% 
 
THE . 
 
 Revolt of the Field: 
 
 A SKETCH 
 
 OF THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE 
 MOVEMENT AMONG THE AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS. 
 
 KNOWN AS THE ' 
 
 "NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS' UNION;" r 
 
 WITH A 
 
 Reprint of the Correspondence to the D.ui.v A'/:irs 
 DURING A TOUR THROUGH CANADA WITH MR. ARCH. 
 
 ARTHUR CLAYDEN. 
 
 Honlion : 
 
 HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 
 
 PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 MDCCCLXXIV. 
 
Q-1 
 
 
 1769.30 
 
 UNWIN BROTHERS, PRINTERS BV WATER l-OWER. 
 
TO SAMUEL MORLEY, ESQ., M.P. 
 
 r 
 
 In 710 spirit of sycophancy, but as a trifling expression 
 of my admiration of your princely generosity in con- 
 iributing the sum of five hufidred pounds to the National 
 Agricultural Labourers^ Union, when its early struggles 
 and its gigantic difficulties made the gift of fourfold value, 
 I dedicate this brief and imperfect record of its proceed- 
 ings during the two years of its existence. That gift, 
 with the moral force attending it, and your presidency 
 of the 7nceting in Exeter Hall, on the loth of December, 
 i8y2, determined in a great measure the fate of the 
 movement ; and I doubt not the labouring classes, not 
 merely of the important city which you represent, but of 
 the ivhole country, and I may say of the whole civilised 
 world— for J have lu^ard an enthusiastic acknoivledgment 
 of the service from thousands of working men in the 
 foremost city of America — will hold the splendid illustra- 
 tion of true sytnpathy with the honest toiler in lasting 
 and grateful rcitie?nbrance, 
 
 A. C. 
 

 THE 
 
 REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 

CONTENTS. 
 
 r 
 
 PAGR 
 
 General condition of the Agricultural Labourers anterior to the 
 Union — Efforts of Canon Girdlestone and others to ameliorate 
 the same 
 
 Joseph Arch — Mis birthplace, early history, and call to his life- 
 mission 
 
 ^ First great Labourers' Meeting at Wellesboume 
 
 Inauguration of the Union at Leamington 
 
 Rules of the Union, and Introductory Address by Mr. Arch 
 
 Incidents of the Movement — a Lock-out 
 
 Important Trial at Faringdon to test the right of Public Meeting — 
 Mr. Fitxjames Stephen, Q.C., and Mr. Edward Jenkins, M.P., 
 in defence of Mr. Arch and others— Splendid Victory... . 
 
 Great Meeting in Exeter Hall 
 
 " Labourers' Chronicle " Manifesto 
 
 Speeches of Union Delegates ... 
 
 Great Out-door Meeting at Newbury — Speech of Mr. Arch . 
 
 A Workhouse Scene 
 
 The Guardians and the Labourers ... . 
 
 A Cockney among the Rustics — The Labourer intt^rviewed 
 " Daily Telegraph " Reporter ... 
 
 /*opular Ballads of the U nion 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 21 
 23 
 
 31 
 
 
 37 
 
 
 44 
 
 
 46 
 
 
 49 
 
 
 75 
 
 
 87 
 
 
 91 
 
 by a 
 
 ^ 
 
 • ... 
 
 95 
 
 ■ ... 
 
 99 
 
 \ 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 " Punch " and the La])ourers' Enfranchisement 
 
 The Labourer and the Land — Mr. Arch's pet project 
 
 The Labourer and the Church — Tlieory of the general an 
 
 tagonism 
 
 Chipping Norton Prosecution of Labourers' Wives 
 
 Second Annual Conference at Leamington 
 
 Altercation between Messrs. W. G. Ward and Edward Jenkins 
 
 over article in " Chronicle," " The Battle and the Victory " .. 
 Public Meeting — Speeches of Mr. Dixon, M.P., and others 
 
 The " Times" on the political aspect of the movement 
 
 The Enfranchisement of the Labourers — Speeches of Mr 
 
 Trevelyan and others in the House of Commons 
 
 With Mr. Arch in Canada 
 
 v.Kcrt. 
 117 
 
 125 
 
 14s 
 155 
 i8i 
 
 182 
 201 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 r 
 
 THE question of the condition of our agricultural 
 labourers having become one of universal interest, 
 through the efforts put forth by Mr. Arch and his 
 coadjutors, it has been thought desirable to place 
 before the public the means of forming an estimate of 
 the true character of the movement of which he is the 
 presiding genius. Although the writer, through an 
 early identification with the niral awakening, and a 
 later co-operation as a member of the Consulting 
 Committee of the Union, is able to furnish tolerably 
 accurate data for the dispassionate outside inquirer's 
 judgment, he desires it to be distinctly understood 
 that he has written in no official capacity, but entirely 
 on his own responsibility. And die same remark ap- 
 plies to the series of letters appended, which appeared 
 in the columns of the "Daily News" during the writer's 
 travels with Mr. Arch through Canada. Mr. Arch is 
 in no way responsible for any of the statements con- 
 tained therein. 
 
 Faringdon, Berks, , 
 
 Februaiy, 1874. 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 e^S^ 
 
 THE year 1872 will be ever memorable as the 
 year of the birth of the great movement among 
 the English agricultural labourers. Other premonitory 
 stirrings in the rural districts had for some years past 
 been occasionally heard of A clergyman of the Church 
 of England — Canon Girdlestone — had obtained consider- 
 able notoriety and endured no little reproach on account 
 of efforts which he had been led to put forth on behalf 
 of the labourers in the fields. As the State -appointed 
 parish priest of an agricultural district, he had been 
 brought into close contact with that social wretchedness 
 which has now become pretty well known to the whole 
 civilised world. And, unlike too many others, he was 
 not content to acquiesce in the state of things as an 
 ordinance of God. The universal mode of dealing 
 with the intense poverty of the rural swains by the 
 multiplication of small charities, to be supplemented 
 by the legal provisions of the Poor Law Board, did not 
 satisfy this Christian pastor. He saw that the remedy 
 
2 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 was almost worse than the disease, superadding to the 
 evils of poverty the curse of pauperism. Hence his 
 practical efforts in the direction of migration. Coming 
 from a part of the country where labour was more 
 scarce and better remunerated, the now familiar idea 
 of raising the tone of the village labour market by 
 drafting off the sur[)lus hands to other localities occurred 
 to him. And by this means, and the free use of the 
 press in repeated and most forcible appeals to the 
 public, a considerable impression was made on the 
 public mind. The subject was talked about in various 
 sections nf society, and occasionally the walls of St. 
 Stephen's echoed to the notes of warning which were 
 addressed by honourable members of Radical procli- 
 vities to the landowners on the Conservative benches. 
 And considerable amelioration undoubtedly had taken 
 place in the condition of the English field workers. 
 Their homes had long engaged the thoughtful attention 
 of philanthropists. The present Earl of Shaftesbury, 
 in the course of a debate in the House of Commons 
 some quarter of a century ago, had used such words 
 as these respecting the cottages of our peasants : — 
 *' There is no such thing as a home, and the man who 
 has a wife and children is not the head of a family, 
 but the chief pig in a pig-sty." Landlords in various 
 locahties had anticipated the pr(?isent movement by 
 timely concessions to public opinion, and, I will in 
 justice to them add, by an honest endeavour to rise 
 
LABOURERS' HOMES, 3 
 
 to the full height of their vast responsibilities. In the 
 : jyal county of Berkshire the late " Radical Peer" — the 
 Earl of Radnor — had at a great cost rebuilt the village 
 of Coleshill, erecting for the labourers on his estate 
 homes replete with comforts, of most tasteful elevations, 
 and surrounded with adequate garden-ground. Another 
 extensive landowner — Mr. Henry Tucker, of Bourton 
 House — threw himself into the matter with considerable 
 energy. At an anniversary meeting of the Faringdon 
 Agricultural Library in the year i860 he furnished the 
 members with accurate statistical information as to the 
 state of the cottages in the several parishes comprising 
 the Faringdon Union ; and within a short period after- 
 wards he wrote a letter to the "Times," embodying 
 therein some of the more startling facts previously com- 
 municated to the meeting at Faringdon. In the hope of 
 still more effectually promoting the laudable object he 
 had in view, Mr. Tucker, in the spring of 1862, offered 
 a prize of tifty guineas " for the best essay upon the 
 following subjects, relative to the dwellings of the 
 labourers in the agricultural districts of F,ngland : — 
 I. Tracing and explaining the cause of their present 
 crowded and defective condition, with any authentic 
 information illustrative of that conditic *" 2. The 
 effects, moral and physical, which such condition has 
 upon the inmates. 3. Suggestions as to the best 
 practical means of ameliorating the evils, either by com- 
 pulsory legislation or otherwise." Mr. John Walter, 
 
 a* 
 
4 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 the Liberal member for Berkshire, undertook to ex- 
 amine the essays, and has himself evinced a laudable 
 anxiety in the same direction in his own neighbour- 
 hood. 
 
 Various isolated attempts had also been made in 
 different parts of f^ngland to bring about a better state 
 of things among the agricultural lal)ourers, but without 
 much result. An interest in the subject was awakened 
 in some quarters, and sundry legislative enactments 
 were entered upon the statute-books ; but to all intents 
 and purj;oses the general condition of the men was 
 very slightly improved. Their utter prostration, and 
 the immense power of their employers, backed up 
 by the social and political influence of the wealthiest 
 aristocracy in the world, seemed to make their case 
 hopeless. Benevolent and philanthropic men on every 
 hand looked on their position and sighed. Contrasting 
 the plenty and comfort of their own homes with the 
 squalor and wretchedness of the labourers', they had 
 often and long looked about them for the key to 
 a reform. To ask men with ten shillings a week to live 
 upon, and nearly as many mouths to feed and backs 
 to clothe out of it, to lay by for a rainy day was 
 cruel mockery. To advise them to ask for more way 
 to declare war against your friends and neighbours. 
 So the thing seemed destined to remain as it had been 
 from the beginning. Legislation was powerless and 
 benevolence was at sea. The prophetic words of 
 
, A WARWICKSHIRE VI LI AGE. 5 
 
 Goldsmith bid fair to receive an illustration other than 
 that of the skilful engraver : — 
 
 " 111 fares the land, to th"eatening woes a prey, 
 Where wealth accumulates and men decay." 
 
 Such was the state of things at the commencement 
 of the year 1872. A thousand earnest men stood 
 baftied in view of a social blot which they could neither 
 remove nor endure ; and, as has often happened in 
 human experience, " man's extremity was God's oppor- 
 tunity." 
 
 Within about four miles of the genteel town of 
 Leamington is the quiet and picturesque village of 
 Barford. The mainstay of the place are sundry well- 
 to-do maiden ladies, who, from choice or circumstance, 
 have made it their home. When it is remembered that 
 within an hour's ride are the grand old historic castle 
 of the King Maker, the venerable and unique ruins of 
 Kenilworth, and the classic shrine of Stratford-on-Avor, 
 it will be at once seen that these respectable and well 
 dowered ladies have not gready erred in their selection 
 of a dwelling-place. But others reside in this romantic 
 spot whose lot has been somewhat different from these 
 ladies of fortune and the numerous 
 
 " Heirs of flattery, to titles born 
 And reputation and luxurious life." 
 
 Toiling men and women have their homes in this 
 Warwickshire village. Right in its centre stands a com- 
 
6 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 fortably-built cottage. If we had opened the door, say, 
 two years ago, we should have found a neatly-dressed 
 labourer's wife ironing her husband's shirt. That hus- 
 band was probably some twenty miles off, cutting and 
 putting in order Farmer Brown's quickset hedge. By- 
 and-by, as it was Saturday, her " man" and the lad 
 would be at home \ as he generally managed to be at 
 home for the Sunday. 
 
 As you take the proffered chair and look about you, 
 you see sundry signs of its being a religious household. 
 The Bible is at hand and looks well used. The few 
 books on the shelf are not exactly shilling novels. The 
 coloured prints on the walls savour more of Palestine 
 than the prize ring, and to confirm your impressions, a 
 Primitive Methodist preacher's plan is seen behind the 
 inner door. Yes, this is the home of Joseph Arch — 
 a name soon to be known wherever the English tongue 
 is spoken. From the age of nine years he has been a 
 farm labourer. In this village, on the loth November, 
 1826, he was born. His father had been an agricul- 
 tural labourer, and, after fifty years of toil, had been 
 only saved from the much -dreaded indignities of the > 
 workhouse in his old age by the manly determination 
 of the son.* " With a sigh the old man crept into bed 
 and wept, knowing he was, after all his work, to become 
 a burden to those he loved, and who, as he knew, had 
 
 *'*Life of Joseph Arch." By F. S. Attenborough. (Vincent, 
 
 Leamington.) P. 37. 
 
JOSEPH ARCH. 7 
 
 barely enough for themselves." ** I be afeard, Joe, the 
 parish ull give thee nothin' for me, be'n as yer a Dis- 
 senter." Joe was not anxious that they should; but 
 Joe's wife had been in the habit of earning a couple 
 of shiUings a week at charing, and now that the old 
 man wanted nursing, she had to give this up and stop 
 at home. To the guardians Arch made a reasonable 
 offer. "Gentlemen, I don't want you to support my 
 aged father; but if you will give my wife one sliiUing 
 and sixpence towards nursing him, now that she is cut 
 off her charing, I shall be much obliged to you. It isn't 
 much ; it's less than the loss of my wife's earnings, and 
 nothing towards the expense." " Certainly not, Arch ; 
 your father can go to ' tlie house,' and you must pay 
 one shilling and sixpence towards the expense." " Good 
 morning, gentlemen. I'd sooner rot under a hedge than 
 he should go there." 
 
 Such was the man whom Providence had selected 
 for the great work of raising up a pauperised and down- 
 trodden class of English workmen. Generation after 
 generation of these valuable citizens — these tillers of 
 the soil, these producers of the country's wealth, and, 
 in the hour of danger, defenders of that wealth and 
 guardians of our shores — had lived their hard and toil- 
 some life, and passed away through the workhouse to 
 a pauper's grave, beneath the eye of the parish squire 
 and priest. And only here and there had there been 
 one to dispute the morality of the system. With the 
 
8 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 complacency of the priest and Levite of old, social 
 well-to-doism in our villages, both lay and clerical, 
 Church and Dissent, had settled down into a state of 
 acquiescence in the " Divine appointment ;" and as 
 Hodge lay there by the wayside, maimed and bruised 
 by the cruel exigencies of his lot, they had been content 
 to pass l)y on the other side. 
 
 But it had at length i)leased Almighty God to raise 
 them up a deliverer, and, as in the case of the op- 
 pressed toilers of old — the agricultural labourers of the 
 Mosaic era—" one from among themselves." 
 
 On the 7th February, 1872, the first open-air meeting 
 of lab'>urers was held in the village of Wellesbourne. 
 On ti . 13th another meeting was held in the same 
 place under a fine old chestnut tree, which will hence- 
 forth be numbered amongst the historic trees of 
 England. At this meeting Joseph Arch made his 
 maiden speech; and our "world-wide" circulating journal, 
 the " Daily News," with that unerring instinct which 
 has been the secret of its splendid success, at once 
 appreciated the significancy of the movement, and, 
 through the agency of a gentleman who had, by his 
 graphic pictures of the great Franco -German war, 
 'made' both himself and his paper, at once published 
 tidings of the revolt to the world. 
 
 As this meeting, like the small, narrow stream in 
 Gloucestershire which widens as it flows until it be- 
 comes the magnificent Thames of London, must ever 
 
A LABOURERS' MEETING. 9 
 
 possess a great interest to Englishmen, I will quote a 
 description of it from a life of Joseph Arch written by 
 the Rev. R S. Attenborough, a Congregational minister 
 of Leamington. 
 
 A LABOURERS' MEETLNTx. 
 
 An En<,rlish viUage on a bright summer day is a sight 
 worth seeing. The straggling street ; the great leafy trees ; 
 the old grey church with its green hillocks, among wliich the 
 sheep feed ; the pond, with a tired horse or two lounging 
 on its brink and a score of ducks dabbling in its muddy 
 waters ; and the quaint gabled cottages, S3t round with old- 
 fashioned English flowers, such as stocks, primroses, holly- 
 hocks and snapdragons, covered with dark mossy thatches, 
 and crowned with grotesque chimneys, which only stand by 
 leaning upon one another — all combine to make one of the 
 homeliest and most picturesque scenes to be found in the 
 world. No doubt there are details in the picture to which 
 the fastidious might fairly take exception. Many of the 
 cottages are small, dark, and damp — very pretty in a water- 
 colour, but very wretched to eat, drink, hve, and sleep in. 
 The pavements look like organised contrivances to effect the 
 ruin of human feet and shins ; the open gutters are a trifle 
 too aromatic ; the manure heaps are more frequent and 
 fragrant than pleasant ; and certain needful structures, 
 which we forbear to name, are so near to the wells as to 
 suggest the idea that many of the villagers drink their water 
 mixed with ingredients which are not usually considered as 
 being either good for food or pleasant to the eyes. Having 
 regard to picturesque effect, we may pronounce most English 
 villages to be successes ; but having regard to light, air, pure 
 water, cleanliness, decency, and health, nine out of ten of 
 them must be pronounced failures. But none the less, our 
 
lo THE REVOLT OE THE EI ELD. 
 
 villages, in the summer, under the sun which glorifies every- 
 thing on which he shines, are really very pleasant to look 
 upon. 
 
 They arc not so attractive in winter. The trees, stripped 
 of all but a few withered leaves, stand trembling in the cold, 
 like persons who have seen better days ; the gardens are 
 only so many brown earth-blots ; the pavements are full of 
 treacherous puddles, which bode ill to other than water- 
 tights ; and the street is covered with a layer of greasy clay, 
 which cakes on the boots and gaiters of the men, till they 
 can hardly move in them or get out of them, and makes the 
 poor horses slip hither and thither as though they were 
 learning to slide, or had been drinking as much brown beer 
 as their drowsy teamster. 
 
 In the village the writer is thinking about the ills and 
 pains of winter were yet lingering. The short February day 
 was dying out ; through the cottage windows the faint light 
 of the lean " short sixteens " was beginning to glimmer, and 
 the men, moist, cold, and weary, were gettmg home. • To- 
 night they don't straggie in one or two at a time, but come 
 in groups of eight or nine or more. They march quicker 
 than usual, their air is brighter, their faces are more occu- 
 pied, and it is plain they have something special on hand. 
 Presently they come out of their cottages cleaned and 
 brushed up a bit, and make for an open space at the end of 
 the village. Three or four men drag an old waggon into 
 the centre ; all look and wait, and there soon rises that 
 buzzing murmur caused by the motion and questioning of a 
 crowd. A team comes creaking and jolting down the street, 
 and pulling short up opposite the concourse, the driver, 
 a rough, hard fellow from another village, wants to know 
 " what's oop at Grindington to-noight ?" " Whoy, doant e 
 know as Joe Arch is a cummin oaver?" " Noa, e ant erd, 
 but if 'e be, dang it, if e doant toi oop th' team and wait a 
 
A LABOURERS' MEETLXG. ii 
 
 • 
 
 bit!" Hark! Tramp, tramp, tramp, comes through the 
 thick air ; a hoarse cheer is raised, and some thirty or forty 
 fellows from another village emerge out of the darkness 
 and blend with the crowd. Another detachment arrive?, 
 and then another, until not fewer than five or six hundred 
 men are assembled. It is evident they mean business. 
 For a group of labourers they are marvellously cjuiet and 
 self-possessed ; and looked at by such light as a few lanterns, 
 a lamp or two, and some bottled candles cast upon them, 
 their faces show settled determination, and something which 
 looks like hope, and is, in many a case, there for the very 
 first time. Two or three farmers hanging on the rear of the 
 crowd eye it with manifest uneasiness. A little stir is 
 excited by the arrival of a cart containing three or four men, 
 who soon begin to arrange certain note-books and pencils, 
 and by this are declared to be reporters. A cottage door 
 opens on the right, and from out the warm light it emits 
 come five or six labourers, who make straight for the waggon. 
 The crowd divides to let them pass, and as those nearest re- 
 cognise one of the number, they break out into lusty " cheers 
 for Arch and the Union," which cheers are taken up by the 
 crowd, and repeated again and again, until they ring 
 through the village, waking the chi'dren, rousing the very 
 jackdaws in the steeple, and filling the two old maids who 
 live at "Verbena Cottage" with the dread foreboding that 
 their time has come. An aged man rises in the waggon ; 
 the cheers cease, and amid perfect silence he begins to 
 speak. He is manifestly new to the position and to the 
 work, and at first proceeds with hesitation and discomfort. 
 His " old ooman " is listening to him, so is his master, and he 
 stands in awe of both. As he goes on his courage strengthens. 
 The pluck which in our Anglo-Saxon race always rises to 
 the surface in the time of need rises in him, and now, 
 regardless of everything and everybody, he gives vent to his 
 
12 THE RHVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 deep convictions and long-pent-up feelings in plain, homely, 
 fervid speech, which compels attention and wins unmis- 
 takable assent from thi)se who hear it. His is a strange say 
 for this land and these times ! England is a rich country, 
 the richest in all the earth ; but this man, one of England's 
 sons, and one of her most deserving ones, tells of a poverty 
 that is most woful. This is a free country, — our songs say 
 so, our Parliament men say so, our newspapers say so ; but 
 this man tells a tale of oppression and servitude which 
 crimsons the honest cheek .vith shame. This is a contented 
 country ; our peasants live in sylvan cottages, they serve 
 considerate masters, they are well nurtured, their lives pass 
 smoothly on, their old age is calm, urianxious, and respected. 
 So we have heard and read. But this man tells a tale of 
 misery and discontent and despair which scatters all these 
 dreams and pictures to the winds and fills one with wonder. 
 Listen ! He is seventy years of age. He has been a farm 
 labourer sixty-three years, having begun when he was barely 
 seven. He has pieserved his character ; he ha=; worked 
 hard ; except in times of sickness, he has kept off the parish ; 
 his master and the squire and the parson give him a good 
 word, and smile benevolently when he makes his bow to 
 them, as ''he is i« duty bound to do." He has given sons 
 and daughters to the State. Of these, some died in infancy, 
 because, as he says, he couldn't properly nourish them. 
 The low fevers which hang about ill-drained, ill-lit houses 
 seized them, and they died ; died because they were not 
 and could not be sufficiently fed. Others pulled through, 
 and grew up, he knows not how. He could not educate 
 them, for the schools were few and poor ; and then he 
 hadn't the pence for the fees. True, their mother had 
 ''a little larnin', but she was moastly at 'th' House,' or else 
 i' the fields, helpin' to urn a bit o' bread ; and when she got 
 •\vhoam she wur tired ; and for the matter o' that, so wur the 
 
A LABOURERS' MEETIXG. 13 
 
 children, for all on 'cm as could had been a bird scarin', 
 or stonin' i' the lond, or lookin' for a bit o' firewood ; fur 
 ye see the family wur large, and things wur dear, and when 
 vse'd paid for our flour, wi' all we could do, we had but a 
 moitc left." But the children grew up. Of the girls, two or 
 three are the wives of labourers : they have families, are poor, 
 and can do nothing to help their aged relatives on either side. 
 One, the youngest, is in service, "and being a raul good 
 lass, contrives to remember the old folks at home." Of the 
 lads, the bones of one are whitening in India, where he fell ; 
 another sleeps with his comrades in the English cemetery 
 at the Crimea ; a third was lost at sea ; one or two yet 
 remain, and they are on the soil. This man deserves well of 
 his country ; and ti-.e country recognises his deserts to the 
 extent of paying him eleven shillings a week, stipulating that 
 he shall work for this +rom dawn to dark. He hears of 
 privileges and such like things, but he knows that for the 
 last twenty years, taking one week with another, " he ant 
 earned so good as eleven shillin'." He is now old, his joints 
 are stiff, his strength is departing, and very soon he will have 
 to stand by. What awaits him then .^ "A bit o' stone- 
 breakin' on the roads, two shillin' a week from the parish, 
 and a loaf or two." He will be a burden to the guardians, 
 the guardians will let him know it, the poor old fellow will 
 smart under the sense of it, will wish he was dead, — so will 
 the guardians,— and before long both will be gratified. Poor 
 old man ! He has always been insolvent, he has never been 
 half fed, or content, or free ; he has never felt himself to be 
 a man, and knows that others have regarded him as a 
 mere farm machine. 
 
 " He reads in the paapers as 'ow the country's growin' 
 richer and richer ; as 'ow the cairpenters and such, by union, 
 have bettered themselves, and come to have a share in the 
 gen'ral improvement, and thinks summut should be doin' 
 
14 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 for th' labrin' class. He has no hope for himself, but afore 
 he dies he'd uncommon like to see the young uns doin' 
 better nor he's done. He's hcerd o' the Wellesbourne men, 
 and Muster Arch, and seein' as th' master and th' squoire 
 canna graetly harm him, sin' he's nigh done, he's made bold 
 to ax Muster Arch to come and tell em down here what 
 they must do to get a trifle more wage and a bit better food ; 
 and Muster Arch, like a good un as he is, has come, and 
 will speak to um himself." Tremendous cheering, amid 
 which Joseph Arch rises in the waggon and faces the crowd. 
 Move the light a little nearer that we may take a good look 
 at this man ! Of late he has been holding meetings of this 
 character in his own county of Warwickshire, and he means 
 to hold them, as far as he can, all through England ; advo- 
 cating as his end, shorter hours and better pay, and as his 
 means, union. 
 
 These men before him, and all of their class, have any 
 quantity of faith in him. They call him ''our man, our Joe, 
 the labourers' hope, apostle, friend." His influence over 
 them is unbounded. He has but to speak and it will be 
 clone. If he likes to retaliate on the farmers, as they seem 
 inclined to do on him and his men, there will be mischief — 
 mischief for which the farmers will be solely to blame. He 
 has but to urge vengeance, and night after night flaming 
 stacks will illumnie the darkness, and the whole country v/ill 
 be laid waste. Be very careful, Joseph Arch ! You have at 
 this moment more power than any man in England over the 
 most downtrodden and oppressed class of the community. 
 They are smarting under the sense oi injury and injustice. 
 You hold them as men hold hounds in a leash,— hold them 
 with a judicious hand ! If you loose them and let them go, 
 they will, without a doubt, spring as you direct them, but 
 not even by you will they be called back. What will this 
 man, so suddenly yet so certainly possessed of such vast 
 
A LABOURERS' MEETING. 15 
 
 confidence and influence, — what will he do ! Must we hope, 
 or must we fear ? Look at him as he stands there eyeing 
 the crowd, the light full upon his face. What sort of a face 
 is it ? vSubtle, hard, selfish ? Is the forehead low and 
 dark, or contracted and retreating? Arc the eyes closely 
 set, furtive, and vicious ? Is the chin long, sharp, and cruel ? 
 If so, fear the worst But these features are not here ; I 
 shall hope in a man who has this face, and in his work. 
 Brow broad and open ; eyes frank and brave ; chin square 
 and firm ; face browned with exposure and marked with 
 small-pox, but thoroughly honest and manful ; head round, 
 very well set, and always erect, except Ix'fore God. I can 
 trust this man. I am sure he is true. He means fair play. 
 He hates oppression, whether it is on the side of master 
 or on the side of man. He will wilfully injure no one. 
 He will stand like a wall in defence of right or in opposi- 
 tion to wrong. This man has roused in me the respect and 
 enthusiasm he seems to excite in all who come to know him. 
 You may laugh at me, but I am sure if Joseph Arch h id 
 been other than peasant-born, and had carried into other, 
 and, socially, higher spheres the same fearless, strong, wise 
 nature he now possesses, his country would have heard 
 good things of him. In Parliament, Bright and Cobdcn 
 would have found him a trusty henchman and ally. In 
 the Navy of the past. Nelson would have known him as 
 a man in no wise likely to disappoint England's proud ex- 
 pectation. In war, the Iron Duke would have cast on him 
 that curt smile which a few yet remember, and would have 
 sent home some pithy word about his truth and valour. But 
 let us hear him. He draws his frame up to its full height of 
 five feet eight-and-a-half or nine, throws his deep chest well 
 forward, and as his face lights up with a singularly intelligent 
 and kindly expression, in a clear, ringing voice, which reaches 
 the remotest listener, he utters such sentiments as these : — 
 
1 6 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 " I shall perhaps do right at the outset if I tell you I am 
 a working man— one of yourselves. It has been insinuated 
 by some f)crsons round my neighbourhood, that if some 
 gentleman uad taken up this question they should have had 
 no doubt whatever of its success. I do not happen to be 
 one of tliose who think like that. I think if any one is able 
 to understand the wants, inconveniences, and wishes of the 
 farm labourers, it is that man who has been a farm labourer 
 for over twenty years, even though he may not have been 
 educated as a gentleman. I have had such experience ; but 
 I must tell you, before I proceed further, that you must not 
 expect from me anything like oratory. 1 was sent to work, 
 like most of your boys, when nine years of age, and from 
 then till now I have had to labour with my hands to procure 
 bread. I have been able, by the help of Divine Providence, 
 by hard work — which I don't dislike — and by much sacrifice, 
 to bring up a family of seven children ; therefore I have 
 had some little practical knowledge of the trials and troubles 
 of the labouring man. And now I would just say here that 
 I do not want, in anything I shall say to-night, to cause 
 a bad feeling between the farmer and his men. I am not 
 here to advocate ill-feeling, rowdyism, or anything like 
 that. 1 am not here to advocate an onslaught on your 
 employer's property, nor that yor should jeopardise his 
 rights and interests in order to extort from him an advance 
 of wages. We are going to burn no farmer's ricks, to rob 
 no farmers house, nor kill any farmer's cattle, — are we? 1 
 am come here to-night, by recjuest of your Committee, to 
 explain to you, in my simple way, as a working man, wha 
 is the great necessity of the day with regard to the working 
 man. There is a great, deep necessity, which must soon be 
 met. I know of efficient, able-bodied men who only get 
 I OS. per week. Lately I went to the house of an old 
 experienced shepherd, whom I found living with his wife 
 
A LABOURERS' MEETING, IJ 
 
 in a hovel not fit to turn pigs in, and the poor old man, who 
 works from five in the morning till seven or eight at night, 
 only receives 5s. a week and two loaves. Only yesterday, 
 a waggoner told me he works from four in the morning till 
 eight at night, except on Sundays, when he works from five 
 till six. The man works one hundred hours in the seven 
 days for 12s. 6d., or i^d. an hour. I want to ask every 
 sensible individual how it is possible for a man with four 
 or five children to support them decently, respectably, and 
 properly on 12s. a week. if there is any man here who 
 can tell us how a family can be brought up as it should 
 be on I2S. a week, we shall all be very pleased indeed to 
 hear him. The working man needs more money, and must 
 have more. It is very evident that, whatever some part of 
 society may think of us, each individual Englishman has 
 responsibilities of his own, whether you find him in the 
 House of Peers, in the counting-hoiise, in the market, or 
 in the field — every individual man has responsibilities 
 resting upon his shoulders, which he must carry out more 
 or less for himself We have our responsib'lities ; but the 
 question is — Are we able to carry them out on los. or 12s. 
 per week? The tradesman has the means of enlightening 
 and instructing his children, and rendering them respectable 
 and useful members of society ; but the agricultural labourer 
 is deprived of such a privilege. There is no labourer in this 
 meeting who can feel, when he looks upon his family, that 
 he has done all for them that he should like to have done, 
 or even that society expected at his hands. Why is there 
 so much ignorance amongst us.-* Is it because parents are 
 not careful enough to send their children to school ? I 
 admit there are .some fathers amongst us who are a little bit 
 careless in this matter ; but the fact is, that the exigencies of 
 existence demand that the boy should go to work at eight, 
 and keep on till he is eighty, if his strength holds out so long. 
 
