and ladies of sense, public spirit, and +benevolence of disposition. The thing will be done; the manufacture will +spread itself all over this kingdom; but the exertions of those whom I +have here pointed out might hasten the period of its being brought to +perfection. And I beg such gentlemen and ladies to reflect on the vast +importance of such manufacture, which it is impossible to cause to produce +any-thing but good. One of the great misfortunes of England at this day +is, that the land has had _taken away from it those employments for its +women and children which were so necessary to the well-being of the +agricultural labourer_. The spinning, the carding, the reeling, the +knitting; these have been all taken away from the land, and given to the +Lords of the Loom, the haughty lords of bands of abject slaves. But let +the landholder mark how the change has operated to produce his ruin. He +must have the labouring MAN and the labouring BOY; but, alas! he cannot +have these, without having the man's wife, and the boy's mother, and +little sisters and brothers. Even Nature herself says, that he shall have +the wife and little children, or that he shall not have the man and the +boy. But the Lords of the Loom, the crabbed-voiced, hard-favoured, +hard-hearted, puffed-up, insolent, savage and bloody wretches of the North +have, assisted by a blind and greedy Government, taken all the employment +away from the agricultural women and children. This manufacture of Straw +will form one little article of employment for these persons. It sets at +defiance all the hatching and scheming of all the tyrannical wretches who +cause the poor little creatures to die in their factories, heated to +eighty-four degrees. There will need no inventions of WATT; none of your +horse powers, nor water powers; no murdering of one set of wretches in the +coal mines, to bring up the means of murdering another set of wretches in +the factories, by the heat produced from those coals; none of these are +wanted to carry on this manufactory. It wants no _combination_ laws; none +of the inventions of the hard-hearted wretches of the North. + +233. THE KNITTING. Upon this subject, I have only to congratulate my +readers that there are great numbers of English women who can now knit, +plat together, better than those famous Jewesses of whom we were told. + +234. THE PRESSING. Bonnets and hats are pressed after they are made. I am +told that a proper press costs pretty nearly a hundred pounds; but, then, +that it will do prodigious deal of business. I would recommend to our +friends in the country to teach as many children as they can to make the +plat. The plat will be knitted in London, and in other considerable towns, +by persons to whom it will be sold. It appears to me, at least, that this +will be the course that the thing will take. However, we must leave this +to time; and here I conclude my observations upon a subject which is +deeply interesting to myself, and which the public in general deem to be +of great importance. + +235. POSTSCRIPT on _brewing_.--I think it right to say here, that, ever +since I published the instructions for brewing by copper and by wooden +utensils, the beer at _my own house_ has always been brewed precisely +agreeable to the instructions contained in this book; and I have to add, +that I never have had such good beer in my house in all my lifetime, as +since I have followed that mode of brewing. My table-beer, as well as my +ale, is always as clear as wine. I have had hundreds and hundreds of +quarters of malt brewed into beer in my house. My people could always make +it strong enough and sweet enough; but never, except by accident, could +they make it CLEAR. Now I never have any that is not clear. And yet my +utensils are all very small; and my brewers are sometimes one labouring +man, and sometimes another. A man wants showing how to brew the first +time. I should suppose that we use, in my house, about seven hundred +gallons of beer every year, taking both sorts together; and I can +positively assert, that there has not been one drop of bad beer, and +indeed none which has not been most excellent, in my house, during the +last two years, I think it is, since I began using the utensils, and in +the manner named in this book. + + +ICE-HOUSES. + +236. First begging the reader to read again paragraph 149, I proceed here, +in compliance with numerous requests to that effect, to describe, as +clearly as I can, the manner of constructing the sort of Ice-houses +therein mentioned. In England, these receptacles of frozen water are, +generally, _under ground_, and always, if possible, under the _shade of +trees_, the opinion being, that the _main_ thing, if not the _only_ thing, +is to keep away _the heat_. The heat is to be kept away certainly; but +_moisture_ is the great enemy of _Ice_; and how is this to be kept away +either _under ground_, or under the shade of trees? Abundant experience +has proved, that no thickness of _wall_, that no cement of any kind, will +effectually resist _moisture_. Drops will, at times, be seen hanging on +the under side of an arch of any thickness, and made of any materials, if +it have earth over it, and even when it has the floor of a house over it; +and wherever the moisture enters, the ice will quickly melt. + +237. Ice-houses should therefore be, in all their parts, _as dry_ as +possible: and they should be so constructed, and the ice so deposited in +them, as to ensure _the running away of the meltings_ as quickly as +possible, whenever such meltings come. Any-thing in way of drains or +gutters, is too slow in its effect; and therefore there must be something +that will not suffer the water proceeding from any melting, to remain an +instant. + +238. In the first place, then, the ice-house should stand in a place quite +open to the _sun and air_; for whoever has travelled even but a few miles +(having eyes in his head) need not be told how long that part of a road +from which the sun and wind are excluded by trees, or hedges, or by +any-thing else, will remain wet, or at least damp, after the rest of the +road is even in a state to send up dust. + +239. The next thing is to protect the ice against wet, or damp, from +_beneath_. It should, therefore, stand on some spot _from which water +would run in every direction_; and if the natural ground presents no such +spot, it is no very great job to _make it_. + +240. Then come the _materials_ of which the house is to consist. These, +for the reasons before-mentioned, must not be bricks, stones, mortar, nor +earth; for these are all affected by the atmosphere; they will become +_damp_ at certain times, and _dampness_ is the great destroyer of ice. The +materials are _wood_ and _straw_. Wood will not do; for, though not liable +to become damp, it imbibes _heat_ fast enough; and, besides, it cannot be +so put together as to shut out air sufficiently. Straw is wholly free from +the quality of becoming damp, except from water actually put upon it; and +it can, at the same time, be placed on a roof, and on sides, to such a +degree of thickness as to exclude the air in a manner the most perfect. +The ice-house ought, therefore, to be made of _posts, plates, rafters, +laths, and straw_. The best form is the _circular_; and the house, when +made, appears as I have endeavoured to describe it in _Fig. 3_ of the +plate. + +241. FIG. 1, _a_, is the centre of a circle, the diameter of which is ten +feet, and at this centre you put up a post to stand fifteen feet above the +level of the ground, which post ought to be about nine inches through at +the bottom, and not a great deal smaller at the top. Great care must be +taken that this post be _perfectly perpendicular_; for, if it be not, the +whole building will be awry. + +242. _b b b_ are fifteen posts, nine feet high, and six inches through at +the bottom, without much tapering towards the top. These posts stand about +two feet apart, reckoning from centre of post to centre of post, which +leaves between each two a space of eighteen inches, _c c c c_ are +fifty-four posts, five feet high, and five inches through at the bottom, +without much tapering towards the top. These posts stand about two feet +apart, from centre of post to centre of post, which leaves between each +two a space of nineteen inches. The space between these two rows of posts +is four feet in width, and, as will be presently seen, is to contain _a +wall of straw_. + +243. _e_ is a passage through this wall; _d_ is the outside door of the +passage; _f_ is the inside door; and the inner circle, of which _a_ is the +centre, is the place in which the ice is to be deposited. + +244. Well, then, we have now got _the posts_ up; and, before we talk of +the _roof_ of the house, or of the _bed_ for the ice, it will be best to +speak about the making of the _wall_. It is to be made of _straw_, +wheat-straw, or rye-straw, with no rubbish in it, and made very smooth by +the hand as it is put in. You lay it _in very closely_ and very smoothly, +so that if the wall were cut across, as at _g g_, in FIG. 2 (which FIG. +2 represents _the whole building cut down through the middle_, omitting +the centre post,) the ends of the straws would present a compact face as +they do after a cut of a chaff-cutter. But there requires something _to +keep the straw from bulging out between the posts_. Little stakes as big +as your _wrist_ will answer this purpose. Drive them into the ground, and +fasten, at top, to the _plates_, of which I am now to speak. The plates +are pieces of wood which go all round both the circles, and are _nailed on +upon the tops of the posts_. Their main business is to receive and sustain +the _lower ends of the rafters_, as at _m m_ and _n n_ in FIG. 2. But to +the plates also the _stakes_ just mentioned must be fastened at top. Thus, +then, there will be this space of four feet wide, having, on each side of +it, a row of posts and stakes, not more than about six inches from each +other, to hold up, and to keep in its place, this wall of straw. + + +[Illustration: _Fig. 1_, _Fig. 2_, _Fig. 3_] + + +245. Next come the _rafters_, as from _s_ to _n_, FIG. 2. Carpenters best +know what is the _number_ and what the _size_ of the rafters; but from _s_ +to _m_ there need be only about half as many as from _m_ to _n_. However, +carpenters know all about this. It is their every-day work. The roof is +forty-five _degrees pitch_, as the carpenters call it. If it were even +_sharper_, it would be none the worse. There will be about _thirty_ ends +of rafters to lodge on the plate, as at _m_; and these cannot _all_ be +fastened to the top of the centre-post rising up from _a_; but carpenters +know how to manage this matter, so as to make all strong and safe. The +_plate_ which goes along on the tops of the row of posts, _b b b_, must, +of course, be put on in a somewhat sloping form; otherwise there would be +a sort of _hip_ formed by the rafters. However, the thatch is to be so +deep, that this may not be of much consequence. Before the thatching +begins, there are _laths_ to put upon the rafters. Thatchers know all +about this, and all that you have to do is, to take care that the thatcher +_tie the straw on well_. The best way, in a case of such deep thatch, is +to have _a strong man to tie for the thatcher_. + +246. The roof is now _raftered_, and it is to receive a thatch of _clean_, +_sound_, and well-prepared wheat or rye straw, four _feet thick_, as at _h +h_ in FIG. 2. + +247. The house having now got _walls_ and _roof_, the next thing is to +make the _bed_ to receive the ice. This bed is the area of the circle of +which _a_ is the centre. You begin by laying on the ground _round logs_, +eight inches through, or thereabouts, and placing them across the area, +leaving spaces between them of about a foot. Then, _crossways on them_, +poles about four inches through, placed at six inches apart. Then, +_crossways on them_, other poles, about two inches through, placed at +three inches apart. Then, _crossways on them_, rods as thick as your +finger, placed at an inch apart. Then upon these, small, clean, dry, +last-winter-cut _twigs_, to the thickness of about two inches; or, instead +of these twigs, good, clean, strong _heath_, free from grass and moss, and +from rubbish of all sorts. + +248. This is the _bed_ for the ice to lie on; and as you see, the top of +the bed will be seventeen inches from the ground. The pressure of the ice +may, perhaps, bring it to fourteen, or to thirteen. Upon this bed the ice +is put, broken and pummelled, and beaten down together in the usual +manner. + +249. Having got the bed filled with ice, we have next to _shut it safely +up_. As we have seen, there is a passage (_e_). Two feet wide is enough +for this passage; and, being as long as the wall is thick, it is of +course, four feet long. The use of the passage is this: that you may have +_two doors_, so that you may, in hot or damp weather, shut the outer door, +while you have the inner door open. This inner door may be of hurdle-work, +and straw, and covered, on one of the sides, with sheep-skins with the +_wool on_, so as to keep out the external air. The outer-door, which must +lock, must be of wood, made to shut very closely, and, besides, covered +with skins like the other. At times of great danger from heat, or from +wet, the whole of the passage may be filled with straw. The door (_p._ +FIG. 3) should face the North, or between North and East. + +250. As to the _size_ of the ice-house, that must, of course, depend upon +the _quantity_ of ice that you may choose to have. A house on the above +scale, is from _w_ to _x_ (FIG. 2) twenty-nine feet; from _y_ to _z_ (FIG. +2) nineteen feet. The area of the circle, of which _a_ is the centre, is +ten feet in diameter, and as this area contains seventy-five superficial +feet, you will, if you put ice on the bed to the height of only five feet, +(and you _may_ put it on to the height of seven feet from the top of the +bed,) you will have _three hundred and seventy-five cubic feet of ice_; +and, observe, a cubic foot of ice will, when broken up, fill much more +than a _Winchester Bushel_: what it may do as to an "IMPERIAL BUSHEL," +engendered like Greek Loan Commissioners, by the unnatural heat of +"PROSPERITY," God only knows! However, I do suppose, that, without making +any allowance for the "_cold_ fit," as Dr. Baring calls it, into which +"_late_ panic" has brought us; I do suppose, that even the scorching, the +burning dog-star of "IMPERIAL PROSPERITY;" nay, that even DIVES himself, +would hardly call for more than two bushels of ice in a day; for more than +two bushels a day it would be, unless it were used in cold as well as in +hot weather. + +251. As to the _expense_ of such a house, it could, in the country, not be +much. None of the posts, except the main or centre-post, need be _very +straight_. The other posts might be easily culled from tree-lops, destined +for fire-wood. The straw would _make all straight_. The _plates_ must of +necessity be short pieces of wood; and, as to the _stakes_, the _laths_, +and the _logs_, _poles_, _rods_, _twigs_, and _heath_, they would not all +cost _twenty shillings_. The straw is the principal article; and, in most +places, even that would not cost more than two or three pounds. If it last +many years, the price could not be an object; and if but a little while, +it would still be nearly as good for litter as it was before it was +applied to this purpose. How often the _bottom of the straw walls_ might +want renewing I cannot say, but I know that the roof would with few and +small repairs, last well for ten years. + +252. I have said that the interior row of posts is to be nine feet high, +and the exterior row five feet high. I, in each case, mean, _with the +plate inclusive_. I have only to add, that by way of superabundant +precaution against bottom wet, it will be well to make a sort of _gutter_, +to receive the drip from the roof, and to carry it away as soon as it +falls. + +253. Now, after expressing a hope that I shall have made myself clearly +understood by every reader, it is necessary that I remind him, that I do +not pretend to pledge myself for the complete success, nor for any success +at all, of this mode of making ice-houses. But, at the same time, I +express my firm belief, that complete success would attend it; because it +not only corresponds with what I have seen of such matters; but I had the +details from a gentleman who had ample experience to guide him, and who +was a man on whose word and judgment I placed a perfect reliance. He +advised me to erect an ice-house; but not caring enough about _fresh meat_ +and _fish_ in summer, or at least not setting them enough above "_prime +pork_" to induce me to take any trouble to secure the former, I never +built an ice-house. Thus, then, I only communicate that in which I +believe; there is, however, in all cases, this comfort, that if the thing +fail as an ice-house, it will serve all generations to come as a model for +a pig-bed. + + +ADDITION. + +_Kensington, Nov. 14th, 1831._ + +MANGEL WURZEL. + +254. This last summer, I have proved that, as keep for cows, MANGEL WURZEL +is preferable to SWEDISH TURNIPS, whether as to quantity or quality. But +there needs no other alteration in the book, than merely to read _mangel +wurzel_ wherever you find _Swedish turnip_; the time of sowing, the mode +and time of transplanting, the distances, and the cultivation, all being +the same; and the only difference being in the _application of the +leaves_, and in _the time of harvesting_ the roots. + +255. The leaves of the MANGEL WURZEL are of great value, especially in dry +summers. You begin, about the third week in August, to take off by a +_downward pull_, the leaves of the plants; and they are excellent food for +pigs and cows; only observe this, that, if given to cows, there must be, +for each cow, _six pounds of hay a day_, which is not necessary in the +case of the Swedish turnips. These leaves last till the crop is taken up, +which ought to be in the _first week of November_. The taking off of the +leaves does good to the plants: new leaves succeed higher up; and the +plant becomes _longer_ than it otherwise would be, and, of course, +_heavier_. But, in taking off the leaves, you must not approach too near +to the top. + +256. When you take the plants up in November, you must cut off the +_crowns_ and the remaining leaves; and they, again, are for cows and pigs. +Then you put the roots into some place to keep them from the frost; and, +if you have no place under cover, put them in _pies_, in the same manner +as directed for the Swedish turnips. The roots will average in weight 10 +_lbs. each_. They may be given to cows _whole_, or to pigs either, and +they are better than the Swedish turnip for both animals; and they do not +give any bad or strong taste to the milk and butter. But, besides this use +of the mangel wurzel, there is another, with regard to pigs at least, of +very great importance. The _juice_ of this plant has so much of +_sweetness_ in it, that, in France, they make _sugar_ of it; and have used +the sugar, and found it equal in goodness to West India sugar. Many +persons in England make _beer_ of this juice, and I have drunk of this +beer, and found it very good. In short, the juice is most excellent for +the mixing of moist food for pigs. I am now (20th Nov. 1831) boiling it +for this purpose. My copper holds seven strike-bushels; I put in three +bushels of mangel wurzel cut into pieces two inches thick, and then fill +the copper with water. I draw off as much of the liquor as I want to wet +pollard, or meal, for little pigs or fatting-pigs, and the rest, roots and +all, I feed the _yard-hogs_ with; and this I shall follow on till about +the middle of May. + +257. If you give boiled, or steamed, _potatoes_ to pigs, there wants some +liquor to mix with the potatoes; for the water in which potatoes have been +boiled is _hurtful_ to any animal that drinks it. But mix the potatoes +with juice of mangel wurzel, and they make very good food for hogs of all +ages. The mangel wurzel produces _a larger_ crop than the Swedish turnip. + + +COBBETT'S CORN. + +258. IF you prefer _bread_ and _pudding_ to milk, butter, and meat, this +corn will produce, on your forty rods, forty bushels, each weighing 60 +_lbs. at the least_; and more flour, in proportion, than the best white +wheat. To make _bread_ with it you must use _two-thirds_ wheaten, or rye, +flour; but in puddings this is not necessary. The puddings at my house are +all made with this flour, except meat and fruit pudding; for the corn +flour is not adhesive or _clinging_ enough to make paste, or crust. This +corn is the very best for hog-fatting in the whole world. I, last April, +sent parcels of the seed into several counties, to be given away to +working men: and I sent them instructions for the cultivation, which I +shall repeat here. + +259. I will first describe this _corn_ to you. It is that which is +sometimes called _Indian corn_; and sometimes people call it Indian wheat. +It is that sort of corn which