 3 
 
1 8 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 How is it possible for the father to send his children to 
 school when he cannot maintain them ? It m.atlers not how 
 cheap the education is if you cannot spare the child's labour, 
 to enable him to go to school. How can we raise our 
 children to a higher level, how can we educate them, except 
 by an increase of wages ? Then, again, the working man 
 has been called a spendthrift ; it is said he is always in debt ; 
 and some set him down as a positive scamp. Suppose a 
 man by the strictest economy is enabled to keep out of debt 
 on I2s. a week, how can he help getting behind in his pay- 
 ments when illness overtakes him or any of his family 
 require nourishment and medicine.'* He is unprepared for 
 the least adversity ; and when once behind how is it jossible 
 he can recover himself, when at the best he only kept out of 
 debt by the skin of his teeth .'' It may be said there are 
 charities for the poor man in his trouV)le. No doubt these 
 are very good things in their way, but I can hardly say that 
 I think them to be quite so good as some people try to make 
 them out to be. I am an Englishman, and I know that I am 
 speaking to an audience of Englishmen. There is not a man 
 here to-night, however poor, but he likes to wear his own 
 coat, and to cut his own loaf ; and if a man can only have a 
 red-herring for dinner, he likes to pay for it. Just let us 
 look at this charity a bit. The parson of the parish is 
 generally the person who is the trustee or dispenser of the 
 charities, and as he comes round and distributes them, he 
 expects us to be very grateful, thankful, and obedient. If 
 you assert your manhood, and say, " I am a man as well as 
 you," he will not give you much charity. I think the wisest 
 step to take in the matter is to claim what is right for our 
 labour, so that we can buy our own comforts, and tell these 
 kind respectable people to keep their broth at home. I want 
 to see my fellow-workmen raised from serfdom and slavery. 
 Why, have we not as much right to have money and pay for 
 
A LABOURERS' MEETING. 19 
 
 our own clothes as the j^reat Premier of the country has, and 
 as the farmer has ? I maintain that we have. Let us ignore 
 this state of slavery, and get from under the hand of tyranny. 
 Talk of charity ! Let us claim our rights with English 
 independence, honesty, and manhood. 
 
 "It is said by some, that capitalists have decidedly the 
 worst side of the question -are the worst off. I really can- 
 not believe it. 1 remember some few years ago a farmer 
 came into my own neighbourhood and entered upon a farm 
 with a capital of ^200, as he told me himself Three or 
 four years after, he asked me to come and assist him in the 
 hayfield. During the four years he had bought a fine 
 hunting horse, and whereas at first he used to work in the 
 fields himself, he had latterly left it all to others. As I was 
 working, he came up and said, * I have been losing money 
 ever since I came on the farm.' That puzzled me, and I 
 said, 'Why, you told me soon after yoi, came that you had 
 only ^200 when you took the farm. I should judge that 
 the hunter you have bought is worth ^150. Now if you 
 commenced business with only ^20, how is it that you 
 could buy that hunter.-* How is it that you are so much 
 more the gentleman now than you used to be, if you 
 have been losing money all the while .'' The man was 
 silent. 1 assert, fearless of contradiction, that the capitalist 
 has decidedly the best of it. When I said at Tachbrooke, 
 last week, that the labourers were a downtrodden class, 
 it seems I offended some people, who, I am told, say it is 
 a barefaced falsehood. I ask you, Is it true? A man who 
 publicly said it last Sunday is paid to preach to the people 
 and save their souls. Can he live upon 12s. a week? — and if he 
 can't, a bachelor curate, how can we family men ? I value 
 my character as much as he does his, and I hurl back the 
 imputation, and say it is he who is deceiving the people, and 
 not me. 1 want us all to be honest, sober, and free, like 
 
 -5 * 
 
20 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 men. We have God on our side, right on our side, ])ublic 
 opinion on our side, and law at our back. Shall we remain 
 in serfdom .'' Shall we see our wives sufifer for want of 
 proper nourishment, and our children grow up in ignorance, 
 and not try to help ourselves out of this wretched state.'' 
 UNION is our only hope. Let us stand shoulder to shoulder 
 and go forward with confidence. Ask for what is fair, and 
 when you have asked it stand by it at all costs. Don't com- 
 promise and don't be intimidated ; don't look at the toes of 
 your boots, but look at your master rigut in the face, as 
 honest men. Let no sophistry, no bribe, no threat, shake 
 your resolution or disunite your ranks. Stick together, and 
 the day of your emancipation is at your own command. I 
 move ' That this meeting thoroughly approves the Agricul- 
 tural Labourers^ Union., and pledges itself to do all that is in 
 its poivcr to support its interests.^ " 
 
 Enthusiastic cheering, giving in of names and subscrip- 
 tions — and the assembly breaks up. This is a sample 
 of the kind of meeting which has been held night after 
 night since February last, and of the style of Joseph Arch's 
 addresses. His words are always direct, temperate, manly, 
 P/,'<^ thoroughly honest. The labourers could not have a 
 better champion, nor the farmers a fairer opponent. He is 
 worth knowing. Labourers should know and honour him for 
 his wise advocacy of their most deserving cause. Farmers 
 should know and respect him for his burning denuncia- 
 tion of all violence and coercion, for the moderation of his 
 counsels, and for the fairness of his demands. Society should 
 know him and respect him as a man who is wisely and 
 successfully heading the greatest movement of these times. 
 
 This meeting soon bore fruit. On the nth March 
 two hundred labourers of Wellesbourne resolved to 
 make an effort for an increased wage ; and being unable 
 
INAUGURATION OF THE UNION. 21 
 
 to obtain it as they wished in a peaceful and business- 
 like manner, they resolved to " strike." Thanks to the 
 publicity given to the movement by the press, a con- 
 siderable amount of sympathy was soon evoked, and 
 on an appeal being made to the trades' unions through- 
 out the countr^, funds soon began to pour in. An 
 extensive migration of labourers to the north was in- 
 itiated, and on the 29th of March the inaugural meet- 
 ing of the Warwickshire Agricultural Labourers' Union 
 was held at Leamington. At this important and most 
 novel meeting the Hon. Auf)eron Herbert, M.P., pre- 
 sided, and letters of encouragement fiom several other 
 members of Parliament were read. 
 
 A donation of one hundred pounds was handed in 
 from '* a friend of the movement," who wi'ote, " The right 
 to combine must be fought for to the death" — a sen- 
 timent which was received by the assembled workmen 
 with enthusiastic and prolonged cheering. 
 
 The immediate result of this meeting was a general 
 rise in wages in the district, and in utter ignorance of 
 whereunto the thing was going to grow, Joseph Arch 
 meditated a return to his usual work. But it was not 
 to be. As the " woman of Samaria" had, under a 
 mightier inspiration, to leave "her water-pot" to make 
 known her wondrous revelation to the " men of the 
 city," so this man must put down his hedge-hook and 
 his spade, and go forth throughout the rural districts 
 of England with his message of hope and deliverance. 
 
22 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 The "fulness of time'' for the emancipation from social 
 thraldrom of the half-million of field workers had come, 
 and with the hour had come also the man. 
 
 On the 29th May a conference of agricultural dele- 
 gates representing some twenty- six counties was held 
 at Leamington, and Mr. George Dixon, one of the 
 members of Parliament for Birmingham, presided. 
 
 At this meeting the ''Warwickshire" Agricultural 
 Labourers' Union was merged in the " National," and 
 the foundations were laid of the present widespread and 
 most potent agitation. An executive committee of 
 twelve bond-fide agricultural labourers was formed, of 
 which Joseph Arch was made the chairman. The 
 names of the twelve committee-men were as follows : — 
 E. Russell, E. Pill, G. Allington, T. Parker, T. Bidd'e, 
 J. Prickett, J. Harris, E. Haynjs, H. Blackwell, G. 
 Jordan, R. Herring, and G. Lunnun. Mr. Henry 
 Taylor, a London trades unionist, who had early 
 evinced an interest in the rural bestirment, was elected 
 secretary, and Mr. J. E. Matthew Vincent, the editor 
 of the " Leamington Chronicle," who had also generously 
 identified himself with the movement, and rendered it 
 signal service by his journal, was appointed treasurer. 
 In addition to this working organisation, the labourers 
 very wisely accepted the co-operation of a number of 
 gentlemen, whom they designated a consulting com- 
 mittee. Among the names on this committee appear 
 some of the foremost patriots and philanthropists of 
 
THE CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS. 23 
 
 Britain, and their services have been a; all times duly 
 ap])reciated by the labourers, and have undoubtedly 
 been of incalculable value to the movement. 
 
 The following code of rules was drawn up for the 
 government of the young but energetic organisation, 
 and accompanying each copy of the same was this 
 address by the chairman : — 
 
 TO THE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL AGRI- 
 CULTURAL LABOURERS' UNION. 
 
 In submitting to their brethren the Rules of the " National 
 Agricultural Labourers' Union," the Members of the " Na- 
 tional Executive Committee" have added certain Supple- 
 mentary Rules, for the use of Districts arKl Branches. 
 These Rules are not regarded by the National Executive as 
 exhaustive, but simply as fundamental. It is felt that 
 Districts and Branches should have perfect liberty to frame 
 such laws for their own guidance as their own special 
 circumstances may ? > ,gest ; that liberty is ireely accorded, 
 and the National Executive hope it will be exercised on the 
 basis of the Rules for Districts and Branches, and in 
 harmony with the General Rules of the National. The 
 National F.xecutive hope soon to see a Branch Union in 
 every parish, and a District Union — that is, a combination of 
 Branches — in every county or division, ali communicating 
 with a common centre, all observing the same principles, 
 and all working for the same end. In the early stages 
 of our movement, let the Branch and District Meetings be 
 frequent, that enthusiasm may he kept alive, information 
 be dispersed, and the Union be perfected. We must have 
 no local jealousies, no self-seeking, no isolation. Unity of 
 action is above all things necessary, and this can be secured 
 
24 THE REVOLT OE THE EI ELD. 
 
 only as all the Branches and Districts work through a 
 common Representative and Executive Committee. We 
 must have money, and wc must have it in one central fund, 
 to which all shall contribute, and from which, in time of 
 need, all shall in turn be aided. The strength of the great 
 trade societies is in their central funds. If we have a 
 balance here and another there, it will be simply impossible 
 to support a number of men in any emergency that may 
 arise. We must have a common treasury large enough, 
 through the payments of all, to support the demands that 
 may be made in the interest of all. 
 
 The funds of a Branch or District would soon be ex- 
 hausted if a number of men were thrown upon them, but 
 the National Fund -the fund of all — would be rich enough 
 to meet any demands which the National Executive might 
 entertain, and to support our Members through any crisis. 
 Let it be clearly understood, then, that the Branch remits 
 its funds to the District ; that the Districts, remit three- 
 fourths of their receipts to the National ; and that any 
 Branch or District failing to do this has no claim whatever 
 on the general resources of the Union. The fourth allowed 
 to be retained by the Districts can be disbursed at the 
 discretion of the District Committee in meeting current 
 expenditure and in promoting the general objects of the 
 Union. For the working expenses of Branches an Inci- 
 dental Fund is recommended, which may easily be realised 
 by a small payment from each Member. Our movement 
 has begun well. Success is, under God, in our own hands. 
 Let us cleave to and work for the Union. Let peace and 
 moderation mark all our meetings, Let courtesy, fairness, 
 and firmness characterise all our demands. Act cautiously 
 and advisedly, that no act may have to be repented or 
 repudiated. Do not strike unless all other means fail you. 
 Try all other means ; try them with firmness and patience ; 
 
RULES AND CONSTITUTION. 25 
 
 try them in the enforcement of only just claims ; and if they 
 all fail, then strike, and, having observi'd Rulo 10, strike 
 ^vith a will. Fraternise, Centralise ! With brotherly feeling, 
 with an united front, with every District welded into a great 
 whole, with a common fund to which all shall pay, and on 
 which all shall have the right to draw, the time will not 
 be distant when every Agricultural Labourer will have — 
 what few as yet have enjoyed — a fair day's pay for a fair 
 day's work. Nine and a half hours, exclusive of meal-times, 
 as a day's work, and i6s. as a week's pay, are not extrava- 
 gant demands. Society supports you in making them, and 
 they will be met soon. Brothers, be united, and you will 
 be strong ; be temperate, and you will be respected ; realise 
 a central capital, ami you will be able to act with firm- 
 ness and independence. Many eyes are upon you ; many 
 tongues are ready to reproach you ; your opponents say 
 that your extra leisure will be passed in the public-house, 
 and your extra pay be spent in beer. Show that their 
 slander is untrue ! Be united, be sober, and you will 
 soon be free ! 
 
 rSigned) JOSEPH ARCH, 
 
 Chairman of the National Executive Committee. 
 
 Rules and Constitutto^^ 
 Name. 
 
 1. The National Agricultural Labourers' Union. 
 
 Object. 
 
 2. (a) To improve the general condition of Agricultural 
 Labourers in the United Kingdom. 
 
 (b) To encourage the formation of Branch and District 
 Unions. 
 
 (c) To promote co-operation and communication be- 
 tween Unions already in existence. 
 
26 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 Council. 
 
 3. A Council, consisting of one Hclef^^ate from each 
 District Union shall meet at Learning .on or elsewhere, as 
 may be determined by the precedin;^ Council, on the third 
 Tuesday of May in each year, for the following purposes : — 
 
 (a) To elect an Executive Committee, together with a 
 Treasurer, Secretary, and four Trustees. 
 
 {\\) To receive a Financial Statement, with a Balance 
 Sheet for the previous year, duly audited by a public 
 accountant. 
 
 (C) To consider the General Reports to be submitted 
 by Affiliated Districts for the year ending 31st March 
 preceding. 
 
 (d) To confer and decide on the general business and 
 interests of the Union. 
 
 National Executive Conimittee -Composition and Functions, 
 
 4. The National B!xecutive Committee shall consist of a 
 Chairman, who shall have a second, or casting vote, and of 
 twelve Agricultural Labourers, seven of whom shall form a 
 c[uorum. 
 
 5. The National Executive Committee shall seek the 
 counsel and co-operation of gentlemen favourable to the 
 principles of the Union, and shall invite them to attend its 
 meetings, without power to vote. 
 
 6. The National Executive Committee shall meet each 
 alternate Monday, and oftener if necessary — all meetings 
 to be convened by the Secretary. 
 
 7. The National Execudve Committee shall be entrusted 
 with the expenditure of all moneys contributed by the 
 public, by the Affiliated Districts, or otherwise ; and shall 
 employ the same in furthering the objects specified in Rule 
 2 ; it shall also adopt such general means as it may think 
 
RULES AND CONSTITUTIOX. 2? 
 
 desirable to carry on the wor'c of the Union, and shall 
 appoint paid a^jcnts and officers at discretion. 
 
 8. The National Executive Committee shall make the 
 necessary arrangements for each Annual Council, and shall 
 submit a programme of the business to be considered to 
 the Secretary of each Afnliated District, at least fourteen 
 days before the third Tuesday in May. Should any im- 
 portant and unforeseen circumstances arise to necessitate 
 such a course, the National Executive Committee may 
 at any time convoke a Special Council, upon giving the 
 usual notice, and shall do so forthwith on the written 
 request of six District Committees. 
 
 9. The National Executive Committee shall communi- 
 cate to the Secretary of each 13istrict Union any proposals 
 or suggestions that may seem advisable in the general 
 interests of the Union as a whole. 
 
 Settlement of Disputes. 
 
 10. All cases of dispute between the Members of the 
 National Agricultural Union and their Employers must be 
 laid before the Branch Committee to which such Members 
 may belong ; and, should the Branch Committee be unable 
 to arrange the question to the mutual satisfaction of the 
 f>arties interested, in conjunction with the District Com- 
 mittee, recourse shall be had to arbitration. Should the 
 District Committee be unable to arrange for such arbitration, 
 an appeal shall be made to the National Executive Com- 
 mittee for its decision. Any award made by arbitration or 
 by decision of the National Executive shall be binding 
 upon all members of the Union ; and in no case shall a 
 strike be resorted to until the above means have been 
 tried and failed. ' . 
 
 Financial. 
 
 11. The Funds of the National Agricultural Labourers' 
 Union shall be invested in the names of the following 
 
38 THE REVOLT OE THE EI ELD. 
 
 gentlemen ns Trustees : — Mr. A. Arnold, Ilampton-in- 
 Arden ; Mr. Jf:ssk Collfnos, Birmin^'ham ; Mr. Y.. Jknkins, 
 London ; Mr. VV^. G. Ward, I'criston Towers, l<.oss. 
 
 12. The Treasurer shall make no disbursements except 
 on receii)t of a resolution of the National Kxecutivc Com- 
 mittee, s!;4nctl l)y the Chairman and Secretary ; at the first 
 Meeting in each month he shall present a Cash Statement 
 to the National Executive, and shall deposit, at interest, 
 in the names of the Trustees, with Lloyd's Hank at 
 Leamington, any sum in his hands exfcedin;; £,^0. 
 
 District Com ut it tecs. 
 
 13. District Committees shall bear the name of the 
 County or iJivision embracing them; as, the "Kent District," 
 or the " West iierks District of the National Agricultural 
 Labourers' Union." District Committees shall be composed 
 of Delegates from the various Branches of the District ; and 
 each District Committee shall elect an Kxecutivc of seven 
 Members, together with a Chairman, .Secretary, and Trea- 
 surer, who shall meet monthly, and oftener when neces- 
 sary. 
 
 [4. Each District Committee shall regulate its own 
 affairs in conformity with the general prin(:ii)les laid down 
 in the jjreceding Rules ; but no Rules drawn up by any 
 Branch shall be accepted by the National Agricultural 
 Labourers' Union, unless they shall first have been ratified 
 by the District Committee to which such Branch belongs. 
 
 15. District Committees shall do their utmost to prevent 
 men who may migrate to another locality from underbidding 
 their fellow Labourers already at work there. 
 
 16. Each District Committee shall be required at its own 
 cost to send a Delegate to the Meetings of the Council. 
 
 17. Each District Committee shall send to the National 
 Executive Committee, on or before the fourteenth of every 
 
RULES AND CONSTITUTION. 29 
 
 month, a brief Rej>ort of its proceedings ; and on the 
 third Friday in April, July, October, and January, under a 
 penalty of los. f(/r neglect, a i-inancial Statement, with the 
 balance due on the quarter. 
 
 18. Kach District Coniniittee must inform the National 
 Executive Committee of any important action contemplated 
 within its jurisdiction ; and should any jjroccedings be 
 taken by a District without the sanction of the National 
 Executive Committee, and be persisted in after the National 
 I^xecutive has signihed its disapproval, such District shall 
 not be assisted in its action by the funds of the National 
 Agricultural Labourers' Union. 
 
 19. All Districts wishing to be affiliated with the National 
 Agricultural Labourers' Union must remit three-fourths of 
 the entrance fees and of the weekly contributions to the 
 National Executive Committee, to be invested and em- 
 ployed in accordance with previous rules. 
 
 20. Cards of Membership, bearing the /levice of the 
 
 National Agricultural Labourers' Union, shall be issued to 
 
 the District Committees, to be supplied by them to their 
 
 several Branches. 
 
 Branches. 
 
 21. Each Branch shall bear the name of the village or 
 parish in which its business is transacted. 
 
 22. Branches shall onsist of the Agricultural Labourers 
 of one or more parishes in the same locality, who shall pay 
 an entrance fee of 6d. and a weekly contribution of 2d. 
 
 23. Branches, as soon as practicable, shall unite in 
 forming themselves into Districts. 
 
 24. Each iiranch shall annually elect a Chairman, 
 Treasurer, Secretary, and a Committee of seven Members, 
 for the management of its business, to communicate with 
 the District Executive, and, through it, with the National 
 Executive. 
 
30 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 25. Branches shall meet fortnightly for the payment of 
 contributions and other business. 
 
 26. The Chairman shall preside at each Meeting of the 
 Branch ; he shall preserve order, promote the interests and 
 repute of the Union to the best of his power, and sign all 
 reports, minates, etc. The Secretary shall keep the ac- 
 counts of the Branch, record the minutes of all the Meet- 
 ings, and pay over all funds to the Treasurer without loss of 
 time. The Treasurer shall receive all moneys, and, under a 
 penalty of 2s. for neglect, shall, in conjunction with the 
 Secretary, remit them to the District Executive on the first 
 Thursday in every month, together with an audited account. 
 
 27. Each Branch shall raise an incidental fund to meet 
 its own working expenses. 
 
 28. Branches sh-dl be at liberty to frame any bye-laws 
 they may think necessary —regard being had to Rule 15. 
 
 29. These Rules shall be subject to additions or altera- 
 tion only by the Annual or a Special Council. One month's 
 notice of any intended Amendment must be given to the 
 Secretary in writing, and such Amendment shall not be 
 adopted unless two-thirds of the Delegates present approve 
 it by vote. 
 
 The Union was now fairly launched, and, for weal 
 or woe, a new force was henceforth to be brought to 
 bear upon English society. Scarcely a month had 
 elapsed since its consolidation at the May conference 
 betore a new and most potent agency was set in 
 motion for the furtherance of its ends. On June 6th 
 the" Labourers' Chronicle" was started by Mr. J. E. M. 
 Vincent, and the circulation rapidly extended throujjh- 
 out the rural districts. In its columns week by week 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MOVEMENT. 31 
 
 a series of very powerfully written articles appeared, 
 and some of them — notably those from the pen of 
 Mr. W. G. Ward, of Ross, on the land question — were 
 of a nature to arrest the attention of other than 
 agricui 'il labourers or their sympathisers. The in- 
 fluence of this journal upon the movement, and upon 
 the great mass of the labourers generally throughout 
 the country, can scarcely be exaggerated. It is no 
 uncommon thing to see half a dozen labourers sitting 
 under a hedge at their mid -day meal listening to a 
 seventh who is reading from its pages. 
 
 INCIDENTS OF THE MOVEMENT. 
 
 In order to convey anything like a correct idea of 
 this social revolt, it will be necessary to select from the 
 ample reports of the labourers' organ some of its most 
 striking incidents. As the work went on the opposition 
 to it developed and intensified. How the work grew, 
 and how this opposition was shown, will appear from 
 a statement of what came under my immediate notice. 
 Towards the close of the year 1872, as I was seated 
 in my dining-room one evening, about half a dozen 
 rough - clad labourers called to see me. On inquiring 
 what was their business, they informed me that they 
 had called to ask me to help them to form themselves 
 into a Union. I advised them to well consider the 
 matter, to " count the cost," and call on me in a week's 
 
32 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 time. At the end of tlie week they called again with 
 a few more would - be unionists. Their minds were 
 fully made up — they must have their Union. I drew 
 up some rules for them and gave them a start, and 
 as no school -room or public building could be on any 
 account granted for their use as a meeting-place, I used 
 to meet them once a fortnight in my coach-house. 
 Things went on pretty smoothly for a few weeks, when 
 one Friday evening a knock came at my front door, 
 and on the servant going to see who was there she 
 found a congregation of labourers outside. Could they 
 "see the maister"? Certainly; walk in. " Here's a hall- 
 ful of men, sir, wanting to see you," said the servant 
 as she opened my parlour door. " Well, my men," I said 
 cheerily, on going out to them, "what's your business 
 to-night?" "Why, sir," replied one of them, "we're 
 in a bit of a fix. The 'maister' has given us notice 
 to-night that we must either leave the ' Union' or leave 
 his farm by this day week, and we are come to ask 
 you what we had best do in the matter." I paused 
 before replying. It was no light responsibility to advise 
 under such circumstances. Most of those men had 
 families depending on them. Winter was close upon 
 them; the employer who had thus come down upon 
 them had taken good care to get his harvest well housed 
 before he struck the blow ; and leaving the farm meant 
 leaving the home, and starvation. 1 told them to well 
 look the affair over, pointing out the difficulties of 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MOVEMENT. ' 33 
 
 fidelity to their convictions, at the same time urging 
 them as much as I dared to "stand like the brave," 
 assuring them that if they stood by the Union, the 
 Union would certainly stand by them. In a week's 
 time they came again. "Well," I said, "what's your 
 verdict?" "To stand true to the Union, sir." "I am 
 glad to hear it," I replied : " and now those of you who 
 like I'll send to Leamington, and the secretary there 
 will direct you to some work." 
 
 Immediately on their leaving the week previously, I 
 had written off two letters — one to the secretary of the 
 Union at Leamington, to be prepared for the worst ; 
 and another to the proprietor of the farm where the 
 men were at work — the Earl of Radnor — to try 
 and avert the blow. His lordship had, however, de- 
 clined to interpose between his unwise tenant and his 
 men. 
 
 Within a week from that time, most, if not all, the 
 men were at work in the North at greatly increased 
 wages ; though unfortunately, through the lack of suit- 
 able accommodation — which has ever proved the weak 
 point of migration — they had to leave their fam.ilies 
 behind them. 
 
 A few days after their departure, I had to listen to 
 a torrent of abuse from the employer, who had found 
 out, when it was too late, how egregiously he had blun- 
 dered in his anti-Union crusade. 
 
 The next incident to which I can speak from 
 
34 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 personal observation was one which involved a most 
 important question of civil liberty. 
 
 Early in the year 1873 a labourers' meeting was held 
 in the village of Littleworth, near Faringdon, Berkshire. 
 At the instance of an ill-conditioned farmer of the 
 village, three of the leaders of the meeting were sum- 
 moned before the P'aringdon bench of magistrates for 
 obstruction of the highway. The case was exceedingly 
 flimsy, as the Primitive Methodists had tor many years 
 been accustomed undisturbedly to hold their meetings 
 on the selfsame spot. The men were, however, con- 
 victed. On my reporting the circumstances of the case 
 to the executive committee at Leamington, it was unani- 
 mously resolved to hold an open-air test-meeting in the 
 town of Faringdon. Mr. Arch and one or two gentle- 
 men of the consulting committee determined to be 
 present. 
 
 Towards the end of March this meeting was held. 
 An immense throng of labourers half filled the spacious 
 market-place of the quiet old country town. Mr. J. C. 
 Cox, a justice of the peace for Derbyshire, who has 
 distinguished himself by his chivalrous devotion to the 
 labourers' cause from the first, took the chair; and by 
 his side, in the waggon which constituted the platform, 
 were the worthy president and secretary of the Union, 
 Messrs. Arch and Taylor ; Mr. W. Mackenzie, a London 
 barrister; and two or three local friends of the move- 
 ment. 
 