the disciples ate as they were going up to +Jerusalem on the Sabbath-day. They gathered it in the fields as they went +along and ate it green, they being "an hungered," for which you know they +were reproved by the pharisees. I have written a treatise on this corn in +a book which I sell for four shillings, giving a minute account of the +qualities, the culture, the harvesting, and the various uses of this corn; +but I shall here confine myself to what is necessary for a labourer to +know about it, so that he may be induced to raise and may be enabled to +raise enough of it in his garden to fat a pig of ten score. + +260. There are a great many sorts of this corn. They all come from +countries which are hotter than England. This sort, which my eldest son +brought into England, is a dwarf kind, and is the only kind that I have +known to ripen in this country: and I know that it will ripen in this +country in any summer; for I had a large field of it in 1828 and 1829; and +last year (my lease at my farm being out at Michaelmas, and this corn not +ripening till late in October) I had about two acres in my garden at +Kensington. Within the memory of man there have not been three summers so +cold as the last, one after another; and no one so cold as the last. Yet +my corn ripened perfectly well, and this you will be satisfied of if you +be amongst the men to whom this corn is given from me. You will see that +it is in the shape of the cone of a spruce fir; you will see that the +grains are fixed round a stalk which is called the _cob_. These _stalks_ +or _ears_ come out of the side of the plant, which has leaves like a flag, +which plant grows to about three feet high, and has two or three and +sometimes more, of these ears or bunches of grain. Out of the top of the +plant comes the tassel, which resembles the plumes of feathers upon a +hearse; and this is the flower of the plant. + +261. The grain is, as you will see, about the size of a large pea, and +there are from two to three hundred of these grains upon the ear, or cob. +In my treatise, I have shown that, in America, all the hogs and pigs, all +the poultry of every sort, the greater part of the oxen, and a +considerable part of the sheep, are fatted upon this corn; that it is the +best food for horses; and that, when ground and dressed in various ways, +it is used in bread, in puddings, in several other ways in families; and +that, in short, it is the real staff of life, in all the countries where +it is in common culture, and where the climate is hot. When used for +poultry, the grain is rubbed off the cob. Horses, sheep, and pigs, bite +the grain off, and leave the cob; but horned cattle eat cob and all. + +262. I am to speak of it to you, however, only as a thing to make you some +bacon, for which use it surpasses all other grain whatsoever. When the +grain is in the whole ear, it is called corn in the ear; when it is rubbed +off the cob, it is called shelled corn. Now, observe, ten bushels of +shelled corn are equal, in the fatting of a pig, to fifteen bushels of +barley; and fifteen bushels of barley, if properly ground and managed, +will make a pig of ten score, if he be not too poor when you begin to fat +him. Observe that everybody who has been in America knows, that the finest +hogs in the world are fatted in that country; and no man ever saw a hog +fatted in that country in any other way than tossing the ears of corn over +to him in the sty, leaving him to bite it off the ear, and deal with it +according to his pleasure. The finest and solidest bacon in the world is +produced in this way. + +263. Now, then, I know, that a bushel of shelled corn may be grown upon +one single rod of ground sixteen feet and a half each way; I have grown +more than that this last summer; and any of you may do the same if you +will strictly follow the instructions which I am now about to give you. + +1. Late in March (I am doing it now,) or in the first fortnight of April, +dig your ground up _very deep_, and let it lie rough till between the +seventh and fifteenth of May. + +2. Then (in dry weather if possible) dig up the ground again, and make it +smooth at top. Draw drills with a line two feet apart, just as you do +drills for peas; rub the grains off the cob; put a little very rotten and +fine manure along the bottom of the drill; lay the grains along upon that +six inches apart; cover the grain over with fine earth, so that there be +about an inch and a half on the top of the grain; pat the earth down a +little with the back of a hoe to make it lie solid on the grain. + +3. If there be any danger of slugs, you must kill them before the corn +comes up if possible: and the best way to do this is to put a little hot +lime in a bag, and go very early in the morning, and shake the bag all +round the edges of the ground and over the ground. Doing this three or +four times very early in a dewy morning, or just after a shower, will +destroy all the slugs; and this ought to be done for all other crops as +well as for that of corn. + +4. When the corn comes up, you must take care to keep all birds off till +it is two or three inches high; for the spear is so sweet, that the birds +of all sorts are very apt to peck it off, particularly the doves and the +larks and pigeons. As soon as it is fairly above ground, give the whole of +the ground (in dry weather) a flat hoeing, and be sure to move all the +ground close round the plants. When the weeds begin to appear again, give +the ground another hoeing, but always in dry weather. When the plants get +to be about a foot high or a little more, dig the ground between the rows, +and work the earth up a little against the stems of the plants. + +5. About the middle of August you will see the tassel springing up out of +the middle of the plant, and the ears coming out of the sides. If weeds +appear in the ground, hoe it again to kill the weeds, so that the ground +may be always kept clean. About the middle of September you will find the +grains of the ears to be full of milk, just in the state that the ears +were at Jerusalem when the disciples cropped them to eat. From this milky +state, they, like the grains of wheat, grow hard; and as soon as the +grains begin to be hard, you should cut off the tops of the corn and the +long flaggy leaves, and leave the ears to ripen upon the stalk or stem. If +it be a warm summer, they will be fit to harvest by the last of October; +but it does not signify if they remain out until the middle of November or +even later. The longer they stay out, the harder the grain will be. + +6. Each ear is covered in a very curious manner with a husk. The best way +for you will be, when you gather in your crop to strip off the husks, to +tie the ears in bunches of six or eight or ten, and to hang them up to +nails in the walls, or against the beams of your house; for there is so +much moisture in the cob that the ears are apt to heat if put together in +great parcels. The room in which I write in London is now hung all round +with bunches of this corn. The bunches may be hung up in a shed or stable +for a while, and, when perfectly dry, they may be put into bags. + +7. Now, as to the mode of _using_ the corn; if for poultry, you must rub +the grains off the cob; but if for pigs, give them the whole ears. You +will find some of the ears in which the grain is still soft. Give these to +your pig first; and keep the hardest to the last. You will soon see how +much the pig will require in a day, because pigs, more decent than many +rich men, never eat any more than is necessary to them. You will thus have +a pig; you will have two flitches of bacon, two pig's cheeks, one set of +souse, two griskins, two spare-ribs, from both which I trust in God you +will keep the jaws of the Methodist parson; and if, while you are drinking +a mug of your own ale, after having dined upon one of these, you drink my +health, you may be sure that it will give you more merit in the sight of +God as well as of man, than you would acquire by groaning the soul out of +your body in responses to the blasphemous cant of the sleekheaded +Methodist thief that would persuade you to live upon potatoes. + +264. You must be quite sensible that I cannot have any motive but your +good in giving you this advice, other than the delight which I take and +the pleasure which I derive from doing that good. You are all personally +unknown to me: in all human probability not one man in a thousand will +ever see me. You have no more power to show your gratitude to me than you +have to cause me to live for a hundred years. I do not desire that you +should deem this a favour received from me. The thing is worth your +trying, at any rate. + +265. The corn is off by the middle of November. The ground should then be +well manured, and deeply dug, and planted with EARLY YORK, or EARLY DWARF +CABBAGES, which will be _loaved_ in the _latter end of April_, and may be +either sold or given to pigs, or cows, _before the time to plant the corn +again_. Thus you have two very large crops on the same ground in the same +year. + + + + +INDEX. + + + PARAGRAPH + + Agur 18 + + Bees 160 + + Bread, making of 77 + + Brewing Beer 20, 108 + _See also_ "POSTSCRIPT." + + Brewing-machine 41 + + Brougham, Mr. 41 + + Candles and Rushes 199 + + Castlereagh's and Mackintosh's Oratory 152 + + Combination Laws 108 + + Corn, Cobbett 258 + + Cows, keeping 111 + + Cusar, Mr. 86 + + Custom Laws 108 + + Drennen, Dr. 80 + + Dress, Household Goods, and Fuel 199 + + Ducks 169 + + Economy, meaning of the term 2, 3 + + Education 11 + + Ellman, Mr. 20, 60 + + Excise Laws 108 + + Fowls 176 + + Geese 167 + + Goats and Ewes 189 + + Hanning, Mr. Wm. 99 + + Hill, Mr. 98 + + Hops 202 + + Ice-houses 236 + + Leghorn 212 + + Libel Laws 108 + + Malthus, Parson 141 + + Mangel Wurzel 254 + + Mustard 198 + + Parks, Mr. 98 + + Paul, Saint 148 + + Peel's flimsy Dresses 152 + + Pigeons 181 + + Pigs, keeping 139 + + Pitt's false Money 152 + + Plat, English Straw 208 + + Porter, how to make 71 + + Potatoes 77 + + Rabbits 184 + + Salting Mutton and Beef 157 + + Stanhope, Lord 144 + + Swedish Turnips 207 + + Turkeys 171 + + Walter's and Stoddart's Paragraphs 152 + + Walter Scott's Poems 152 + + Want, the Parent of Crime 18 + + Wakefield, Mr. Edward 78, 99 + + Wilberforce's Potatoe-Diet 152 + + Winchelsea, Lord. 144 + + Woodhouse, Miss 213 + + Yeast 203 + + + + + + + COBBETT'S + POOR MAN'S FRIEND; + + A DEFENCE OF THE RIGHTS OF THOSE WHO DO + THE WORK, AND FIGHT THE BATTLES. + + + + +COBBETT'S POOR MAN'S FRIEND. + + + + +NUMBER I. + +TO THE WORKING CLASSES OF PRESTON. + + +_Burghclere, Hampshire, 22d August, 1826._ + +MY EXCELLENT FRIENDS, + +1. Amongst all the new, the strange, the unnatural, the monstrous things +that mark the present times, or, rather, that have grown out of the +present system of governing this country, there is, in my opinion, hardly +any thing more monstrous, or even so monstrous, as the language that is +now become fashionable, relative to the condition and the treatment of +that part of the community which are usually denominated the POOR; by +which word I mean to designate the persons who, from age, infirmity, +helplessness, or from want of the means of gaining anything by labour, +become destitute of a sufficiency of food or of raiment, and are in danger +of perishing if they be not relieved. Such are the persons that we mean +when we talk of THE POOR; and, I repeat, that amongst all the monstrous +things of these monstrous days, nothing is, in my opinion, so monstrous as +the language which we now constantly hear relative to the condition and +treatment of this part of the community. + +2. Nothing can be more common than to read, in the newspapers, +descriptions the most horrible of the sufferings of _the Poor_, in various +parts of England, but particularly in the North. It is related of them, +that they eat horse-flesh, grains, and have been detected in eating out of +pig-troughs. In short, they are represented as being far worse fed and +worse lodged than the greater part of the pigs. These statements of the +_newspapers_ may be false, or, at least, only partially true; but, at a +public meeting of rate-payers, at Manchester, on the 17th of August, Mr. +BAXTER, the Chairman, said, that some of the POOR had been _starved to +death_, and that _tens of thousands were upon the point of starving_; and, +at the same meeting, Mr. POTTER gave a detail, which showed that Mr. +BAXTER'S general description was true. Other accounts, very nearly +official, and, at any rate, being of unquestionable authenticity, concur +so fully with the statements made at the Manchester Meeting, that it is +impossible not to believe, that a great number of thousands of persons are +now on the point of perishing for want of food, and _that many have +actually perished from that cause_; and that this has taken place, and is +taking place, IN ENGLAND. + +3. There is, then, no doubt of the existence of the disgraceful and horrid +facts; but that which is as horrid as are the facts themselves, and even +more horrid than those facts, is the cool and _unresentful_ language and +manner in which the facts are usually spoken of. Those who write about the +misery and starvation in Lancashire and Yorkshire, never appear to think +_that any body is to blame_, even when the poor die with hunger. The +Ministers ascribe the calamity to "_over-trading_;" the cotton and cloth +and other master-manufacturers ascribe it to "_a want of paper-money_," or +to the _Corn-Bill_; others ascribe the calamity to the _taxes_. These last +are right; but what have these things to do with the treatment of the +poor? What have these things to do with the horrid facts relative to the +condition and starvation of English people? It is very true, that the +enormous taxes which we pay on account of loans made to carry on the late +unjust wars, on account of a great standing army in time of peace, on +account of pensions, sinecures and grants, and on account of _a Church_, +which, besides, swallows up so large a part of the produce of the land +and the labour; it is very true, that these enormous taxes, co-operating +with the paper-money and its innumerable monopolies; it is very true, that +_these enormous taxes_, thus associated, have produced the ruin in trade, +manufactures and commerce, and have, of course, produced the _low wages_ +and the _want of employment_; this is very true; but it is not less true, +that, be wages or employment as they may, the poor are not to perish with +hunger, or with cold, while the rest of the community have food and +raiment more than the latter want for their own sustenance. The LAW OF +ENGLAND says, that there shall be no person to suffer from want of food +and raiment. It has placed _officers_ in every parish to see that no +person suffer from this sort of want; and lest these officers should not +do their duty, _it commands all the magistrates_ to hear the complaints of +the poor, and to compel the officers to do their duty. The LAW OF ENGLAND +has provided ample means of relief for the poor; for, it has authorized +the officers, or overseers, to get from the rich inhabitants of the parish +as much money as _is wanted_ for the purpose, without any limit as to +amount; and, in order that the overseers may have no excuse of inability +to make people pay, the law has armed them with powers of a nature the +most efficacious and the most efficient and most prompt in their +operation. In short, the language of the LAW, to the overseer, is this: +"Take care that no person suffer from hunger, or from cold; and that you +may be sure not to fail of the means of obeying this my command, I give +you, as far as shall be necessary for this purpose, full power over all +the lands, all the houses, all the goods, and all the cattle, in your +parish." To the Justices of the Peace the LAW says: "Lest the overseer +should neglect his duty; lest, in spite of my command to him, any one +should suffer from hunger or cold, I command you to be ready to hear the +complaint of every sufferer from such neglect; I command you to summon the +offending overseer, and to compel him to do his duty." + +4. Such being the language of the LAW, is it not a monstrous state of +things, when we hear it commonly and coolly stated, that many thousands of +persons in England are _upon the point of starvation_; that _thousands +will die of hunger and cold next winter_; that many have _already died of +hunger_; and when we hear all this, unaccompanied with one word of +_complaint against any overseer_, or any _justice of the peace_! Is not +this state of things perfectly monstrous? A state of things in which it +appears to be taken for granted, that the LAW is nothing, when it is +intended to operate as a protection to the poor! Law is always law: if one +part of the law may be, with impunity, set at defiance, why not another +and every other part of the law? If the law which provides for the succour +of the poor, for the preservation of their lives, may be, with impunity, +set at defiance, why should there not be impunity for setting at defiance +the law which provides for the security of the property and the lives of +the rich? If you, in Lancashire, were to read, in an account of a meeting +in Hampshire, that, here, the farmers and gentlemen were constantly and +openly robbed; that the poor were daily breaking into their houses, and +knocking their brains out; and that it was expected that great part of +them would be killed very soon: if you, in Lancashire were to hear this +said of the state of Hampshire, what would you say? Say! Why, you would +say, to be sure, "Where is the LAW; where are the constables, the +justices, the juries, the judges, the sheriffs, and the hangmen? Where can +that _Hampshire_ be? It, surely, never can be in Old England. It must be +some savage country, where such enormities can be committed, and where +even those, who talk and who _lament_ the evils, never utter one word in +the way of _blame_ of the perpetrators." And if you were called upon to +pay taxes, or to make subscriptions in money, to furnish the means of +protection to the unfortunate rich people in Hampshire, would you not say, +and with good reason, "No: what should we do this for? The people of +Hampshire have the SAME LAW that we have; they are under the same +Government; _let them duly enforce that law_; and then they will stand in +no need of money from us to provide for their protection." + +5. This is what common sense says would be _your_ language in such a case; +and does not common sense say, that the people of Hampshire, and of every +other part of England, will thus think, when they are told of the +sufferings, and the starvation, in Lancashire and Yorkshire! The report of +the Manchester ley-payers, which took place on the 17th of August, reached +me in a friend's house in this little village; and when another friend, +who was present, read, in the speeches of Mr. BAXTER and Mr. POTTER, that +tens of thousands of Lancashire people were _on the point of starvation_, +and that many had already _actually died from starvation_; and when he +perceived, that even those gentlemen uttered not a word of _complaint_ +against either overseer or justices of the peace, he exclaimed: "What! are +there _no poor-laws_ in Lancashire? Where, amidst all this starvation, is +the overseer? Where is the justice of the peace? Surely that Lancashire +can never be _in England_?" + +6. The observations of this gentleman are those which occur to every man +of sense; when he hears the horrid accounts of the sufferings in the +manufacturing districts; for, though we are all well aware, that the +burden of the poor-rates presses, at this time, with peculiar weight on +the land-owners and occupiers, and on owners and occupiers of other real +property, in those districts, we are equally well aware, that those owners +and occupiers _have derived great benefits_ from that vast population that +now presses upon them. There is _land_ in the parish in which I am now +writing, and belonging to the farm in the house of which I am, which land +would not let for 20_s._ a statute acre; while land, not so good, would +let, in any part of Lancashire, near to the manufactories, at 60_s._ or +80_s._ a statute acre. The same may be said with regard to _houses_. And, +pray, are the owners and occupiers, who have gained so largely by the +manufacturing works being near their lands and houses; are they, _now_, to +complain, if the vicinage of these same works causes a charge of rates +_there_, heavier than exists _here_? Are the owners and occupiers of +Lancashire to enjoy _an age of advantages_ from the labours of the +spinners and the weavers; and are they, when a reverse comes, _to bear +none of the disadvantages_? Are they to make no sacrifices, in order to +save from perishing those industrious and ever-toiling creatures, by the +labours of whom their land and houses have been augmented in value, three, +five, or perhaps tenfold? None but the most unjust of mankind can answer +these questions in the affirmative. + +7. But as _greediness_ is never at a loss for excuses for the +hard-heartedness that it is always ready to practise, it is said, that +_the whole of the rents_ of the land and the houses would not suffice for +the purpose; that is to say, that if the poor rates were to be made so +high as to leave the tenant no means of paying rent, even then some of the +poor must go without a sufficiency of food. I have no doubt that, in +particular instances, this would be the case. But for cases like this the +LAW has amply provided; for, in every case of this sort, _adjoining +parishes_ may be made to _assist_ the hard pressed parish; and if the +pressure becomes severe on these adjoining parishes, those _next adjoining +them_ may be made to assist; and thus the call upon adjoining parishes +maybe extended till it reach _all over the county_. So good, so benignant, +so wise, so foreseeing, and so effectual, is this, the very best of all +our good old laws! This law or rather code of laws, distinguishes England +from all the other countries in the world, _except the United States of +America_, where, while hundreds of other English statutes have been +abolished, this law has always remained in full force, this great law of +mercy and humanity, which says, that _no human being that treads English +ground shall perish for want of food and raiment_. For such poor persons +as are _unable to work_, the law provides food and clothing; and it +commands that _work_ shall be provided for such as are able to work, and +_cannot otherwise get employment_. This law was passed more than _two +hundred years_ ago. Many attempts have been made to _chip it away_, and +some have been made to destroy it altogether; but it still exists, and +every man who does not wish to see general desolation take place, will do +his best to cause it to be duly and conscientiously executed. + +8. Having now, my friends of Preston, stated what the law is, and also the +reasons for its honest enforcement in the particular case immediately +before us, I will next endeavour to show you that it is founded in the law +of nature, and that, were it not for the provisions of this law, people +would, according to the opinions of the greatest lawyers, have _a right_ +to _take_ food and raiment sufficient to preserve them from perishing; and +that _such taking_ would be neither _felony_ nor _larceny_. This is a +matter of the greatest importance; it is a most momentous question; for if +it be settled in the affirmative--if it be settled that it is _not felony, +nor larceny,_ to take other men's goods without their assent, and even +against their will, when such taking is absolutely necessary to the +preservation of life, how great, how imperative, is the duty of affording, +if possible, _that relief which will prevent such necessity_! In other +words, how imperative it is on all overseers and justices to obey the law +with alacrity; and how weak are those persons who look to "_grants_" and +"_subscriptions_," to supply the place of the execution of this, the most +important of all the laws that constitute the basis of English society! +And if this question be settled in the affirmative; if we find the most +learned of lawyers and most wise of men, maintaining the affirmative of +this proposition; if we find them maintaining, that it is neither _felony_ +nor _larceny_ to take food, in case of _extreme necessity_, though without +the assent, and even against the will of the owner, what are we to think +of those (and they are not few in number nor weak in power) who, animated +with the savage soul of the Scotch _feelosophers_, would wholly abolish +the poor-laws, or, at least, render them of little effect, and thereby +constantly keep thousands exposed to this dire necessity! + +9. In order to do justice to this great subject; in order to treat it with +perfect fairness, and in a manner becoming of me and of you, I must take +the authorities _on both sides_. There are some great lawyers who have +contended that the starving man is still guilty of felony or larceny, if +he take food to satisfy his hunger; but there are a greater number of +other, and still greater, lawyers, who maintain the contrary. The general +doctrine of those who maintain the right to take, is founded on the law of +nature; and it is a saying as old as the hills, a saying in every language +in the world, that "_self-preservation_ is the _first law_ of nature." The +law of nature teaches every creature to prefer the preservation of its own +life to all other things. But, in order to have a fair view of the matter +before us, we ought to inquire how it came to pass, that the laws were +ever made to punish men as criminals, for taking the victuals, drink, or +clothing, that they might stand in need of. We must recollect, then, that +there was a time when no such laws existed; when men, like the wild +animals in the fields, took what they were able to take, if they wanted +it. In this state of things, all the land and all the produce belonged to +all the people _in common_. Thus were men situated, when they lived under +what is called the _law of nature_; when every one provided, as he could, +for his self-preservation. + +10. At length this state of things became changed: men entered into +society; they made laws to restrain individuals from following, in certain +cases, the dictates of their own will; they protected the weak against the +strong; the laws secured men in possession of lands, houses, and goods, +that were called THEIRS; the words MINE and THINE, which mean _my own_ and +_thy own_, were invented to designate what we now call _a property_ in +things. The law necessarily made it criminal in one man to take away, or +to injure, the property of another man. It was, you will observe, even in +this state of nature, always _a crime_ to do certain things against our +neighbour. To kill him, to wound him, to slander him, to expose him to +suffer from the want of food or raiment, or shelter. These, and many +others, were crimes in the eye of the law of nature; but, to take share of +a man's victuals or clothing; to go and insist upon sharing a part of any +of the good things that he happened to have in his possession, could be +_no crime_, because there was _no property_ in anything, except in man's +body itself. Now, civil society was formed for the _benefit_ of the whole. +The whole gave up their natural rights, in order that every one might, for +the future, enjoy his life in greater security. This civil society was +intended to change the state of man _for the better_. Before this state of +civil society, the starving, the hungry, the naked man, had a right to go +and provide himself with necessaries wherever he could find them. There +would be sure to be some such necessitous persons in a state of civil +society. Therefore, when civil society was established, it is impossible +to believe that it _had not in view some provision for these destitute +persons_. It would be monstrous to suppose the contrary. The contrary +supposition would argue, that fraud was committed upon the mass of the +people in forming this civil society; for, as the sparks fly upwards, so +will there always be destitute persons to some extent or other, in _every +community_, and such there are to now a considerable extent, even in the +UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; therefore, the formation of the civil society +must have been fraudulent or tyrannical upon any other supposition than +that it made provision, in some way or other, for destitute persons; that +is to say, for persons unable, from some cause or other, to provide for +themselves the food and raiment sufficient to preserve them from +perishing. Indeed, a provision for the destitute seems _essential to the +lawfulness_ of civil society; and this appears to have been the opinion of +BLACKSTONE, when, in the first Book and first Chapter of his Commentaries +on the Laws of England, he says, "the law not only regards _life_ and +_member_, and protects every man in the enjoyment of them, but also +_furnishes him with every thing necessary for their support_. For there is +no man so indigent or wretched, but he may _demand_ a supply _sufficient +for all the necessaries of life_ from the more opulent part of the +community, by means of the several statutes enacted for the relief of the +poor; a humane provision _dictated_ by the _principles of society_." + +11. No man will contend, that the main body of the people in any country +upon earth, and of course in England, would have consented to abandon the +rights of nature; to give up their right to enjoy all things in common; no +man will believe, that the main body of the people would ever have given +their assent to the establishing of a state of things which should make +all the lands, and all the trees, and all the goods and cattle of every +sort, private property; which should have shut out a large part of the +people from having such property, and which should, at the same time, not +have provided the means of preventing those of them, who might fall into +indigence, from being _actually starved to death_! It is impossible to +believe this. Men never gave their assent to enter into society on terms +like these. One part of the condition upon which men entered into society +was, that care should be taken that no human being should perish from +want. When they agreed to enter into that state of things, which would +necessarily cause some men to be rich and some men to be poor; when they +gave up that right, which God had given them, to live as well as they +could, and to take the means wherever they found them, the condition +clearly was, the "_principle of society_;" clearly was, as BLACKSTONE +defines it, that the indigent and wretched should have a right to +"_demand_ from the rich a supply _sufficient_ for all the _necessities_ of +life." + +12. If the society did not take care to act upon this principle; if it +neglected to secure the legal means, of preserving the life of the +indigent and wretched; then the society itself, in so far as that +wretched person was concerned, ceased to have a legal existence. It had, +as far as related to him, forfeited its character of legality. It had no +longer any claim to his submission to its laws. His rights of nature +returned: as far as related to him, the law of Nature revived in all its +force: that state of things in which all men enjoyed all things _in +common_ was revived with regard to him; and he took, and he had a right to +take, food and raiment, or, as Blackstone expresses it, "a supply +sufficient for all the necessities of life." For, if it be true, as laid +down by this English lawyer, that the _principles_ of society; if it be +true, that the very principles, or _foundations_ of society dictate, that +the destitute person shall have a legal demand for a supply from the rich, +sufficient for all the necessities of life; if this be true, and true it +certainly is, it follows of course that the principles, that is, the base, +or _foundation_, of society, is subverted, is gone; and that society is, +in fact, no longer what it was intended to be, when the indigent, when the +person in a state of extreme necessity, cannot, at once, obtain from the +rich such sufficient supply: in short, we need go no further than this +passage of BLACKSTONE, to show, that civil society is subverted, and that +there is, in fact, nothing legitimate in it, when the destitute and +wretched have no certain and legal resource. + +13. But this is so important a matter, and there have been such monstrous +doctrines and projects put forth by MALTHUS, by the EDINBURGH REVIEWERS, +by LAWYER SCARLETT, by LAWYER NOLAN, by STURGES BOURNE, and by an +innumerable swarm of persons who have been giving before the House of +Commons what they call "_evidence_:" there have been such monstrous +doctrines and projects put forward by these and other persons; and there +seems to be such a lurking desire to carry the hostility to the working +classes still further, that I think it necessary in order to show, that +these English poor-laws, which have been so much calumniated by so many +greedy proprietors of land; I think it necessary to show, that these +poor-laws are the things which men of property, above all others, _ought +to wish to see maintained_, seeing that, according to the opinions of the +greatest and the wisest of men, they must suffer most in consequence of +the abolition of those laws; because, by the abolition of those laws, the +right given by the laws of nature would revive, and the destitute would +_take_, where they now simply _demand_ (as BLACKSTONE expresses it) in the +name of the law. There has been some difference of opinion, as to the +question, whether it be _theft_ or _no theft_; or, rather, whether it be a +_criminal act_, or _not a criminal act_, for a person, in a case of +extreme necessity from want of food, to take food without the assent and +even against the will, of the owner. We have, amongst our great lawyers, +SIR MATTHEW HALE and SIR WILLIAM BLACKSTONE, who contend (though as we +shall see, with much feebleness, hesitation, and reservation,) that it _is +theft_, notwithstanding the extremity of the want; but there are many, and +much higher authorities, foreign as well as English, on the other side. +Before, however, I proceed to the hearing of these authorities, let me +take a short view of _the origin of the poor laws in England_; for that +view will convince us, that, though the present law was passed but a +little more than two hundred years ago, there had been something to effect +the same purpose ever since England had been called England. + +14. According to the Common Law of England, as recorded in the MIRROUR OF +JUSTICES, a book which was written before the Norman Conquest; a book in +as high reputation, as a law-book, as any one in England; according to +this book, CHAPTER 1st, SECTION 3d, which treats of the "First +constitutions made by the antient kings;" According to this work, +provision was made for the sustenance of the poor. The words are these: +"It was ordained, that the poor should be sustained by _parsons_, by +_rectors_ of the church, and by the _parishioners_, so that _none of them +die for want of sustenance_." Several hundred years later, the canons of +the church show, that when the church had become rich, it took upon itself +the whole of the care and expense attending the relieving of the poor. +These canons, in setting forth the manner in which the tithes should be +disposed of, say, "Let the priests set apart the first share for the +building and ornaments of the church; let them distribute the _second to +the poor and strangers, with their own hands, in mercy and humility_; and +let them reserve the third part for themselves." This passage is taken +from the canons of ELFRIC, canon 24th. At a later period, when the tithes +had, in some places, been appropriated to convents, acts of Parliament +were passed, compelling the impropriators to leave, in the hands of their +vicar, a sufficiency for the maintenance of the poor. There were two or +three acts of this sort passed, one particularly in the twelfth year of +RICHARD the Second, chapter 7th. So that here we have the most ancient +book on the Common Law; we have the canons of the church at a later +period; we have acts of Parliament at a time when the power and glory of +England were at their very highest point; we have all these to tell us, +that in England, from the very time that the country took the name, _there +was always a legal and secure provision for the poor, so that no person, +however aged, infirm, unfortunate, or destitute, should suffer from want_. + +15. But, my friends, a time came when the provision made by the Common +Law, by the Canons of the Church, and by the Acts of the Parliament coming +in aid of those canons; a time arrived, when all these were rendered null +by what is called the PROTESTANT REFORMATION. This "Reformation," As it is +called, sweeped away the convents, gave a large part of the tithes to +greedy courtiers, put parsons with wives and children into the livings, +and left the poor without any resource whatsoever. This terrible event, +which deprived England of the last of her possessions on the continent of +Europe, reduced the people of England to the most horrible misery; from +the happiest and best fed and best clad people in the world, it made them +the most miserable, the most wretched and ragged of creatures. At last it +was seen that, in spite of the most horrible tyranny that ever was +exercised in the world, in spite of the racks and the gibbets and the +martial law of QUEEN ELIZABETH, those who had amassed to themselves the +property out of which the poor had been formerly fed, were compelled to +_pass a law to raise money, by way of tax, for relieving the necessities +of the poor_. They had passed many acts before the FORTY-THIRD year of the +reign of this Queen Elizabeth; but these acts were all found to be +ineffectual, till, at last, in the forty-third year of the reign: of this +tyrannical Queen, and in the year of our Lord 1601, that famous act was +passed, which has been in force until this day; and which, as I said +before, is still in force, notwithstanding all the various attempts of +folly and cruelty to get rid of it. + +16. Thus, then, the present poor-laws are _no new thing_. They are no +_gift_ to the working people. You hear the greedy landowners everlastingly +complaining against this law of QUEEN ELIZABETH. They pretend that it was +_an unfortunate_ law. They affect to regard it as a great INNOVATION, +seeing that no such law existed before; but, as I have shown, a better law +existed before, having the same object in view. I have shown, that the +"Reformation," as it is called, had sweeped away that which had been +secured to the poor by the Common Law, by the Canons of the Church, and by +ancient Acts of Parliament. There was _nothing new_, then, in the way of +benevolence towards the people, in this celebrated Act of Parliament of +the reign of QUEEN ELIZABETH; and the landowners would act wisely by +holding their tongues upon the subject; or, if they be too noisy, one may +look into their GRANTS, and see if we cannot find something THERE to keep +out the present parochial assessments. + +17. Having now seen _the origin_ of the present poor-laws, and the justice +of their due execution, let us return to those authorities of which I was +speaking but now, and an examination into which will show the extreme +danger of listening to those projectors who would abolish the poor-laws; +that is to say, who would sweep away that provision which was established +in the reign of QUEEN ELIZABETH, from a conviction that it was absolutely +necessary to preserve the peace of the country and the lives of the +people. I observed before that there has been some difference of opinion +amongst lawyers as to the question, whether it be, or be not, _theft_, to +take without his consent and against his will, the victuals of another, in +order to prevent the taker from starving. SIR MATTHEW HALE and SIR WILLIAM +BLACKSTONE say that it _is theft_. I am now going to quote the several +authorities on both sides, and it will be necessary for me to indicate the +works which I quote from by the words, letters, and figures which are +usually made use of in quoting from these works. Some part of what I shall +quote will be in Latin: but I shall put nothing in that language of which +I will not give you the translation. I beg you to read these quotations +with the greatest attention; for you will find, at the end of your +reading, that you have obtained great knowledge upon the subject, and +knowledge, too, which will not soon depart from your minds. + +18. I begin with SIR MATTHEW HALE, (a Chief Justice of the Court of King's +Bench in the reign of Charles the Second,) who, in his PLEAS OF THE CROWN, +CHAP. IX., has the following passage, which I put in distinct paragraphs, +and mark A, B, and C. + +19. A. "Some of the casuists, and particularly COVARRUVIUS, Tom. I. _De +furti et rapinae restitutione_, Sec. 3, 4, p. 473; and GROTIUS, _de jure +belli, ac pacis_; lib. II. cap. 2. Sec. 6, tell us, that in case of extreme +necessity, either of hunger or clothing, the _civil distributions of +property cease_, and by a kind of tacit condition the _first community +doth return_, and upon this those common assertions are grounded: +'_Quicquid necessitas cogit, defendit._' [Whatever necessity calls for, it +justifies.] '_Necessitas est lex temporis et loci._' [Necessity is the law +of time and place.] '_In casu extremae necessitatis omnia sunt communia._' +[In case of extreme necessity, all things are _in common_;] and, +therefore, in such case _theft is no theft_, or at least not punishable as +theft; and some even of our own lawyers have asserted the same; and very +bad use hath been made of this concession by some of the _Jesuitical_ +casuists of _France_, who have thereupon advised apprentices and servants +to rob their masters, where they have been indeed themselves in want of +necessaries, of clothes or victuals; whereof, they tell them, they +themselves are the competent judges; and by this means let loose, as much +as they can, by their doctrine of probability, all the ligaments of +property and civil society." + +20. B. "I do, therefore, _take it_, that, where persons live under the +same civil government, _as here in England_, that rule, at least by the +laws of _England_, is false; and, therefore, if a person being _under +necessity for want of victuals_, or clothes, shall, upon that account, +clandestinely, and '_animo furandi_,' [with intent to steal,] steal +another man's goods, it is felony, and a crime, by the laws of _England_, +punishable with death; although, the judge before whom the trial is, in +this case (as in other cases of extremity) be by the laws of _England_ +intrusted with a power to reprieve the offender, before or after judgment, +in order to the obtaining the King's mercy. For, 1st, Men's properties +would be under a strange insecurity, being laid open to other men's +necessities, whereof no man can possibly judge, but the party himself. +And, 2nd, Because by the laws of this kingdom [here he refers to the 43 +Eliz. cap. 2] sufficient provision is made for the supply of such +necessities by collections for the poor, and by the power of the civil +magistrate. Consonant hereunto seems to be the law even among the Jews; if +we may believe the wisest of kings. Proverbs vi. 30, 31. '_Men do not +despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry, but if +he be found, he shall restore seven-fold, he shall give all the substance +of his house._' It is true, _death_ among them was not the penalty of +theft, yet his necessity gave him _no exception_ from the ordinary +punishment inflicted by their law upon that offence." + +21. C. "Indeed this rule, '_in casu extremae necessitatis omnia sunt +communia_,' does hold, in some measure, in some particular cases, where, +by the tacit consent of nations, or of some particular countries or +societies, it hath obtained. First, among the _Jews_, it was lawful in +case of hunger to pull ears of standing corn, and eat, (Matt. xii. 1;) and +for one to pass through a vineyard, or olive-yard, to gather and eat +without carrying away. Deut. xxiii. 