IXC/DENTS OF THE MOVEMENT. 35 
 
 Soon after the commencement of the [jroceedings a 
 request was made to the chairman by the superintendent 
 of poHce to dissolve the meeting, as it was illegal. Mr. 
 Cox ])olitely informed the official that the meeting was 
 held expressly to test the illegality, and that it would 
 not be discontinued till the proceedings were concluded ; 
 at the same time furnishing him with the names and 
 addressee of all who were about to take part in it. 
 
 Contrary to the expectations of those whose charity 
 was in excess of their accjuaintance with human nature, 
 especially that part of human nature which is represented 
 by country squiredom, summonses were in due time 
 served on ea::h of these gentlemen "to be and appear" 
 before the dread tribunal of the Faringdon bench " on 
 the 15th April, 1873, to answer to the charge of wilfully 
 obstructing her Majesty's highway on the," &c., &c. 
 
 Appreciating the importance of the point in dispute, 
 the committee wisely determined to spare no expense in 
 providing the defence. The eminent Queen's counsel 
 Mr. Fitzjames Stephen, with Mr. Edward Jenkins, were 
 retained for the occasion ; and the case was entrusted to 
 the able care of Messrs. Shaen and Roscoe, of London. 
 
 On the morning of the trial the usual quiet of the 
 sleepy old town was disturbed in a most unwonted 
 manner. Troops of labourers poured in from the 
 villages. Everybody seemed to understand instinctively 
 the issues of the battle. The future welfare of the Union 
 • was more or less involved in the struggle. With ever)- 
 
 4* 
 
36 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 public building closed against them, where could their 
 meetings be henceforth held if their right of meeting on 
 village greens and public market-places was successfully 
 disputed ? 
 
 So the plough and harrows were forsaken for the 
 nonce, and Farmer Jones must wait till to-morrow for his 
 barley-sowing, for Hodge is off to the trial. 
 
 And there were not wanting more distinguished visitors 
 that day. The veteran reformer Charles Neate, Esq., 
 senior fellow of Oriel college, Oxford, and a few years 
 ago M.P. for the university city, was there. Editors of 
 local journals and representatives of more ambitious 
 prints were attracted by the bold venture of the squires. 
 Birmingham had its reporter there, and the "wire" would 
 bear to the great city itself a report of the important 
 transactions. 
 
 ** There was a petition I think you said, Mr. Clayden?" 
 asked the astute Q.C., as he sat opposite to me 
 at lunch on the morning of the trial, at the same time 
 helping himself to a glass of Br.ss as unconcernedly as 
 possible. " Yes," I replied, without the slightest idea 
 of the significancy of the reply ; " I wrote it out myself 
 in this very room, and delivered it to the chairman at 
 the meeting, and heard it read." ''That you iiave 
 no objection to state in court?" "Not the least." 
 *' Thank you. A glass of sherry with yor-, Mr. Neate." 
 Thus coolly did the distinguished lawyer settle the great 
 point of his defence. In yonder court the leading 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MOVEMENT, 37 
 
 farmers were congregating to hear their great Arch- 
 enemy discomfited; for the word has gone forth that 
 there will sure to be a conviction. The place of meeting 
 was on her Majesty's highway — there could be no 
 question of that ; and there could be no question either 
 that the concourse of people caused an " obstruction" of 
 such '* highway." Yes, the thing was clear as noonday, 
 and they knew they could rely on the bench. Happy 
 illusion ! Within the capacious brain of the seemingly 
 careless man before m.e lay concealed the little bomb- 
 shell that would in a few hours' time blow all their little 
 castles in the air clean out of sight But I am antici- 
 pating my narrative. < 
 
 At one o'clock on that Tuesday morning the little 
 court -room of the Faringdon berK-h was packed as it 
 had rarely been before. On the bench were the noble 
 chairman, Viscount Barrington, the owner of yonder 
 exquisite piece of Elizabethan architecture kno\/n as 
 Beckett House. By his side is the sighdess but inde- 
 fatigable magistrate, Thomas Leinster Goodlake, Esq., 
 one of the bitterest opponents of the Union that 
 England could produce, and one whom it were better 
 never to have been born than to offend. On the other 
 side was William Dundas, Esq., a retired Chancery 
 lawyer, whose judicious avoidance of any conflict with 
 the energetic master of Kitemore makes him often 
 appear to sanction what, as a truly kind-hearted and 
 Christian gentleman, he must seriously disapprove of. 
 
38 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 The fourth magistrate who is on duty to-day is William 
 Cami)bell, Esq., the son of a wealthy New Zealand 
 merchant and landowner, who owns the old-fashioned 
 but highly picturesque property known as Jiuscot Park. 
 Another magistrate occupies a back seat on the raised 
 part which constitutes that more or less appalling tribunal 
 the " Bench," but, for some cause or other, he takes no 
 part in the proceedings. His name is Daniel Bennett, 
 Esq., lord of the manor of Great P'aringdon. His resi- 
 dence is yonder old Elizabethan pile surrounded with 
 venerable elms. The broad acres which surround his 
 domain, and which at one time formed a part of it, hav*e, 
 through the exigencies of time or the vagaries of its 
 wanton whirligig, passed into the hands of the wealthy 
 coroneted ex-banker who lives in the somewhat gloomy 
 retirement of Lockinge, in the vicinage of the unroman- 
 tic town of Wantage. 
 
 The other two gentlemen standing on the sacred 
 precincts are Captain — or Colonel rather, I should say — 
 Blandy, the chief of the Berkshire constabulary; and 
 the vicar of the parish, the Rev. Henry Barne, M.A. 
 
 Seated immediately below the chairman is the bland 
 and gentlemanly clerk of the bench, Mr. George 
 Frederick Crowdy; and near him his equally polite 
 political and professional rival, Mr. George James 
 Haines, the local factotum of the Tor^' M.P., Col. 
 Loyd Lindsay, who enjoys the reputation of being pro- 
 spectively the richest commoner in England, through 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MOVEMENT. 39 
 
 a happy alliance with the only child of the immensely 
 rich Lord Overstone. 
 
 By the side of this deeply interested legal adviser of 
 local well-to-doism sits the Reading lawyer to whom 
 the conduct of the prosecution has been committed. 
 He is a smart-looking middle-aged man, who i-L^ay be 
 fairly trusted to make the best of even a bad case, and 
 if we may judge from his self-satisfied and somewhat 
 jaunty air, he deems his case to-day anything but a bad 
 one. On the opposite side of the table are seated 
 Mr. Edward Jenkins, Mr. Fitzjames Stephen, and the 
 celebrated London lawyer, Mr. Shaen. A quiet smile 
 sits on the face of the former gentleman. Is he shaping 
 out materials from this trial for another " Ginx's Baby," 
 or "Little Hodge," or "Lord Bantam"? Very probably. 
 He has got the dramatis persona before him, if he did 
 but know it, for a far more thrilling story than he has 
 yet put in print. His chief, however, has no embryo 
 romance before his mind. He is all business. A 
 shrewd, wide-awake man that! Those full, heavy 
 features, with that greater fulness above, are indicative 
 of a reserve of intellectual force that will cut the comb 
 of the Reading lawyer before the day is out, unless 
 I am mistakea Yes, gentlemen at the bar, your case 
 is in good hands, or my penetrative powers are for ever 
 humbled. 
 
 The case proceeds. The prosecuting counsel has 
 stated his instructions, and his witnesses have made 
 
40 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 their record. A policeman or two avow there was an 
 obstruction of the highway — a brewer of the town 
 among others had informed them that he was ob- 
 stnicted in his passage from his residence to the 
 brewery. He would be put in the witness-box to swear 
 this. Later on it was found, however, that in a fit of 
 discretion this valuable witness had left the constabu- 
 lary in the lurch. Probably he had caught sight of 
 Mr. Stephen's physique, or dreaded the powers of Mr. 
 Jenkins' satire. Anyhow he did not appear — a fact of 
 which Mr. T. L. Goodlake did not fail to remind the 
 unhappy counsel for the prosecution in one of his most 
 biting side-hits. 
 
 Another valuable witness, however — the landlord of 
 the Crown Hotel — was not thus without the courage of 
 his convictions. He was driving home, and had to 
 rein in his horse before he could pass into his gates. 
 The evidence of obstruction was conclusive ! A third 
 witness — a carriage maker of the town — was driving 
 home, and although he could not say that he was ob- 
 structed, still, if he had wanted to drive into the Crown 
 Hotel, he certainly should have had some trouble. Mr, 
 Stephen did not deem it altogether essential that this 
 valuable witness should be cross-examined. This must 
 have struck the defendants as being rather careless. 
 " That is my case, my lord," exclaimed the somewhat 
 chopfallen lawyer, and resumed his seat. 
 
 As he did so, Mr. Fitzjames Stephen rose. It was 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MOVEMENT. 41 
 
 perfectly plain to the most superficial observer that the 
 Q.C. had the game in his hand. But his trump card 
 was not going to lie played just yet. He must aftbrd 
 himself and the court the luxury of making mincemeat 
 of the trumped-up affair before he gave it its coup- de- 
 grace. One witness — the burly ^superintendent of the 
 police, facetiously designated by Mr. Stephen "the Village 
 Hercules " — had referred to the fact that it was a service 
 night at the church when the meeting was held, and 
 godly parishioners had been prevented thereby from 
 going to church. 
 
 Amid roars of laughter, in which the worthy vicar 
 joi ned most heartily, Mr. Stephen appealed to the 
 reverend gentleman before him whether the hindrances 
 to worship were not probably more internal than ex- 
 ternal. Of course the mysterious non-appearance of the 
 chief witness — the brewer — did not escape the satire 
 of the learned gentleman, nor the valuable contribution 
 to the case from the homeward-bound coachmaker. 
 Long before the speech was ended, there were not six 
 men in the court who did not feel confident that the 
 prosecution had collapsed. And when, with that in- 
 effable satisfaction with which an absurdity is finally 
 disposed of, he quietly informed the Bench that even 
 if an obstruction was proved the prosecution was 
 powerless against his clients, as they were protected by 
 the Bill of Rights, it seemed a siiperffuity to put witnesses 
 in the box. However, Mr. Charles Neate very clearly 
 
42 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 disposed of the rubbishy testimony as to an obstruction, 
 and 1 was able to setde the quesUon of a petition, and 
 on the completion of the defence, a very short period of 
 retirement from the court was sufficient to enable the 
 Bench to declare the case dismissed. Though inevitable, 
 the victory, however, was not the less valuable. Hence- 
 forth the right of public meeting in towns and villages 
 was secured to the Union, on the simple condition of 
 having a petition to Parliament on the programme. 
 The Bill of Rights protects from imprisonment all as- 
 semblies of English citizens who meet for the purpose 
 of petitioning the House of Commons. 
 
 Returning for a moment to the year 1872 — the natal 
 year of the " Union" — there were two or three incidents 
 which deserve notice. On the 2nd September the 
 Bishop of Gloucester — Dr. Ellicott — made a very indis- 
 creet reference to the movement at a meeting of the 
 Gloucester Agricultural Society. Severely animadverting 
 on the "agitators" — as he designated the delegates who 
 were deputed by the I-eamington committee to proclaim 
 the new social gospel throughout the rural districts — he 
 significantly suggested the village horse-pcnd as a not 
 unfitting place in which to plunge the wretched disturbers 
 of the peace. Never was lapsus iinguce more unfor- 
 tunate ; and still more unfortunate was the dogged with- 
 holding of apology by the bishop. From a thousand 
 platforms and in a thousand publications has this fatal 
 utterance been repeated. It has travelled all over 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MOVEMENT. 43 
 
 Canada, and is as familiar to the Americans as any 
 saying of our Gladstone or Disraeli. Like many 
 another offender, the unfortunate cleric has again and 
 again pleaded that it was " only a little one." But the 
 plea has been useless, and doubtless, small as the 
 offence seems when viewed as the semi-jocose post- 
 prandial utterance of a somewhat out-of-place clergy- 
 man, it has probably done as much as anything to give 
 the movement its present decidedly anti-clerical com- 
 plexion. 
 
 By the first week in September the subscriptions in 
 aid of the Union, as published in the "Labourers' 
 Chronicle," had reached nearly a thousand pounds. A 
 considerable number of Unionists emigrated towards the 
 end of the month to New Zealand, under the auspices 
 of the eminent railway contractors Messrs. John Brogden 
 and Sons, whose terms were of an unprecedentedly 
 favourable character, owing to their demand for men 
 to carry out their railway contracts in that colony. 
 
 On the 12th of November an electoral reform con- 
 ference was held in St James's Hall, London, under the 
 presidency of Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, of Birmingham, 
 when the question of the enfranchisement of the agricul- 
 tural labourers was ably discussed. Mr. Arch was 
 present, and replied with his wonted force to the objec- 
 tions raised on the ground of the illiteracy and general 
 unfitness of the labourers for the political boon. 
 
 A month later a great meeting was held in Exeter 
 
44 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 Hall to express the sympathy of the London citizens in 
 the movement of the rural districts. The Lord Mayor — 
 Sir Sydney Waterlow — was to have taken the chair, but, 
 owing to a discovery that Messrs. Bradlaugh, Odger, and 
 others of the extreme school of politics were intending 
 to seize the occasion for the airing of their peculiar 
 views on the land question, he was persuaded to decline 
 the honour. Happily, Mr. Samuel Morley, who had 
 just previously given the munificent sum of five hundred 
 pounds to the Union funds, at once filled up ihe gap, 
 and thus, in a twofold manner, testified his respect for 
 a movement which was at that time far from being 
 universally popular. The chief speakers on the im- 
 portant occasion were Messrs. Arch, Ball, and Mitchell, 
 as representing the labourers ; and Dr. Manning, Mr. 
 Thomas Hughes, M.P., Sir Charles Dilke, M.P., Sir 
 Charles Trevelyan, Sir John Bennett, and Mr. Mun- 
 della, M.P. 
 
 The admirably-expressed story of the labourers elicited 
 the utmost sympathy, and but for an unfortunate and 
 most ill - timed invasion of the platform by a pushing 
 secularist lecturer, the demonstration would have proved 
 a comj)lete success. A resolution was passed amid 
 considerable enthusiasm, declarmg the present condition 
 of the agricultural labourers a national disgrace and 
 inimical to the best interests of the nation, and in 
 favour of speedy measures for their social and intellectual 
 amelioration. On the motion of Mr. Charles Bradlaugh, 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MOVEMENT. 45 
 
 a rider was added in favour of certain changes in the 
 land laws. 
 
 The progress of the Union during the year had been 
 of the most remarkable character. From village to 
 village, and from county to county, it had spread with 
 a rapidity wholly unprecedented. The delegates — for 
 the most part labouring men, and to a large extent 
 men who had gained their power of speech through 
 their connection with the village chapels of the Primi- 
 tive Methodists — threw into their woik the intensest en- 
 thusiasm. Mr. Arch, whose services were of universal 
 requisition, had performed simply Herculean tasks, 
 speaking to immense meetings night after night in 
 widely -separated districts. The result was a universal 
 interest in the question, and thoughtful men were asking 
 one another whereunto the thing would grow. Landlords 
 and farmers united in heaping upon the unusual pheno- 
 menon in their midst their sarcasm and abuse, and the 
 whole tribe of petty journalists in country places who 
 live upon the smiles of the wealthy and well-to-do classes 
 joined in the chorus of contempt of the "rural upstarts." 
 
 In order to convey a correct idea of the kind of work 
 done by these agents of the Union, and how they do 
 it, I will give a few extracts from the " Labourers' 
 Chronicle," which gives a weekly digest of the proceed- 
 ings of the delegates. 
 
 Perhaps it may be as well to preface these extracts 
 and quotations with a sort of manifesto which the 
 
46 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 "Chronicle" issued the week after the first anniversary of 
 the Union had been held in Leamington. A controversy- 
 had sprung out of a leading article of the " Chronicle," 
 which will be found farther on, and the following 
 straightfor^vard deliverance was the result : — 
 
 The " Labourers' Union Chronicle" was a private venture, 
 risking much with a problematical gain ; commercial notions 
 were not supreme in directing its birth. We had an idea, 
 and we were, and are, willing to sacrifice much for the idea. 
 We mean to stand by the weakest member of the British 
 famil), guide him by our counsel, educate him in true manli- 
 ness, and be his champion against all assailants. 
 
 Our programme we first set out with we shall stand by to 
 the end ; and that we may not be misunderstood, often as we 
 have stated it, we will state it again : — 
 
 1st. A rise in wages. We dictate no amount ; we place no 
 limit ; we simply say that we think, looking at prices of pro- 
 duce and fuel, i6s. a week is not too much for every able- 
 bodied farm labourer ; shepherds and waggoners of the 
 right sort cannot be overpaid at £\ a week. As to the 
 representation of farmers that the moment a man joins the 
 Union he is not a free agent, it is utterly false. If a body 
 of Union men choose never to ask for an advance, they are 
 never coerced ; if they make a foolish bargain, they are 
 neither fined nor condemned. We give them good advice 
 upon all points as far as we can ; when they want assistance, 
 it is granted. If they strive lawfully and respectfully for an 
 advance in wages, and are met unfriendly, the committee 
 will stand by them, faithfully protecting them at any cost. 
 
 2nd. We desire and strive for the franchise for the 
 labourer. If he is to respect himself, and be respected by 
 others, he must have the dignity of citizenship ; and as Par- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE MOVEMENT, 47 
 
 liament for five hundred years has oppressed him, it is quite 
 time he should be on a political equality with the landowner, 
 his old oppressor. Taxation without representation is 
 tyranny — is as true from his mouth as from the middle-class 
 man in the old unrepresented boroughs. 
 
 3rd. The farm labourer must have a fair chance of land ; 
 it is required not only for his benefit, but for the benefit of 
 the nation. The land monopoly must be destroyed, and the 
 land nationalised ; we advocate its being done slowly and 
 moderately, but we desire the change to commence at once. 
 We advocate the extension of Mortmain Acts to the extreme 
 limits ; in other words, all lands held by charities or corpora- 
 tions of every sort and character should be seized at once by 
 the Government, five per cent, less than their net produce 
 should be paid to the late holders, and five per cent, less each 
 year until there is no payment at all. In the case of useful 
 schools and colleges, the payment of the full net produce in 
 perpetuity may be a useful national benefit. 
 
 Then all waste land should be gradually divided up in four^ 
 eight, ten, and twenty acres, as the soil and district and 
 demand indicate as best ; houses to be built, and capital 
 advanced just as has been done to the large landowners ; 
 four per cent, rental in perpetuity to be paid upon land and 
 permanent buildings, five or six per cent, upon money re- 
 payable to cover capital and interest in twenty years. 
 
 All Government forest land to be used up in the same way 
 as fast as there is a demand. 
 
 And the most important point is an extension of the 
 probate duties to land. Every person leaving by will, or 
 giving by deed of gift, over one hundred acres of land to 
 each person, the receiver shall have cut off one-tenth, to 
 be nationalised and used as stated above. 
 
 This simple and moderate remedy would effectually destroy 
 the land monopoly ; primogeniture and entail would vanish 
 
48 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 before it without any declaratory acts of Parliament. And 
 the land would be gradually nationalised ; in about two 
 centuries no one would hold more than a hundred acres of 
 land, and nearly one-half of the land would have been con- 
 fiscated to Government, giving a revenue of twenty-five 
 millions a year , and the benefit would commence at once, 
 and be continually increasing as fast as such changes can 
 healthily proceed. 
 
 SPEECHES OF UNION DELEGATES. 
 
 The following is the substance of an address lately de- 
 livered at Nutfield, Essex, by Mr. Heywood, one of the dele- 
 gates of the National Union. He said that in the remarks 
 he was about to offer he should address himself exclusively 
 to the working men present, and he should therefore, 
 perhaps, be rather plain, or as St. Paul had said, " rude of 
 speech." He was very pleased to see such a good meeting 
 and to meet with them on this important question. He was 
 especially glad to see so many women present, as he found 
 that they were everywhere great friends to the Union move- 
 ment. He had known one woman who threatened that if 
 her husband didn't join the Union she would tear all the 
 hair off his head. He supposed none of those present 
 wanted bald heads. Then they had better join the Union. 
 The movement, since its inauguration, had made rapid 
 progress. Thousands had been gathered into it, and the 
 Union was daily increasing in strength. They were not, 
 however, getting on so well without opposition. The 
 farmers were, in most places, violently opposed to them. 
 At a meeting held at Fletching the fanners did not know 
 how to behave themselves like gentlemen. For such con- 
 duct as that there was no excuse. He (the speaker) always 
 endeavoured to say nothing but the truth, and to say it in a 
 
SPEECHES OF UNION DELEGA TES. 49 
 
 becoming manner. The farmer who opposed a man for 
 becoming a Unionist was disloyal to the Queen, for the 
 Union was according to law. The working men did 
 not hke to be called disloyal to C2uecn Victoria, though a 
 farmer could not object to the Union without committing 
 an act of disloyalty to his sovereign. His (the speaker's) 
 advice to the labourers was, when they found themselves 
 opposed by their masters, not to tly to the Law of Moses, 
 *' an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,'' but rather to 
 the law of the gentler dispensation of the Gospel ; and not 
 to retaliate, but to bear the enmity against them like men, 
 and, if possible, like Christian mert. There was no strength 
 in swearing or in bad language, but in truth and law- 
 abiding manliness. The labourers should be respectful to 
 their masters, whatever they may be to the labourers. The 
 speaker, continuing, said that wherever the Union had been 
 established wages had gone up ; yet there were men who 
 were not in the Union who could still hold out their hand 
 for the extra shilling on Friday night. It was the Union 
 that had got that for them, and it was not honest of them 
 to receive the benefit and refuse to join. Moreover, they 
 must remember that the higher wages were not only to be 
 got but to be kept, and it was only by means of the Union 
 that that could be done. His advice, therefore, to all the 
 labourers was to join the Union at once. If they didn't 
 they must mind the hair on their heads. The wives wanted 
 the extra pay, and girls were not to blame if they refused to 
 marry non- Unionist men. What he wanted for them was, 
 not only to be better paid, but to be better men ; to have 
 not only more to eat and drink, but to be better educated 
 and so better clothed, and to live in better cottages. The 
 Union, therefore was likely to give an impetus to work, for 
 the better cottages would demand the services of the carpen- 
 ters and the plasterers, and the masons and the bricklayers. 
 
 5 
 
50 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 There was another thing he would remind them of, and that 
 was, not to neglect the franchise, nor to rest till they had 
 obtained it, as it was that by which they would be enabled 
 to raise themselves up in the political and the social scale. 
 They must not neglect the claims of the mind in favour of 
 the claims of the body. They must learn to read, read the 
 Bible, read good books, and good newspapers ; and they 
 must not only read, but read thoughtfully; not be like the 
 butterfly that flies from flower to flower, but like the bee 
 that delves down laboriously into the honey-cup and sucks its 
 treasures from the very bottom. The Unionist men had been 
 accused of being republicans and infidels, and Sir Michael 
 Beach had written to the "Times" to caution the public to 
 distinguish between the non- Unionist labourers and the 
 Union delegates. He repudiated the assertions of Sir 
 Michael Beach as unjust. They were not republicans, but 
 loyal subjects of the Queen ; they were not infidels, but 
 believed in the great truths of Christianity. He, for one, 
 might tell Sir Michael Beach that he (the speaker) had 
 preached the Gospel, and that he loved his Bible. He 
 would advise their oppressors to study that book more, 
 Let them take Cruden's Concordance, and turn to the word 
 " oppression," and let them refer to their Bibles and see what 
 was said about it there. Let them search through the 
 whole of the Old Testament and the New, and they would 
 find that though much was said against it nothing was said 
 for it. And what had been God's way for the deliverance 
 of the oppressed ? When the Israelites were to be brought 
 out of their cruel bondage in Egypt, had He not placed His 
 hand upon Moses, the son of one of the oppressed people.'' 
 When God Himself walked this world to bring mankind 
 into the liberty of the Gospel, where did He go ? Did He 
 go to Athens.'* there were poets and philosophers there. 
 Did He go to Rome ? there were emperors and warriors 
 
SPEECHES OF UNION DELEGATES. 51 
 
 and statesmen there. No ; but He went to the poor ^shcrmen 
 of Galilee. And when the time came that the American slaves 
 were to be liberated from thraldrom, did He not place His 
 hand upon Abraham Lincoln, the man who in early life 
 had followed the humble occupation of a rail- splitter ? 
 When, too, the agricultural labourers were to be delivered 
 from their long oppression, it was not to be done by our 
 great men, our philosophers and generals and statesmen ; 
 but God had put His hand upon Joseph Arch, the Warwick- 
 shire labourer. He (the speaker) would urge upon all 
 present to join the Union, which he believed was calculated 
 to better their condition. Its principles were good, its 
 objects were good, and there was everything to encourage 
 it. It would improve them, would better their conduct, and 
 protect them. It was said that the mechanics were more 
 intelligent and better educated than the labourers : this was 
 to be attributed to the principles of Unionism; and he 
 hoped the mechanics would continue to help the labourers 
 in this movement as they had done hitherto. Let the 
 shopkeepers, too, with whom the labourers spent their 
 money, encourage the Union men. They would equally 
 reap the bencht of the higher wages. "And let them try, too, 
 to get the co-operation of some of the wealthy and influential 
 gentlemen of the district. Lastly, when at length they had 
 reaped the advantages of the movement and began to feel 
 their power, he would say to them, " Never be tyrants." 
 Let there be too much of moral dignity about them to 
 retaliate. A farmer in Berkshire had said that what they 
 (the farmers) wanted were " men with strong arms and no 
 brains." That was an insane expression. He would like 
 to put that farmer into a railway train, shut him up by 
 himself, lock the doors, and turn on the steam. He would 
 perhaps want to go to Manchester or to Liverpool. "Well," 
 he (the speaker) would say to him, " go a-head ; the steam's 
 
 e * 
 
52 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 up, there's no driver, and you can't get out, but you've a 
 strong arm antl no brains ; away you go to Manchester, 
 or Liverpool, or whatever place you want ; you've a strong 
 arm and no brains." He (Mr. Hey wood) contended that 
 farm work was skilled labour. Let the man who thought 
 it wasn't try his hand at mowing, for instance. Why, there 
 was skill even in stone - breaking, which w^as generally 
 supposed to be the last thing a man took to before going 
 into the workhouse. 
 
 At the conclusion of the speech, which was attentively 
 listened to throughout, three ringing cheers were given for 
 the National Union, for Mr. Arch, and for Mr. Heywood. 
 A large number of labourers were enrolled as members of 
 the Union at the termination of the proceedings. 
 
 REIGATE, SURREY. 
 
 On Monday evening, May 5th, Mr. Hayward (delegate) 
 addressed a small meeting of about fifty persons in the 
 Market Place. A drizzling rain was falling, and the meeting 
 had not been widely advertised ; otherwise, there is no doubt 
 that a larger number would have been present. Mr. 
 Hayward commenced his speech by saying that every class 
 had its own grievance ; it would not, however, be necessary 
 to particularise the landowners' grievances, as they could 
 always speak for themselves. The farmers had great 
 grievances — the first of these was a bad system of land 
 tenure. Many farmers held their land on a six-months' 
 notice, and, therefore, if a man took a farm that had been 
 badly cultivated, and expended a great deal of capital upon 
 it, so as to make it more valuable, he might receive a six- 
 months' notice, and could get no compensation. He would 
 have to leave behind him in the ground all his capital. The 
 natural consequence of this was that the land was under- 
 
SPEECHES OF UNION DELEGATES. 53 
 
 cultivated, as the farmer could not be expected to invest his 
 capital without security. This was a grievance not to the 
 fanners only, but to the whole nation, as the land was 
 rendered less: productive than it might and ought to be. 
 Then the Game Laws were a great grievance to the farmer, 
 as he was liable to have all his crops eaten up by game, and 
 could get no redress. The National Agricultural Labourers' 
 Union was no enemy to the farmer, as it would tend to get 
 their just grievances redressed, as well as the grievances of 
 the labourers. Tlie farm labourers had many grievances. 
 Jn the first place, they were underpaid ; and the first demand 
 of the L^iion was that a fair day's pay should be given for 
 a fair day's work. He did not profess to state the exact 
 amount which the labourer should receive ; it was impossible 
 to do that, as the cost of living varied in different places ; 
 but the labourers ought to receive sufficient to provide for 
 themselves the necessaries of life, for, because the labourer 
 was underpaid, he was consequently underfed. He him- 
 self had frequently gone to work in the morning with 
 nothing but a piece of dry bread, which he had been 
 obliged to soak in the water in the fields to make it go 
 down ; he had sat down to a .Sunday dinner of nothing but 
 potatoes, bread, and salt, without a scrap of meat. That 
 was not sufficient food for a hard-working man. Then the 
 Union demanded that the labourers should have proper 
 cottages ; it was not right or decent that a married man and 
 his wife and their growing-up sons and daughters should 
 all be obliged to sleep together in a single room. They 
 demanded that cottages should be supplied with separate 
 sleeping rooms for the two sexes. Then there was the 
 question of the employment of women. The Union de- 
 manded that women should not be employed upon work 
 that was only suited for men ; they demanded that, as a rule, 
 women should not be employed to work in the fields. At 
 
54 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 times, when there was a pressure of work, it was quite right 
 that women should Vje employed rather than that the fruits 
 of the earth should not be gathered in ; but, as a rule, 
 women should stay at home. He had seen women carting 
 and spreading manure ; that was not a woman's work. He 
 had seen women work at the tops of machines, with their 
 petticoats blown about by the wind ; that was not a proper 
 or a decent place for a woman. Lastly, the Union demanded 
 that the agricultural labourers should have the franchise. 
 Parliamentary leaders had to consider the opinions of the 
 artizans m the great towns, such as Manchester and Bir- 
 mingham ; but they cared nothing for the opinions of the 
 labourers, because they had no political power. This was 
 neither right nor just. By means of the Union, the labourers 
 were getting power and influence, and some of their wrongs 
 were being slowly redressed. He exhorted them not to be 
 tyrannical, but to use their power to gain what was just for 
 their own class, and not to oppress other classes. All had 
 their rights, and the rights of all should be respected. 
 