24, 25. SECOND, By the _Rhodian_ law, +and the common-maritime custom, if the common provision for the ship's +company fail, the master may, under certain temperaments, _break open the +private chests of the mariners or passengers_, and _make a distribution_ +of that particular and private provision for the _preservation of the +ship's company_." Vide CONSOLATO DEL MARE, cap. 256. LE CUSTOMES DE LA +MERE, p. 77. + +22. SIR WILLIAM BLACKSTONE agrees, in substance, with HALE; but he is, as +we shall presently see, much more eager to establish his doctrine; and, we +shall see besides, that he has not scrupled to be guilty of misquoting, +and of very shamefully _garbling_, _the Scripture_, in order to establish +his point. We shall find him flatly contradicting the laws of England; +but, he might have spared the Holy Scriptures, which, however, he has not +done. + +23. To return to HALE, you see he is compelled to begin with acknowledging +that there are great authorities against him; and he could not say that +GROTIUS was not one of the most virtuous as well as one of the most +learned of mankind. HALE does not know very well what to do with those old +sayings about the justification which hard necessity gives: he does not +know what to do with the maxim, that, "in case of extreme necessity all +things _are owned in common_." He is exceedingly puzzled with these +ancient authorities, and flies off into prattle rather than argument, and +tells us a story about "_jesuitical_" casuists in France, who advised +apprentices and servants to rob their masters, and that they thus "let +loose the ligaments of property and civil society." I fancy that it would +require a pretty large portion of that sort of faith which induced this +Protestant judge to send witches and wizards to the gallows; a pretty +large portion of this sort of faith, to make us believe, that the +"_casuists_ of France," who, doubtless, _had servants of their own_, would +teach servants to rob their masters! In short, this prattle of the judge +seems to have been nothing more than one of those Protestant effusions +which were too much in fashion at the time when he wrote. + +24. He begins his second paragraph, or paragraph B., by saying, that he +"_takes it_" to be so and so; and then comes another qualified expression; +he talks of civil government "_as here in England_." Then he says, that +the rule of GROTIUS and others, against which he has been contending, "he +takes _to be false_, at _least_," says he, "_by the laws of England_." +After he has made all these qualifications, he then proceeds to say that +_such taking is theft_; that it is _felony_; and it is a crime which the +laws of England punish with _death_! But, as if stricken with remorse at +putting the frightful words upon paper; as if feeling shame for the law +and for England itself, he instantly begins to tell us, that the judge who +presides at the trial is intrusted, "_by the laws of England_," with power +to _reprieve_ the offender, in order to the obtaining of the _King's +mercy_! Thus he softens it down. He will have it to be LAW to put a man to +death in such a case; but he is ashamed to leave his readers to believe, +that an English judge and an English king WOULD OBEY THIS LAW! + +25. Let us now hear the reasons which he gives for this which he pretends +to be law. His first reason is, that there would be no security for +property, if it were laid open to the necessities of the indigent, of +which necessities _no man but the takers themselves could be the judge_. +He talks of a "strange insecurity;" but, upon my word, no insecurity could +be half so strange as this assertion of his own. BLACKSTONE has just the +same argument. "Nobody," says he, "would be a judge of the wants of the +taker, but the taker himself;" and BLACKSTONE, copying the very words of +HALE, talks of the "strange insecurity" arising from this cause. Now, +then, suppose a man to come into my house, and to take away a bit of +bacon. Suppose me to pursue him and seize him. He would tell me that he +was starving for want of food. I hope that the bare statement would induce +me, or any man in the world that I do call or ever have called my friend, +to let him go without further inquiry; but, if I chose to push the matter +further, there would be _the magistrate_. If he chose to commit the man, +would there not be a _jury_ and a _judge_ to receive evidence and to +ascertain _whether the extreme necessity existed or not_? + +26. Aye, says Judge HALE; but I have another reason, a devilish deal +better than this, "and that is, the act of the 43d year of the reign of +QUEEN ELIZABETH!" Aye, my old boy, that is a thumping reason! "_Sufficient +provision_ is made for the supply of such necessities by _collections for +the poor_, and by the _power of the civil magistrate_." Aye, aye! that is +the reason; and, Mr. SIR MATTHEW HALE, there is _no other reason_, say +what you will about the matter. There stand the overseer and the civil +magistrate to take care that such necessities be provided for; and if they +did not stand there for that purpose, the law of nature would be revived +in behalf of the suffering creature. + +27. HALE, not content however with this act of QUEEN ELIZABETH, and still +hankering after this hard doctrine, furbishes up a bit of Scripture, and +calls Solomon the _wisest of kings_ on account of these two verses which +he has taken. HALE observes, indeed, that the Jews did not put thieves to +_death_; but, to restore seven-fold was the _ordinary punishment_, +inflicted by their law, for theft; and here, says he, we see, that the +extreme necessity _gave no exemption_. This was a piece of such flagrant +sophistry on the part of HALE, that he could not find in his heart to send +it forth to the world without a qualifying observation; but even this +qualifying observation left the sophistry still so shameful, that his +editor, Mr. EMLYN, who published the work under authority of the House of +Commons, did not think it consistent with his reputation to suffer this +passage to go forth unaccompanied with the following remark: "But their +(the Jews') ordinary punishment being entirely _pecuniary_, could affect +him _only when he was found in a condition to answer it_; and therefore +the same reasons which could justify that, can, by no means, be extended +to a _corporal_, much less to a _capital_ punishment." Certainly: and this +is the fair interpretation of these two verses of the Proverbs. +PUFFENDORF, one of the greatest authorities that the world knows anything +of, observes, upon the argument built upon this text of Scripture, "It may +be objected, that, in Proverbs, chap. vi. verses 30, 31, he is called a +_thief_, and pronounced obnoxious to the penalty of theft, who steals to +satisfy his hunger; but whoever closely views and considers that text will +find that the thief there censured is neither in such _extreme necessity_ +as we are now supposing, nor seems to have fallen into his needy condition +merely by ill fortune, without his own idleness or default: for the +context implies, that he had _a house and goods sufficient_ to make +seven-fold restitution; which he might have either sold or pawned; a +chapman or creditor being easily to be met with in times of plenty and +peace; for we have no grounds to think that the fact there mentioned is +supposed to be committed, either in time of war, or upon account of the +extraordinary price of provisions." + +28. Besides this, I think it is clear that these two verses of the +Proverbs do not apply to _one and the same person_; for in the first verse +it is said, that men _do not despise_ a thief if he steal to satisfy his +soul when he is hungry. How, then, are we to reconcile this with +_morality_? Are we not to despise a _thief_? It is clear that the word +_thief_ does not apply to the first case; but to the second case only; and +that the distinction was here made for the express purpose of preventing +the man who took food to relieve his hunger _from being confounded with +the thief_. Upon any other interpretation, it makes the passage contain +nonsense and immorality; and, indeed, GROTIUS says that the latter text +does not apply to the person mentioned in the former. The latter text +could not mean a man taking food from necessity. It is _impossible_ that +it can mean that; because the man who was starving for want of food _could +not have_ seven-fold; _could not have_ any substance in his house. But +what are we to think of JUDGE BLACKSTONE, who, in his Book IV., chap. 2, +really _garbles_ these texts of Scripture. He clearly saw the effect of +the expression, "MEN DO NOT DESPISE;" he saw what an awkward figure these +words made, coming before the words "A THIEF;" he saw that, with these +words in the text, he could never succeed in making his readers believe +that a man ought to be _hanged_ for taking food to save his life. He +clearly saw that he could not make men believe that _God had said this_, +unless he could, somehow or other, get rid of those words about NOT +DESPISING the thief that took victuals when he was hungry. Being, +therefore, very much pestered and annoyed by these words about NOT +DESPISING, what does he do but fairly _leave them out_! And not only leave +them out, but leave out a part of both the verses, keeping in that part of +each that suited him, and no more; nay, further, leaving out one word, and +putting in another, giving a sense to the whole which he knew well never +was intended. He states the passage to be this: "If a thief steal to +satisfy his soul when he is hungry, _he_ shall restore seven-fold, _and_ +shall give all the substance of his house." No broomstick that ever was +handled would have been too heavy or too rough for the shoulders of this +dirty-souled man. HALE, with all his desire to make out a case in favour +of severity, has given us the words fairly: but this shuffling fellow; +this smooth-spoken and mean wretch, who is himself _thief_ enough, God +knows, if stealing other men's thoughts and words constitute theft; this +intolerably mean reptile has, in the first place, left out the words +"_men do not despise_:" then he has left out the words at the beginning of +the next text, "_but if he be found_." Then in place of the "_he_," which +comes before the words "_shall give_" he puts the word "_and_;" and thus +he makes the whole apply to the poor creature that takes to satisfy his +soul when he is hungry! He leaves out every mitigating word of the +Scripture; and, in his reference, he represents the passage to be in _one_ +verse! Perhaps, even in the history of the conduct of crown-lawyers, there +is not to be found mention of an act so coolly bloody-minded as this. It +has often been said of this BLACKSTONE, that he not only _lied_ himself, +but _made others lie_; he has here made, as far as he was able, a liar of +King Solomon himself: he has wilfully garbled the Holy Scripture; and +that, too, for the manifest purpose of justifying cruelty in courts and +judges; for the manifest purpose of justifying the most savage oppression +of the poor. + +29. After all, HALE has not the courage to send forth this doctrine of +his, without allowing that the case of extreme necessity does, "in _some +measure_," and "in _particular cases_," and, "by the _tacit_ or _silent_ +consent of nations," _hold good_! What a crowd of qualifications is here! +With what reluctance he confesses that which all the world knows to be +true, that the disciples of JESUS CHRIST pulled off, without leave, the +ears of standing corn, and ate them "_being an hungered_." And here are +two things to observe upon. In the first place this _corn_ was not what +_we call corn_ here in England, or else it would have been very droll sort +of stuff to crop off and eat. It was what the Americans call _Indian +corn_, what the French call _Turkish corn_; and what is called _corn_ (as +being far surpassing all other in excellence) in the Eastern countries +where the Scriptures were written. About four or five ears of this corn, +of which you strip all the husk off in a minute, are enough for a man's +breakfast or dinner; and by about the middle of August this corn is just +as wholesome and as efficient as bread. So that, this was _something_ to +take and eat without the owner's leave; it was something of value; and +observe, that the Pharisees, though so strongly disposed to find fault +with everything that was done by Jesus Christ and his disciples, did not +find fault of their _taking_ the corn to eat; did not call them _thieves_; +did not propose to punish them for _theft_; but found fault of them only +for having _plucked the corn on the Sabbath-day_! To pluck the corn was +_to do work_, and these severe critics found fault of this working on the +Sabbath-day. Then, out comes another fact, which HALE might have noticed +if he had chosen it; namely, that our Saviour reminds the Pharisees that +"DAVID and his companions, _being an hungered_, entered into the House of +God, and did eat the show-bread, to eat which was unlawful in any-body but +the priests." Thus, that which would have been _sacrilege_ under any other +circumstances; that which would have been one of the most _horrible of +crimes against the law of God_, became no crime at all when committed by a +person _pressed by hunger_. + +30. Nor has JUDGE HALE fairly interpreted the two verses of DEUTERONOMY. +He represents the matter thus: that, if you be _passing through_ a +vineyard or an olive-yard you may gather and eat, without being deemed a +thief. This interpretation would make an Englishman believe that the +Scripture allowed of this taking and eating, only where there was a +_lawful foot-way_ through the vineyard. This is a very gross +misrepresentation of the matter; for if you look at the two texts, you +will find, that they say that, "when thou _comest into_;" that is to say, +when thou _enterest_ or _goest into_, "thy neighbour's vineyard, then thou +mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure, but thou shalt not put +any in thy vessel;" that is to say, that you should not go and make wine +in his vineyard and carry it away. Then in case of the corn, precisely the +same law is laid down. You may pluck with your _hand_; but not use the +_hook_ or a _sickle_. Nothing can be plainer than this: no distinction can +be wiser, nor more just. HALE saw the force of it; and therefore, as +these texts made very strongly against him, he does not give them at full +length, but gives us a misrepresenting abbreviation. + +31. He had, however, too much regard for his reputation to conclude +without acknowledging the right of seizing on the provisions of others _at +sea_. He allows that private chests may be _broken open_ to prevent men +from dying with hunger at sea. He does not stop to tell us why men's lives +are _more precious_ on sea than on land. He does not attempt to reconcile +these liberties given by the Scripture, and by the maritime laws, with his +own hard doctrine. In short, he brings us to this at last: that he will +_not acknowledge_, that it is _not theft_ to take another man's goods, +without his consent, under any circumstances; but, while he will not +acknowledge this, he plainly leaves us to conclude, that no English judge +and no English king will _ever punish_ a poor creature that takes victuals +to save himself from perishing; and he plainly leaves us to conclude, that +it is the _poor-laws_ of England; that it is their existence and _their +due execution_, which deprive everybody in England of the right to take +food and raiment in case of extreme necessity. + +32. Here I agree with him most cordially; and it is because I agree with +him in this, that I deprecate the abominable projects of those who would +annihilate the poor-laws, seeing that it is those very poor-laws which +give, under all circumstances, really legal security _to property_. +Without them, cases must frequently arise, which would, according to the +law of nature, according to the law of God, and as we shall see before we +have done, according to the law of England, bring us into a state, or, at +least, bring particular persons into a state, which as far as related to +them, would cause the law of nature to _revive_, and to make _all things +to be owned in common_. To adhere, then, to these poor-laws; to cause them +to be duly executed, to prevent every encroachment upon them, to preserve +them as the apple of our eye, are the duty of every Englishman, as far as +he has capacity so to do. + +33. I have, my friends, cited, as yet, authorities only _on one side_ of +this great subject, which it was my wish to discuss in this one Number. I +find that to be impossible without leaving undone much more than half my +work. I am extremely anxious to cause this matter to be well understood, +not only by the working classes, but by the owners of the land and the +magistrates. I deem it to be of the greatest possible importance; and, +while writing on it, I address myself to you, because I most sincerely +declare that I have a greater respect for you than for any other body of +persons that I know any thing of. The next Number will conclude the +discussion of the subject. The whole will lie in a very small compass. +_Sixpence_ only will be the cost of it. It will creep about, by degrees, +over the whole of this kingdom. All the authorities, all the arguments, +will be brought into this small compass; and I do flatter myself that many +months will not pass over our heads, before all but misers and madmen will +be ashamed to talk of abolishing the poor-rates and of supporting the +needy by grants and subscriptions. + + I am, + Your faithful friend and + Most obedient servant, + WM. COBBETT. + + + + +NUMBER II. + + +_Bollitree Castle, Herefordshire, 22d Sept. 1826._ + +MY EXCELLENT FRIENDS, + +34. In the last Number, paragraph 33, I told you, that I would, in the +present Number, conclude the discussion of the great question of _theft, +or no theft_, in a case of taking another's goods without his consent, or +against his will, the taker being pressed by extreme necessity. I laid +before you; in the last Number, JUDGE HALE'S doctrine upon the subject; +and I there mentioned the foul conduct of BLACKSTONE, the author of the +"Commentaries on the Laws of England." I will not treat this unprincipled +lawyer, this shocking court sycophant; I will not treat him as he has +treated King Solomon and the Holy Scriptures; I will not garble, misquote, +and belie him, as he garbled, misquoted, and belied them; I will give the +whole of the passage to which I allude, and which my readers may find in +the Fourth Book of his Commentaries. I request you to read it with great +attention; and to compare it, very carefully, with the passage that I have +quoted from SIR MATTHEW HALE, which you will find in paragraphs from 19 to +21 inclusive. The passage from BLACKSTONE is as follows: + +35. "There is yet another case of necessity, which has occasioned great +speculation among the writers upon general law; viz., whether a man in +extreme want of food or clothing may justify stealing either, to relieve +his present necessities. And this both GROTIUS and PUFFENDORF, together +with _many other_ of the foreign jurists, hold in the affirmative; +maintaining by many ingenious, humane, and plausible reasons, that in such +cases the community of goods by a kind of tacit concession of society is +revived. And some even of our own lawyers have held the same; though it +seems to be an unwarranted doctrine, borrowed from the notions of some +civilians: at least it is now antiquated, the law of England admitting no +such excuse at present. And this its doctrine is agreeable not only to the +sentiments of many of the wisest ancients, particularly CICERO, who holds +that 'suum cuique incommodum ferendum est, potius quam de alterius +commodis detrahendum;' but also to the Jewish law, as certified by King +Solomon himself: 'If a thief steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry, +he shall restore seven-fold, and shall give all the substance of his +house:' which was the ordinary punishment for theft in that kingdom. And +this is founded upon the highest reason: for men's properties would be +under a strange insecurity, if liable to be invaded according to the +wants of others; of which wants no man can possibly be an adequate judge, +but the party himself who pleads them. In this country especially, there +would be a peculiar impropriety in admitting so dubious an excuse; for by +our laws such a sufficient provision is made for the poor by the power of +the civil magistrate, that it is impossible that the most needy stranger +should ever be reduced to the necessity of thieving to support nature. +This case of a stranger is, by the way, the strongest instance put by +Baron PUFFENDORF, and whereon he builds his principal arguments; which, +however they may hold upon the continent, where the parsimonious industry +of the natives orders every one to work or starve, yet must lose all their +weight and efficacy in England, where _charity is reduced to a system, and +interwoven in our very constitution_. Therefore, our laws ought by no +means to be taxed with being _unmerciful_, for denying this privilege to +the necessitous; especially when we consider, that the king, on the +representation of his ministers of justice, hath a power to soften the +law, and to extend mercy in cases of peculiar hardship. An advantage which +is wanting in many states, particularly those which are democratical: and +these have in its stead introduced and adopted, in the body of the law +itself, a multitude of circumstances tending to alleviate its rigour. But +the founders of our constitution thought it better to vest in the crown +the power of pardoning peculiar objects of compassion, than to countenance +and establish theft by one general undistinguishing law." + +36. First of all, I beg you to observe, that this passage is merely _a +flagrant act of theft_, committed upon JUDGE HALE; next, you perceive, +that which I noticed in paragraph 28, a most base and impudent garbling of +the Scriptures. Next, you see, that BLACKSTONE, like HALE, comes, at last, +to the _poor-laws_; and tells us that to take other men's goods without +leave, is theft, _because_ "charity is here reduced to a system, and +interwoven in our very constitution." That is to say, to relieve the +necessitous; to prevent their suffering from want; completely to render +starvation impossible, makes a part of our very constitution. "THEREFORE, +our laws ought by no means to be taxed with being _unmerciful_ for denying +this privilege to the necessitous." Pray mark the word _therefore_. You +see, our laws, he says, are not to be taxed with being unmerciful in +deeming the necessitous taker _a thief_. And _why_ are they not to be +deemed unmerciful? BECAUSE the laws provide effectual relief for the +necessitous. It follows, then, of course, even according to BLACKSTONE +himself, that if the Constitution _had not_ provided this effectual relief +for the necessitous, then the laws _would have been unmerciful_ in deeming +the necessitous taker a thief. + +37. But now let us hear what that GROTIUS and that PUFFENDORF say; let us +hear what these great writers on the law of nature and of nations say upon +this subject. BLACKSTONE has mentioned the names of them both; but he has +not thought proper to notice their arguments, much less has he attempted +to answer them. They are two of the most celebrated men that ever wrote; +and their writings are referred to as high authority, with regard to all +the subjects of which they have treated. The following is a passage from +GROTIUS, on War and Peace, Book II., chap. 2. + +38. "Let us see, further, what common right there appertains to men in +those things which have already become the property of individuals. Some +persons, perchance, may consider it strange to question this, as +proprietorship seems to have absorbed all that right which arose out of a +state of things in common. But it is not so. For, it is to be considered, +_what was the intention of those who first introduced private property_, +which we may suppose to have been such, as to deviate as little as +possible from _natural equity_. For if even _written laws_ are to be +construed in that sense, as far as it is practicable, much more so are +_customs_, which are not fettered by the chains of writers.--Hence it +follows, first, that, in case of _extreme necessity_, the _pristine right +of using things revives_, as much as if they had remained in common; +because, in all human laws, as well as in the law of private property, +_this case of extreme necessity appears to have been excepted_.--So, if +the means of sustenance, as in case of a sea-voyage, should chance to +fail, that which any individual may have, should be shared in common. And +thus, a fire having broken out, I am justified in destroying the house of +my neighbour, in order to preserve my own house; and I may cut in two the +ropes or cords amongst which any ship is driven, if it cannot be otherwise +disentangled. All which exceptions are not made in the written law, but +are presumed.--For the opinion has been acknowledged amongst Divines, +that, if any one, in such case of necessity, take from another person what +is requisite for the preservation of his life, _he does not commit a +theft_. The meaning of which definition is not, as many contend, that the +proprietor of the thing be bound to give to the needy upon the principle +of _charity_; but, that all things distinctly vested in proprietors ought +to be regarded as such _with a certain benign acknowledgment of the +primitive right_. For if the original distributors of things were +questioned, as to what they thought about this matter, they would reply +what I have said. _Necessity_, says Father SENECA, _the great excuse for +human weakness, breaks every law_; that is to say, _human law_, or law +made after the manner of man." + +39. "But cautions ought to be had, for fear this license should be abused: +of which the principal is, to try, in every way, whether the necessity can +be avoided by any other means; for instance, by making application to the +magistrate, or even by trying whether the use of the thing can, by +entreaties, be obtained from the proprietor. PLATO permits water to be +fetched from the well of a neighbour upon this condition alone, that the +person asking for such permission shall dig in his own well in search of +water as far as the chalk: and SOLON, that he shall dig in his own well +as far as forty cubits. Upon which PLUTARCH adds, _that he judged that +necessity was to be relieved, not laziness to be encouraged_." + +40. Such is the doctrine of this celebrated civilian. Let us now hear +PUFFENDORF; and you will please to bear in mind, that both these writers +are of the greatest authority upon all subjects connected with the laws of +nature and of nations. We read in their works the result of an age of +study: they have been two of the great guides of mankind ever since they +wrote: and, we are not to throw them aside, in order to listen exclusively +to Parson HAY, to HULTON OF HULTON, or to NICHOLAS GRIMSHAW. They tell us +what they, and what other wise men, deemed to be right; and, as we shall +by and by see, the laws of England, so justly boasted of by our ancestors, +hold precisely the same language with these celebrated men. After the +following passage from PUFFENDORF, I shall show you what our own lawyers +say upon the subject; but I request you to read the following passage with +the greatest attention. + +41. "Let us inquire, in the next place, whether the necessity of +preserving our life can give us any right over other men's goods, so as to +make it allowable for us to seize on them for our relief, either secretly, +or by open force, against the owner's consent. For the more clear and +solid determination of which point, we think it necessary to hint in short +on the causes upon which distinct _properties_ were first introduced in +the world; designing to examine them more at large in their proper place. +Now the main reasons on which _properties_ are founded, we take to be +these two; that the feuds and quarrels might be appeased which arose in +the _primitive communion_ of things, and that men might be put under a +kind of necessity of being industrious, every one being to get his +maintenance by his own application and labour. This division, therefore, +of goods, was not made, that every person should sit idly brooding over +the share of wealth he had got, without assisting or serving his fellows; +but that any one might dispose of his things how he pleased; and if he +thought fit to communicate them to others, he might, at least, be thus +furnished with an opportunity of laying obligations on the rest of +mankind. Hence, when properties were once established, men obtained a +power, not only of exercising commerce to their mutual advantage and gain, +but likewise of dispensing more largely in the works of humanity and +beneficence; whence their diligence had procured them a greater share of +goods than others: whereas before, when all things lay in common, men +could lend one another no assistance but what was supplied by their +corporeal ability, and could be charitable of nothing but of their +_strength_. Further, such is the force of _property_, that the +_proprietor_ hath a right of delivering his goods with his own hands; even +such as he is obliged to give to others. Whence it follows, that when one +man has anything owing from another, he is not presently to seize on it at +a venture, but ought to apply himself to the owner, desiring to receive it +from his disposal. Yet in case the other party refuse thus to make good +his obligation, the power and privilege of _property_ doth not reach so +far as that the things may not be taken away without the owner's consent, +either by the authority of the magistrate in _civil communities_, or in a +_state of nature_, by violence and hostile force. And though in regard to +bare Natural Right, for a man to relieve another in extremity with his +goods, for which he himself hath not so much occasion, be a duty obliging +only _imperfectly_, and not in the manner of a _debt_, since it arises +wholly from the virtue of _humanity_; yet there seems to be no reason why, +by the additional force of a civil ordinance, it may not be turned into a +strict and perfect obligation. And this _Seldon_ observes to have been +done among the _Jews_; who, upon a man's refusing to give such alms as +were proper for him, _could force him to it by an action at law_. It is no +wonder, therefore, that they should forbid _their poor_, on any account, +to seize on the goods of others, enjoining them to take only what private +persons, or the public officers, or stewards of alms, should give them on +their petition. Whence the stealing of what was another's, though upon +extreme necessity, passed in that state for theft or rapine. But now +supposing _under another government the like good provision is not made +for persons in want_, supposing likewise that the covetous temper of men +of substance cannot be prevailed on to give relief, and that the needy +creature is not able, either by his work or service, or by making sale of +anything that he possesses, to assist his present necessity, _must_ he, +_therefore, perish with famine_? Or _can any human institution bind me_ +with such a force that, in case another man neglects his duty towards me, +_I must rather die, than recede a little from the ordinary and regular way +of acting_? We conceive, therefore, that such a person doth _not contract +the guilt of theft_, who happening, not through his own fault, to be in +extreme want, either of necessary food, or of clothes to preserve him from +the violence of the weather, and cannot obtain them from the voluntary +gift of the rich, either by urgent entreaties, or by offering somewhat +equivalent in price, or by engaging _to work it out, shall either forcibly +or privily relieve himself out of their abundance_; especially if he do it +with full intention to pay the value of them whenever his better fortune +gives him ability. Some men deny that such a case of _necessity_, as we +speak of, can possibly happen. But what if a man should wander in a +foreign land, unknown, friendless, and in want, spoiled of all he had by +shipwreck, or by robbers, or having lost by some casualty whatever he was +worth in his own country; should none be found willing either to relieve +his distress, or to hire his service, or should they rather (as it +commonly happens,) seeing him in a good garb, suspect him to beg without +reason, must the poor creature starve in this miserable condition?" + +42. Many other great foreign authorities might be referred to, and I +cannot help mentioning COVARRUVIUS, who is spoken of by JUDGE HALE, and +who expresses himself upon the subject in these words: "The reason why a +man in extreme necessity may, _without incurring the guilt of theft or +rapine_, forcibly take the goods of others for his present relief, is +because his condition _renders all things common_. For it is the ordinance +and institution of nature itself, that inferior things should be designed +and directed to serve the necessities of men. Wherefore the division of +goods afterwards introduced into the world doth not derogate from that +precept of natural reason, which Suggests, that the _extreme wants of +mankind may be in any manner removed by the use of temporal possessions_." +PUFFENDORF tells us, that PERESIUS maintains, that, in case of extreme +necessity, a man is compelled to the action, by a force which he cannot +resist; and then, that the owner's consent may be presumed on, because +humanity obliges him to succour those who are in distress. The same writer +cites a passage from St. AMBROSE, one of the FATHERS of the church, which +alleges that (in case of refusing to give to persons in extreme necessity) +it is the person who retains the goods who is guilty of the act of wrong +doing, for St. AMBROSE says; "it is the _bread of the hungry_ which you +detain; it is the _raiment of the naked_ which you lock up." + +43. Before I come to the English authorities on the same side, let me +again notice the foul dealing of Blackstone; let me point out another +instance or two of the insincerity of this English court-sycophant, who +was, let it be noted, Solicitor-general to the queen of the "good old +King." You have seen, in paragraph 28, a most flagrant instance of his +perversion of the Scriptures. He garbles the word of God, and prefaces the +garbling by calling it a thing "_certified_ by King Solomon himself;" and +this word _certified_ he makes use of just when he is about to begin the +scandalous falsification of the text which he is referring to. Never was +anything more base. But, the whole extent of the baseness we have not yet +seen; for, BLACKSTONE had read HALE, who had quoted the two verses fairly; +but besides this, he had read PUFFENDORF, who had noticed very fully this +text of Scripture, and who had shown very clearly that it did not at all +make in favour of the doctrine of Blackstone. Blackstone ought to have +given the argument of PUFFENDORF; he ought to have given the whole of his +argument; but particularly he ought to have given this explanation of the +passage in the PROVERBS, which explanation I have inserted in paragraph +27. It was also the height of insincerity in BLACKSTONE, to pretend that +the passage from CICERO had anything at all to do with the matter. He knew +well that it had not; he knew that CICERO contemplated no case of extreme +necessity for want of food or clothing; but, he had read PUFFENDORF, and +PUFFENDORF had told him, that CICERO'S was a question of the mere +_conveniences_ and _inconveniences_ of life in general; and not a question +of pinching hunger or shivering nakedness. BLACKSTONE had seen his fallacy +exposed by PUFFENDORF; he had seen the misapplication of this passage of +CICERO fully exposed by PUFFENDORF; and yet the base court-sycophant +trumped it up again, without mentioning PUFFENDORF'S exposure of the +fallacy! In short this BLACKSTONE, upon this occasion, as upon almost all +others, has gone all lengths; has set detection and reproof at defiance, +for the sake of making his court to the government by inculcating +harshness in the application of the law, and by giving to the law such an +interpretation as would naturally tend to justify that harshness. + +44. Let us now cast away from us this insincere sycophant, and turn to +other law authorities of our own country. The _Mirrour of Justices_, +(quoted by me in paragraph 14,) Chap. 4, Section 16, on the subject of +arrest of judgment of death, has this passage. Judgment is to be staid in +seven cases here specified: and the seventh is this: "in POVERTY, in which +case you are to distinguish of the poverty of the offender, or of things; +for if poor people, _to avoid famine, take victuals to sustain their +lives, or clothes that they die not of cold_, (so that they perish if they +keep not themselves from cold,) _they are not to be adjudged to death, if +it were not in their power to have bought their victuals or clothes_; for +as much as _they are warranted so to do by the law of nature_." Now, my +friends, you will observe, that I take this from a book which may almost +be called the BIBLE of the law. There is no lawyer who will deny the +goodness of this authority; or who will attempt to say that this was not +always the law of England. + +45. Our next authority is one quite as authentic, and almost as ancient. +The book goes by the name of BRITTON, which was the name of a Bishop of +Hereford, who edited it, in the famous reign of EDWARD THE FIRST. The book +does, in fact, contain the laws of the kingdom as they existed at that +time. It may be called the record of the laws of Edward the First. It +begins thus, "Edward by the grace of God, King of England and Lord of +Ireland, to all his liege subjects, peace, and grace of salvation." The +preamble goes on to state, that people cannot be happy without good laws; +that even good laws are of no use unless they be known and understood; and +that, therefore, the king has ordered the laws of England thus to be +written and recorded. This book is very well known to be of the greatest +authority, amongst lawyers, and in Chap. 10 of this book, in which the law +describes what constitutes a BURGLAR, or house-breaker, and the punishment +that he shall suffer (which is that of death,) there is this passage: +"Those are to be deemed burglars who feloniously, in time of peace, break +into churches or houses, or through walls or doors of our cities, or our +boroughs; with _exception_ of children under age, and of _poor people who +for hunger, enter to take any sort of victuals of less value than twelve +pence_; and except idiots and mad people, and others that cannot commit +felony." Thus, you see, this agrees with the MIRROUR OF JUSTICES, and with +all that we have read before from these numerous high authorities. But +this, taken in its full latitude, goes a great length indeed; for a +burglar is a _breaker-in by night_. So that this is not only _a taking_; +but a breaking into a house in order to take! And observe, it is taking to +the value of _twelve pence_; and twelve pence then was the price of _a +couple of sheep_, and of fine fat sheep too; nay, twelve pence was the +price of _an ox_, in this very reign of Edward the First. So that, a +hungry man might have a pretty good belly-full in those days without +running the risk of punishment. Observe, by-the-by, how time has hardened +the law. We are told of the _dark ages_, of the _barbarous customs_, of +our forefathers: and we have a SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH to receive and to +present petitions innumerable, from the most tender hearted creatures in +the world, about "_softening the criminal code_;" but, not a word do they +ever say about a softening of _this law_, which now hangs a man for +stealing the value of a RABBIT, and which formerly did not hang him till +he stole the value of an OX! Curious enough, but still more scandalous, +that we should have the impudence to talk of our _humanity_, and our +_civilization_, and of the barbarousness of our forefathers. But, if a +_part_ of the ancient law remain, shall not the _whole_ of it remain? If +we hang the thief, still hang the thief for stealing to the value of +_twelve pence_; though the twelve pence now represents a rabbit instead of +an ox; if we still do this, would BLACKSTONE take away the benefit of the +ancient law from the starving man? The passage that I have quoted is of +such great importance as to this question, that I think it necessary to +add, here, a copy of the original, which is in the old _Norman-French_, of +which I give the translation above. "Sunt tenus burgessours trestous ceux, +que felonisement en temps de pees debrusent esglises ou auter mesons, ou +murs, ou portes de nos cytes, ou de nos burghes; hors pris enfauntz dedans +age, et poures, que, pur feyn, entret pur ascun vitaille de meindre value +q'de xii deners, et hors pris fous nastres, et gens arrages, et autres que +seuent nule felonie faire." + +46. After this, _lawyers_, at any rate, will not attempt to gainsay. If +there should, however, remain any one to affect to doubt of the soundness +of this doctrine, let them take the following from him who is always +called the "_pride of philosophy_," the "_pride of English learning_," and +whom the poet POPE calls "_greatest_ and _wisest_ of mankind." It is LORD +BACON of whom I am speaking. He was Lord High Chancellor in the reign of +James the First; and, let it be observed, that he wrote those "_law +tracts_," from which I am about to quote, long after the present poor-laws +had been established. He says (Law Tracts, page 55,) "The law chargeth no +man with default where the act is compulsory and not voluntary, and where +there is not consent and election; and, therefore, if either there be an +impossibility for a man to do otherwise, or so great a perturbation of the +judgment and reason, as in presumption of law a man's nature cannot +overcome, such necessity carrieth a privilege in itself.