 The above is only a very brief outline of a most able and 
 interesting address, which was listened to, with marked 
 attention and interest, by an audience composed chiefly of 
 labourers and artizans. At the conclusion of his address, 
 Mr. Hayward asked if any one would like to address the 
 meeting. 
 
 The Rev. J. P. Knight (incumbent of St. Luke's (Reigate), 
 said he would like to say a few words. He had attended 
 that meeting because he had always taken an interest 
 in the National Agricultural Labourers' Union. He thought 
 it had a right to the name "National," because it did not 
 claim undue privileges for the labourers, but only that jus- 
 tice should be done them ; and, apart from all questions 
 of right or wrong, it would be a national advantage that 
 iustice should be done to the labourers. . . 
 
SPEECHES OF UNION DELEGATES. 55 
 •CAPITAL MEETINC; AT BALD ON. 
 
 ADMIRAIJLE SPEECH BY A CLERCiVMAN. 
 
 Mr. C. Holloway (delegate) writes (April 22nd): — Ac- 
 cording to appointment I attended a meeting at Baldon last 
 night, which I think, upon the whole, was one of the best 
 Union meetings I have hitherto attended. Baldon is one of 
 those few villages which have not suffered from the over- 
 reaching and covetousness which have for years been engaged 
 in robbing the poor and helpless of the village green and 
 common rights. Here, in the very heart of the village, is a 
 beautiful and magnificent green, comprising within its limits, 
 1 should say, sixteen or eighteen acres of good pasture land, 
 well studded with beautiful elms ; springs of water bubbling 
 forth and dancing gracefully in the glad sunlight, pursue 
 their onward course right across the green, while all around, 
 encircling this green, stand forth, in bold relief, the cottages 
 of the villagers, each of whom has the privilege of using the 
 green as a public recreation ground, and also the right to 
 turn sheep, pigs, or geese (if they chance to have any) out 
 to graze upon the greensward. May the day never come 
 when th(;se poor villagers will be robbed by their rich neigh- 
 bours of this piece of common land, and may it for ever be 
 preserved as a memento of what the English cottager used 
 to enjoy in the good old times long since gone by. At the time 
 appointed, in company with a few friends, I took my stand 
 upon this green, and, sir, it did my heart good to see the 
 people come flocking around me from all parts, and very 
 soon I was surrounded by a very numerous and attentive 
 assembly. Previous to opening the meeting 1 was informed 
 that the clergyman of the village was present ; I immediately 
 invited him to take the chair, ard preside over the meeting. 
 This he very courteously declined, upon the grounds that 
 he had come as a hearer, to hear for himself the complaints 
 
56 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 and grievances of the labouring classes as set forth by one 
 of themselves, and then, having heard both sides of the 
 question, he should be able to judge of the merits and 
 justice of our cause. Mr. John Carter, a labouring man, 
 was then voted to the chair, who, in a very able speech, 
 alluded to the wrongs, privations, and sufferings, of the 
 labouring classes, referring very touchlngly to his own ex- 
 perience as to what he had endured during two long winters 
 in which he was incarcerated in that modern prison — I mean 
 the union workhouse at Abingdon — and the poverty and dis- 
 tress he has had to contend with nearly all his days, caused 
 by the iron hand of tyranny and oppression. He then 
 pointed triumphantly to the Labourers' Union as the only 
 means of emancipation for the oppressed labourers of oui 
 country ; after which he called upon Mr. Charles Stile, of 
 Littlemore, who gave us a very neat and appropriate little 
 speech. Mr. C. Holloway, the Union delegate, next ad- 
 dressed the meeting in his usual forcible style for about an 
 hour and a quarter, frequently eliciting loud applause from 
 the immense multitude. At the close of his speech he was 
 told by the chairman that the clergyman wished to say a 
 few words. The rev. gentleman was very cordially introduced 
 to the meeting, and, after the cheering with which he was 
 greeted had subsiued, proceeded to make the following re- 
 marks. He said he had listened with very great pleasure 
 and interest to the speeches that had been made, and to the 
 arguments which had been brought forward by Mr. Holloway 
 in support and defence of their great movement. He be- 
 lieved that the labourers had been badly paid ; that in this 
 age of progress the condition of the labourer had not kept 
 pace with the times. He believed, from the statements 
 made by Mr. Holloway, that the Union was designed to 
 benefit and bless the people ; and he could say *' God speed' 
 to any movement which had for its object " the glory of God 
 
SPEECHES OF UNION DELEGATES. 57 
 
 and the bettering of the position of the masses of the people, 
 
 both temporarily and spiritually.'' He said that he had 
 
 listened very attentively to Mr. Hollovvay's lengthy speech, 
 
 and although much had been said, yet not one word had 
 
 been advanced which he should like to recall ; and after 
 
 noticing the different points which had been brought for- 
 
 ward, he said that he should go home from that meeting 
 
 more favourably impressed with the principles of unionism, 
 
 as the only means whereby the working classes can be 
 
 uplifted to their only true and proper position. He then 
 
 dwelt at some length upon the advantages of migration and 
 
 emigration ; referred to the abolition of the Game Laws, 
 
 and other improvements which might be brought about for 
 
 the advantage of the community at large ; and then brought 
 
 his very interesting and practical speech to a close by invitiiig 
 
 the men present to act upon the good advice which had 
 
 been given by Mr. Holloway, — that is, said he, when you have 
 
 got an advance of vvages, don't take it to the public-house 
 
 and squander it away, but take it home to your wives and 
 
 families, and by so doing the cottage homes of England 
 
 shall once more become the abode of the brave, the free, 
 
 and the happy. This interesting meeting was then brought 
 
 to a close by giving three hearty good cheers for the 
 
 speakers, and three for Mr. Arch and the Union. 
 
 OXFORD DISTRICT. 
 
 Mr. C. Holloway, of Wootton, writes : — I once more take 
 up my pen to address a few lines to you on the prospects 
 and progress of Unionism in our district. After having, 
 with Mr. Leggett, held a very successful meeting at Chal- 
 grove, on Monday last, I walked over to Tets worth, on 
 Tuesday, where, in the evening, I held a meeting that was 
 very orderly and very successful. T. Johnson, who is just 
 
58 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 appointed chairman of the newly-formed b'"anch, ably presided 
 over the meeting, I then addressed the numerous assembly 
 for more than an hour upon the principles of Unionism, its 
 constitution, and its objects. The people listened with the 
 greatest attention, very frequently applauded, and when at 
 the close of my address I mvited the men who wished to be 
 free to step forward and join the Union, sixty-two came to 
 the front and enrolled their names, paid their moneys, received 
 their cards and rules, formed a commiitee, and put this new 
 branch into good working order. We then brought the 
 meeting to a close by giving three hearty cheers for Mr. 
 Arch and the Union. — On Wednesday, April 2nd, I walked 
 from Tetsworth to Shillingford, for the purpose of sowing 
 the seeds of Unionism in that village, where no agitator 
 had been before. I mei a large assembly of people, and 
 pointed out to them the past position of the farm labourer, 
 alluding to their poverty, their destitution, their privations, 
 and their sufferings, with no prospect before them but the 
 workhouse in which to end their days, and no place of rest 
 in this world but a pauper's grave. I then pointed out to 
 them the advantages of Unionism, showing that it was only 
 through Union that the chains and fetters by which they had 
 been bound down in serfdom could be snapped asunder, and 
 the only means whereby they could be elevated to their 
 proper position in society. I noticed in the middle of my 
 speech some loud talking among four or five respectable- 
 looking men. I afterwards learned that these were farmers, 
 and that previous to the meeting they had planned a scheme 
 to fill their pockets with r*. tten eggs, with which tliey meant 
 to pelt the speaker, and so break up the meeting ; but the 
 plot was known to the labouring men, so they formed them- 
 selves into a circle around these farmers, and when one of 
 them made a proposal to interrupt the speaker, one of the 
 labouring men stepped forward, shook his fist in his face, 
 
SPEECHES OF UNION DELEGA TES. 59 
 
 and dared him to hurt one hair of my head. " Oh," said the 
 farmer, "if that's it, we must be quiet." l^hey stood till the 
 meeting was nearly over, said the speaker spoke well, that 
 what he said was true, and then quietly took their de- 
 parture. After talking to die people for over an hour we 
 closed the meeting with three good cheers for the Union, 
 and with a promise that I should visit them again soon. — 
 Thursday, April 3rd, I walked from Shillingford to Nettlebed ; 
 here we held a very large and enthusiastic mectin^-^ some five 
 hundred persons being present. It was the first meeting 
 that had been held there, and although there were so many 
 people present, yet I have never seen a more orderly, better- 
 conducted assembly of men. An employer of labour here 
 threatened his men that if any of them went to the meeting he 
 would "sack" them, if it was the best man that he had. Yet, 
 sir, notwithstanding this threat, some eight or nine of these 
 men had the impudence to disobey their employer's orders 
 by attending the meeting ; and I told them not to mind their 
 employer's threats, but assert their rights, their freedom in a 
 free country ; and if their em.ployer " sacked " them if they 
 joined the Union, " the Union would back them, and off to 
 the north it soon would pack them." Another incident t ok 
 place here, which I think is without a parallel. A married 
 man with a wife and six children told a friend of mine that 
 9s. per week was plei.ty for any man ; for his own part he 
 was very well satisfied, and couldn't see how the farmers 
 could afford to give more. Now, ^ir, allowing 2s. per cwt. of 
 coals, and is. 6d. rent of cottage, that would leave the small 
 pittance of 5s. 6d. for his wife to provide (allowing three 
 meals a day for eight persons for seven days) 168 meals for 
 eight persons for one week. If that wouldn't puzzle the most 
 accomplished French cook to carry out, I want to know what 
 would. And there would be nothing left for shoes, clothing, 
 sick-clubs, education, and all the other little incidentals 
 
6o THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 which we all know are so essential to make a home happy 
 and comfortable. I told them that the fellow ought to have 
 penal servitude for life, and the people all shouted out " Hear, 
 hear." I talked to this large assembly for an hour and a 
 half, fully explaining the principles of Unionism, and ex- 
 horted them all io join the Union. I told them that we 
 had been serfs long enough. ; that we had been slaves long 
 enough. Oh I my heart revolts and my spirit sickens when 
 I think of the indignities which have been heaped upon us 
 as a class. Oh ! to cast off this serfdom, to break these 
 fetters, and to stand forth in all the dignity of true manhood, 
 socially, morally, and intellectually, as God hath willed it ! 
 I can conceive no honour greater, no joy more complete. 
 At the close of the meeting several joined the Union ; and 
 I think that Nettlebed will form a centre for a good branch. 
 
 GREAT DEMONSTRATION IN NOTTINGHAM 
 
 MARKET PLACE. 
 
 A large and thoroughly earnest audience of Nottingham 
 mechanics and artizans, to the number of about for thou- 
 sand, assembled on Tuesday evening in the fine old Market 
 Place, to listen to addresses from Mr. J. C. Cox, and 
 Mr. H. Taylor, claiming their sympathy for the agricultural 
 labourers. Messrs. Arch and Cox had addressed a large 
 meeting in this town about two months previously, and they 
 met with so much sympathy that it was determined to again 
 appeal to the inhabitants now that the Union was in a 
 critical condition. Nor has their confidence been misplaced ; 
 several pounds' worth of coppers were collected at the meet- 
 ing. The warmest feeling of fraternal sympathy was shown 
 on all sides, and we may shortly expect further practical 
 proofs of it from the collections that are being made by the 
 different trades societies of the town. The meeting was ar- 
 
SPEECHES OF UNION DELEGATES. 6i 
 
 nounced to commence at 7.30, but the yeomanry band was 
 in possession of the ground at that hour. At eight o'dock, 
 however, they retired to aid by their music the appetites of 
 their officers at mess assembled, and left the field clear. 
 The speeches were all well received and listened to with 
 much attention. The special point of the meeting seemed to 
 be the landlords' prayer from the authorised primer of 
 Edward VI., which evidently much astonished the audience. 
 Mr. Cox read it in a loud and reverent tone, and the people 
 at the conclusion joined in one of the loudest and heartiest 
 ''amens " that it has ever been our lot to hear. Mr. Cox was 
 loudly applauded when he expressed his wish that all the 
 State clergy were nov/ obliged to read tnat prayer Sunday by 
 Sunday. At the conclusion of the proceedings a deputation 
 waited on the Nottingham Trades Council to explain the 
 present position of the National Agricultural Labourers' 
 Union, and met with a most brothcly reception. 
 
 In opening the proceedings, the Chairman (Mr. Councillor 
 Egginton) said they had assembled on the present occasion 
 to express their sympathy with those who were deserving of 
 their help — viz., the agricultural, labourers ; who, as a class, 
 had been for many years the worst paid and the most down- 
 trodden. In doing so they were not met to say a word, so 
 far as could be avoided, against any other class. They did 
 not believe in causing the separation and division of classes, 
 thus setting one against another ; but they did believe that 
 a vast amount of good might be done by the promotion of 
 a better feeling. As long as differences and jealousy existed, 
 so long must they expect to see combinations. If the tenant 
 farmer could only see his own interests properly, he would 
 rather join in with the movement, because it was only those 
 that had taken an active part who knew the difficulties with 
 which the tenant farmers themselves had to contend. But 
 gentlemen would address them who could say more on the 
 
62 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 subject than those who, like himself, were living in towns-. 
 It was their desire to elevate those who were toiling day 
 after day, and year after year, in almost hopeless misery. 
 After expressing his cordial sympathy with the object under 
 consideration, he would not, however, now detain them, but 
 would leave it to others whom they would no doubt be glad 
 to hear. 
 
 Mr. Coburn, who followed, spoke of the pleasure which 
 it gave him to take part on the present occasion. After 
 some other preliminary remarks, he moved, " That this 
 meeting, deeply sympathising with the agricultural labourers 
 in their endeavours to elevate themselves from the low con- 
 dition in which they have been for centuries, and believing 
 union to be the best means of accomplishing that object, 
 pledges itself to support them to its utmost." The resolution 
 was one which must commend itself to their attention. He 
 thought the miserable condition of the agricultural labourer 
 was a scandal to English Protestantism and civilisation. 
 Nothing scarcely could be imagined more shocking than 
 the rate of remuneration which they received for their labour 
 — in some places, at all events, where they were paid 9s. or 
 los. or IIS. per week each, to maintain themselves, their 
 wives, and children, and to provide clothing and a nominal 
 education. He would ask such as had only been in the 
 suburban villages to form an idea of what the downtrodden 
 labourer was — vilhves, too, where there might be oppor- 
 tunities, which could not be had in the remote rural districts, 
 for ameliorating thei position. What did they generally see 
 in an English ' 'llage .-^ A poor, hulking, miserable fellow, 
 who was half frightened to death if he saw a gamekeeper, 
 or a policeman, or the squire, or the parson. Was such a 
 one a sample of an Englishman they would like to point to "i 
 If not, whose fault was it.^ It was that \j{ the system, and 
 partly that of themselves, for allowing a man to /egetate, 
 
SPEECHES OF U.XION DELEGA TES. 63 
 
 as it were, under such a system. But to look at the reverse 
 case, let them see what the man was made by the recruiting 
 sergeant. It might be said that the remedy was to be found 
 in emigration. But to him nothing was more distasteful. If 
 England could not support its sons, let them cease to regard 
 it as they did ; let them cease to pride themselves on its fame 
 and glory ; let them obliterate those records of enterprise and 
 successful efforts which had spread throughout the world. 
 He deplored the state to which the agricultural labourers 
 had been reduced. Mr. Joseph Arch, on his visit to the 
 lown, compared their treatment with that received by animals 
 — he compared their accommodation with that provided by 
 the country squire for his horse or dog. Often animals were 
 fed and bloated out of their own proper proportions to 
 gratify some man who wanted to take a prize for a brute 
 about fifteen times uglier than God ever intended it to be. 
 He wondered Englishmen did not rise in their strength and 
 give one vigorous blow from the shoulder at the system to 
 which he referred. The speaker, among some other obser- 
 vations, alluded to the fact that the ex-Sheriff, Mr. Booth, 
 had forwarded to the Union ten guineas for their object ; and 
 at the conclusion of an effective address he was cordially 
 applauded. 
 
 Mr. J. C. Cox, vv^ho met with a very hearty reception, then 
 said that he had great pleasure in again appearing before 
 the Nottingham audience on this question, which he con- 
 sidered to be one of vital importance, not to the v/ell-being 
 of any particular class, but to that of the whole nation. 
 They might wonder, after so recent a visit from Mr, Arch and 
 himself, why they should once more trouble the good town of 
 Nottingham ; but their former reception was so kind, that they 
 came to try if it would again be the same. The Union, at 
 present was to a certain extent in a position which required 
 that th( y should come before the public, to endeavour to be 
 
64 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 on a par with the great agriculturists of the country, who were 
 seizing this opportunity, at a time when the seeds were 
 pretty well in, and when there was an interval of five or six 
 weeks before the hay harvest, to ann a blow at the Union. 
 Most of the lock-outs during the last few weeks had been 
 not owing to any extortionate demands for increased wages 
 on the part of the men themselves, but owing to the farmers 
 turning the men out because they had refused to sign papers 
 to give up the Union. It was thought that now was their 
 time of weakness. Ikit those of his hearers who were trades 
 unionists (and very many of them in Nottingham knew the 
 benefits of such societies when properly managed) would be 
 ready to extend the hand of sympathy to aid in opposing 
 that of which he had spoken. They were not in the least 
 desponding about the issue of the struggle. They believed 
 that they should tide over the difficulty ; and they might 
 depend upon it that so soon as harvest time apj)roached, 
 if not before, the labourers would be able to get the advantage 
 of their union. It was always gratifymg to any one engaged, 
 like himself, in such a movement, to find material results 
 had accrued, and he rejoiced that these could be seen already. 
 In Dorset, he believed that at present the wages were on an 
 average, taking all round, about is, gd. a week higher than 
 at this time last year, when the Union had not obtainet>l its 
 hold. Though to persons, say, in his own position such an 
 increase might sound exceedingly trifling, yet to those in the 
 position of the agricultural labourers it was almost a case 
 of life or death whether they got it. In the churchyard of 
 a village in Dorset, a labouring man stood on his father's 
 grave and assured him (the speaker) that his father had died 
 because he could not make up his mind to go into the work- 
 house when in want of bread. Though a labourer might 
 have worked the best years of his life, and lived with the 
 utmost frugality, it was impossible for him to put by a 
 
SPEECHES OF UNION DELEGA TES. 6j 
 
 single sixpence for provision in case of need ; and, con- 
 sequently, the moment iiis health began to fail, or old 
 age came upon him, there was nothing left for him but to 
 seek the workhouse or obtain poor-relief. Was not that 
 a most awful, scandalous, and wicked state of things in 
 our so-called Christian England ? He agreed generally 
 with the remarks which had been by the previous speaker. 
 Turning to another matter, he found that Mr. Disraeli, in 
 writing to a body of Conservative working men (if, indeed, 
 there could be such persons), congratulated them on their 
 adherence to the great and noble princi[)les which had made 
 F.rgland so prosperous and happy. That this was so he 
 himself would deny. It was not a prosperous or happy 
 country when an immense number of persons in both the 
 town and country had to eke out a miserable existence on 
 scanty wages. He did not hold with what were ordinarily 
 understood to be Communistic or Socialistic views, but at 
 the same time he must say that he thought it fearful when 
 the distribution of wealth was so disproportionate as now in 
 this country. He asserted, fearless of contradiction, and on 
 the best authority, that at no time was the disproportion 
 between the rich and the poor so great as now. It had been 
 said that the rich were becoming richer, and the poor poorer. 
 Certainly, in various directions the.'e had been advances, to 
 artisans and mechanics, but these were not in proportion 
 to the increased cost of living and of clothing, with other 
 necessaries. This was an important question, and one which 
 deserved consideration. Next the speaker went on to advert, 
 al some considerable length, to the land question, in refer- 
 ence to which he alluded to the matter of the inclosures 
 of commonable lands, asking what might have been the 
 result if a portion of these had been appropriated for the use 
 and maintenance of the poor. A valuable lesson might be 
 learnt from the history of the inclosures of commons. It 
 
 6 
 
66 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 had been estimated that there are in the United Kingdom 
 io,ooo,cxx) acres of uncultivated land, which would amply 
 repay cultivation ; and this he jKiinted out as being an im- 
 portant matter. After referring to the happy results which 
 had followed in Suffolk, where a landlord had, under suitable 
 conditions, let land to a number of his labourers, Mr. Cox 
 touched upon the position taken up in reference to this 
 movement by the clergy of the Church of England, among 
 whom, however, there were noble exceptions, like that o 
 Canon Girdlestone. Having read a prayer from the Piayer- 
 book of the Church of England in the days of Edward VI., 
 which had especial reference to landlords, the speaker urged 
 eloquently the claims of the Union to public sympathy and 
 support. He noticed the contribution made by Mr. Booth, 
 and also one of ^500 by Mr. Samuel Morley, to the Union, 
 and ended by seconding the resolution. On resuming his 
 seat he was loudly cheered. 
 
 Mr. Taylor, the secretary to the Labourer?' Union, said he 
 was happy to tell them that the Union had met with great 
 sympathy from the trades unionists all over the country- 
 From a day of small things they had raised up a band of 
 70,000 men in the Labourers' Union. He was also happy 
 to inform them, notwithstanding that, at the first outset, two 
 hundred farmers and clergymen met together to crush the 
 movement, they had supporters on every side — members of 
 Parhament, magistrates, landowners, and parsons, but very 
 few of the last. He was inclined to think that the considera- 
 tion of the question must produce some good for the labourer, 
 for whether in the railway carriage or the drawing-room, 
 he heard the question discussed, and even in the rooms 
 of the Farmers' Protection Association he heard them dis- 
 cuss the best means of helping the farm labourer without 
 giving him anything. He thought the labourers had too long 
 looked for help in the shape of gifts ; but they had looked so 
 
SPEECHES OF UNION DELEGA TES. 67 
 
 lonp that they had become altogether passive, because they 
 had looked in vain ; and he thought it would be a great deal 
 better for them if they could be taught the great lesson of 
 self-help, and the nobler one of helping one another. Talk- 
 ing to an audience of trades unionists, he need not tell them 
 of the advantages of union, but he knew full well that the 
 weakness of the farm labourer was owing to his having stood 
 alone, and even having opposed his brother. He then went 
 on to speak of the true condition of the labourer, saying he 
 was quite convinced that if the men living in towns could 
 actually and truly realise the condition of the agricultural 
 labourer, there would not be many rest easily that night, it 
 was so deplorable. When speaking to some persons of the 
 paltry earnings of the labourers, he was told that they often 
 came in for perquisites ; but he could assure them they were 
 very poor indeed. He described the various perquisites of 
 the farm labourers, as ascertained by careful inquiry, and 
 said he could assure them that, as a rule^ the farm labourers 
 had no more given them in addition to their weekly earnings 
 than the North farmers gave to their labourers m this 
 'ocality. He spoke of the low rate of wages given by the 
 farmers in the southern and western counties, and said that in 
 many instances, when the men had dared to join the Union, 
 they had been turned out by hundreds. Speaking of the 
 opposition the movement experienced at the hands of the 
 clergy, he said they wanted a Christianity which could be 
 practised by the preachers. He believed they had a right to 
 expect to be happy on earth as well as hereafter, and he said, 
 Away with such trash as that doctrine which opposed such a 
 thing. However, the movement had done some good to the 
 clergy, and they would be glad, perhaps surprised, to hear 
 that in Norfolk the Union and its influences had caused the 
 parsons to work. The labourers had been locked out by a 
 farmef, and the clergyman went to the farmer and assisted 
 
 6- 
 
68 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 him in feeding the pigs. He was prone to think if the 
 Union could get the clergy up to pig-feeding they would 
 confer more good upon society than they had done for many 
 a year. Their first word must be "defiance;" they must 
 organise an army to drive the invader from their rights ; and 
 when that was done, they would take good care to keep him 
 at a distance. They had not been content with taking the 
 goose from the common, but they had taken the common 
 from the goose ; and in Clifton he found that a charity which 
 had been left for the poor for two hundred years had by some 
 means got into a wrong channel. He appealed to then as 
 men knowing the power of organisation, and knowing the ne- 
 cessity of union, for assistance. He need only remind thorn 
 of the difficulties they had to contend with because of the 
 ignorance of the poor labouring men. He thought they 
 wanted more men to lead the people rather than to drag 
 them back. This was an age of advancement, and it almost 
 depended upon them to decide whether these poor men 
 should be left in the miserable and degraded condition in 
 which they were to be found that day. On account of con- 
 tinued lock-outs, hundreds of men had been removed weekly, 
 and that involved the expenditure of a deal of money. A 
 lock-out having taken place, the men would starve if fresh 
 work were not provided for them, and emigration had to be 
 resorted to. It was a necessity, and, much as he deplored it, 
 he believed it must be done. He concluded by announcing 
 that a committee had been formed to raise subscriptions, 
 and to send them to the central society, and all subscriptions 
 would be gladly received at No. 15, Houndsgate. 
 
 The resolution was then put to the meeting and carried 
 without a dissentient, amidst great applause. 
 
 Mr. D. W. Heath, who was well received, said he rose to 
 propose a vote of thanks to the Chairman for his kindness in 
 presiding over the meeting. He hoped the vote they had 
 
SPEECHES OF UNION DELEGATES. 69 
 
 just given would not rest where it was recorded, but that they 
 would put their hands into their pockets, and individually 
 and throughout their various trade societies he trusted they 
 would week by week send large subscriptions to the central 
 fund, liy so doing they would set a noble example to the 
 great industrial centres throughout the country and help 
 those who meant to win a great and triumphant victory. 
 Let it be a war of right against wrong, and let nothing stand 
 between them and the union of the agricultural labourers ; — 
 let it be a war against that one who was preventing the 
 labourer from earning that which would make his home 
 happy and relieve his wants, and who was preventing him 
 becoming a happier and a better man. He asked for their 
 hearty support, for the support of the cause of kibour and 
 right against dictation and wrong. 
 
 The resolution, having been seconded, was carried unani- 
 mously. 
 
 Three cheers for the Union, and three cheers for Mr. Cox, 
 concluded the proceedings. 
 
 A UNION DELEGATE'S SPEECH. 
 
 Almost all the agricultural labourers of Redburn (Bedford- 
 shire) appeared to be assembled with their sons and some of 
 their wives on Redburn Common, on Thursday, April 24th, 
 when a delegate of the National Union and several gentle- 
 men from Luton spoke on the agricultural labour question- 
 For three hours in a bittter, cold wind they stood on the 
 grass, and all, especially the women, listened intently. Mr. 
 M. Judge presided. 
 