--Necessity is of +three sorts: necessity of conservation of life; necessity of obedience; +and necessity of the act of God or of a stranger.--First, of conservation +of life; _if a man steal viands (victuals) to satisfy his present hunger_, +this is _no felony_ nor _larceny_." + +47. If any man want more authority, his heart must be hard indeed; he must +have an uncommonly anxious desire to take away by the halter the life that +sought to preserve itself against hunger. But, after all, what need had we +of any _authorities_? What need had we even of _reason_ upon the subject? +Who is there upon the face of the earth, except the monsters that come +from across the channel of St. George; who is there upon the face of the +earth, except those monsters, that have the brass, the hard hearts and the +brazen faces, which enable them coolly to talk of the "MERIT" of the +degraded creatures, who, amidst an abundance of food, amidst a +"_superabundance of food_," lie quietly down and receive the extreme +unction, and expire with hunger? Who, upon the face of the whole earth, +except these monsters, these ruffians by way of excellence; who, except +these, the most insolent and hard-hearted ruffians that ever lived, will +contend, or will dare to think, that there ought to be any force under +heaven to compel a man to lie down at the door of a baker's and butcher's +shop, and expire with hunger! The very nature of man makes him shudder at +the thought. There want no authorities; no appeal to law books; no +arguments; no questions of right or wrong: that same human nature that +tells me that I am not to cut my neighbour's throat, and drink his blood, +tells me that I am not to make him die at my feet by keeping from him food +or raiment of which I have more than I want for my own preservation. + +48. Talk of barbarians, indeed; Talk of "_the dark_ and _barbarous ages_." +Why, even in the days of the DRUIDS, such barbarity as that of putting men +to death, or of punishing them for taking to relieve their hunger, was +never thought of. In the year 1811, the REV. PETER ROBERTS, A. M. +published a book, entitled COLLECTANEA CAMBRICA. In the first volume of +that book, there is an account of the laws of the ANCIENT BRITONS. Hume, +and other Scotchmen, would make us believe, that the ancient inhabitants +of this country were a set of savages, clothed in skins and the like. The +laws of this people were collected and put into writing, in the year 694 +_before Christ_. The following extract from these laws shows, that the +moment civil society began to exist, that moment the law _took care that +people should not be starved to death_. That moment it took care, that +provision should be made for the destitute, or that, in cases of extreme +necessity, men were to preserve themselves from death by taking from those +who had to spare. The words of these laws (as applicable to our case) +given by Mr. ROBERTS, are as follows:--"There are three distinct kinds of +personal individual property, which cannot be shared with another, or +surrendered in payment of fine; viz., a wife, a child, and argyfrew. By +the word _argyfrew_ is meant, clothes, arms, or the implements of a lawful +calling. For without these a man has not the means of support, and it +would be _unjust_ in the law to _unman_ a man, or to _uncall_ a man as to +his calling." TRIAD 53d.--"Three kinds of THIEVES are not to be punished +with DEATH. 1. A wife, who joins with her husband in theft. 2. A youth +under age. And 3. One who, after he has _asked, in vain_, for support, in +_three towns_, and at _nine houses_ in each town." TRIAD 137. + +49. There were, then, _houses_ and _towns_, it seems; and the towns were +pretty thickly spread too; and, as to "_civilization_" and "_refinement_," +let this law relative to a _youth under age_, be compared with the new +_orchard and garden law_, and with the tread-mill affair, and new trespass +law! + +50. We have a law, called the VAGRANT ACT, to _punish men for begging_. We +have a law to punish men for _not working to keep their families_. Now, +with what show of justice can these laws be maintained? They are founded +upon this; the first, that begging is disgraceful to the country; that it +is degrading to the character of man, and, of course, to the character of +an Englishman; and, that there is no necessity for begging, _because the +law has made ample provision for every person in distress_. The law for +punishing men for not working to maintain their families is founded on +this, that they are _doing wrong to their neighbours_; their neighbours, +that is to say, the parish, being _bound to keep the family_, if they be +not kept by the man's labour; and, therefore, his not labouring is _a +wrong done to the parish_. The same may be said with regard to the +punishment for not maintaining bastard children. There is some reason for +these laws, as long as the poor-laws are duly executed; as long as the +poor are duly relieved, according to law; but, unless the poor-laws exist; +unless they be in full force; unless they be duly executed; unless +efficient and prompt relief be given to necessitous persons, these acts, +and many others approaching to a similar description, are acts of +barefaced and most abominable tyranny. I should say that they _would be_ +acts of such tyranny; for generally speaking, the poor-laws are, as yet, +fairly executed, and efficient as to their object. + +51. The law of this country is, that every man, able to carry arms, is +liable to be called on, to serve in the militia, or to serve as a soldier +in some way or other, _in order to defend the country_. What, then, the +man has _no land_; he has _no property_ beyond his mere body, and clothes, +and tools; he has nothing that an enemy can take away from him. What +_justice_ is there, then, in calling upon this man to take up arms and +_risk his life_ in the _defence of the land_: what is the land to him? I +_say_, that it is something to him; I _say_, that he ought to be called +forth to assist to defend the land; because, however poor he may be, _he +has a share in the land_, through the poor-rates; and if he be liable to +be called forth to defend the land, _the land is always liable to be taxed +for his support_. This is what _I say_: my opinions are consistent with +reason, with justice, and with the law of the land; but, how can MALTHUS +and his silly and _nasty_ disciples; how can those who want to abolish the +poor-rates or to prevent the poor from marrying; how can this at once +stupid and conceited tribe look the labouring man in the face, while they +call upon him to take up arms, to risk his life, in defence of the land? +Grant that the poor-laws are just; grant that every necessitous creature +has a right to demand relief from some parish or other; grant that the law +has most effectually provided that every man shall be protected against +the effects of hunger and of cold; grant these, and then the law which +compels the man without house or land to take up arms and risk his life in +defence of the country, is a perfectly just law; but, deny to the +necessitous that legal and certain relief of which I have been speaking; +abolish the poor laws; and then this military-service law becomes an act +of a character such as I defy any pen or tongue to describe. + +52. To say another word upon the subject is certainly unnecessary; but we +live in days when "_stern necessity_" has so often been pleaded for most +flagrant departures from the law of the land, that one cannot help asking, +whether there were any greater necessity to justify ADDINGTON for his +deeds of 1817 than there would be to justify a starving man in taking a +loaf? ADDINGTON pleaded _necessity_, and he got a Bill of _Indemnity_. +And, shall a starving man be hanged, then, if he take a loaf to save +himself from dying? When SIX ACTS were before the Parliament, the +proposers and supporters of them never pretended that they did not +embrace a most dreadful departure from the ancient laws of the land. In +answer to LORD HOLLAND, who had dwelt forcibly on this departure from the +ancient law, the Lord Chancellor, unable to contradict LORD HOLLAND, +exclaimed, "_Salus populi suprema lex_," that is to say "_The salvation of +the people is the first law_." Well, then, if the salvation of the people +be the first law, the _salvation of life_ is really and bona fide the +salvation of the people; and, if the ordinary laws may be dispensed with, +in order to obviate a possible and speculative danger, surely they may be +dispensed with, in cases where to dispense with them is visibly, +demonstrably, notoriously, necessary to the salvation of _the lives_ of +the people: surely, bread is as necessary to the lips of the starving man, +as a new law could be necessary to prevent either house of parliament from +being brought into _contempt_; and surely, therefore, _Salus populi +suprema lex_ may come from the lips of the famishing people with as much +propriety as they came from those of the Lord Chancellor! + +53. Again, however, I observe, and with this I conclude, that we have +nothing to do but to adhere to the poor-laws which we have; that the poor +have nothing to do, but to apply to the overseer, or to appeal from him to +the magistrate; that the magistrate has nothing to do but duly to enforce +the law; and that the government has nothing to do, in order to secure the +peace of the country, amidst all the difficulties that are approaching, +great and numerous as they are; that it has nothing to do, but to enjoin +on the magistrates to do their duty according to our excellent law; and, +at the same time, the government ought to discourage, by all the means in +their power, all projects for maintaining the poor _by any other than +legal means_; to discourage all begging-box affairs; all miserable +expedients; and also to discourage, and, where it is possible, fix its +mark of reprobation upon all those detestable projectors, who are hatching +schemes for what is called, in the blasphemous slang of the day, +"_checking the surplus population_" who are hatching schemes for +_preventing the labouring people from having children_: who are about +spreading their nasty beastly publications; who are hatching schemes of +_emigration_; and who, in short, seem to be doing every-thing in their +power to widen the fearful breach that has already been made between the +poor and the rich. The government has nothing to do but to cause the law +to be honestly enforced; and then we shall see no starvation, and none of +those dreadful conflicts which the fear of want, as well as actual want, +never fail to produce. The bare thought of _forced emigration_ to a +foreign state, including, as it must, a _transfer of all allegiance_, +which is contrary to the fundamental laws of England; or, exposing every +emigrating person to the danger of committing _high treason_; the very +thought of such a measure, _having become necessary in England_, is enough +to make an Englishman mad. But, of these projects, these scandalous nasty +beastly and shameless projects, we shall have time to speak hereafter; and +in the mean while, I take my leave of you, for the present, by expressing +my admiration of the sensible and spirited conduct of the people of +STOCKPORT, when an attempt was, on the 5th of September, made to cheat +them into an address, _applauding the conduct of the Ministers_! What! Had +the people of STOCKPORT so soon forgotten _16th of August_! Had they so +soon forgotten their townsman, JOSEPH SWAN! If they had, they would have +deserved to perish to all eternity. Oh, no! It was a proposition _very +premature_: it will be quite soon enough for the good and sensible and +spirited fellows of STOCKPORT; quite soon enough to address the Ministers, +when the Ministers shall have proposed a repeal of the several Jubilee +measures, called Ellenborough's law; the poacher-transporting law; the +sun-set and sun-rise transportation law; the tread-mill law; the +select-vestry law; the Sunday-toll laws; the new trespass law; the new +treason law; the seducing-soldier-hanging law; the new apple-felony law; +the SIX ACTS; and a great number of others, passed in the reign of +Jubilee. Quite soon enough to applaud, that is, for the sensible people of +STOCKPORT to applaud, the Ministers, when those Ministers have proposed to +repeal these laws, and, also, to repeal the _malt tax_, and _those other +taxes_, which take, even from the pauper, one half of what the parish +gives him to keep the breath warm in his body. Quite soon enough to +applaud the Ministers, when they have done these things; and when in +addition to all these, they shall have openly proposed _a radical reform +of the Commons House of Parliament_. Leaving them to do this as soon as +they like, and trusting, that you will never, on any account, applaud them +until they do it, I, expressing here my best thanks to Mr. BLACKSHAW, who +defeated the slavish scheme at Stockport, remain, + + Your faithful friend, + and most obedient servant, + WM. COBBETT. + + + + +NUMBER III. + + +_Hurstbourne Tarrant (called Uphusband,)_ + +_Hants, 13th October, 1826._ + +MY EXCELLENT FRIENDS, + +54. In the foregoing Numbers, I have shown, that men can never be so poor +as to have no rights at all: and that, in England, they have a legal, as +well as a natural, _right_ to be maintained, if they be destitute of other +means, out of the lands, or other property, of the rich. But, it is an +interesting question, HOW THERE CAME TO BE SO MUCH POVERTY AND MISERY IN +ENGLAND. This is a very interesting question; for, though it is the doom +of man, that he shall never be certain of any-thing, and that he shall +never be beyond the reach of calamity; though there always has been, and +always will be, poor people in every nation; though this circumstance of +poverty is inseparable from the means which uphold communities of men; +though, without poverty, there could be _no charity_, and none of those +feelings, those offices, those acts, and those relationships, which are +connected with charity, and which form a considerable portion of the +cement of civil society: yet, notwithstanding these things, there are +bounds beyond which the poverty of the people cannot go, without becoming +a thing to complain of, and to trace to the Government as a fault. Those +bounds have been passed, in England, long and long ago. England was always +famed for many things; but especially for its _good living_; that is to +say, for the _plenty_ in which the whole of the people lived; for the +abundance of good clothing and good food which they had. It was always, +ever since it _bore the name of England_, the richest and most powerful +and most admired country in Europe; but, its _good living_, its +superiority in this particular respect, was proverbial amongst all who +knew, or who had heard talk of, the English nation. Good God! How changed! +Now, the very worst fed and worst clad people upon the face of the earth, +those of Ireland only excepted. _How, then, did this horrible, this +disgraceful, this cruel poverty come upon this once happy nation?_ This, +my good friends of Preston, is, to us all, a most important question; and, +now let us endeavour to obtain a full and complete answer to it. + +55. POVERTY is, after all, the great badge, the never-failing badge, of +slavery. Bare bones and rags are the true marks of the real slave. What is +the object of Government? To cause men to live _happily_. They cannot be +happy without a sufficiency of _food_ and of _raiment_. Good government +means a state of things in which the main body are well fed and well +clothed. It is the chief business of a government to take care, that one +part of the people do not cause the other part to lead miserable lives. +There can be no morality, no virtue, no sincerity, no honesty, amongst a +people continually suffering from want; and, it is cruel, in the last +degree, to punish such people for almost any sort of crime, which is, in +fact, not crime of the heart, not crime of the perpetrator, but the crime +of his all-controlling necessities.--To what degree the main body of the +people, in England, _are now_ poor and miserable; how deplorably wretched +they now are; this we know but too well; and now, we will see what was +their state before this vaunted "REFORMATION." I shall be very particular +to cite my _authorities_ here. I will _infer_ nothing; I will give no +"_estimate_;" but refer to authorities, such as no man can call in +question, such as no man can deny to be proofs _more_ complete than if +founded on oaths of credible witnesses, taken before a judge and jury. I +shall begin with the account which FORTESCUE gives of the state and manner +of living of the English, in the reign of Henry VI.; that is, in the 15th +century, when the Catholic Church was in the height of its glory. +FORTESCUE was Lord Chief Justice of England for nearly twenty years; he +was appointed Lord High Chancellor by Henry VI. Being in exile, in France, +in consequence of the wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster, and +the King's son, Prince Edward, being also in exile with him, the +Chancellor wrote a series of Letters, addressed to the Prince, to explain +to him the nature and effects of the Laws of England, and to induce him to +study them and uphold them. This work, which was written in Latin, is +called _De Laudibus Legum Angliae_; or, PRAISE OF THE LAWS OF ENGLAND. This +book was, many years ago, translated into English, and it is a book of +Law-Authority, quoted frequently in our courts of this day. No man can +doubt the truth of _facts_ related in such a work. It was a work written +by a famous lawyer for a prince; it was intended to be read by other +contemporary lawyers, and also by all lawyers in future. The passage that +I am about to quote, relating to the state of the English, was _purely +incidental_; it was not intended to answer any temporary purpose. It _must +have been a true account_.--The Chancellor, after speaking generally of +the nature of the laws of England, and of the difference between them and +the laws of France, proceeds to show the difference in their effects, by a +description of the state of the French people, and then by a description +of the state of the English. His words, words that, as I transcribe them, +make my cheeks burn with shame, are as follows: "Besides all this, the +inhabitants of France give every year to their King the _fourth part_ of +all their _wines_, the growth of that year, every vintner gives the fourth +penny of what he makes of his wine by sale. And all the towns and boroughs +pay to the King yearly great sums of money, which are assessed upon them, +for the expenses of his men at arms. So that the King's troops, which are +always considerable, are substituted and paid yearly by those common +people, who live in the villages, boroughs, and cities. Another grievance +is, every village constantly finds and maintains two _cross-bow-men_, at +the least; some find more, well arrayed in all their accoutrements, to +serve the King in his wars, as often as he pleaseth to call them out, +which is frequently done. Without any consideration had of these things, +other very heavy taxes are assessed yearly upon every village within the +kingdom, for the King's service; _neither is there ever any intermission +or abatement of taxes_. Exposed to these and other calamities, the +peasants live in great hardship and misery. Their _constant drink is +water_, neither do they taste, throughout the year, any other liquor, +unless upon some extraordinary times, or festival days. Their clothing +consists of _frocks_, or little short _jerkins_, made of canvass, no +better than common _sackcloth_; they _do not wear any woollens_, except of +the _coarsest sort_; and that only in the garment under their frocks; nor +do they wear any trowse, but from the knees upwards; their legs being +exposed and naked. The women go barefoot, except on holidays. They do _not +eat flesh_, except it be the fat of bacon, and _that in very small +quantities_, with which they make _a soup_. Of other sorts, either boiled +or roasted, _they do not so much as taste_, unless it be of the inwards +and offals of sheep and bullocks, and the like which are killed, for the +use of the better sort of people, _and the merchants_; for whom also +quails, _partridges_, _hares_, and the like, _are reserved, upon pain of +the gallies_; as for their poultry, _the soldiers consume them_, so that +scarce the eggs, slight as they are, are indulged them, by way of a +dainty. And if it happen that a man is observed to thrive in the world, +and become rich, he is _presently assessed to the King's tax_, +proportionably more than his poorer neighbours, _whereby he is soon +reduced to a level with the rest_." Then comes his description of the +ENGLISH, at the same time; those "priest-ridden" English, whom CHALMERS +and HUME, and the rest of that tribe, would fain have us believe, were a +mere band of wretched beggars.--"The King of England cannot alter the +laws, or make new ones, without the express consent of _the whole kingdom +in Parliament assembled_. Every inhabitant is at his liberty fully to use +and enjoy whatever his farm produceth, the fruits of the earth, the +increase of his flock, and the like: all the improvements he makes, +whether by his own proper industry, or of those he retains in his service, +are his own, to use and enjoy, without the let, interruption, or denial of +any. If he be in anywise injured or oppressed, he shall have his amends +and satisfactions against the party offending. Hence it is that the +inhabitants are _rich in gold, silver_, and in all the necessaries and +conveniences of life. _They drink no water_, unless at certain times, upon +_a religious score_, and by way of doing penance. They _are fed, in great +abundance_, with _all sorts of flesh_ and _fish_, of which _they have +plenty every-where_; they are _clothed throughout in good woollens_; their +bedding and other furniture in their houses _are of wool_, and that _in +great store_. They are also well provided with all other sorts of +household goods and necessary implements for husbandry. Every one, +according to his rank, hath _all things which conduce to make life easy +and happy_."--Go, and read this to the poor souls, who are now eating +sea-weed in Ireland; who are detected in robbing the pig-troughs in +Yorkshire; who are eating horse-flesh and grains (draff) in Lancashire +and Cheshire; who are harnessed like horses, and drawing gravel in +Hampshire and Sussex; who have 3_d._ a day allowed them by the magistrates +in Norfolk; who are, all over England, worse fed than the _felons_ in the +jails. Go, and tell them, when they raise their hands from the pig-trough, +or from the grains-tub, and, with their dirty tongues, cry "_No Popery_;" +go, read to the degraded and deluded wretches, this account of the state +of their _Catholic_ forefathers, who lived under what is impudently called +"_Popish superstition and tyranny_," and in those times which we have the +audacity to call "_the dark ages_."--Look at the _then_ picture of the +French; and, Protestant Englishmen, if you have the capacity of blushing +left, blush at the thought of how precisely that picture fits the English +_now_! Look at _all the parts_ of the picture; the _food_, the _raiment_, +the _game_! Good God! If any one had told the old Chancellor, that the day +would come, when this picture, and even a picture more degrading to human +nature, would fit his own boasted country, what would he have said? What +would he have said, if he had been told, that the time was to come, when +the soldier, in England, would have more than twice, nay, more than +thrice, the sum allowed to the day-labouring man; when potatoes would be +carried to the field as the only food of the ploughman; when soup-shops +would be open to feed the English; and when the Judges, sitting on that +very Bench on which he himself had sitten for twenty years, would (as in +the case of last year of the complaints against Magistrates at +NORTHALLERTON) declare that BREAD AND WATER were the general food of +working people in England? What would he have said? Why, if he had been +told, that there was to be a "REFORMATION," accompanied by a total +devastation of Church and Poor property, upheld by wars, creating an +enormous Debt and enormous taxes, and requiring a constantly standing +army; if he had been told this, he would have foreseen our present state, +and would have wept for his country; but, if he had, in addition, been +told, that, even in the midst of all this suffering, we should still have +the ingratitude and the baseness to cry "_No Popery_," and the injustice +and the cruelty to persecute those Englishmen and Irishmen, who adhered to +the faith of their pious, moral, brave, free and happy fathers, he would +have said, "God's will be done: let them suffer."--But, it may be said, +that it was not, then, the _Catholic Church_, but the _Laws_, that made +the English so happy; for, the French had that Church as well as the +English. Aye! But, in England, the Church was the very _basis of the +laws_. The very first clause of MAGNA CHARTA provided for the stability of +its property and rights. _A provision for the indigent_, an effectual +provision, was made _by the laws_ that related to the Church and its +property; and this was not the case in France; and never was the case in +any country but this: so that the English people lost more by a +"Reformation" than any other people could have lost.--Fortescue's +authority would, of itself, be enough; but, I am not to stop with it. +WHITE, the late Rector of SELBOURNE, in Hampshire, gives, in his History +of that once-famous village, an extract from a record, stating that for +disorderly conduct, men were _punished_ by being "compelled to _fast_ a +fortnight on _bread and beer_!" This was about the year 1380, in the reign +of RICHARD II. Oh! miserable "_dark ages_!" This fact _must be true_. +WHITE had no purpose to answer. His mention of the fact, or rather his +transcript from the record, is purely _incidental_; and trifling as the +fact is, it is conclusive as to the general mode of living in those happy +days. Go, tell the harnessed gravel-drawers, in Hampshire, to cry "_No +Popery_;" for, that, if the Pope be not put down, he may, in time, compel +them to _fast_ on _bread and beer_, instead of suffering them to continue +to regale themselves on nice potatoes and pure water.--But, let us come to +_Acts of Parliament_, and, first, to the Act above mentioned of KING +EDWARD III. That Act fixes the _price of meat_. After naming the four +sorts of meat, _beef_, _pork_, _mutton_, and _veal_, the preamble has +these words: "These being THE FOOD OF THE POORER SORT." This is +conclusive. It is an _incidental_ mention of a fact. It is an Act of +Parliament. It _must have been true_; and, it is a fact that we know well, +that even the Judges have declared from the Bench, that _bread alone_ is +_now the food of the poorer sort_. What do we want more than this to +convince us, that the main body of the people have been _impoverished_ by +the "Reformation?"--But I will _prove_, by other Acts of Parliament, this +Act of Parliament to have spoken truth. These Acts declare what the +_wages_ of workmen shall be. There are several such Acts, but one or two +may suffice. The Act of 23d of EDW. III. fixes the wages, without food, as +follows. There are many other things mentioned, but the following will be +enough for our purpose. + + _s._ _d._ + + A woman hay-making, or weeding corn, for the day 0 1 + A man filling dung-cart 0 3-1/2 + A reaper 0 4 + Mowing an acre of grass 0 6 + Thrashing a quarter of Wheat 0 4 + +The price of _shoes_, _cloth_, and of _provisions_, throughout the time +that this law continued in force, was as follows:-- + + _L._ _s._ _d._ + + A pair of shoes 0 0 4 + Russet broad-cloth the yard 0 1 1 + A stall-fed ox 1 4 0 + A grass-fed ox 0 16 0 + A fat sheep unshorn 0 1 8 + A fat sheep shorn 0 1 2 + A fat hog 2 years old 0 3 4 + A fat goose 0 0 2-1/2 + Ale, the gallon, by proclamation 0 0 1 + Wheat the quarter 0 3 4 + White wine the gallon 0 0 6 + Red wine 0 0 4 + +These prices are taken from the PRECIOSUM of BISHOP FLEETWOOD, who took +them from the accounts kept by the bursers of convents. All the world +knows, that FLEETWOOD'S book is of undoubted authority.--We may then +easily believe, that "beef, pork, mutton, and veal," were "the food of the +_poorer sort_," when a _dung-cart filler_ had more than the price of _a +fat goose and a half for a day's work_, and when a woman was allowed, for +_a day's weeding_, the price of a _quart of red wine_! Two yards of the +cloth made a coat for the _shepherd_; and, as it cost 2_s._ 2_d._, the +reaper would earn it _in 6-1/2 days_; and, the dung-cart man would earn +very nearly a _pair of shoes every day_! this dung-cart filler would earn +a _fat shorn sheep_ in four days; he would earn a _fat hog_, two years +old, in twelve days; he would earn a _grass-fed ox_ in twenty days; so +that we may easily believe, that "beef, pork, and mutton," were "the food +of the _poorer sort_." And, mind, this was "a _priest-ridden people_;" a +people "buried in _Popish superstition_!" In our days of "_Protestant +light_" and of "_mental enjoyment_," the "poorer sort" are allowed by the +Magistrates of Norfolk, 3_d._ a day for a _single man_ able to work. That +is to say, a half-penny _less_ than the Catholic dung-cart man had; and +that 3_d._ will get the "_No Popery_" gentleman about _six ounces_ of old +ewe-mutton, while the Popish dung-cart man got, for his day, rather more +than _the quarter of a fat sheep_.--But, the popish people might work +_harder_ than "_enlightened_ Protestants." They might do _more work in a +day_. This is contrary to all the assertions of the _feelosophers_; for +they insist, that the Catholic religion made people _idle_. But, to set +this matter at rest, let us look at the price of the _job-labour_; at the +_mowing_ by _the acre_, and at the _thrashing_ of wheat by _the quarter_; +and let us see how these _wages are now_, compared with the price of food. +I have no _parliamentary_ authority since the year 1821, when a report was +printed by order of the House of Commons, containing the evidence of Mr. +ELLMAN, of Sussex, as to wages, and of Mr. GEORGE, of Norfolk, as to price +of wheat. The report was dated 18th June, 1821. The accounts are for 20 +years, on an average, from 1800 inclusive. We will now proceed to see how +the "popish, priest-ridden" Englishman stands in comparison with the "_No +Popery_" Englishman. + + POPISH MAN. NO POPERY MAN. + + _s._ _d._ _s._ _d._ + + Mowing an acre of grass 0 6 3 7-3/4 + Thrashing a quarter of Wheat 0 4 4 0 + +Here are "_waust_ improvements, Mau'm!" But, now let us look at the +relative _price of the wheat_, which the labourer had to purchase with his +wages. We have seen, that the "popish _superstition slave_" had to give +_fivepence_ a bushel for his wheat, and the evidence of Mr. GEORGE states, +that the "_enlightened_ Protestant" had to give 10 _shillings_ a bushel +for his wheat; that is 24 _times_ as much as the "popish _fool_," who +suffered himself to be "priest-ridden." So that the "_enlightened_" man, +in order to make him as well off as the "_dark_-ages" man was, ought to +receive _twelve shillings_, instead of 3_s._ 7-3/4_d._ for mowing an acre +of grass; and he, in like manner, ought to receive, for thrashing a +quarter of wheat, _eight shillings_, instead of the _four shillings_ which +he does receive. If we had the _records_, we should doubtless find, that +IRELAND was in the same state. + +56. There! That settles the matter as to _ancient_ good living. Now, as to +the progress of poverty and misery, amongst the working people, during the +last half century, take these facts; in the year 1771, that is, 55 years +ago, ARTHUR YOUNG, who was afterwards Secretary to the Board of +Agriculture, published a work on the state of the agriculture of the +country, in which he gave the allowance for the keeping of _a +farm-labourer, his wife and three children_, which allowance, reckoning +according to the present money-price of the articles which he allows +amounted to 13_s._ 1_d._ He put the sum, at what he deemed the _lowest +possible sum_, on which the people could _exist_. Alas! we shall find, +that they can be made to exist upon little more than _one-half_ of this +sum! + +57. This allowance of Mr. ARTHUR YOUNG was made, observe, in 1771, which +was before the Old American War took place. That war made some famous +fortunes for admirals and commodores and contractors and pursers and +generals and commissaries; but, it was not the Americans, the French, nor +the Dutch, that gave the money to make these fortunes. They came out of +_English taxes_; and the heaviest part of those taxes fell upon the +_working people_, who, when they were boasting of "_victories_," and +rejoicing that the "JACK TARS" had got "prize-money," little dreamed that +these victories were purchased by them, and that they paid fifty pounds +for every crown that sailors got in prize-money! In short, this American +war caused a great mass of new taxes to be laid on, and the people of +England became _a great deal poorer than they ever had been before_. +During that war, they BEGAN TO EAT POTATOES, as something to "_save +bread_." The poorest of the people, the very poorest of them, refused, for +a long while, to use them in this way; and even when I was ten years old, +which was just about _fifty years ago_; the poor people would not eat +potatoes, except _with meat_, as they would cabbages, or carrots, or any +other moist vegetable. But, by the end of the American war, their stomachs +had come to! By slow degrees they had been reduced to swallow this +pig-meat, (and bad pig-meat too,) not, indeed, without grumbling; but to +swallow it; to be reduced, thus, many degrees in the scale of animals. + +58. At the end of _twenty-four years_ from the date of ARTHUR YOUNG'S +allowance, the poverty and degradation of the English people had made +great strides. We were now in the year 1795, and a new war, and a new +series of "_victories_ and _prizes_" had begun. But who it was that +_suffered_ for these, out of whose blood and flesh and bones they came, +the allowance now (in 1795) made to the poor labourers and their families +will tell. There was, in that year, a TABLE, or SCALE, of allowance, +framed by the Magistrates of Berkshire. This is, by no means, a _hard_ +county; and therefore it is reasonable to suppose, that the _scale_ was as +good a one for the poor as any in England. According to this scale, which +was printed and published, and also acted upon for years, the weekly +allowance, for _a man, his wife and three children_, was, according to +present money-prices, 11_s._ 4_d._ Thus it had, in the space of +twenty-four years, fell from 13_s._ 1_d._ to 11_s._ 4_d._ Thus were the +people brought to the _pig-meat_! Food, fit for men, they could not have +with 11_s._ 4_d._ a week for five persons. + +59. One would have thought, that to make a human being _live_ upon 4_d._ +_a day_, and find _fuel_, _clothing_, _rent_, _washing_, and _bedding_, +out of the 4_d._, besides eating and drinking, was impossible; and one +would have thought it impossible for any-thing not of hellish birth and +breeding, to entertain a wish to make poor creatures, and our _neighbours_ +too, exist in such a state of horrible misery and degradation as the +labourers of England were condemned to by this scale of 1795. Alas! this +was happiness and honour; this was famous living; this 11_s._ 4_d._ a week +was _luxury_ and _feasting_, compared to what we NOW BEHOLD! For now the +allowance, according to present money-prices, is 8_s._ a week for the man, +his wife, and three children; that is to say 2-5/7 _d._ In words, TWO +PENCE AND FIVE SEVENTHS OF ANOTHER PENNY, FOR A DAY! There, that is +England now! That is what the base wretches, who are fattening upon the +people's labour, call "the _envy_ of surrounding nations and the +_admiration_ of the world." This is what SIR FRANCIS BURDETT applauds; and +he applauds the mean and cruel and dastardly ruffians, whom he calls, "the +_country gentlemen_ of England," and whose _generosity_ he cries up; while +he well knows, _that it is they_ (and he amongst the rest) who are the +real and only cause of this devil-like barbarity, which (and he well knows +that too) could not possibly be practised without the constant existence +and occasional employment of that species of force, which is so abhorrent +to the laws of England, and of which this Burdett's son forms a part. The +poor creatures, _if they complain_; if their hunger make them _cry out_, +are either punished by even harder measures, or are _slapped into prison_. +Alas! the jail is really become a place of _relief_, a scene of +comparative _good living_: hence the invention of the _tread-mill_! What +shall we see next? _Workhouses, badges, hundred-houses, select-vestries, +tread-mills, gravel-carts, and harness!