 Mr. Allington, a delegate from the executive committee of 
 the National Union of Leamington, rose and said — Mr. 
 Chairman, friends, and fellow working men, we are here to- 
 night to talk about a matter which affects the interests and 
 well-being of the general public as well as the interests ot 
 
yo THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 agricultural labourers ; and I think if people will look at it 
 as ihey should, on both sides and top and bottom, they will 
 see it is a question affecting the well-being of this country of 
 ours. We want to discuss this matter in a fair and honour- 
 able way, and if there be any farmers in this meeting — and I 
 hope there are — we are not, I hope, the enemies of the 
 farmers. If they can confute my arguments, they shall have a 
 fair and patient hearing, and I will reply. Now, what is the 
 agricultural labourer's position ? They may be paid 9s., los., 
 or I IS. a week. In Dorsetshire, where I started a union, 
 there were men receiving 9s. a week, some 8s., and a few, a 
 very few, 7s. a week. In other counties you will find men 
 receiving los., lis., 12'^., 15s., i6s., up to i8s. and a pound 
 a week, some 22s. in Yorkshire. But, taking the general 
 aspect of the labourer's condition, is It what it ought to be .'* 
 Does the condition of the labourers on the soil reflect any 
 credit on our country.^ If not, then I think it is one which 
 honest, industrious, agricultural labourers have a just right to 
 complain of and to mourn. What is to be done to effect 
 a better state of things ? Some said, let the labourers go to 
 their employers themselves, not let middle men come in. 
 I have been a labourer ever since I was eight years of age, 
 and I know the condition and difficulties of the working 
 men. All your life long you may toil, but in old age nothing 
 but the workhouse stares a labourer in the face, and at last 
 they will put him into a pauper's coffin and a pauper's grave, 
 while others have reaped the benefit of his industry. 
 When workmen have gone to their employers without inter- 
 vention of middle men, what has happened ? It generally hap- 
 pens that there is one man on a farm who has to speak to the 
 master for himself and the other men. With regret I say it, 
 the farmers generally have not had the honour to call their 
 men together ana discuss the matter respectfully, and to say 
 to tiie men— "I wish to strike a just bargain with you, and I 
 
SPEECHES OF UNION DELEGATES. 71 
 
 will pay you a fair wage so that you can live —live in comfort." 
 No ; but the man that asked for the means to live has been 
 singled out in thousands of instances. 1 could give names, 
 places, circumstances, where they have tried even to get 
 other men turned out of their employment and out of their 
 cottages. Seeing that such conduct is perpetrated towards 
 working men, what are they to do ? With the present price 
 of commodities, what are we to do if we are to maintain 
 ourselves and our families respectably ? When men have 
 used every legitimate means to induce farmers to give them 
 a fp.ir wage for their industry, and cannot succeed, what t.re 
 they to do ? The greatest obstacle to the rise of the agricul- 
 tural labourers is their ignorance — ignorance of their own 
 power when united in one strong compact body. We have 
 been taunted with our ignorance, but whose fault is it that 
 we are so.'* Our parents never received enough money to 
 enable them to send us to school ; and yet the very people 
 who kept them down have said we are an ignorant class 
 of men. That, I think, is cruel in the extreme. There is as 
 honest a heart in the breast of agricultural labourers as in 
 those of the farmers ; and giv'e the labourers the means of 
 living in comfort, and they will feel as much interest in the 
 education of their children as the farmers take in that of their 
 sons. There is as honest a heart beating in the breast of 
 the labourer as in the breast of a mechmic ; and he has 
 as much regard for his wife and his family as any other 
 man in Old England. Is there a man here who will say that 
 twelve shillings a-week is enough to support a man and his 
 wife and family -^s they ought to be, taking into consideration 
 the price of everything we have to buy ? These are the ques- 
 tions gentlemen should ask themselves ; and if they think a 
 man cannot live with it, then they ought not to meet to form 
 associations to crush a union which means directly to benefit 
 the lower order of society, and to injure no one above it. 
 
72 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 Ought they to do it ? The day is dawning, my friends, when 
 the working men of England will not submit to the tyranny 
 which has been brought to bear upon them in the past. The 
 unions of mechanics have helped a great deal in educating 
 the minds of workmen to the power of union. Trades unions 
 were the starting-point towards the emancipation of the 
 British labourer. I am thankful for penny papers which 
 circulate in the country. They are powerful engines for the 
 diffusion of useful information ; and in these papers, selling 
 by thousands, the working classes are taught that they have 
 a right to live. A farmer in Warwickshire said to nie, when 
 I was talking about the desirability of labourers' children 
 being educated, and saying it was a disgusting thing, when a 
 man had four or five children, that he must send the little 
 boys, almost as soon as they began to walk, into the fields to 
 scare crows, or tend pigs, or drive horses, depriving them of 
 that education which God intended they should have, for if 
 God gave us intellects, He intended they should be cultivated 
 and developed, — this farmer said — " What do the labourers' 
 children want education for ? Enough if they can write their 
 names and count twenty." We do not want to have recourse 
 to harsh speeches to carry on a noble cause like ours ; but I 
 say it with all due respect to farmers — there are honourable 
 exceptions — but the great proportion of them have entertained 
 the same sentiments respecting the education of our children 
 as this farmer said to me—" Keep them in ignorance if you 
 want to keep them down." It is said that if the men have 
 more money they will squander i' away at the public-house. 
 How do they know that ? They only suppose such a thing. 
 I am bound to say it, from an honest conviction, that there 
 are as moderate men, as temperate, moral, and kind-hearted 
 men, wearing fustian jackets and billycock hats, as there are 
 amongst the farmers. We say we have a right to live, seeing 
 that we are the producers of the wealth of this country. 
 
SPEECHES OF UNION DELEGATES. 73 
 
 Great stress is laid upon capital, and it has its rights. But 
 then intellect has its claims too, and labour has its rights. I 
 never knew a man who managed his land properly who ever 
 became bankrupt ; if he did, he was not an economical man, 
 but a spendthrift. Seeing, then, that as work"ng men there 
 are no other means whereby we can obtain rights only by 
 uniting together, I ask what are the objects for which we 
 unite together ? It was said at the farmers' association at 
 Dunstable that we were banded together, not to make men 
 better, but to make them worse. I deny a statement like 
 that, i had the paper put into my hands at Bedford, and I 
 am prepared to state that they uttered some of the falsest 
 statements that ever escaped the lips of mortal men, A 
 cause which needs to be advocated by untruths is not honest, 
 just, or fair. It was said that were the men thrown on the 
 Union funds there would not be enough to find them a 
 breakfast. The man who said that, mark you, was more 
 liberal then than farmers are on pay-nights. He said we had 
 only funds in hand to the amount of 6d. a-head, and that 
 would not suffice for a breakfast. Why, you men don't get a 
 penny a-head per meal for yourselves and families to subsist 
 on. 1 will confute his statement. The Union has its thou- 
 sands, and we arc increasing every week tinancially, numeri- 
 cally, and in power and influence throughout the country. 
 I will defy the farmers to crush the Agricultural Labourers 
 Union, because our cause is founded in righteousness, and 
 we aim to elevate the down-trodden sons of toil. What has 
 the Union done } It has done more for the agricultural 
 labourers of England than all the parsons that have preached 
 in the Church of England yet. Yes, sir ; the teaching of the 
 ministers of the Gospel — and I don't confine my remarks to 
 one section of them only — is conientment in poverty. Do 
 you question that.'' Look you here ; when a man who works 
 day after day cannot live on his industry, he has a right to 
 
lg5au.t,. V il ai^ ; 'i^^ .l ~ *>J^;«.■l. ^l . ^nf,^.^l«l i». ^^Wl . 1l^^vfllt^ l Wn al ^ > l lt n i m n » n i i Mi nn i w » * iiii i- i 
 
 74 . T//£ REVOLT (gF THE FIELD. 
 
 make known to his spiritual teacher his circumstances in 
 hfe ; and as the overlooker of that man, I might say both as 
 to body and soul, that teacher has no right to say a man 
 should be contented who has been robbed of his rights. 
 The ignorance of the working classes has been such, they 
 have thought they ought to work and support the minister, 
 whilst they themselves have had to live in a wretched and 
 miserable condition, and they have been told that these 
 things are in the order of Divine Providence. That is one 
 of the most blasphemous doctrines ever taught by man. 
 God never created man to starve him to death ; I challenge 
 the parsons to prove it. When your spiritual teachers teach 
 you a spurious doctrine like that, I have a right to tell you 
 that you have a just claim to live by labour. The Agricul- 
 tural Labourers* Union is doing a vast amount of good to 
 others besides labourers. Let but the labourer take more 
 money, and the shopkeeper, the butcher, the baker, the 
 grocer will know of it. Honest men have been taught to be 
 contented in that state of life in which it has pleased God to 
 call them. The day is coming when teaching like that won't 
 do. Let us have honest teaching ; teach the farmer his 
 duties, and the labourer his, and be just, honest, and fair in 
 the sight of all men. It was stated in the London "Times" 
 that last year an increase of one million was paid to agricul- 
 tural labourers. Could that have taken place without the 
 Union.'' And has it not done the men and their wives and 
 little ones good .'* We hear a great deal about capital. 
 But is not labour capital ? Does gold till the fields, gather 
 in the crops, and thrash the corn? Yon know better. It is 
 the strong arm of the English labourer which does it. I 
 have heard since I came here that they are trying to buy you 
 over v'ith little bits of land. Don't you be bought in that 
 way. Demand to be paid for your labour in the current 
 coin of the realm, and have your cottages direct of the land- 
 
GREA T MEETING A T NEWBURY. 75 
 
 lord. When we first started a union in Warvvicks.hirc, the 
 farmers discharged two hundred men. We sat up night 
 after night writing appeals, and in six weeks we received 
 ^800. Don't you fear the farmers. We have more money in 
 our exchequer to-day than we ever had before, and it is con- 
 tinually increasing. We don't want to crush the farmer, 
 and we are not going to let the farmer crush you. Many a 
 farmer has been compelled to give up his farm as the conse- 
 quence of joining farmers' associations and their opposition 
 to the Labourers' Union. If farmigrs here won't pay you a 
 just wage, migrate, and emigrate to where you can share in 
 the prosperity of the country. 
 
 Addresses were also delivered by Mr. Smith, of Luton, Mr- 
 Paul, of Sandridge, and others ; and a branch of the Union 
 was formed, a treasurer, secretary, and committee appointed, 
 and a number of names taken down. 
 
 It was stated that a shepherd six years on the farm of Mr. 
 01ne_,, of Byelands, had got notice to leave. The man had 
 been taking 13s. a-week : he has a family of seven children. 
 He lives in a cottage on the farm, and it was expected he 
 must turn out with his family by Monday next. 
 
 GREAT MEETING AT NEWBURY. 
 
 A great demonstration was made at Newbury on Friday 
 evening, August i8th. Members of the village branches 
 came into the town in large numbers, and partook of tea 
 in the Fair Close. They subsequently perambulated the 
 borough, and at seven o'clock a meeting was held in the 
 Close, and much enthusiasm prevailed, quite an ovation 
 being accorded to Messrs. Arch and Taylor. Mr. Counciilor 
 Lucas was voted to the chair, and after a short speech, 
 approving of the Union, mtroduced 
 
 Mr. H, Taylor, General Secretary, who, in the course of 
 an able speech, said there was probably no movement being 
 
76 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 carried or in the present day which had caused so much stir, 
 and yet had been so Httle understood, as that being con- 
 ducted by the National Agricultural Labourers' Union. He 
 felt great pleasure in seeing in the chair an independent 
 gentleman, who declared himself an advocate of a fair field 
 and no favour. The representatives of the Union had not 
 come to Newbury to try to thrust their dogmas down 
 people's throats. What they wanted to do was to teach the 
 law of the people, and instruct them as to what the Union 
 proposed to do. If pefjjple who read their rules, watched 
 their progress, and strove to understand their aims and 
 intentions, afterwards came forward and honestly declared 
 they objected to the movement, they could shake such by 
 the hand as honest opponents. But what the friends of the 
 Union complained of was, that before men had even thought 
 about this movement, or read the rules, they acted like the bull 
 at the haystack — ran at them, and tried to pitch them about. 
 He would say such conduct was indicative of the spirit of the 
 fight. He mourned to see a person occupying the highest 
 municipal post in the town so narrow-minded, and so igno- 
 rant of what was going on around him, as to prejudge a 
 movement like this, and use such arguments, if arguments, 
 indeed, they could be called. He regretted to see the 
 Mayor of Newbury had said, according to the report of a 
 local paper, that he objected to this movement because it set 
 class against class. He would ask the Mayor of Newbury 
 or any one else, whether it was not because class was already 
 set against class that they had met there that day? It was 
 because they had found that the farmers and their men, 
 whose interests should be mutual, were fighting against each 
 other, tliat the Union were anxious, if possible, to reconcile 
 them to each other ; but so long as the farmers were deter- 
 mined to pay bad wages, and only about half the value of 
 labour, they must expect there will be an antagonism between 
 
GREA T MEETING A T NE IVBUR V, 77 
 
 the classes. He congratulated his audience that the starting 
 of this movement had resulted in bringing the eyes of the 
 country upon the agricultural labourers. Whether he went 
 into a railway carriage, or the drawing room, whether he 
 went to the meeting of the Farmers* Defence Association, or 
 elsewhere, he found the clergy, the landowners, and the 
 farmers considering the best means of elevating the farm 
 labourers, but without giving them anything. He went on 
 to point out that the labourers had in their own hands the 
 power of helping themselves, and begged them, that instead 
 of working against each other, as had been the case too often 
 in the past, they should stand by each other. He gave the 
 men excellent advice as to improving their social habits, and 
 after regarding the Union movement from various points of 
 view, spoke of its vast and increasing extent, and called 
 upon the labourers to support its good work by enrolling 
 themselves in its ranks. 
 
 Mr. Joseph Arch was announced as the next speaker, and 
 was received with great enthusiasm. He addressed the 
 meeting as '' fellow countrymen," and proceeded to express 
 the pleasure he had in being present at Newbury to discuss 
 a question upon which hinged the weal or woe of England. 
 A great many people who happened to be the fortunate pos- 
 sessors of wealth had no symyjathy with the movement ; but 
 this was a great mistake which had been in existence too 
 long, and must be rectitied for the dignity, prosperity, and 
 safety of the country. As a labourer himself, he felt pleased 
 in being able to advocate the cause of his fellow-men, and 
 better their condition. If he was doing a work that did not 
 require being done, or doing it in an un-English, unlawful 
 manner, he was prepared to receive instruction from any 
 minister or gentleman in that audience, if he would kindly 
 come upon that platform and teach him a better way. If he 
 felt there was a wrong which ought to be rectified, and the 
 
78 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 exposure of that wrong would bring down on him the frown 
 of the whole country, then hv. would raise his voice against 
 that wrong, if princes and peers condemned. Whether he 
 preached to the poor agricultural labourer, or addressed the 
 prince or the peer, he preached alike to one and ail the same 
 grand old Bible doctrine : — 
 
 " Let C^CEsar's clue be ever p;iid 
 To Ctesar and his throne : 
 But consciences and souls were made 
 To bow to God alone." 
 
 From earliest infancy he was taught by a sainted mother 
 that his creation in the world was to be a man, and never a 
 slave. He might tell them, however, that he knew some- 
 thing of the chains of a slave. When as a father and a 
 husband he had to work for is. 6d. a day, and was expected 
 to maintain a wife and family creditably, he found he could 
 not, and felt that he who would be free must himself strike 
 the blow. More than twenty-five years ago he struck against 
 the deadly monster oppression, and from that day to the 
 present he had never bowed a single sin* w in his neck to 
 that t>rant. The same steps that he took each of them must 
 take, and they must make this a text from which their every- 
 day life must be preached, that if they helped themselves 
 then (iod would help them. He was not going into the 
 grievances and sorrows of the farm labourers of England, 
 because, thank God, the land serfs of England were getting 
 their eyes opened, and all the landlordism of the country 
 would never force them back to where they were. The 
 pubhc had their eye upon the Parliament now sitting ; they 
 found that the Education Bill was all but, if not quite, 
 abortive ; that the Arbitration Bill was to be treated " as it 
 was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be ; " and that 
 Government would take the same course, and fight when 
 it pleased. These were grave topics, affecting labourers, 
 
GREA T MEETING A T NEW BUR Y. 79 
 
 farmers, shopkeepers, and all of them, and yet they were 
 treated as of no importance. Nor was the conduct of their 
 present Mayor calculated to inspire a good feeling amongst 
 the working men of the town and district of Newbury. Not 
 that he would have liked to have spoken in the Corn 
 Exchange, because he would rather speak where he was ; 
 but he would have liked that gentleman to have shown a 
 good feeling towards this movement. He would go to the 
 feet of no mayor, public officer, farmer, or landlord, while 
 Almighty God stretched above their heads the broad canopy 
 of Uie bright blue sky, and under their feet the green sward ; 
 and those of them who had been accustomed to what some 
 people called ranting preaching, were prepared to take their 
 stand where thin-skinned gentlemen would feel a delicacy in 
 doing. He thought no public officer should pander to one 
 class of the community. Their public buildings should be 
 free alike to all, whether the politician, the clergyman, or the 
 labourer. To shut one class out from the privilege which 
 was granted to another class, was the way to set class against 
 class. The Mayor has denied us the Corn Exchange, but 
 our heavenly Father has sent us :i beautiful nice fine even- 
 ing, and let us have this spacious building. He wanted them 
 to look at some of the grave points arising out of this move- 
 ment. He might have some farmers present. He once 
 addressed six hundred farmers at Dorchester fair, and a 
 most attentive audience they were. He had not been a farm 
 labourer all the days of his life without knowing some of the 
 difficulties of the farmer, and he would defy any master that 
 ever employed him to say that he (the speaker) did not take 
 an interest in his work. That interest which he had always 
 felt for the farmer was more mtensified than ever. He found 
 that one-fourth of the farmers had no security whatever for 
 tlie investment of any capital. A farmers' paper said there 
 were four hundred farmers nearly bankrupt, and four hundred 
 
8o THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 more who exist only by the good will of their landlord. If 
 this was a true picture, then the farming interest was the 
 most depressed and insecure of any great industrial branch 
 in the kingdom. Some of the farmers thought, when Messrs. 
 Howaid and Read brought in their Tenant Right Bill, 
 that they would soon be let into a good thing, liut they 
 might depend on it that they would never get it until 
 their labourers had the franchise ; and even then not 
 until the farmers had pluck enough to go into Parliament 
 and represent their own interests. Scotland, at the next 
 election, meant to send ten tenant farmers to the House of 
 Commons : how many did they mean to send from Berk- 
 shire ? Farmers had the ballot ; dared they use it ? 
 Farmers had political power ; what had they done with it ? 
 Why, crawled snail like to the feet of the squire, and voted 
 as they were told. They sent gentlemen to Parliament who 
 fettered and bound the farmer with chains, and then screwed 
 it out of the labourers to make up for any loss. He told 
 them candidly that time was gone by ; they must drop that 
 dodge, or else it would be too hot for them. He told 
 farmers that their wisest plan was to treat their labourers 
 as men ought to be treated, to pay them as men ought to 
 be paid; and if they had made a mistake by taking their 
 land too high, and let landlords shoot game which their 
 tenants had fattened but did not get a taste of themselves, 
 then he warned them that if they made up for their mistakes 
 by starving their labourers, they must drop that dodge, or, 
 as labourers, they would be cfif to another land with their 
 labour. He might now be allowed to say a word or two to 
 the landlords, many of whom, like Lord Leicester, had said, 
 " Build the labourers good cottages, and let them at a mode- 
 rate rent." But then Lord Denbigh had said, " You must 
 stop in them, and work for the farmers in your parish, or 
 you will leave my cottage." Did they think any reasonable 
 
GREA T MEETING A T NEW BUR V. 8i 
 
 farmer would take Lord Denl)i^di's farm, if he introduced 
 a restriction m the agreement that the beef and miitton 
 and hay and corn on that farm were all to be taken to 
 Leicester market, though perhaps the farmer might get 
 better terms at Nottingham? And did they think labourers 
 were such fools as to take their cottages on those terms ? 
 If the landlords adopted that dodge, there was no down- 
 right intelligent, plucky English labourer who would be 
 trodden down ir that way; for if that was the slavery of his 
 own country, he would leave it and go to America, where he 
 could find freedom and fair play. Last year 300,000 emi- 
 grated from our shores, representing forty millions worth 
 of bones, sinew, and muscle, and the stream of emigration 
 was going on ; and when the best were gone, the thrifty 
 and most intelligent, those left behind would be the weak, 
 infirm, and those within a few hours of pauperism : and who 
 would have to pay the rents and rates but the farmers ? A 
 farmer once said, while he could find money he could always 
 find men. Towards the latter end of August he was going 
 to the States of America. If he found that there were 
 farmers who bought and sold, and had both sides of the 
 bargain, he would say, " Stop where you are, chaps, the 
 crows are as black here as they are in England." If he 
 found that country the home of the working man, where 
 the labourer was free to make his own terms, if his boy 
 could sit down on the same form with the boy whose father 
 had got wealth, read out of the same book, and write on 
 the same slate, where the poor man had political power the 
 same .as the classes above him ; then, if the farmers would 
 not treat their labourers like men, if they would follow him 
 he would lead working men across the broad Atlantic to the 
 fruitful fields of America, with its ninety miUions of acres 
 yet untilled — he would stand upon the shores of America 
 until he had drained the resources of England, and had 
 
 7 
 
82 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 made the farmers bite the dust. He was not shelving the 
 question nor muzzling it. He haa appealed to the farmers 
 from the various platforms of England, like as an Englishman 
 would. He had advocated their rights as much as the rights 
 of their labourers, and what had he met with from their class 
 but censure and attempts to ruin his reputation ? They had 
 tried to put their iron heel on the movement, which had from 
 the first been law-abiding and as lawful as any other institu- 
 tion in the country. They had locked the men out by scores 
 and hundreds in different parts, until he had been compelled 
 to raise ^loc^ from the public to keep those men and their 
 families from starving. They were guilty before God and 
 man, and if they began to play this dodge again he would 
 make them before this day twelvemonth know the worth of 
 a man. He would treat them with the utmost courtesy and 
 friendship. He had fought their battle before the Game 
 Committee of the House of Commons, and they knew it. He 
 had been in company at private dinners with noblemen, and 
 had depicted farmers' wrongs as vividly as ever he had 
 depicted the wrongs of the labourers. He had shown the 
 great landlords of the country that they were doing the 
 farmers an injustice as a class, and yet, in the face of his 
 humble advocacy and these honest statements, they had tried 
 to put their heel on the neck of Arch and the other men 
 whom he had the honour to belong to ; but if they came that 
 dodge again, he would make them know the worth of a man 
 — they should have the fields, but not the men to till them. 
 They put him on his mettle, but he was not to be frightened 
 by a trifle. Some of the farmers in his own neighbourhood 
 said the Union would be only a nine days' wonder, but one 
 of them who knew him from a lad, said, " If Arch has got 
 anything to do with it, before you can make him loose his 
 hold, you will have to cut his head off." Though an agri- 
 cultural labourer and a man of humble birth, he had English 
 
SPEECH OF MR. ARCH AT NE VVBUR V. 83 
 
 blood in his veins, and an English heart in his body, and he 
 was prompted in what he did by human feeling. When he 
 saw 6oo,cxx) tillers of the soil in slavery, and mocked by 
 being told they were free, he would traverse America, if he 
 lost his life, in trying to raise his fellow-labourers — he would 
 die gladly if he could only bring them up to freedom. But 
 now a few words about the clergy. The Bishop of Gloucester 
 said to a friend of his, " I had thought that Arch was a mild 
 sort of man, but he does speak some very strong things." 
 Well, if he did not tell the truth, he was willing to be cor- 
 rected. The question had cropped up in the House of 
 Commons, on which Mr. Miall had the bad luck to be de- 
 feated — he referred to the Disendowment and Disestablish- 
 ment Bill. He was not about to give them his own private 
 opinion, but viewing it from a political standpoint, and, what 
 was better still, a Bible standpoint, he had no hesitation in 
 saying that that Church which had not got enough of the 
 love of God beating in the hearts of its members to support 
 it, and keep it alive without being propped up by the State, 
 then let it go. He would not be a member of such a Church, 
 nor a parson in such a Church, for a good lot. He stood 
 before them that night a Methodist local preacher of twenty- 
 five years' standing. During that time he had walked more 
 tlian 7000 miles on his own conveyance to preach to his 
 fellow-men. He had never had a sixpence from the State 
 for it, nor did he want it. He knew something of the trials 
 to which a minister of the gospel was exposed. No man 
 would more liberally — and there were gentlemen in this 
 meeting who would confirm this statement — of the little God 
 had given him contribute to the comfort and happiness of 
 the earnest minister. No man more than himself would 
 wish to see a minister of the gospel free from life's cares, 
 and the difficulties which would press him down, and make 
 him weep and sigh in his retired moments. He himself had 
 
 7* 
 
84 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. ^ 
 
 gone eighteen or twenty miles out to an appointment of a 
 Sunday with sorrow and grief pressing down his heart, and 
 what was the cause for that sorrow ? Because he could not 
 pay his way in the world. Why was it that he had not 
 enough to pay his way ? It was not because he spent his 
 money in drink, because for seventeen years he had been a 
 total abstniner. He had drunk the bitters, and he would 
 wish no Christian minister to drink the bitter dregs he had. 
 When, however, the minister of the gospel left the perform- 
 ance of his holy functions, and turned aside to serve tables, 
 and became a money-monger, or one of Her P^ajesty's 
 Commissioners of the Peace to send poor women to prison, 
 then let them have him out of it. Unless Church of England 
 ministers protest against clerg}'men holding commissions of 
 the peace, they would have repetitions of that which so many 
 of them delighted to indulge in, the wreaking of vengeance 
 on the poor of their parish — they had wreaked it on his 
 head many a time because he was a Dissenter. When the 
 State found out that men with no better religion than that 
 which wreaked vengeance upon the head of the poor and 
 helpless occupied its pulpits, then the State must have that 
 church upset, or the State would be called to account. 
 When a clergyman, because the squire sends him a brace of 
 pheasants at Christmas, invites him to his splendid table, 
 and sends him bottles of wine, panders to the man of wealth 
 and shuns the house of the poor man, it was a disgrace to 
 Christianity ; he was a traitor to his charge, and he (the 
 speaker) would not stand condemned before God for a 
 world. Canon Gregory, beneath the dome of St. Paul's, 
 said that this country was approaching a serious climax. 
 One class was getting immensely rich, and building up 
 great colossal fortunes ; others were extremely poor, and all 
 but starving. This it was that brought Rome to the dust 
 and made the Emperor of France turn up his sword to the 
 
SPEECH OF MR. ARCH AT NEWBURY. 85 
 
 Prussian powers. Something must speedily be done. They 
 must send men of business to ParUament — men who will 
 not snore like Berkshire hogs — if the sceptre of the country 
 was to be wielded with judgrnent. There were far more 
 important questions that demanded attention than the Shah 
 of Persia. There were Englishmen who had a right to live 
 in the country, but oppression said, " You shan't, we'll drive 
 you from our shores," and when their legislators began to 
 break the grand moral law, they must take the consequences ; 
 if they began a row they might fight themselves, and if 
 they wanted property defended they might defend it. Place 
 the labourer in a free market and in happy situations, in- 
 vest him with his rights, give him a moderate stake in the 
 soil, two or three acres to till for themselves ; let the land- 
 lords, labourers, and farmers shtike hands, pull in one boat, 
 and have an eye to each other's interests, then let a foreign 
 foe put a foot on this country, and there will be no want 
 of defenders, for no men make better soldiers than the 
 English labourers. If they were going to send the best men 
 away from the country — for emigration meant grubbing up 
 and taking the young stock with them — where were they to 
 get their future supply of labour from 1 This might be a 
 matter of indifference to some who were pocket-proud — who 
 had more money than sense. Some people who had a few 
 pounds in their pocket were as cocksy and thought them- 
 selves better than others ; but it was all bosh and nonsense ; 
 they were only flesh and blood the same as others, and if 
 Providence had made their path smoother, then it was their 
 duty to help their poor and struggling brother. They might 
 fancy that their mountain of wealth and property stood 
 strong ; but if they lost the tillers of the soil their country 
 would decline and decay. They might think that it was by 
 Divine appointment that one man had money and another 
 was poor, but God would teach them a different lesson. He 
 
I 
 
 m THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 would teach them that human life and souls were valued by 
 • Him, and if they began to value property more, He would 
 take it from them ; He would send a scourge upon the 
 country. God would not be mocked by a defective Chris- 
 tianity which taught men that they might rob their fellow 
 man, starve and impoverish him, and that it was all in the 
 right of divine appointment. As a nation they had mocked 
 God and set Him at defiance. He had stayed the sword, 
 and up to 1873, ^^d had conquered their foes. But let their 
 labourers go from her, their army desert and lose confidence 
 in royalty, and people begin to ask for a republic — and who 
 said they would not — what would happen then .? Much as 
 he loved his country, if he saw within her men who were 
 slaves, men who were allowed to pine nearly to death, men 
 who were denied the common necessaries of life, and yet 
 worked and toiled hard for the millions above them — he 
 would raise his voice and use his influence on both sides 
 the Atlantic till England should consider her ways and treat 
 her industrial population as she ought, and no man would 
 more delight to see stamped on her insignia that which she 
 should ever carry, " the pride of the ocean, the first gem 
 of the sea." 
 
 The " Newbury Weekly News" says : — " Mr. Arch may 
 be described as being of medium height, and what is known 
 in popular terms as a 'thick set man.' He wore a billy- 
 cock hat, a shore, round jacket with pockets at the side, and 
 presented the appearance of an ordinary labourer in Sunday 
 attire. He spoke in the vernacular common to a Warwick- 
 shire peasant, but with a command that not a word was lost, 
 nor an interruption occurred from the vast company which 
 was closely packed, and hung with bated breath on the lips 
 of the speaker for more than an hour, only relieving them- 
 selves by the applause following each sentence, which was 
 delivered with more than usual animation. Whether for 
 
A WORKHOUSE SCENE. 2>7 
 
 good or for evil, he has probably a greater influence over 
 an out-door assembly of labourers than any other man in 
 England, and an impartial observer, judging from the im- 
 pressions of Friday night, would be of opinion that as long 
 as the movement has such a man for its champion, there is 
 little doubt of its vitality or even aggressiveness." 
 