_ What shall we see next! And what +should we see at last, if this infernal THING could continue for only a +few years longer? + +60. In order to form a judgment of the cruelty of making our working +neighbours live upon 2-5/7_d._ a day; that is to say 2_d._ and rather more +than a halfpenny, let us see what the surgeons allow in the hospitals, to +patients with _broken limbs_, who, of course, have no _work_ to do, and +who cannot even take any _exercise_. In GUY'S HOSPITAL, London, the +_daily_ allowance to patients, having _simple fractures_, is this: 6 +ounces of meat; 12 ounces of bread; 1 pint of broth; 2 quarts of good +beer. This is the _daily_ allowance. Then, in addition to this, the same +patient has 12 ounces of butter _a week_. These articles, for a week, +amount to not less at present retail prices (and those are the poor man's +prices,) than 6_s._ 9_d._ a week; while the working man is allowed 1_s._ +7_d._ a week! For, he cannot and he will not see his wife and children +actually drop down dead with hunger before his face; and this is what he +must see, if he take to himself more than a _fifth_ of the allowance for +the family. + +61. Now, pray, observe, that _surgeons_, and particularly those eminent +surgeons who frame rules and regulations for great establishments like +that of Guy's Hospital, _are competent judges_ of what nature requires in +the way of food and of drink. They are, indeed, not only competent judges, +but they are the best of judges: they know precisely what is necessary; +and having the power to order the proper allowance, they order it. If, +then, they make an allowance like that, which we have seen, to a person +who is under a regimen for a broken limb; to a person who does _no work_, +and who is, nine times out of ten, unable to take any exercise at all, +even that of walking about, at least in the open air; if the eminent +surgeons of London deem _six shillings and ninepence worth_ of victuals +and drink, a week, necessary to such a patient; if they think that _nature +calls_ for so much in such a case; what must that man be made of, who can +allow to a _working man_, a man fourteen hours every day in the open air, +_one shilling and seven pence worth_ of victuals and drink for the week! +Let me not however ask what "that _man_" can be made of; for it is a +monster and not a man: it is a murderer of men: not a murderer with the +knife or the pistol, but with the more cruel instrument of starvation. And +yet, such monsters go to _church_ and to _meeting_; aye, and _subscribe_, +the base hypocrites, to circulate that Bible which commands _to do as they +would be done by_, and which, from the first chapter to the last, menaces +them with punishment, if they be hard to the poor, the fatherless, the +widow, or the stranger! + +62. But, not only is the patient, in a hospital, thus so much more amply +fed than the working man; the _prisoners in the jails_; aye, even the +_convicted felons_, are fed better, and much better, than the working men +now are! Here is a fine "_Old England_;" that country of "roast beef and +plumb pudding:" that, as the tax-eaters say it is, "envy of surrounding +nations and admiration of the world." Aye; the country WAS all these; but, +it is now precisely the reverse of them all. We have just seen that the +_honest labouring man_ is allowed 2-5/7_d._ a day; and that will buy him +_a pound and a half of good bread a day_, and no more, not a single crumb +more. This is all he has. Well enough might the Hampshire Baronet, SIR +JOHN POLLEN, lately, at a meeting at Andover, call the labourers "_poor +devils_," and say, that they had "_scarcely a rag to cover them_!" A pound +and a half of bread a day, and nothing more, and that, too, _to work +upon_! Now, then, how fare the prisoners in the jails? Why, if they be +CONVICTED FELONS, they are, say the Berkshire jail-regulations, "to have +ONLY BREAD and water, _with vegetables_ occasionally from the garden." +Here, then, they are already better fed than the honest labouring man. +Aye, and this is not all; for, this is only the _week-day_ fare; for, they +are to have, "on Sundays, SOME MEAT _and broth_!" Good God! And the honest +working man can never, never smell the smell of meat! This is "envy of +surrounding nations" with the devil to it! This is a state of things for +Burdett to applaud. + +63. But we are not even yet come to a sight of the depth of our +degradation. These Berkshire jail-regulations make provision for setting +the convicted prisoners, in certain cases, TO WORK, and, they say, "if the +surgeon think it necessary, the WORKING PRISONERS may be allowed MEAT AND +BROTH ON WEEK-DAYS;" and on Sundays, of course! There it is! There is the +"envy and admiration!" There is the state to which Mr. Prosperity and Mr. +Canning's best Parliament has brought us. There is the result of +"_victories_" and prize-money and battles of Waterloo and of English +ladies kissing, "Old Blucher." There is the fruit, the natural fruit, of +anti-jacobinism and battles on the Serpentine River and jubilees and +heaven-born ministers and sinking-funds and "public credit" and army and +navy contracts. There is the fruit, the natural, the nearly (but _not +quite_) ripe fruit of it all: the CONVICTED FELON is, if he do not work at +all, allowed, on week-days, some vegetables in addition to his bread, and, +on Sundays, both _meat and broth_; and, if the CONVICTED FELON work, if he +be a WORKING convicted felon, he is allowed _meat and broth all the week +round_; while, hear it Burdett, thou Berkshire magistrate! hear it, all ye +base miscreants who have persecuted men because they sought a reform! The +WORKING CONVICTED FELON is allowed _meat and broth every day in the year_, +while the WORKING HONEST MAN is allowed _nothing but dry bread_, and of +that not half a belly-full! And yet you see the people that seem +_surprised_ that _crimes_ increase! Very strange, to be sure; that men +should like to _work_ upon meat and broth better than they like to work +upon dry bread! No wonder that _new jails_ arise. No wonder that there are +now two or three or four or five jails to one county, and that as much is +now written upon "_prison discipline_" as upon almost any subject that is +going. But, why so good, so generous, to FELONS? The truth is, that they +are _not fed too well_; for, to be _starved_ is no part of their sentence; +and, here are SURGEONS who have something to say! They know very well that +a man may be _murdered_ by keeping necessary food from him. Felons are not +apt to lie down and _die quietly_ for want of food. The jails are in +_large towns_, where the news of any cruelty soon gets about. So that the +felons have many circumstances in their favour. It is in the villages, the +recluse villages, where the greatest cruelties are committed. + +64. Here, then, in this contrast between the treatment of the WORKING +FELON and that of the WORKING HONEST MAN, we have a complete picture of +the present state of England; that horrible state, to which, by slow +degrees, this once happy country has been brought; and, I should now +proceed to show, as I proposed in the first paragraph of this present +Number, HOW THERE CAME TO BE SO MUCH POVERTY AND MISERY IN ENGLAND; for, +this is the main thing, it being clear, that, if we do not see the real +causes of our misery, we shall be very unlikely to adopt any effectual +remedy. But, before I enter on this part of my subject, let me _prove_, +beyond all possibility of doubt, that what I say relatively to the +situation of, and the allowances to, the labourers and their families, IS +TRUE. The _cause_ of such situation and allowances I shall show hereafter; +but let me first show, by a reference to indubitable facts, that the +situation and allowances are such as, or worse than, I have described +them. To do this, no way seems to me to be so fair, so likely to be free +from error, so likely to produce a suitable impression on the minds of my +readers, and so likely to lead to some useful practical result; no way +seems to me so well calculated to answer these purposes, as that of taking +_the very village, in which, I, at this moment, happen to be_, and to +describe, with names and dates, the actual state of its labouring people, +as far as that state is connected with steps taken under the poor-laws. + +65. This village was in former times a very considerable place, as is +manifest from the size of the church as well as from various other +circumstances. It is now, as a _church living_, united with an adjoining +parish, called VERNON DEAN, which also has its church, at a distance of +about three miles from the church of this parish. Both parishes put +together now contain only _eleven hundred_, and a few odd, inhabitants, +men, women, children, and all; and yet, the _great tithes_ are supposed to +be worth _two or three thousand pounds a year_, and the _small tithes_ +about _six hundred pounds a year_. Formerly, before the event which is +called "THE REFORMATION," there were _two Roman Catholic priests_ living +at the parsonage houses in these two parishes. They could not marry, and +could, therefore have no wives and families to keep out of the tithes; +and, WITH PART OF THOSE TITHES, THEY, AS THE LAW PROVIDED, MAINTAINED THE +POOR OF THESE TWO PARISHES; and, the canons of the church commanded them +to distribute the portion to the poor and the stranger, "_with their own +hands_, in _humility_ and _mercy_." + +66. This, as to church and poor, was the state of these villages, in the +"_dark ages_" of "_Romish superstition_." What! No poor-laws? No +poor-rates? What horribly _unenlightened_ times! No _select vestries_? +Dark ages indeed! But, how stands these matters now? Why, the two parishes +are moulded into _one church living_. Then the GREAT TITHES (amounting to +two or three thousand a year) belong to some part of the _Chapter_ (as +they call it) of Salisbury. The Chapter leases them out, as they would a +house or a farm, and they are now rented by JOHN KING, who is one of this +happy nation's greatest and oldest _pensioners_. So that, _away go_ the +great tithes, not leaving a single wheat-ear to be spent in the parish. +The SMALL TITHES belong to a VICAR, who is one FISHER, a _nephew of the +late bishop of Salisbury_, who has not resided here for a long while; and +who has a curate, named JOHN GALE, who being the son of a little farmer +and shop-keeper at BURBAGE in Wiltshire, was, by a parson of the name of +BAILEY (very _well known and remembered_ in these parts), put to school; +and, in the fulness of time, became a _curate_. So that, _away go_ also +the small tithes (amounting to about 500_l._ or 600_l._ a year); and, out +of the large church revenues; or, rather, large church-_and-poor_ +revenues, of these two parishes; out of the whole of them, there remains +only the amount of the curate, Mr. JOHN GALE'S, salary, which does not, +perhaps, exceed seventy or a hundred pounds, and a part of which, at any +rate, I dare say, he does not expend in these parishes: _away goes_, I +say, all the rest of the small tithes, leaving not so much as a mess of +milk or a dozen of eggs, much less a tithe-pig, to be consumed in the +parish. + +67. As to _the poor_, the parishes continue to be _in two_; so that I am +to be considered as speaking of the parish of UPHUSBAND only. You are +aware, that, amongst the last of the acts of the famous JUBILEE-REIGN, was +an act to enable parishes to establish SELECT VESTRIES; and one of these +vestries now exists in this parish. And now, let me explain to you the +nature and tendency of this Jubilee-Act. Before this Act was passed, +_overseers of the poor had full authority to grant relief at their +discretion_. Pray mark that. Then again, before this Act was passed, _any +one justice of the peace might, on complaint of any poor person, order +relief_. Mark that. A select vestry is _to consist of the most +considerable rate-payers_. Mark that. Then, mark these things: this +Jubilee-Act _forbids the overseer to grant any relief other than such as +shall be ordered by the select vestry_: it forbids ONE _justice_ to order +relief, in any case, except in a case of _emergency:_ it forbids MORE +THAN ONE to order relief, except _on oath_ that the complainant has +_applied to the select vestry_ (where there is one,) and has been refused +relief by it; and that, in no case, the justice's order _shall be for more +than a month_; and, moreover, that when a poor person shall appeal to +justices from a select vestry, the justices, in ordering relief, or +refusing, shall have "_regard to the conduct and_ CHARACTER _of the +applicant_!" + +68. From this Act, one would imagine, that _overseers_ and _justices_ were +looked upon as being too _soft_ and _yielding_ a nature; _too good, too +charitable, too liberal_ to the poor! In order that the select vestry may +have an agent suited to the purposes that the Act _manifestly has in +view_, the Act authorizes the select vestry to appoint what is called an +"_assistant overseer_," and to _give him a salary out of the poor-rates_. +Such is this Jubilee-Act, one of the last Acts of the Jubilee-reign, that +reign, which gave birth to the American war, to Pitt, to Perceval, +Ellenborough, Sidmouth, and Castlereagh, to a thousand millions of taxes +and another thousand millions of debt: such is the Select Vestry Act; and +this now little trifling village of UPHUSBAND _has a Select-Vestry_! Aye, +and an "ASSISTANT OVERSEER," too, with a _salary_ of FIFTY POUNDS A YEAR, +being, as you will presently see, about a SEVENTH PART OF THE WHOLE OF THE +EXPENDITURE ON THE POOR! + +69. The Overseers make out and cause to be _printed_ and _published_, at +the end of every _four weeks_, an account of the disbursements. I have one +of these accounts now before me; and I insert it here, word for word, as +follows:-- + +70. "The disbursements of Mr. T. Child and Mr. C. Church, bread at 1_s._ +2_d._ per gallon. Sept. 25th, 1826. + + WIDOWS. + + L. s. d. L. s. d. + Blake, Ann 0 8 0 + Bray, Mary 0 8 0 + Cook, Ann 0 7 6 + Clark, Mary 0 10 0 + Gilbert, Hannah 0 8 0 + Marshall, Sarah 0 10 0 + Smith, Mary 0 8 0 + Westrip, Jane 0 8 0 + Withers, Ann 0 8 0 + Dance, Susan 0 8 0 + --------- 4 3 6 + + + BASTARDS. + + ---- ---- 0 7 0 + ---- ---- 0 6 0 + ---- ---- 0 7 0 + ---- ---- 0 6 0 + ---- ---- 2 children 0 12 0 + ---- ---- 2 children 0 12 0 + ---- ---- - 10 0 + ---- ---- - 8 0 + ---- ---- - 6 0 + ---- ---- - 8 0 + ---- ---- - 8 0 + ---- ---- - 6 0 + ---- ---- - 6 0 + ---- ---- - 6 0 + ---------- 5 8 0 + + OLD MEN. + + Blake, John 0 16 0 + Cannon, John 0 14 0 + Cummins, Peter 0 16 0 + Hopgood, John 0 16 0 + Holden, William 0 6 0 + Marshall, Charles 0 16 0 + Nutley, George 0 7 0 + --------- 4 11 0 + + FAMILIES. + + Bowley, Mary 0 4 0 + Baverstock, Elizabeth, 2 children 0 9 4 + Cook, Levi 5 children 0 5 4 + Kingston, John 6 ditto 0 10 0 + Knight, John 6 ditto 0 10 0 + Newman, David 5 ditto 0 5 4 + Pain, Robert 5 ditto 0 5 4 + Synea, William 6 ditto 0 10 0 + Smith, Sarah (Moses) 1 ditto 0 4 8 + Studman, Sarah 2 ditto 0 9 4 + White, Joseph 8 ditto 0 19 4 + Wise, William 6 ditto 0 10 0 + Waldren, Job 5 ditto 0 5 4 + Noyce, M. Batt, 7do. 6 weeks' pay 1 2 0 + --------- 6 10 0 + + + EXTRA IN THIS MONTH. + + Thomas Farmer, ill 3 days 0 4 0 + Levi Cook, ill 4 weeks and 1 day 1 13 4 + Joseph White's child, 6 weeks 0 7 0 + Jane Westrip's rent 0 2 0 + William Fisher, 1 month ill 1 12 0 + Paid boy, 2 days ill 0 0 8 + James Orchard, ill 1 0 2 + James Orchard's daughter, ill 0 8 0 + Adders and Sparrows 0 2 3-1/2 + Wicks for Carriage 0 1 0 + Paid Mary Hinton 0 4 0 + Joseph Farmer, ill 3 days 0 2 9 + Thomas Cummins 0 6 0 + Samuel Day, and son, ill 0 8 2 + --------- 6 11 4 + + Total amount for the 4 weeks 27 3 10-1/2 + +71. Under the head of "WIDOWS" are, generally, old women wholly unable to +work; and that of "OLD MEN" are men past all labour: in some of the +instances _lodging places_, in very poor and wretched houses, are found +these old people, and, in other instances, they have the bare money; and, +observe, that money is FOR FOUR WEEKS! Gracious God! Have we had no +mothers ourselves! Were we not born of woman! Shall we not feel then for +the poor widow who, in her old age, is doomed to exist on two shillings a +week, or threepence halfpenny a day, and to find herself _clothes_ and +washing and fuel and bedding out of that! And, the poor old men, the very +happiest of whom gets, you see, less than 7_d._ a day, at the end of 70 or +80 years of a life, all but six of which have been years of labour! I have +thought it right to put _blanks_ instead of the names, under the _second +head_. Men of less rigid morality, and less free from all illicit +intercourse, than the members of the Select Vestry of Uphusband, would, +instead of the word "_bastard_," have used the more amiable one of +"_love-child_;" and, it may not be wholly improper to ask these rigid +moralists, whether they be aware, that they are guilty of LIBEL, aye, of +real criminal libel, in causing these poor girls' names to be _printed_ +and _published_ in this way. Let them remember, that the greater the truth +the greater the libel; and, let them remember, that the mothers and the +children too, may have _memories_! But, it is under the head of "FAMILIES" +that we see that which is most worthy of our attention. Observe, that +_eight shillings a week_ is _the wages_ for a day labourer in the village. +And, you see, it is only when there are _more than four children_ that the +family is allowed anything at all. "LEVI COOK," for instance, has _five +children_, and he receives allowance for _one_ child. "JOSEPH WHITE" has +_eight children_, and he receives allowance for _four_. There are three +widows under this head; but, it is where there is _a man_, the father of +the family, that we ought to look with attention; and here we find, that +nothing at all is allowed to a family of a man, a wife, and _four +children_, beyond the bare eight shillings a week of wages; and this is +even worse than the allowance which I contrasted with that of the hospital +patients and convicted felons; for there I supposed the family to consist +of a man, his wife and _three children_. If I am told, that the farmers, +that the occupiers of houses and land, are _so poor_ that they cannot do +more for their wretched work-people and neighbours; then I answer and +say, What a selfish, what a dastardly wretch is he, who is not ready to do +all he can to change this disgraceful, this horrible state of things! + +72. But, at any rate, is the salary of the "ASSISTANT OVERSEER" necessary? +Cannot that be dispensed with? Must he have as much as _all the widows_, +or _all the old men_? And his salary, together with the charge for +_printing_ and other his various expenses, will come to a great deal more +_than go to all the widows and old men too_! Why not, then, do without +him, and double the allowance to these poor old women, or poor old men, +who have spent their strength in raising crops in the parish? I went to +see with my own eyes some of the "_parish houses_," as they are called; +that is to say, the places where the select vestry put the poor people +into to live. Never did my eyes before alight on such scenes of +wretchedness! There was one place, about 18 feet long and 10 wide, in +which I found the wife of ISAAC HOLDEN, which, when all were at home, had +to contain _nineteen persons_; and into which, I solemnly declare, I would +not put 19 pigs, even if well-bedded with straw. Another place was shown +me by JOB WALDRON'S daughter; another by Thomas Carey's wife. The _bare +ground_, and that in holes too, was the floor in both these places. The +windows broken, and the holes stuffed with rags, or covered with rotten +bits of board. Great openings in the walls, parts of which were fallen +down, and the places stopped with hurdles and straw. The thatch rotten, +the chimneys leaning, the doors but bits of doors, the sleeping holes +shocking both to sight and smell; and, indeed, every-thing seeming to say: +"_These_ are the abodes of wretchedness, which, to be believed possible, +must be seen and felt: _these_ are the abodes of the descendants of those +amongst whom _beef_, _pork_, _mutton_ and _veal_ were the food of the +poorer sort; to _this are come, at last_, the descendants of those common +people of England, who, FORTESCUE tells us, were clothed throughout in +good woollens, whose bedding, and other furniture in their houses, were +of wool, and that in great store, and who were well provided with all +sorts of household goods, every one having all things that conduce to make +life easy and happy!" + +73. I have now, my friends of Preston, amply proved, that what I have +stated relative to the present state of, and allowances to, the labourers +is TRUE. And now we are to do all we can to remove the evil; for, removed +the evil must be, or England must be sunk for ages; and, never will the +evil be removed, until its causes, remote as well as near, be all clearly +ascertained. With my best wishes for the health and happiness of you all, + + I remain, + Your faithful friend, and most obedient servant, + WM. COBBETT. + + +THE END. + + + + +Footnotes: + +[1] 4s. 6d. English, equal to one dollar. + +[2] 2d. English, equal to four cents, nearly. + +[3] The above items may be converted into United States' money by +reckoning 4s. 6d. to the dollar: Thus As 4_s._ 6_d._ : 1 dollar :: 11_l._ +7_s._ 2_d._ : 50 dollars 48 cents. + +[4] To convert these sums into United States' money, see page 16. + +[5] All the calculations in this work, it must be remembered, are in +English money but may be turned into United States' money as before +directed, page 16. + +[6] Be sure, now, _before you go any further_, to go to the end of the +book, and there read about MANGLE WURZLE. Be _sure_ to do this. And there +read also about COBBETT'S CORN. Be sure to do this before you go any +further. + +[7] To me the following has happened within the last year. A young man, in +the country, had agreed to be my servant; but it was found _that he could +not milk_; and the bargain was set aside. About a month afterwards a young +man, who said he was _a farmer's son_, and who came from Herefordshire, +offered himself to me at Kensington. "_Can you milk?_" He could not; but +_would learn_! Ay, but in the learning, he might _dry up my cows_! What a +shame to the _parents_ of these young men! Both of them were in _want of +employment_. The latter had come more than a hundred miles in _search of +work_; and here he was left to hunger still, and to be exposed to all +sorts of ills, because he _could not milk_. + +[8] London + +[9] The father of the present Sir Robert Peel, who gained his fortune as a +cotton weaver by the help of machinery. + +[10] Editors of the London Times Newspaper. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). + +Footnote marker 4 is not in the original text. + +Some quotation marks are not matched in the original. Obvious errors +have been silently matched, while those requiring interpretation have +been left unmatched. + +The following misprints have been corrected: + "it" corrected to "is" (page 26) + "whorthy" corrected to "worthy" (page 51) + "bady" corrected to "bad" (page 68) + "buln of the hatch" corrected to "bulk of the batch" (page 119) + "the the" corrected to "the" (page 123) + "abuudant" corrected to "abundant" (page 126) + "pig's" corrected to "pigs" (index) + "Chancollor" corrected to "Chancellor" (Part 2, page 47) + "Chanceller" corrected to "Chancellor" (Part 2, page 47) + "Amecan" corrected to "American" (Part 2, page 55) + +Other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies in +spelling and hyphenation usage have been retained. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COTTAGE ECONOMY*** + + +******* This file should be named 32863.txt or 32863.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/8/6/32863 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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