 These necessarily imperfect sketches of the modus 
 operandi of the Union, will perhaps be the better 
 understood if supplemented by a few incidents of rural 
 life. One of the great bugbears of the agrindtural 
 labourer is the parish workhouse. It is probably one 
 of the most depressing circumstances of his not par- 
 ticularly sunny existence — the ever-present possibility 
 of ending his days therein. The following extract from 
 the " Day of Rest" furnishes a graphic picture of what 
 it is in the " house," as it is universally called, which 
 speciall) causes it to be so much dreaded, , 
 
 A FAMILIAR WORKHOUSE SCENE. 
 
 We stood inside the great black doors, which swung to 
 behind us, shutting us in as though they would never open 
 again, save, may-be, when we were borne out through them 
 in a pauper coffin. Transome leaned more heavily on my 
 arm. A man in the workhouse suit was sitting in a little 
 room just within the doors, and as we stood staring about us 
 he called out sharply : — 
 
 " Na, then ! whatten yo standin' there for ? Canna' yo 
 come on and tell me whatten yo want here ?" 
 
 " Me and my husband have brought an order to go into 
 the House," I said. 
 
 " Inside birds, eh ?" said he, laughing a little ; "caught and 
 
88 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 caged ! Go on, then, t' th' measter's office. First dur t' th' 
 rect across th' yard." • 
 
 I guided poor Transome across a large, square yard, with 
 nought to be seen save high walls on every side, with win- 
 dows in theni that had no curtains, like eyes without eyelids 
 looking down on us. But there was not a face to be seen at 
 any of them, and a mournful stillness filled the place. It w.is 
 Transome that knocked at the master's door, a quiet, feeble 
 knock that could never have been heard if there had been 
 much noise. We were called to go in, but we did not stay 
 there many minutes, and the master sent a man with us to 
 show us our separate wards. 
 
 Once more we had to cross the great yard, Transome 
 clinging to my arm, till we came to a door in the wall, where 
 we must say good-bye to one another. We never had said 
 good-bye all those long years, those ^orty years since he had 
 taken me from my father's home in another county. How 
 could I let him go out of my sight ? It was not like him 
 setting off for his day's work, sure of coming in again in the 
 evening. How could him and me spend our time apart 1 
 
 " Could na yo' leave us for two or three minutes .'"' said 
 Transome to the man, feebly. " Hoo's been th' best wife as 
 ever a man had these forty years ; and aw dunno how to bid 
 her good-bye. Give us a minute longer to be together." 
 
 " That aw will," answered the man. " But it canna be 
 more nor a two or three minutes. Bless yo ! yo'll see one 
 another at prayers morn and neet if yo chosen to go ; and 
 yo'll ha' half-an-hour o' Sunday, besides half-a-day out once 
 a month. It's noan so bad is th' house, so as yo' getten reet 
 side o' th' measter." 
 
 He went off for a little while, leaving Transome and me 
 against the door into the women's wards ; with all those dark, 
 staring windows looking down upon us. I laid my head 
 against the door-post, and broke out into heavy, heavy sobs. 
 
A WORKHOUSE SCENE. 89 
 
 " Na, Ally," cried Transome, " na, my lass ! Hush thee, 
 hush thee ! God A'mighty's here as well as out yonder i' 
 th' world. He knov/s where we are ; and sure He loves us 
 both, same as He's loved us all along. We mun at our trust 
 in Him, and go through it : thee and me mun part. Eh ! 
 but aw wonder if God A'mighty looks down on ony heart 
 sorer nor ours at this moment o' time .'*" 
 
 " Only promise," I said, through my sobbing, " promise 
 me faithfully you'll be careful of yourself, and keep up, so as 
 we can get out again in spring, when the warm weather is 
 come. Oh, Transome, if I could only keep nigh you, and 
 take care of you, I shouldn't mind." ^' 
 
 " There's One as'll take care on us both," he answered, 
 his voice trembling ; " One as says, ' I'll never leave thee, 
 nor forsake thee.' O'ny think o' that, my lass. He's here i' 
 th' workhouse itsen ; and nought'll part Him away from thee 
 nor me. Good-bye, Ally. Aw hear th' man coming back 
 to us." 
 
 He stretched out both his hands to me, and I put mine 
 into them, and we kissed each other solemnly, as if we were 
 both about to die and enter into another world. I saw his 
 face quiver all over, and then there came across it a patient 
 and quiet look, which never left it again, never ! I knocked 
 at the door before me, and passed in, just catching a last 
 sight of him turning away with nobody to lean upon. Then 
 the door was thrust to between us, and I could see him no 
 more. 
 
 I did not heed much what was said to me, and I did not 
 look about my new dwelling-place ; only I followed a woman 
 who passed through many rooms, where the windows were 
 high up in the walls, so that nobody could reach the sills, 
 and where there were groups of women all dressed alike, 
 chattering most of them ; and there was a strange close 
 smell. Oh I how different from the sweet air in our old 
 
90 . THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 home. At last, when I came to myself, as it were, I found 
 I was sitting on a chair at the head of a little narrow bed, in 
 a long room, with two long rows of beds down the sides of 
 it, and a narrow path up the middle. All the beds were 
 alike, and the bare, white-washed walls closed us in, with 
 nothing to be seen through the high windows, save a little 
 bit of grey November sky. There were old women all round 
 mc ; some of them many years older than me, even a few of 
 them bed-ridden ; but they seemed too dull to take any 
 notice of me, as if everything that was like life had died out 
 of them, save the bare life itself. 
 
 Well, there's no need to tell you much about the work- 
 house. Most poor folks know more of it than they care to 
 know, either through their own troubles or the troubles of 
 their friends. I don't say a word against it ; only I could 
 not be with Transome. There, think v/hat it was to have 
 been his wife forty years, with scarcely a brangle between us, 
 and never a sulking quarrel, and all at once to be shut up 
 in different parts of the same building, with only a few walls 
 and yards to part us, yet not be able to see him, or even send 
 a loving message to him. I wet my pillow with my tears 
 that night; ay, more than when my Willie died, as I 
 wondered and wondered how he was faring, and if he was 
 warmly wrapped up, and how his pains were. But I could 
 do nothing for him, no more than if Z was lying in my shroud 
 and coffin. At last my loneliness and my trouble drove me 
 to remember Him that is everywhere, and was with Transome 
 as He was with me. " Lord," I said in my heart, for it was 
 not altogether a prayer such as I had generally said to Him, 
 " Lord, if the/d only make his bed comfortable, and wrap 
 hiln up well in the blankets. Do put it into their hearts, 
 Lord, for he's tried to serve Thee faithful all his life long." 
 
 After that I felt a little easier in my mind ; I fell asleep, and 
 dreaming of the days when Willie was alive, only sometimes 
 
THE GUARDIANS AND THE LABOURERS, 91 
 
 the child was Willie, and sometimes Pippin. I suppose it 
 was because I had close to my pillow the little box that held 
 the curl of Willie's hair, and Pippin's piece of money. It was 
 the only thing I had brought in with me, except a few bits 
 of linen Transome had woven for me years and years ago, 
 which I had bleached as white as snow in the frost on the 
 brow of the hill. 
 
 My next incident illustrates a hardship which, owing 
 to the discretionary powers vested in rural guardians, 
 enables them to visit with something very much like a 
 fine, the offence of Unionism. The case is no un- 
 common one ; but as this one was taken up by the 
 Leamington committee, I give the following report of 
 it, as found in the pages of the "Chronicle" : — 
 
 THE POOR-LAW GUARDIANS AND THE 
 
 LABOURERS. 
 
 THE MAINTENANCE OF AGED PARENTS BY THEIR CHILDREN. 
 
 Southam Petty Sessions, Warwickshire, June i6th, before 
 Henry Thomas Chamberlayne and A. H. Thursby, Esqrs. 
 Walter Mawby v. Joseph Overton. The complainant 
 was the clerk to the guardians of the poor of the Southam 
 Union, in the counties of Warwick and Northampton, 
 and Joseph Overton is a labourer at Harbury, who was 
 defended by Mr. Edwards- Wood, of Leamington, solicitor. 
 The complainant's case, proved only by his own testimony, 
 was that Thomas Overton and Fanny Overton were poor old 
 and impotent persons, not able to work, and had become 
 chargeable to the Union on the 2nd instant, and that the 
 said Joseph Overton was their son, and of sufficient ability, 
 at his own charge, to relieve and maintain his said parents. 
 — Mr. Edwards- Wood then addressed the Bench at much 
 
92 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 length, and brought out the facts in bold relief that the two 
 pitiable paupers, man and wife, had been tenants of the 
 chairman of that honourable bench for forty years, in the 
 parish of Ufton ; that no couple had ever passed through 
 life more creditably than they ; Joseph Overton having 
 worked forty years for the trustees of the turnpike, brought 
 up most respectably a family of four sons and two daughters, 
 and the misfortune of receiving parochial relief never befel 
 his lot until the 2nd of this month. And as the advocate of 
 the son, he had the pride of saying every one of the said 
 children had followed in the honest footsteps of their father, 
 each of them being married, and supporting their respective 
 families by the fruits of honest, sober industry. Fortunately 
 for his client every circumstance in this case was within the 
 personal knowledge of the chairman of this Bench, and who 
 was also the chairman of the Union, so that he hoped justice 
 would ultimately be done between all parties. As regarded 
 the statute under which the claim was made (43 Eliz., cap 2), 
 he contended that it was never intended to compel paupers 
 to support paupers, although they might be blood relations. 
 In order for the son to become liable to do so, the condition 
 laid down in the Act was this, " he being of sufficient ability." 
 He had carefully made out this labourer's balance-sheet, who 
 was present to swear to the truth of every item it contained, 
 which showed that with the present dearness o^ every article 
 he had to buy, he had to meet a deficiency of ^7 us. 6d., 
 instead of having any surplus to meet the demands of the 
 Southam Union — which showed the injustice and inhumanity 
 of the guardians' procedure, which attempted to get rid of 
 a legitimate liability on their income, by removing it to the 
 s houlders of a son who had not sufficient to meet the daily 
 wants of himself and his family. The ability to pay had been 
 the pivot on which all the highest judges of the land had 
 rested their judgments in every case which had been sub- 
 
THE GUARDIANS AND THE LABOURERS, 93 
 
 mittcd to them. He quoted as above all decisions the 
 express words in the Act. Then came to our further guidance 
 the case of Rex v Reeve, Michaelmas Term, 7th Charles 
 fst, before Mr. Justice Jones and Lord Chief Justice Croke, 
 whose significant words were, *' It is very reasonable that he 
 oeinj? of sufficient ability, should contribute to the support of 
 his grandchild." The like principle was acted upon in the 
 Jew case of St. Andrews Vindorshaft v. Jacob Mendez de 
 lireda. "He, being very r ch," had been ordered to pay 
 20s. per month for his daughter's support. That was the law 
 in Michaelmas Term 13th William 3rd, when that appeal was 
 heard. Mr. Justice Eyre made the like remark in the case 
 of Shormanbury v. Bolney, 5th William 3rd. In the case of 
 of Rex V. Munden, ist George ist, it was laid down that 
 the assistance must be according to the words and intent 
 of the Act. And in the case of Woodford v. Lilburn, 20th 
 George 2nd, it is stated that the case of Rex v. Munday 
 settled it to be for blood relations, and that even those were 
 not liable " unless they be such as are of sufficient ability." 
 Therefore he considered the present a most iniquitous and 
 unrighteous attempt to reduce his client to be ultimately a 
 candidate to have workhouse relief for himself. The balance 
 sheet of the defendant was then discussed, and the clerk 
 of the Union was unable to point out any objectionable item 
 in the expenditure. 
 The balance-sheet was as follows : — 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 I s. d. 
 
 Wages at 155. per week 39 o o 
 
 Extra 5s. per week during harvest month 100 
 
 Profits from allotment : — Sack of wheat i8s., potatoes los., 
 
 beans 15s., straw 15s 2 18 o 
 
 E.xtra 3s. per week for hiring month o 12 o 
 
 Value of vegetables from allotment and garden the year round 2 10 o 
 
 46 o o 
 
94 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 jr s. d. 
 
 Less deduction for three weeks and five days of lost time, 
 
 being one day per fortnight 2 17 6 
 
 Total income , 43 2 6 
 
 PAYMENTS PER WEEK. 
 
 Rent , 020 
 
 Coals o I 6 
 
 Bread, 5 loaves ..t 7 Kd. per loaf 031}^ 
 
 Rent for potato ground '. 007 
 
 Grocery 030 
 
 One gallon of flour for puddings 007 
 
 Pigs, cost post price ;^2 and ;^i, per week 011% 
 
 Feeding the two pigs (barley meal 17s., stuffs irs. 6d., beans, 
 
 &c.), per week 026 
 
 Club money per week ...., 006 
 
 Wife and one child's ditto per week o o iK 
 
 Man's clothing 016 
 
 Wife's and child's clothing, bedding, &c 01 o 
 
 But ter, lib. per week o i 4 
 
 Cheese, J^lb. per week '. 005 
 
 Beer for Sunday's supper o o 2K 
 
 o V) 6 
 
 Total of the 52 weeks' expenditure, at 19s. 6d. per week ... 50 14 o 
 Total income 43 2 6 
 
 Deficiency 7 11 6 
 
 The Chairman made some very feeling remarks on behalf 
 of this aged couple. He endorsed all Mr. Edwards-Wood 
 had advanced in their favour, and also bore testimony to the 
 good conduct of all their children, by whom they had been 
 assisted until they became married. It had been the prac- 
 tice to levy this kind of contribution from the children of 
 persons chargeable to the union. The Bench therefore 
 ordered a shilling per week in this case, and hoped the 
 opinion of a higher Court would be taken, so as to have the 
 law on such cases indisputably settled. 
 
THE COCKNEY AMONG THE RUSTICS. 95 
 
 One of the consequences of the growth of the 
 labourers' movement is the attention bestowed on it by 
 the London press. I have already referred to the really 
 valuable service rendered it in the " Daily News," in its 
 earliest stages, by the graphic pen of a " special corre- 
 spondent." More recently the " Daily Telegraph " has 
 taken to "looking in" upon the labourer, or, to use a 
 more correct press phrase — " interviewing" him. 
 
 In running through the pages of the " Chronicle," I 
 find the following : — 
 
 THE COCKNEY AMONG THE RUSTICS. 
 
 The " Daily Telegraph" has published some letters from 
 Bucks and elsewhere, " by our own commissioner," which 
 is another name for " a reporter " who runs about in search 
 of impressions, which he throws into black and white as 
 quickly as they are made, and sometimes, apparently, before, 
 and which are of the same intrinsic value as thistledown, 
 which is blown about hither and thither, bearing everywhere 
 thistle crops of superficial sentiment and opinion, instead of 
 the solid corn and wine of earnest thought and true heart 
 feeling. We need scarcely say that our " commissioner " 
 looks down from a pretty considerable elevation upon "John 
 Whopstraw," as he pleases to call an agricultural labourer, 
 in weariness of repeating the more hackneyed name of 
 " Hodge." It is really too bad to judge of the intelligence 
 of a class by what is carelessly talked by the lighter wits 
 who frequent the village ale-house. People of whom the 
 following can be written, however, can scarcely be in so very 
 bad a case intellectually, however deficient they may be 
 accounted when judged by superficial standards, and unon 
 the briefest possible acquaintance. 
 
96 ' THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 "On Saturday I was at a place called Little Kemble, 
 which is between Princes Risborough and Aylesbury, and 
 there at tlie village inn were eight or ten haymakers and 
 teamsters waiting until the train brought the London weekly 
 newspapers. By-the-bye, I may here mention as a curious 
 fact, revealed to me during my brief sojourn amongst the 
 rustic natives of Warwickshire and Buckinghamshire, that 
 they have but a limited amount of confidence in daily news- 
 papers. Their objection to intelligence fresh distilled and 
 piping hot is similar to that they have to eating new bread ; 
 and though news a week old may be somewhat stale, it is 
 more solid and satisfying and less likely to ferment. I 
 suspect, however, another reason for the preference — the 
 daily papers are at present ' sour grapes ' for Hodge. At 
 all events, the skilled artisans of the hay and turnip fields of 
 Little Kemble were waiting for their ' weekly,' in order that 
 they might get some further confirmation of the amazing 
 rumour. It would have done Mr. Gladstone's heart good 
 could he have seen the eager interest with which the news- 
 paper was spread out to its full length and breadth on the 
 taproom table, while the nine Little Kembleites clubbed their 
 thick heads over it in hopes of lighting on ' soom'at fraash ' 
 on the agricultural franchise question. I believe it would 
 not have in the least surprised them had they discovered an 
 entire page of * parliamentary ' devoted to the all-important 
 subject as well as two or three leading articles. They were 
 doomed to disappointment, though they searched with the 
 utmost diligence, and pursued their investigation even to the 
 column devoted to answers to correspondents, in the despe- 
 rate hope that, though never so tiny a bit, 'soom'at fraash' 
 might turn up there. There was a tremendously long ac- 
 count of a breach of promise case, but to-day, contrary to 
 their wont, the tap-room customers of the Pied Pig had no 
 appetite for that kind of literary diet, and even turned away 
 
^THE COCKNEY AMONG THE RUSTICS. 97 
 
 with an exclamation of discontent from a whole pageful of 
 'C'limant.' 'Who warnts 10 read that there kind of 
 stoof? Why don't 'they gie us summ'at as we keers 
 for?'" 
 
 Probably a similar comment would be made by our own 
 readers — " W^ho warnts to read that ere kind of stoof?" — if 
 we were to reproduce in these columns very much more of 
 the " Daily Telegraph " commissioner's fine writing about 
 agricultural labourers, who, if really possessed of no more 
 intelligence than could be gauged by the Cockney mind, 
 might almost as well be growing trees. Just fancy our 
 all-sufficient Cockney commissioner talking to labourers 
 like this about the difference between Liberalism and 
 Toryism ; — 
 
 '' '■ Well, for my part,' said I, ' I don't find it easy to see 
 the difference between a Liberal and a Conservative. What 
 is the difference?' And as I spoke I looked round me to 
 discern the village politician who would render me the 
 required information, but to my astonishment there ensued 
 a sheepish silence, most of the company finding it con- 
 venient to apply themselves to their beer-jugs. Those who 
 were not so engaged looked hard at the ploughman, who 
 made a desperate endeavour to get over the difficulty by 
 affecting supreme contempt for my ignorance. ' Oi should 
 have thought as how you was old enough to have knowed 
 that without axin'!' said he. 'But,' I persisted, 'what is 
 the great difference between the two principles V ' Why, 
 what's the use of yow a taalkin'?' retorted the ploughman, 
 turning on me as fiercely ?.s though I had bee obstinately 
 defending my view of the matter for an hour or more ; 'there's 
 all the difference, I tell yee.' 'What's the meanin' of the 
 Conservatives callin themselves the Opposition, if there 
 beant no difference ? What do one soide have blue caards 
 at 'lection toime and t'other side hev yeller, if there's no 
 
 8 
 
98 . THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 difference ? What makes 'em keep strict to their own 
 public-houses and take to wranglin' and foightin' at the 
 hustin's, if there's no differerce ? I'm surproised at a man 
 of your years not Icnowin' be'iter.' And to make my con- 
 fusion complete the Little Kenibleites assembled joined in a 
 chorus of ' Yeer, veer.' " 
 
 This is surely petty, silly work for the special representa- 
 tive of a great daily new^spaper to come into the country 
 for. If he had cared to enlighten his listeners and not 
 bewilder them, he might have measured their powers of 
 understanding with far more truthfulness, instead of per- 
 sistently putting an abstract proposition — What is the great 
 difference between the two principles ? — by shaping the 
 question in a livelier mould, as thus : " What is the difference 
 between one person who works energetically to the end of 
 putting things right that are wrong, and of making his 
 fellow man free, healthy, and wise, and another who takes 
 things as he finds them, and leaves them no better ; — be- 
 tween ' one who seeks his own in all men's good,' and 
 another who, for his own selfish advantage, would hold his 
 fellows in ignorance and slavery ; — between one who has 
 faith in a divine law of right, and in the duty of shaping his 
 own course and that of the State thereby, and another who, 
 abandoning hope and faith, would retread the footprints of 
 the past ; — between one who beheves in ' Church, crown, 
 and constitution,' and another who has faith in these only 
 in so far as they assist and encourage the hopeful activity of 
 mind and spirit, and tend to the larger development of 
 powers in all, for all ; — between one who has faith through 
 activity and progress in a heaven here and not hereafter 
 alone?" If he had spoken thus we venture to say there are 
 thousands of labourers who would have understood him, just 
 as they can understand Joseph Arch, because he touches the 
 universal heart of toiling humanity, and any one who can 
 
UNION BALLADS. 99 
 
 make himself understood in that language, is sure to have 
 a hearing among simple men. 
 
 Our commissioner concludes : — 
 
 " I will venture to say this much, that if electoral power 
 should be entrusted to those only who are qualified by 
 educational enlightenment to hold and exercise it, then for 
 the present it will be more judicious to send John W'hopstraw 
 to an evening school than to make him a voter." 
 
 The best answer to this stale objection to enfranchise- 
 ment of the unfitness of the labourers, is that of 
 Frederick Douglass to the old objection to the eman- 
 cipation of the slaves : — " The best preparation for 
 freedom is freedom." 
 
 UNION BALLADS. 
 
 Singing has largely entered into the proceedings of the 
 farm labourers agitation. Most village meetings are 
 begun wath a song, and as the tune is generally some- 
 thing that, as Primitive Methodists, the majority of the 
 men are more or less familiar with, and the words 
 often a mere accommodation of some equally familiar 
 hymn, the singing part of the meeting is not its least 
 telling. A very favourite song is the following : — 
 
 STAND LIKE THE BRAVE. 
 {Adapted by G. M. Ball.) 
 
 O workmen, awake, for the strife is at hand ; 
 
 With right on your side, then with hope firmly stand — • 
 
 To meet your oppressors, go, fearlessly go. 
 
 And stand like the brave, with your face to the foe. 
 Stand like the brave, stand like the brave. 
 Stand like the brave, with your face to the foe. 
 
 8 * 
 
loo THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 Whatever'^ the danger take hecvi rmd beware, 
 And turn not your back — for no armour is there ; 
 iSeek righteous reward for your labour — then go 
 And stand like the brave, with your face to the foe. 
 
 Stand, &c. 
 
 The cause of each other with vigour defend, 
 Be honest and true, and fight to the end ; 
 Where duty may lead 3 ou, go — fearlessly go, 
 And stand like the brave, with your face to the foe. 
 
 Stand, &c. 
 
 We fight not alone who seek to be freed, 
 But friends from afar send xis help when we need ; 
 And kindly they whisper, saying hopefully go, 
 And stand like the brave, with your face to the foe. 
 
 Stand, &c. 
 
 Let hope then still cherr us ; though long be the strife, 
 More comforts shall come to the workman's home life : > 
 More food for our children ; demand it — then go. 
 And stand like the brave, with your face to the foe. 
 
 Stand, &c. 
 
 Press on, never doubting, redemption draws near — 
 Poor serfs shall arise fr-m oppression and fear ; 
 Though great ones ojjpose you, they cannot o'erthrow, 
 If you stand like the brave, v/ith your face to the foe. 
 
 Stand, &c. 
 
 Another, which the witty secretary of the Union, Mr. 
 Henry Taylor, composed on the occasion of our late 
 illustrious visitor, the Shah of Persia's presence in 
 England, takes well with the country folk. It runs 
 thus : — 
 
UNION BALLADS. loi 
 
 THE SHAH. 
 TrNE — " Johnny comes Marching Home." 
 
 Pray who's this coming along the street ? 
 
 The Shah, the Shah. 
 He's jewelled from head to the soles of his feet ; 
 
 The Shah, the Shah. 
 Now, let's go and meet him, and give him a greeting ; 
 Let's fuss him well up, and jolly well treat him ; 
 Such a noble fellow is 
 
 The Shah, the Shah, the Shah. 
 
 A despot king of a serfdom land, is 
 
 The Shah, the Shah. 
 Where his will is law, dealt out by the hand of 
 
 The Shah, the Shah. 
 Where filth and pestilence, famine, decay. 
 Is of small concern, so his will they obey, 
 And robe with diamonds brilliant and gay, 
 
 The Shah, the Shah, the Shah. 
 
 But he's come to learn a better way, 
 
 The Shah, the Shah ; 
 He's come to learn what Christians say, 
 
 The Shah, the Shah ; 
 How the arts and science of civilisation 
 Is the one great sign of a mighty nation, 
 And that despotic rule always means stagnation, 
 
 Shah, Shah, Shah. 
 
 The ghtter of fashion he don t want to see. 
 
 The Shah, the Shah ; 
 He's sufficient of that in his own country, 
 
 The Shah, the Shah ; ^ 
 
 And if we must show him our cannon and spears. 
 And our vessels of war, of their strength when he heara. 
 No vain boast may he witness, let us tell it in tears, to 
 
 The Shah, the Shah, the Shah. 
 
102 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 See our telegraph system and locomotion, 
 
 Shah, Shah, 
 Our highway roads, and get a notion, 
 
 Shah. Shah, 
 And strive to see, if ever should be 
 A famine again in your country, 
 By means of these, people fed may be, 
 
 Shah, Shah, Shah. 
 
 See how our commerce in various ways, 
 
 Shah, Shah, 
 . The law of supply and demand obeys, 
 
 Shah, Shah. 
 Free trade in all tljings we demand ; 
 In com we have it, and soon the land 
 Will be made to serve the people's command. 
 
 Shah, Shah, Sh'^h. 
 
 Yes, Liberty's claimed to-day for all. 
 
 Shah, Shah, 
 Serfdom and misery soon must fall, 
 
 Shah, Shah. 
 Ev'n labourers, hitherto sadly neglected, 
 Have adopted a means by which they're protected 
 'Gainst tyrants and systems which made them dejected, 
 
 Shah, Shah, Shah. 
 
 Th' National Agricultural labourers' Union, 
 
 Shah, Shah, 
 Is a means by which poor men in communion, 
 
 Shah, Shah, 
 May strike off the fetters by which they're bound. 
 And help themselves and all who surround ; 
 'Twill never leave them where they were found, 
 
 Shah, Shah, Shah. 
 
 So go back to Persia as soon as you please. 
 
 Shah, Shah, 
 And instead of indulging and taking your ease, 
 
 Shah, Shah, 
 
UNION BALLADS. 103 
 
 Go tell the poor Persians, if they would be free, 
 In union they must all join heartily, 
 And remove all obstructions, e'en thouf'h it be thee, 
 
 The Shah, the Shah, the Shah. 
 
 Mr. Howard Evans, of London, has composed a 
 number of lively ballads, which have been published 
 in a penny book, and are used very extensively at the 
 out-door meetings. As the ballads of a people have 
 always exerted a considerable influence over them, I 
 give a few of these racy rhymes as illustrative of the 
 men, their condition, the objects of their union, and 
 the spirit which animates them. 
 
 THE FINE OLD ENGLISH LABOURER. 
 
 Tuv-— •• The Fine Old English Gentleman " 
 
 Come, lads, and listen to my song, a song of honest toil, • 
 'Tis of the English labourer, the tiller of the soil ; 
 I'll tell you how ne used to fare, and all the ills he bore. 
 Till he stood up in his manhood, resolved to bear no more, 
 
 This fine old English labourer, one of the present time. 
 
 He used to takr whatever wage the farmer chose to pay, 
 
 And work as hard as any horse for eighteenpence a day ; 
 
 Or if he grumbled at the nine, and dared to ask for ten, 
 
 The angr>' farmer cursed and swore, and sacked him there and then, 
 
 * This fine old English labourer, &c. 
 
 He used to tramp off to his work while town folk were a-bed, 
 With nothing in his belly but a slice or two of bread ; 
 He dined upon potatoes, and he never dreamed of meat, 
 Except a lump of bacon fat sometimes by way of treat, 
 
 This fine old English labourer, &c. 
 
I04 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 He used to find it hard enough to give his children food, 
 Hut sent them to the village school as often as he could ; 
 But though he k'-'cw that school was good, they must have bread and 
 
 clothes. 
 So he had to send them to the fields to scare away the crows, 
 This line old English labourer, &c. 
 
 He used to walk along the fields and see his landlord's game 
 Devour his master's growing crops, and think it was a shame ; 
 But if the keeper found on him a rabbit or a wire. 
 He got it hot when brought before the parson and the squire, 
 This fine old English labourer, &c. 
 
 But now he's wide awake eaough and doing all he can, 
 At last, for honest labour's rights, he's fighting like a man ; 
 Since squires and landlords will not help, to help himself he'll try, 
 And if he doesn't get fair wage he'll know the reason why, 
 
 This fine old English labourer, &c. 
 
 They used to treat him as they liked in the evil days of old, 
 They thought there was no power on earth to beat the power of gold ; 
 They used to threaten what they'd do whenever work was slack, 
 But now he laughs their threats to scorn with the Union at his back, 
 
 This fine old English labourer, &c. 
 
 STAND BY THE UNION. 
 TuNB— " The Good Rhine Wine." 
 
 . Stand by the Union 1 all through the land 
 The sons of the soil are waking ; - 
 
 Join heart to heart, and hand to hand, , 
 
 The rusted chains of bondage breaking. 
 
 Chorus — For the poor man is weak, though his cause 
 be right, 
 But the weak grow strong when they all unite. 
 
 Stand by the Union ! Labour's hope ! 
 One fibre is light as a feather ; 
 
UNION BALLADS. ' 105 
 
 But the twisted stra.ids of the good ship's rope, ' 
 
 Defy the rage of wind and weather. 
 
 For the poor man, &c. 
 
 Stand by the Union— the friend of all 
 
 Wiio dare to befriend each other ; 
 Respond hke men to the Union's call — 
 
 He helps himself who helps his brother. 
 
 For the poor man, &c. 
 
 Stand by the Union ! The great may frown ; 
 
 We'll be their serfs no longer ; 
 Though they are strong who tread us down, 
 
 The God-given rights of men are stronger. 
 
 , For the poor man, &c. 
 
 Stand by the Union, firm and true, 
 
 We are bound to conquer through it ! 
 We mean to win for toil its due, 
 
 And we're the proper lads to do it. 
 
 For the poor man, &c. -. 
 
 Stand by the Union, — onward we march 
 
 For defence and not defiance ; 
 Our trusty chief is Joseph Arch, 
 
 In right and union our reliance. 
 
 For the poor man, &c. 
 
 Stand by the Union — stick to it now, 
 
 With a strength no power can sever ; 
 We've put both our hands with a will to the plough, 
 
 We'll never look back, boys, never — never ! 
 
 # ■ 
 
 For the poor man, &c. 
 
 'lord REGINALD. 
 Tune—" The Misletoe Bough." 
 Lord Reginald lives in a stately hall. 
 With flunkeys and keepers to come at his call, 
 With rich gems of art its walls are graced. 
 For his lordship has a most exquisite taste ; 
 
io6 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 On the same estate, as I happen to know, • 
 
 Is a lAbourer's cottage, with one room below, 
 And one room above, wher-* ton sleep in ;i batch, 
 And the rain pours in through tlie rotten thatch. 
 
 N Oh, the wrongs of the poor ! oh, the wrongs of the poor ! 
 
 Lord Reginald lives on the fat of the land, 
 His wines are superb, his dinners are grand ; 
 And lately a prince to his house he brought, 
 For his covers afford such excellent sport. 
 But the people who live m the cottage, I ween, 
 Live not on the fat of the land, but the lean ; 
 4^ For his lordship could hardly dine once at his club 
 
 On their weekly allowance for clothes and grub. 
 
 Oh, the wrongs of the poor ! 
 
 Lord Reginald's ancestors won by the sword 
 One half of their lands, and the rest by fraud ; 
 And now that the land by wrong has been won. 
 He has all the rights, and ihe people have none. 
 Lord Reginald's charities — trumpet them forth ! 
 A few pounds a year spent in blankets and broth. 
 And allotments let at a very low rate — 
 The farmer pays two pounds, the labourer eight. 
 
 Oh, the wrongs of the poor ! 
 
 Lord Reginald does not his father's crimes ; ■ 
 
 He speaks in the House and writes to the Times ; ". 
 
 Though his claws are sharp, his paws are sleek. 
 
 And he goes to the rich man's church every week ; 
 
 But with the pheasants his lordship kills 
 
 He pays his London fishmonger's bills ; ' 
 
 And when the peasants with hunger cry, 
 
 He prates of the laws of demand and supply. 
 
 Oh, the wrongs of the poor ! 
 
 I.,ord Reginald lives in the proud belief 
 That his family sprang from a Norman thief, 
 In the days when a robber was counted grand — 
 He conquer'd our fathers, and stole their land ; 
 
UNION BALLADS. 107 
 
 Rut he kept them to till it, and gave thtim their share, 
 And the peasant still had enough and to spare. 
 Now I'd rather have lived under him, I think, 
 For his serfs had plenty to eat and to drink. 
 
 Oh, the wrongs of the poor ! 
 
 Lord Reginald wants to get more land still— 
 If he lacks the power, he don't lack the will ; 
 He'll steal our commons, if ever he can. 
 For he doesn't believe in the rights of man. 
 But the time is near when he'll have to be taught 
 That the land wasn't made to furnish him sport ; 
 That the down-trodden peasants, the children of toil. 
 By their labour and sweat have their rights in the soil. 
 
 Oh, the wrongs of the poor ! 
 
 FARMER GRUMPS. 
 
 Tune — " Poor Mary Ann." 
 
 I'll sing you a song of our mutual friend, sir, 
 
 Poor Farmer Grumps ; 
 He don't sing himself, you may depend, sir. 
 
 Poor farmer Grumps ; 
 For care and trouble never leave him. 
 All things were made to vex and grieve him, 
 All men to worry and deceive him. 
 
 Poor Farmer Grumps. 
 
 He grumbles on for weeks together, 
 
 Poor Farmer Grumps ; 
 He grumbles when it's rainy weather, 
 
 Poor Farmer Grumps ; 
 He grumbles when the sky is sunny ; 
 And yet, to me, it's rather funny, " 
 
 Somehow or other he still makes money. 
 
 Poor Farmer Grumps. 
 
 Whenever they call on him for taxes, 
 
 Poor Farmer Grumps. 
 Into a passion at once he waxes, 
 
 Poor Farmer Grumps ; 
 
io8 * THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 But while he thus the Poor Law curses, 
 He thinks not how their case far worse is 
 Who have to trust to its tender mercies, 
 
 Poor Farmer Grumps. 
 
 ■V ■ 
 
 He growls to you like a sore-headed Bruin, 
 
 Poor Farmer Grumps, 
 That his landlord's game will be his ruin. 
 
 Poor Farmer Grumps. 
 But do not think that his defection 
 Will add one vote to the Liberal section ; — 
 He'll crawl to the squire at the next election. 
 
 Poor Farmer Grumps, 
 
 And now he's in a frightful rage, 
 
 Poor Farmer Grumps. 
 For his men have asked for a larger wage, ,' 
 
 Poor Farmer Grumps. 
 So, like a fool, at once he sacked 'em ; 
 But he soon found out that the Union backed 'em, 
 And off to the North to work it packed 'em, ' 
 
 Poor Farmer Grumps. 
 
 He knows he's made an awful blunder, 
 
 Poor Farmer Grumps. 
 
 Where will he get fresh men, I wonder ? 
 
 Poor Farmer Grumps. 
 
 His cares have made him so much thinner, 
 
 And as the Union proves the winner, 
 • Let us forgive the repentant sinner, 
 
 Poor Farmer Grumpj. 
 
 THE MASTER AND L 
 
 Tune—" Bonnie Dundee." 
 
 Says the master to me, — " Is it true, as I'm told, 
 Your name's on the books of the Union enrolled ? 
 I can never allow that a workman of mine 
 With wicked disturbers of peace should combine ; 
 
UNION BA LLA DS. 1 09 
 
 1 give you fair ^^al•ning, mind what you're about, 
 I shall put my foot down on it, trample it out ; 
 On which side your Thread's butter'd sure you can see, 
 So decide now at once for the Union or me." 
 
 Says I to the inaster, — " It's perfectly true 
 That I'm in ''le Union, — I'll stick to it, too! 
 And if between Union and you I must choose, 
 Why, I've plenty to win and little to lose ; 
 For xwenty years mostly my bread has been dry, 
 And to butter it now I shall certainly try ; 
 And though I respect you, remember I'm free — 
 No master in England shall trample on me." 
 
 Says ihe master to me, — " A word or two more — 
 We never have quarrelled on matters before ; 
 If you stick to the Union, 'eivs long, I'll be bound, 
 You'll come and ask me for more wages all round. 
 Now I cannot afford more than two ' bob' a day, 
 When I look at the taxes and rent .hat I pay ; 
 And the crops are so injured by game, as you see, 
 If it is hard for you, it's hard also for me." 
 
 Says I to the master, — " I do not see how 
 
 Any need has arisen for quarrelling now ; ' " 
 
 And though, likely enough, we shall ask for more wage, 
 
 I can promise you we shan't get first in a rage ; 
 
 Your landlord mayn't think so, but I don't deny 
 
 Your taxes and rent are a great deal too high ; 
 
 But granted all that, — you've been both in the swim, 
 
 We are bound *d squeeze you, — now you go and squeeze him." 
 
 THE GREAT UNPAID. 
 Tune—" Sammy Slap, the Bill Sticker." 
 
 My name it is Squire Puddinghead, 
 
 A Justice of the Peace, sir; 
 And if you don't know what that means, 
 
 j ust ask the rural police, sir ! 
 
no THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 When culprits nabbed f ir petty crimes 
 
 Within my Court assemble, 
 If I am sitting on the Bench, 
 
 Uh, don't the wretches tremble 
 
 At the Great Unpaid ! 
 Ask anything but justice 
 Of the Great Unpaid. 
 
 The cases that I have to try 
 
 Are mostly small transgressions — 
 So small, the Court in which I sit 
 
 Is called the Petty Sessions — 
 ' A sort of legal small-tooth comb ; 
 
 Th' offences are so tiny, 
 You'd laugh at them, —but you'd not laugh 
 
 When I proceed to fine ye. 
 
 Oh, the Great Unpaid, &c. 
 
 If Polly Brown but takes a stick 
 
 From Farmer Giles's fences, 
 • 1 fine her twopence as its worth, 
 
 And fourteen bob expenses ; 
 And if a tramp sleep in a field, 
 
 Such is my lordly bounty, 
 I give hiVn lodging for a week, 
 
 Provided by the county. 
 
 Oh, the Great Unpaid, &c. 
 
 The Union leaders I would hang, 
 
 'Twould be a task delightful : 
 But since I can't, I am content 
 
 To do the mean and spiteful ; 
 And if my colleague. Captain Fair, 
 
 Would be the poor's protector, 
 The vilest things I dare to do 
 
 Are backed up by the Rector. 
 
 Oh, the Great Unpaid, &c. 
 
UNION BALLADS, 1 1 1 
 
 So Policeman Hobbs, and Snobs my clerk, 
 
 Their paltry charges trump up, 
 To vex and harass Union men, 
 
 And don't I make 'em stump up ! 
 What good to me to be J. P. 
 
 Over my wretched drudges, 
 If I can't strain and twist the law, 
 
 To pay oft' all the grudges 
 
 Of the Great Unpaid, &c, 
 
 THE TWO UNIONS. 
 Tune-" The Red, White, and Blue." 
 Who would ever have thought we'd be making 
 
 The Union a subject of song, 
 When our hearts with distress were nigh breaking, 
 
 And there seemed no redress for our wrong. 
 But the Union I mean is another, 
 
 A Union of good men and true, 
 That in time shall abolish the other, 
 
 For the old must give place to the new. 
 
 Chorus — For the old must give place to the new, 
 For the old must give place to the new, 
 
 The Union of J^abour for ever 
 The old must g've place to the new. 
 
 Once the name of the Union was hated — 
 
 That Union that's worse than a jail — 
 Where husband and wife are unmatcd, ^ 
 
 When age makes them feeble and frail. 
 But, much as we hated and feared it, 
 We had no better prospect in view, 
 Till Arch wrote on his flag, and upreared it, 
 "The old shall give place to the new." 
 
 For the old, &c. 
 
 Good wage is the great curse of labour. 
 
 His lordship in confidence prates. 
 Let him give what is just to his neighbour, 
 
 And he'll get back the cost in the rates. 
 
112 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 Mnrk ! farmers and squires, 'ere I finish, 
 If you give but to labour its due, 
 
 Your Unions will greatly diminish, 
 For the old will give place to the new. 
 
 P'or the old, &'c. 
 
 O. THE ROv\ST BEEF OF OLD ENGLAND ! 
 
 NEW VERSION. 
 
 I'll sing you a song — it shall not be too long. 
 
 If you go for your rights, you will not think it wrong. 
 
 So give us a chonjs, both hearty and strong ; 
 
 O the prime roast beef of Old England, 
 O the rare Old English roast beef ! 
 
 Time was when our ancestors farmed their own land ; 
 (Contented and happy, no foe could withstand 
 Those bold sturdy yeomen — a glorious band, 
 
 Well fed with the beef of Old England, 
 The jolly Old English roast beef ! 
 
 Rut, somehow or other, the lord and the squire 
 Have got all the lands that their hearts can desire. 
 And we are poor wretches just let out for hire, 
 
 And have lost the roast beef of Old England , 
 We don't get a smell of the beef. 
 
 A mite of fat bacon, a bit of hard bread, 
 
 Our wages will much about give us instead, 
 
 Yet we think those that work have a right to be fed, — 
 
 Aye, even with beef of Old England, 
 With jolly Old English ro.ast beef. 
 
 The lord and the squire may open their eyes, 
 The parson's next sermon be wonderful wise, 
 We hope their fine fechngs we shall not surprise. 
 
 But we want the roast beef of Old England, 
 The jolly Old English roast beef. 
 
UNION BALLADS. 1 1 3 
 
 So pull altogether, and work with a will, 1 
 
 Vux something ou*- wives and our children to fill, 
 Much better than crusts, and their tea-kettle swill, 
 
 For jolly roast beef of Old England, 
 
 For glorious Old English roast beef. 
 
 So stand by the Union, the winter's gone through, 
 Neither hunger nor cold could our courage subdue, 
 For there's one thing we want, and mean having it. too, 
 
 The jolly roast beef of Old England, 
 
 The glorious Old English roast beef. 
 
 Benjamin Britten. 
 
 A HYMN OF LABOUR. 
 
 I>OKn, as thou didst invite of old, 
 
 We weary, heavy-laden come ; 
 Thy roused, uprising poor behold, 
 
 And those with hopeless misery dumb. 
 
 Beneath our feet we tread the lie, 
 That our great wrongs are Thy design, 
 
 That we in want should live and die. 
 While others share the corn and wine. 
 
 Crowned Justice ! hear our cry of wrong : 
 Throned Love ! attend our wail of pain ; 
 
 Plead Thou our cause against the strong, 
 Who serve as god, the Moloch gain. 
 
 Thy fair sweet-smiling fields they stain 
 With many a foul and shameful blot ; 
 
 Rises to heaven the cry of Cain — 
 " My brother's keeper I am not." 
 
 We thank Thee for the men who lead. 
 
 Who fight our cause with tongue and pen ; 
 
 W^ose love to Thee, —best shown in deed, 
 Breaks forth in ardent love to men. 
 
T 1 4 THE RE VOL T OF THE FIELD. 
 
 Wo thank Thee, that from north to south, 
 From east to west the flame ha<. spread ; 
 
 And that the breathing of Thy mouth, 
 lias kindled into life the dead. 
 
 I>ord, make us patient, as, Thou art, 
 Yet constant to our great design ; 
 
 From thoughts of vengeance keep each heart. — 
 Justice and love are both divine. 
 
 More men, more manhood now accord, 
 Make us more worthy to be free ; 
 
 Where dwells the spirit of the Lord, 
 There is the home of liberty. 
 
 THE FRANCHISE. 
 Tune— "The Englishman." 
 
 There's a man who represents our shire 
 
 In the Parliament House, they say, 
 Returned by the votes of farmer and squire. 
 
 And others who bear the sway ; 
 And farmer and squire, when laws are made, 
 
 Are pretty well cared for thus ; 
 But the County Member, I'm much afraid, 
 
 Has but Httle care for us. 
 
 Chorus — So we ought *o vote, deny it who can, 
 'Tis the right of an honest Englishman. 
 
 Whenever a tyrant country beak 
 
 Has got us beneath his thumb, 
 For Justice then he ought sure to speak, 
 
 But the County Member is dumb. 
 Whenever the rights of labour need 
 
 A vote on a certain day, 
 The County Member is sure to plead 
 
 And vote the contrary way. 
 
 So we ought to vote, &c. 
 
UNION BALL A DS. 1 1 5 
 
 We ask for the vote, iind we have good cause 
 
 To make it our firm demand ; 
 For ages the rich have made all the laws, 
 
 And have robbed the poor of their land. 
 The Parliament men false weights have made, 
 
 So that Justice often fails ; 
 And, to make it worse, "The Great Unpaid " 
 
 Most always fiddle the scales. 
 
 So we ought to vote, &c. 
 
 The subject of the last song has furnished our 
 facetious friend " Punch" with a topic for his graphic 
 pencil, and his clever hit drew forth the following 
 rejoinder, which I take from the columns of the " Chro- 
 nicle." 
 
 GAARGE TO "PUNCH."' 
 
 "Punch" last week had a cartoon representing Mr. 
 Gladstone giving Hodge a vote, with the following words 
 printed beneath it : — 
 
 " Hodge, — Lor a massy measter, be oi 'a power in t' staate ! ' 
 What be 01 to get by that ? 
 Mr. G. — That my good friend is a mere matter of detail. 
 The question is, what am I to get by it?" 
 
 Ma-aster Punch,— 
 Oi seed yewre pictur in a shop laast market day, 
 Vor varmer Grumps sent oi to tawn along wi' a loa-ad of hay. 
 An' a oastler chap oi knows there as a got a lot o' cheek, 
 Says they've bin an' put yeure loikness into " Punch " this week. 
 Well oi looks at un a bit ; says oi — " What be un all about ? 
 Oi dunno what un mea-ans, oim blowed if oi can ma-ak un out ; " 
 .So a snia-artish lookin chap theere as had just turned round to gow, 
 Says, "Him as is scratching on his yead, is mea-ant for yew yew 
 know. ' 
 
ii6 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 Says oi, " If that be wliat un mea-ans, the pictur's very poor, 
 
 Oi never seed a labourer as looked loike he avoor ; 
 
 'I" chap as ma-ade that pictnr was i' Lunnon born and bred, 
 
 It's loike the i)iclurs ower Hill (h-a-as all out o' his own yead, 
 
 i^n' when he dra-as un on t' slate he has to write below un : 
 
 ' This be a mon,' ' this be a house,' or nawone wouldn't know un." 
 
 An' shewer enough yeto'd put a lot o' writin onderneath 
 
 To tell us what that chap was mea-ant vor, wi' the grinnin teeth, 
 
 WVll in oi gaws ; says oi to t' gell, " Wiiat be that piclur the(,M-e?" 
 
 " Thruppence," says she ; " oi bought un, biit oi thowt un moighty 
 
 dear." 
 Why Ma-aster Punch our eddytoor gives ten times more'n yew, 
 Ower pa-aper's three times less in price, and better reading too. 
 An' as for t' picturs, if that one yew give about the voat 
 Is t' best that yew can do, whoi then I S'jy they're good for nowt. 
 Well, soon as I gets whoam and puts t' oarses op all right, 
 Oi gaws down to t' Union Branch, for t' wor ower mcetiii night ; 
 Says oi, and pulls t' pictu)- out, an' shows t' chaps all round — 
 "Old I'unch can t find a Uve un loike him I bet a pound." 
 Ower Sekketary then gets oop and reeads the writin to the men ; 
 Says he, " Punch thinks we all be fools because he be hissen." 
 We talked un over more'n an howcr, and so at last to end un, 
 They passed a resolution and said oi woor to send un. 
 
 " Resolved — that we, the labourers of are not so green 
 
 As surten stoopid people think, for we know what we mean. 
 We beant Whigs nor Tories, an' we doont keer which be in, 
 Vor Gla-adston and Disraali we wouldn't give a pin ; 
 
 If a Toory cooms to ask us if we'll give un a voat. 
 
 We're shewer tell un naw becaas we know he's good for nowt ; 
 
 And if a Libreal cooms that be a loard's or bishop's broolher. 
 
 We know it's ten to wun but what he's joost as bad as t'oother. 
 
 If he shouts Gla-adston we shall ask un — how abeaut t' gaame ? 
 
 If he beant right on that, we'll send un back from where he caam. 
 
 We'll ask un if he mea-ans to gie us all the wa-aste lands back ; 
 
 Git joostice done the poor, and give the great onpaid t' sack, 
 
 Will un give back all t' church lands to t' staate from wheer it got 'em, 
 
 An' leave t' choorch like oother sects to stand on its own bottom : 
 
 If he says naw, I woant, we'll tell un to be goan, 
 
 An' put in soome rough spoaken chap wi' a foostian jacket on." 
 
THE LABOURER AND THE LAXD. ri; 
 
 Oi daare say yew will find tliis boan be nK)i,t,'hty hard to crunch, 
 But bhewer as oim I livin nion we'll do it, Ma-uster I'linch. 
 By this heere resolution you will see ower platforms laarge, 
 But we'll find a nion to voat vor 't as shewcr as my naam's 
 
 Gaarge. 
 
 A sort of pet-project of Mr. Arch's is the securing to 
 labourers three or four acres of land at an average rent. 
 He sees in that the only iiope of permanently satisfying 
 the men. Wherever it has been fairly tried, he says 
 the result has been satisfactory. The bane of utter 
 dependency on the employer is removed, and with it 
 the badge of pauperism. 
 
 Among what may be called the literature of the 
 movement, I find the following apparent confirmation 
 of the correctness of Mr. Arch's calculations in the 
 matter. The extract is long, but as the subject is of 
 growing interest just now I prefer inserting it whole. 
 The writer, as will be seen, is replyinc^ to an article on 
 the labourers' question in " Fraser." 
 
 THE LABOURER AND THE LAND. 
 
 in many cases it appears that knowledge doe? not 
 progress. The idea of the widening of the thoughts of men 
 by the process of the suns seems mere poetry or vanity if we 
 test it by evidence common enough. Every generation 
 seems to have started afresh in the knowledge of some com- 
 mon things ; for instance, " A Wykehamist " in " Fraser " 
 for June, speaks of the labourer and the land as if he had 
 never read or never thought of the return the soil gives to 
 spade cultivators ; and yet without the least knowledge of 
 
ii8 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 the subject he ventures to write for educated readers his 
 views of the profit of the cultivation of the soil by the 
 peasant. If this "Wykehamist" represents the average 
 information of th , educated and higher classes, the ignor- 
 ance is so serious in its consequences that we must diligently 
 remove it. If the aristocracy get the silly idea generally 
 diffused amongst them, that twenty acres of land will not 
 return to the peasant for his labour half a living, it may 
 seriously injure the prospects of the peasantry being restored 
 to the land. 
 
 Few of our peasantry would refuse the chance of getting 
 a living off five acres of good land, moderately rented ; and 
 the majority would believe their fortunes made if they had 
 ten acres of good land on fair terms. And certainly their 
 judgment is much wiser than the county member who writes 
 under the nom de plume of a " A Wykehamist " in " Fraser." 
 
 Surely our villagers will laugh at the absurdity of a public 
 writer teaching as follows : — 
 
 " If an arable farmer in prosperous times makes £\ an 
 acre profit, he will be a very lucky being. How, then, shall 
 the cottier without any of the advantages of machinery make 
 ^20 a year off his twenty acres ? And £20 a year would be 
 considerably below what his day labour would bring him in." 
 
 It would be a very difficult task to pen a more silly state- 
 ment about the land and the labourer than this. A spade is 
 a machine, and the cheapest and most effective in willing 
 hands in working the soil. 
 
 However, we shall proceed to give facts, and those of long 
 standing, from established authorities, such as the " Quarterly 
 Review," Vol. xli., 1829. 
 
 Sir Henry Vavasour, writing to Lord Carrington, then 
 president of the Board of Agriculture, says : — 
 
 " I have had the honour of mentioning to your lordship 
 the advantages that appeared to me in cultivating land in 
 
THE LABOURER AND THE LAND. 119 
 
 the Flemish manner, or what is now called about Fulham 
 and that neighbourhood, the field-gardening husbandry. 1 
 have for some years encouraged my cottagers in Yorkshire 
 in this mode of managing their small garths, or gardens, 
 which are in general from one to three acres; and I have 
 now an opportunity of stating the husbandry of a poor indus- 
 trious cottager's garth. The man's name is Thomas Kook ; 
 as he can neither read nor write, these particulars have been 
 transmitted to me from his own mouth ; and as I saw his 
 land almost every day during the last harvest, I can vouch 
 that this account is not far from the truth. 
 
 Quantity of land. 
 
 A. R. 1'. PRODUCE. VALUE. 
 
 L s. d. 
 
 o 2 o 240 bushels of potatoes 24 o o 
 
 o 1 o 60 do. of carrots 600 
 
 3 20 5 quarters of oats at 44s. 1100 
 
 1 o o 4 loads of clover, part in hay, part cut green 12 o o 
 
 o 020 Turnips 100 
 
 o o 30 Garden stuff for family — peas, beans, cabbages, 
 
 &c 
 
 3 o o Gross produce 54 o o 
 
 1^ Rent of cottagje and land 900 
 
 Deduct < i>eeds 300 
 
 (Labour 10 10 o 
 
 22 10 o 
 
 Profit from the cultivation of three acres, exclusive of butter 
 
 and the garden stuff consumed in the family 31 10 o 
 
 His stock was two cows and two pigs ; one of his cows had 
 a summer's gait for twenty weeks with his landlord. The 
 land was partly ploughed and partly dug with a spade, 
 cultivated (the ploughing excepted) by the man, his wife, 
 and a girl about twelv years of age, in their spare hours 
 from their daily hired work, seldom a whole day off, except 
 in harvest ; made the rent in butter, besides a little used in 
 the family. The man relates that he thinks he clears, one 
 
I20 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 year with another, from the three acres, about £lo. Tlie 
 daily waj^cs his family earn about keep them. It is very 
 evident that this man clears from hi.s three acres more than 
 a farmer can possibly lay by from iiiore than eighty acres of 
 land in the common husbandry of the country, paying for 
 horses, servants, &c. ; and it must be obvious to every one 
 how great the advantages must be to society by cultivating 
 land in this manner. It would have taken more than half 
 the quantity of his three acres in pasture for one cow at grass 
 during half the year ; whereas (excepting the summer's gait 
 for one of his cows, as mentioned before) his stock of two 
 cows and two pigs is kept and carried on the whole year ; 
 the family lives well, and a handsome sum has been yearly 
 saved to place out two sons and supply them with clothes 
 and other necessaries." 
 
 The notion of " A Wykehamist '' that he thought valuable 
 enough to print in " Fraser," is that a peasant must be a 
 clever fellow to get ^20 oif twenty acres, while the real 
 experience of a peasant is that he can get ;^3i or more off 
 three acres ! And this fact was attested by the late Sir 
 Henry Vavasour. Surely " A Wykehamist," who is, if we are 
 rightly informed, a county member, must be heartily ashamed 
 of himself to print statements utterly without foundation in 
 truth, many exceedingly improbable, and if he has a fact to 
 quote he invariably mars it with blundering. . 
 
 The statement of Sir Henry Vavasour influenced a gentle- 
 man, Charles Howard, Esq., who had bought some poor 
 land at ^10 an acre, to let a cottager have one acre and a 
 quarter of the most barren. And when the man had got it 
 in order, and covered with crops, his landlord measured and 
 valued the produce, and found it amounted to ten pounds 
 seventeen shillings, and yet he valued every item at less 
 than the market price ; just about the price of the fee simple 
 of the land, raised by a peasant by the crops of one year ! 
 
THE LABOURER AND THE LAND. 121 
 
 We quote iinother instance from the same aiiihority : — 
 "A labourer at Hasketon, in the county of Suffolk occu- 
 pied four inclosures, containing fourteen acres of pasture 
 land, at a rate of ^^13 per annum, upon which he kept two 
 cows. Pie died, and these two cows, with a very little 
 furniture and clothin^j, were all the property that devolved, 
 upon his death, to his widow and fourteen children, the 
 eldest being a girl under fourteen years of age. The parish 
 officers, upon being made acquainted with the situation of 
 the family, immediately agreed to relieve the widow by 
 taking her seven youngest children into the house. This was 
 proposed to her, but with great agitation of mind she refused 
 to part with any of her children. She said she would rather 
 die in working to maintain them, or go herself with all of 
 them into the house, and work for them there, than either 
 part with them all or suffer any partiality to be shown to any 
 of them. She then declared that if her landlord would con- 
 tinue her in the farm, as she called it, she would undertake 
 to maintain and bring up all her fourteen children, without 
 parochial assistance. She persisted in her resolution, and 
 being a strong woman, about forty-five years old, her land- 
 lord told her she should continue his tenant, and hold it the 
 first year rent free. This she accepted with much thankful- 
 ness, and assured him that she would manage for her family 
 without any other assistance. At the same time, though 
 without her knowledge, Mr. Way, the landlord, directed his 
 steward not to call upon her at all for his rent, conceiving it 
 would be a great thing if she could support so large a family 
 even with that advantage. The result, however, was, that 
 with the benefit of her two cows and of the land, she exerted 
 herself so as to bring up all her children, twelve of whom she 
 placed out in service ; continuing to pay her rent regularly 
 of her own accord every year after the first. She carried 
 part of the milk of her two cows, together with the cream 
 
122 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 and butter, every day to sell at Woodbridge, a market town 
 two miles oft, and brought back bread and other necessaries, 
 with which, and with her skim-milk, butter-milk, &c., she 
 supported her family. The eldest girl took care of the rest 
 while the mother was gone to Woodbridge ; and by degrees, 
 as they grew up, the children went into the service of the 
 neighbouring farmers. She came at length and informed 
 her landlord that all her children except the two youngest 
 were able to get their own living, and that she had taken to 
 the employment of a nurse, which was a less laborious situa- 
 tion, and at the same time would enable her to provide for 
 the two remaining children, who, indeed, could now almost 
 maintain themselves. She therefore gave up the land, ex- 
 pressing great gratitude for the enjoyment of it, which had 
 afforded her the means of supporting her family under a 
 calamity which must otherwise have driven both her and her 
 children into a workhouse." 
 
 What a heroine this woman was ! She deserved a statue 
 far better than any prince or peer we have ever known, A 
 woman kept, and fourteen children reared and provided for, 
 out of the profit of two cows and fourteen acres of land ! And 
 "A W^ykehamist," probably an M.P. for a county, actually 
 proclaims to the world, through " Eraser's Magazine," that a 
 cottier ''cannot make ;^2o a year off twenty acres." Imbe- 
 cility on the part of " A Wykehamist," in contrast with the 
 quick comprehension and noble industry of a peasant's 
 widow ! And the management of the land was not at all 
 equal to what can be done now. Some of these days we 
 shall be explaining how a cow can be kept upon a single 
 acre of land, or three upon two acres ; and Cobbett taught 
 that a cow could be kept on much less than an acre ; and a 
 Mr. Thornton kept three cows upon seven roods of land, 
 poor and sandy, near Huddersfield. 
 
 Triumphant . as we have been with our evidence over the 
 
THE LABOURER AND THE LAND. 123 
 
 statements of" A Wykehamist," we are disposed to carry the 
 proof stil] further — produce an instance of farmers ruining a 
 parish, leaving it a hopeless place, the prey of pauperism, 
 and the paupers raising the parish to prosperity again, and 
 more, becoming contributors to another parish, assisting 
 farmers to support the pauperism they had made, and yet 
 could not maintain : — 
 
 " The parish of Cholesbury, in Buckinghamshire," says 
 Sidney Smith, " was entirely occupied by two large farmers. 
 Fertile, populous, within forty miles of the metropohs, its 
 cultivators notwithstanding fell behind. There were one 
 hundred and thirty-nine inhabitants in the parish, but only 
 two had an inch of the soil. Was not this civilisation run 
 mad .'* Was it not a glaring and staring evidence of the 
 monstrous abuse of the principle of private property, that 
 only one man out of sixty-nine tillers of the ground should 
 have exclusive occupation of the earth, which God made 
 common to all, and the appropriation of which can only be 
 palliated upon the clearest proof of public advantage ? What 
 was the consequence of this beau ideal of politic-economical 
 arrangement } Simply this : out of the one hundred and 
 thirty-nine inhabitants, one hundred and nineteen were 
 paupers. The land monopolists became bankrupt, the 
 parson got no tithes, the landlord's acres were in rapid course 
 of being eaten up vinth rates, and the whole property of the 
 parish being unable to feed the inhabitants, a rate-in-aid had 
 to be levied on the neighbouring parishes, which were rapidly 
 degenerating into the same state. The Labourers' Friend 
 Society came to the rescue. They leased the land at a fair 
 rent. They parcelled it out among the very worst class of 
 persons upon whose habits to hazard the result of such an 
 experiment. Some got five, some ten acres, according to 
 the size of their families, and what was the effect .'' At the 
 end of four years the number of paupers had diminished 
 
124 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 from one hundred and nineteen to five, and these were 
 persons disabled from old age or disease — these paupers 
 afforded to pay a rate-in-aid to the neighbouring parishes ; 
 and it was found that every one of them were in a state of 
 independence and comfort, eacu had a cow, many two or 
 three, to which some added a horse, others some oxen ready 
 for the market, and all had pigs and poultry in abundance. 
 No experiment could be more severe than this. Persons 
 once degraded to the condition of paupers lose self-respect, 
 the love of independence, the spirit of self-help." 
 
 No sketch of this strange rural awakening would be 
 complete which did not notice the attitude of hostility 
 to the Established Church of the country which its 
 leaders have from the first assumed. The fact of their 
 being for the most part Primitive Methodists, explains it 
 in measure, but other causes must be looked for, in 
 order to a full explanation of the somewhat startling 
 phenomenon. Mr. Goldwin Smitn has, I think, fur- 
 nished a clue to the mystery — a mystery when we re- 
 member the eloquent pleadings of the present Lord 
 Chancellor in the House of Commons a it'N years ago, 
 on behalf of the Establishment, on account of its as- 
 sumed advantages to the labourers in our rural districts. 
 ' Mr. Smith, in a speech at the Trades' Union Congress 
 at Sheffield, did not deny that the parish clergyman dis- 
 pensed a good deal of charity in the villages, but he 
 argued that the kindness is usually such as tends to keep 
 a man contented with a more or less wretched position^ and 
 not that more enlightened and truer kindness which 
 
THE LABOURER AND THE CHURCH. 125 
 
 lielps him to help himself. There are many exceptions, 
 but the rule has been, that there is nothing which squires 
 and parsons as a whole have striven less to do, than 
 to mke the labourers pcrmanenily independent of their 
 
 The following extracts from an article in the 
 "Labourers' Chronicle" fully sustain this explanation 
 of the circumstance. It is one of a series of strongly- 
 worded anti- state Church articles, entitled, " The 
 Church of England in its Relation to the Labouring 
 Classes." 
 
 "The Church of England," says the writer, "is within a 
 few centuries as old as Christianity. It has grown with our 
 country's growth, and strengthened with her strength. Its 
 foundations lie in every parish and hamlet in the land. Its 
 bishops sit in Parliament, its clergy dominate society ; the 
 wealthy classes everywhere pay them homage. The Church 
 is an undoubted power in the land — a power too great to 
 ciespise, too palpable to ignore ; but in proportion to its 
 power is the greatness of its responsibility. Did it do the 
 true work of a Church it would be the greatest of national 
 blessings, for it would then bear to all ranks and conditions 
 of men a witness 'or the thmgs that are true, and noble, and 
 good, and it won d so mould public opinion, that no great 
 social wrong could live beneath it. We say, first, that the 
 Church of England is one of the most powerful institutions 
 in the country ; secondly, that any social, or moral, or reli- 
 gious reform which this Church saw and felt to be necessary, 
 it has, if it chooses to use it, full power to effect. Had it 
 commiserated the wretched condition of hopeless and ill- 
 paid toil, of life-long poverty, and social, intellectual, and 
 
126 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 moral degradation in which the peasantry of England have 
 for years past been living, while their employers were growing 
 rich and living luxuriously on their labours ; had the Church 
 done a Church's duty in this matter, it would have raised 
 such a protest against the monstrous injustice, against the 
 oppression and spoliation of the weak and helpless poor ; 
 would have filled the minds of the middle and upper classes 
 with such a sense of burning shame at the pitiful wages paid 
 by those who held the land to those who cultivated it ; at 
 the monstrous robbery and wrong which defrauded the 
 labourer of the rightful reward of his hard and honest toil, 
 that justice would long since have been done, and a happy 
 peasantry, owning the Church as their best and truest friend, 
 and shaping their lives by its wise and loving counsels, 
 would have filled the places now occupied by miserable, and 
 starving, and discontented serfs." 
 
 Failing here, the writer pronounces the Church a 
 failure everywhere. 
 
 " Such a Church," he continues, having dwelt upon au 
 assumed absence of humanitarianism in her ordinary teach- 
 ings, "teaches men to serve God without helping their brother, 
 and deludes them by the hope of winning heaven hereafter, 
 while they lead selfish and ignoble lives here. We are no 
 opponents of religion ; we are its friends, !^ot its enemies. 
 To a true Church of God we would give all possible reverence. 
 We need the word of life which such a Church would speak ; 
 the moral guidance such a Church would give ; the ennobling 
 influence which such a Church would diffuse. We need the 
 summons to a real manhood such a Church would ever 
 speak ; the rebukes it would give to the pride of the rich ; 
 the encouragement M'ith which it would gladden and 
 strengthen the strivings of the poor ; the reproof it would 
 send to the vices and follies of all. We would have the 
 
THE LABOURER AND THE CHURCH. 127 
 
 Church of England to be such a Church as this, and to take 
 up this work, for till this is its character it has no claim to 
 be a Christian Church at all, much less to be supported by a 
 free people as an institution of the land. We say emphati- 
 cally that the Church which does not labour to bring temporal 
 blessings to the poor, neither reads the Bible correctly, nor 
 interprets Christ's ministry aright. 
 
 " Apart, however, from the sanctions which the State con- 
 fers UDon the Church as a national institution, of which the 
 Queen is the head, the Church of England is just now assert- 
 ing a corporate independence, claims to hold and exercise a 
 higher authority than that which the State gives — an autho- 
 rity which is spiritual, not temporal, in its character. The 
 claim is a valid one. He who speaks the truths of religion, 
 whether he be priest or layman, speaks in the name of God, 
 and should speak the word and the truth of God — that word 
 of life which all should reverence and obey. In the world's 
 history, however, this assertion of spiritual authority has 
 been the subject of greater abuse than has the assertion of 
 temporal authority, and priestcraft has ever been a worse 
 oppression than kingcraft." 
 
 This latter paragraph reveals another great occasion 
 of stumbling, as regards the labourers and the Church, 
 and fully accounts for all that remains to be accounted 
 for, of the well-nigh universal hostility of this move- 
 ment to it as an establishment. In most country 
 villages there is a development of priestism which presses 
 hard upon the consciences of Dissenters. Their chil- 
 dren must either remain in ignorance, or be subjected 
 to teaching and influences which they abhor. Parish 
 gifts and charities are extensively utilised as aids to 
 
128 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 devotion by the new order of priests. To persist in 
 going to the village chapel, the labourer has found to 
 mean the loss of the five hundredweight of coal at 
 Christmas, while the consequences to his children of 
 his stern determination to have them on the Sunday at 
 the Chapel instead of the Church school, are sundry 
 pains and disabilities which make them social pariahs 
 in their respecdve neighbourhoods. 1 have found this 
 sort of petty persecution more common in our rural 
 districts than I was at all aware of, and doubtless it 
 helps to elucidate the phenomenon now under con- 
 sideration. The article concludes thus : — 
 
 In its early days the Church of England was wholly and 
 entirely an institution of the State, and there was no essential 
 difference between clerics and laymen. Before the time of 
 William the Conqueror, laymen sat and voted in Church 
 Synods, and the clergy were members with the laity of the 
 Wittemagcmot, or Parliament, in this reign, however, the 
 machinations of Rome succeeded in effecting the introduc- 
 tion of canon or clerical law, and withdrawing the clergy 
 largely from civil jurisdiction, virtually setting up the Church 
 as a power concurrent with the State, and in spiritual 
 matters superior to the State. Through the succeeding 
 reigns there was a constant battle between Church and State 
 — that is, between the Pope and bishops on the one hand, 
 and the king and Parliament on the other hand. In King 
 John's day, the Pope nearly attained a complete supremacy. 
 This led, however, to a manifesto on the part of the 
 barons, and the declaration of Magna Charta — the great 
 assertion of the civil rights and liberties of the people. In 
 Henry VHP's reign, the Pope and his party sustained a 
 
7 
 
 THE LABOURER AND THE CHURCH. 129 
 
 thorough and crushing defeat, and the leligion of England 
 was reformed in doctrine, and wrested from the Pope's 
 dominion. Still the rags and tatters of Popery remained, 
 and the remnants of this evil system may be seen to-day, 
 not only in the sanction which the Prayer -Book gives to 
 many Popish rites, but in the claim which the Church 
 makes to be a spiritual corporation above the interf.:rence 
 and the control of the State, having the right to govern the 
 people through Convocation in matters of religion, while 
 Parliament legislates for their temporal affairs ; and as a 
 result of this assertion, we find the Church almost entirelv 
 confining itself to what it calls the spiritual welfare of the 
 country, and ignoring all responsibility as to aiding social 
 reforms. Hence the creeds and dogmas which relate so 
 largely to the souPs welfare in the next world, and which do 
 no little towards making this life more tolerable to the toil- 
 ing masses of the people. 
 
 We assert that the Church of Eingland is a national 
 institution ; that in a country which possesses household - 
 suffrage, it should be held to its proper work of bearing 
 witness for truth, and right and justice, and all things noble 
 and good ; that it should be the friend, and helper, and pro- 
 tector of the poor, and set before the minds of all men the 
 ideal of a true and noble manhood. It is an institution that 
 exists for the popular welfare ; that receives its discipline 
 from the laws of the country, but that should find its inspira- 
 tion from the noblest promptings of human souls, and the 
 wisest utterances of human minds. 
 
 The Church of England is the national instructor of the 
 people in the things that pertain to character and conduct 
 in the principles and philosophy of life, in all that relates to 
 the righteousness that exalts a nation. Its business is to put 
 down all evil, to reprove all rampant injustice, to demand a 
 remedy for all social wrong. It is, under Providence, the / 
 
 10 
 
I30 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 appointed guardian of the poor, the lielpless, and the weak; 
 it should be the great peacemaker in our midst, the guide 
 and friend of all. We ask, however, have the labouring 
 classes cause to thank the Church for service such as this ? 
 Did " the tidings of great joy," which spoke of better wages 
 and happier lives, which told the serf he was a man, and 
 claimed for the toiler a right to live in decency and comfort, 
 reach him from the national pulpit ? No. Five hundred 
 thousand voices will emphasise the answer, and declare that 
 the Church of England has never extended to them even the 
 shadow of such service as this. Clergymen of this Church 
 who live in luxury upon its reveni'cs ; deans, and canons, 
 and bishops, who rival princes in the splendour of your 
 palaces, and to whom the cross is now but the symbol of 
 those temporal glories that the devil once vainly pressed 
 on your master's acceptance, remember that the people are 
 in power to-day, and they are about to test you by your work, 
 by the value of the services you render to themselves. They 
 need a real and true Church, and they are prepared to love, 
 and reverence, and support a Christian clergy who will do 
 their Master's work. Ihey want none of your cursing creeds 
 — none of your pretended sacraments ; they want counsel 
 and guidance for good and true living, and will value you 
 only as you prove to them to be a helper and a friend. 
 Already they are weighing you in the balances. Be wise, 
 then, and be warned in time; or, when the pent-up storm 
 breaks loose, you and your religion will be rudely swept 
 away, and the places you have so unworthily occupied will 
 be given to better, and truer, and more Christian men to fill. 
 
 The writer of this somewhat strongly-worded article, 
 gives what I have no doubt is the more or less uttered 
 or unexpressed verdict of the executive of the move- 
 ment. Rightly or wrongly, the labourers have looked 
 
COMMITT^IL OF WOMEN TO PRISON. 131 
 
 to the Church for sympathy in their endeavours to 
 throw otf their semi-serfdom, and they ha\e loo'.;ed in 
 vain. As T have before remarked, when their leaders 
 appeared on the platform of Exeter Hall, to appeal to 
 the country, the only clergyman who ventured to come 
 to their support was Archbishop Manning. In multi- 
 tudes of instances there has been superadded to this 
 sin — as tliey have regarded it — of omission, sins of 
 commission. Their speakers in villages and rural towns 
 have been denounced as violent agitators — firebrands, 
 communists, and other opprobrious names. 
 
 A most unfortunate occurrence at Chipping Norton, 
 last year, greatly intensified this feeling on the part of 
 the labourers against the Church. Although the facts 
 of the case are tolerably well known to every one, it 
 may be as well, perhaps, to incorporate them into my 
 narrative. The first intimation of the affair that reached 
 the eye of the public was the following letter which 
 appeared one May morning in the " Times.'' The writer 
 is one of the members of the executive committee of 
 the Labourers' Union, as well as a local official, as stated 
 in his letter. 
 
 Impossible ! 
 
 COMMITTAL TO PRISON OF SIXTEEN WOMEN 
 
 AT CHIPPING NORTON. 
 
 Sir, — Please use the following facts, by way of publica- 
 tion, in your valuable paper : — I am Chairman of the 
 Oxford district of National Agricultural Labourers' Union, 
 and at Ascot, Oxfordshire, in my district, there has been, for 
 
 10 * 
 
132 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. . 
 
 more than three weeks, a lock-out of the farm labourers, and 
 considerable excitement has prevailed in consequence. Mr. 
 Hambridge, a farmer, has brought men from other villages 
 to do the vv'ork of his former men, and se\eral of the women 
 of the village, whose husbands are out of work, assembled 
 on the i2th instant, and meeting Mr. Hambridge's men as 
 they were going to work, tried to induce them to leave their 
 employment. Mr. Hambridge took the matter up, and 
 caused seventeen of the women to appear to-day before the 
 magistrates at Chipping Norton, in this county, and the 
 magistrates have sent sixteen of these poor women to 
 prison — seven of them for ten days' hard labour, and nine 
 for seven days' hard labour. The witnesses swore that some 
 of the women had sticks in their hands, and told the men 
 that they would not be allowed to go to work. The women 
 denied this altogether. Anyhow, it was not attempted to 
 prove that any physical force had been made use of. The 
 women are very respectable in the class to which they 
 belong. There was great excitement at the town of Chip- 
 ping Norton on the decision of the magistrates being made 
 known, and a crowd soon assembled, and it was with great 
 difficulty that I could restrain their anger. I fear that if I 
 had not been present some violence would have been com- 
 mitted. The people were astonished and bewildered at the 
 sentences on this number of poor women, for what appeared 
 to them no offence whatever. The women themselves had 
 no idea that such a law existed as was now brought to bear 
 on them with such terrible force. I attended the meeting in 
 t-he capacity I hold, to watch the case, and I was never more 
 shocked than to see these sixteen poor women dragged off 
 to prison, and some with infants at their breasts. The 
 magistrates present were — Rev. Carter, of Sarsden, Rev. 
 Harris, of Swarford. 
 
 C- Hollo WAY. 
 
COMMITTAL OF WOMEN TO PRISON. 133 
 
 The immediate result of this letter was the desi)atch 
 of a special commissioner from the *'T:m*^s'" office to 
 Chii)|)iiig Norton. The heading of the letter, with the 
 significant word, " Impossible," boded ill for the paaies 
 concerned in the lamentable proceeding. 'I'lie following 
 rei)ort of the case was published the next day in the 
 leading journal : — 
 
 Very considerable excitement at present prevails though- 
 out a large district of Oxfordshire, in consequence of the 
 committal to prison of sixteen women by the Chij)ping 
 Isorton Bench of Magistrates on Wednesday last. In 
 a letter which appeared in " The Times '' of the 23rd inst., 
 Mr. C. Holloway, of the National Agricultural Labourers' 
 Union, gave a substantially accurate account of the circum- 
 stances under which the justices dealt with these women, 
 but falling into an error not uncommon with unionists, 
 Mr. Holloway called, what is in reality a "strike" on the 
 part of certain agricultural labourers, a "lock-out" on the 
 part of the masters. It is but fair to him to say that on 
 this being pointed out to him, he said he had supposed the 
 two terms were synonymous. The facts of the matters 
 in dispute between masters and men, and the steps taken 
 by both sides in consequence of those differences, he states 
 with complete frankness, and there seems to be no reason 
 to doubt that his version of those matters is perfectly truth- 
 ful. The propriety of the course taken by the organisation, 
 of which he is a district chairman, is quite another 
 question. 
 
 rhat the public may rightly understand the facts connected 
 with the decision at which the Chipping Norton magistrates 
 arrived, it would be well to go back a litUe, and state how it 
 was that dissensions between the employers and employed 
 
134 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 grew up, in a neij^hbourhood lemark.ible for its generally 
 pacific character, until two magistrates adopted a course 
 which, to say the least of it, was extremely harsh and 
 singularly ill-advised, and which has led to serious riot and 
 wide-spread uneasiness, into the origin of the movement 
 of which Mr. Arch is the apostle, it is not necessary to 
 re-enter. The public are fully informed on that subject ; 
 but it may not be so well known that since Mr. Arch set 
 that movement on foot the Union has made strong, and not 
 altogether unsuccessful efforts to establish itself in Oxford- 
 shire. It is gratifying to be able to state, on the evidence 
 of Union leaders, that several of the landed proprietors 
 in that county hrwe all along treated their labourers with 
 greater liberality than even the Union demands. It asks, 
 and backs the men in requiring average wages of 14s. 
 a week. Various gentlemen have been paying more than 
 that, but the Unionists say that when they began operations 
 they found the average wages paid by the farmers only lis. 
 They boast that they have brought this up to from 12s. to 
 14s., and their plan has been to direct partial strikes when 
 the masters refuse to concede the terms the men were 
 authorised by the Union to demand. The headquarters 
 of the Union, for this part of the country at least, is 
 Leamington, and there aie two or more districts in each 
 of the counties administered from those headquarters. One 
 of the districts for Oxfordshire has its local commanders 
 at Woodstock. 
 
 The levy off each labourer in employment is 2d. per week, 
 and that there must be very numerous adherents to the 
 Union in the district is shown by the fact that the payments 
 of that small sum have been amounting in the aggregate 
 to from ;^i5o to ;{^i6o a month. About los. a week is 
 allowed to each labourer on strike, and the mode in which 
 a strike on any particular farm is got up is short and simple. 
 
COMMITTAL OF WOMEN TO PRISON. 135 
 
 The men make the demand at the end of one week for an 
 increase of wapjes the next. If, at the end of the next 
 week, the farmer docs not comply, he gets a formal notice 
 that on the following Saturday the men will quit his employ 
 should he still remain obdurate. , 
 
 Some three weeks ago the body of men working on the 
 farm of Mr. Hambridge, of Ascot, went out after due 
 notice, and after he had declined to pay them the increase 
 they demanded. There was a carter in his employment, 
 who seems to have had no grievance of his own ; but, 
 as Mr. Hambridge had allowed his fellow-labourers to go 
 out, the carter thought tit to join in the strike without anv 
 notice whatever. For this Mr. Hambridge summoned and 
 obtained costs against him, and "the neighbourhood" added 
 this to the previous cause of " aggravation " against the 
 farmer. The next step in the business was the employment 
 by Mr. Hambridge of two labourers named John Hodgkins 
 and John Millan, whom he had brought from a village 
 at some short distance from his own. The labourers out 
 on strike took no visible part in any proceedings to obstruct 
 the two strange hands ; but the women of Ascot resolved 
 on a physical force demonstration in favour of union 
 principles. Some sixteen or seventeen of them assembled 
 at a gate by which Hodgkins and Millan, had to enter 
 Mr. Hambridge's field, some of them being provided Avith 
 sticks ; and, saying that they were determined the men 
 should not work for Mr. Hambridge, they "dared" them 
 to enter on his land. Not a blow was struck, and though 
 very abusive and threatening language was used, the fright 
 and peril which a few girls and middle-aged women had 
 occasioned to the two stalwart labourers could not have 
 been very serious, seeing that, according to the evidence 
 of the men themselves, the women actually offered to escort 
 them back to the village and give them "a drink," and that, 
 
136 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 while declining the protection and hospitality of the Amazons 
 who had so terrified them, they walked to Mr. Hambridge's 
 homestead unguarded and unhurt, and subsequently went 
 to work on the farm under the powerful protection of one 
 police-constable. Most people will, perhaps, be of opinion 
 that the matter might well have been allowed to end there ; 
 but Mr. Hambridge thought otherwise, and summonses were 
 aken out at his instance against seventeen women. They 
 were summoned under tiie Act 34 and 35 Victoria, cap. 
 32, which is "aa Act to amend the Criminal Law relating 
 to Violence, Threats, and Molestation." The first section 
 of that Act makes it an offence within the scope of the 
 enactment to " threaten or intimidate any person in such 
 manner as would justify a justice of the peace, on com- 
 plaint made to him, to bind over the person threatening 
 or intimidating, to keep the peace.'' The case came before 
 the Chipping Norton Bench on Wednesday, the presiding 
 magistrates being the Rev. Thomas Harris and the Rev. 
 W. E. D. Carter. Mr. Wilkins, a local attorney, appeared 
 for the complainant. The women pleaded "not guilty," 
 but they had no professional assistance. The charge as 
 against one of them was dismissed ; but of the seventeen 
 charged, sixteen were found guilty, and the two reverend 
 magistrates, after a " lengthy consultation," ordered seven 
 of the women to be imprisoned for ten days, and the 
 remaining nine to be imprisoned for seven days, with the 
 addition of hard labour in every case. 
 
 Such a sentence staggered the poor women ; and well 
 it might, for it has staggered the whole county. The indig- 
 nation at its severity is deep and outspoken. It is fair to 
 the two magistrates to say that the Act did not allow them 
 the option of imposing a fine. If a fine had been inflicted, 
 an officer of the Union was in attendance with money to 
 pay it. The same section of the Act which enumerates the 
 
COMMITTAL OF WOMEN TO PRISON. \yj 
 
 offences coming under it, provides that the offender '' shall 
 be liable t' imprisonment, with or without hard laVxjur, for 
 a term not exceeding three months." But the justices ^ad 
 another option, which the law and usage gives all judges 
 in such cases, and of which most people would have sup- 
 posed any magistrates of ordinary prudence and humanity 
 would avail themselves in this case. They might have 
 allowed the women to stand out on their own recognisances, 
 binding them '' to come up for judgment when called upon." 
 If the object of the justices was to prevent a recurrence 
 of threatening, can any one doubt that it would have been 
 effectually achieved by such a course "i No one about the 
 district appears to doubt it ; and the two justices have the 
 less excuse for not having come to such a merciful and con- 
 ciliatory decision because, if they had only been at the pains 
 to inquire, they would have found that when, on the 9th of 
 August last, some men were summoned before the Wood- 
 stock Bench under the very same Act, the justices then 
 presiding adopted that course, even though actual violence, 
 to some slight extent, was proved in evidence ; and that the 
 consequence has been, that since then there has been no 
 threatening or intimidation in the neighbourhood of Wood- 
 stock, and it has not been found necessary to require the 
 men to come up for judgment. Mr. Carter, during the 
 hearing of the case on Wednesday last, more than once 
 askeJ Mr. Hambridge whether he really meant to press the 
 case, and expressed the difficulty he felt in dealing with a 
 few women under the provisions of so severe an Act. 
 Perhaps the Rev. Messrs. Harris and Carter were not aware 
 of the fact that they could let out the women on their own 
 recognisances ; but it might have occurred to them that 
 the women doubtless had committed the offence in entire 
 ignorance of the Act 34 and 35 Victoria, cap. 32. At 
 all events, with the Act before them, the two justices 
 
138 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD.. 
 
 must have known that they might have left out the hard 
 hibour. 
 
 The labouring population of the village were astounded 
 when they heard the sentence, but they bore it quietly until 
 about nine at night, when the " roughs" of the neighbour- 
 hood, in which there is a manufactory, assembled in con- 
 siderable force. Then, after much shouting, an onslaught 
 was made on the police station ; the windows and the door 
 were broken, and some of the tiles were stripped off the 
 roof Police Superintendent Larkin and his men are ad- 
 mitted to have acted with great forbearance, but the super- 
 intendent thought it advisable to telegraph f'^r assistance to 
 Oxford, nineteen miles distant from Chipping Norton. On 
 receipt of his telegram, Inspector Yates, with a force of 
 police, started in a drag and four, and at Woodstock took 
 up Superintendent Bo wen. So riotous was the aspect of 
 Chipping Norton, that it ^^as not deemed safe to keep the 
 women there till the time at which the first train leaves ; 
 and in the small hours they were driven in the brake the 
 whole distance to Oxford, where, at about six o'clock, they 
 were locked up in the county gaol. Two of the unfortunate 
 prisoners had infants at the breast while being conveyed on 
 their cold journey to prison. Petitions to the Home Secre- 
 tary are spoken of in the district, and so threatening is the 
 attitude of the village, that on Saturday evening police 
 were again despatched from Oxford. The more respectable 
 portion of the population believe that Mr. Bruce will feel 
 it his duty to send down an order for the immediate dis- 
 charge of the whole of the women, who have now been in 
 confinement since Wednesday afternoon. 
 
 An intense feeling on the subject was stirred up 
 throughout the whole country. The press unanimously 
 condemned the decision of the Bench. Unhappily, the 
 
COMMITTAL OF WOMEN TO PRISON. 139 
 
 dilatoriness of the Home Office, to which petitions for 
 the immediate release of the women were sent, pre- 
 vented any governmental interference until it was too 
 late. The Leamington committee of the Union took 
 prompt action, and a member of the consulting com- 
 mittee, the Rev. F. Attenborough, in conjunction with 
 Mr. Arch, at once issued an appeal to the public. The 
 result was subscriptions amounting to eighty pounds, 
 which it was resolved to give to the women on their 
 release from Oxford gaol. 
 
 An interesting account of the release of these women 
 was given in the current number of the " Chronicle." 
 The following is an abridgment of it, the writer being 
 a member of the consulting committee : — 
 
 As the prisoners were brought from Chipping Norton to 
 Oxford in a conveyance, it was decided to take them back 
 in the same fashion, and to give dclat to the proceedings, a 
 handsome drag, drawn by four half-bred horses, was char- 
 tered from Oxford for the purpose. In this they left Bodey 
 shortly before twelve o'clock, amidst loud cheers from an 
 enthusiastic crowd, which had gathered together in front of 
 the Union office. At Woodstock the party baited at the 
 King's Arms, and were well treated by the inhabitants. In 
 fact, it was almost impossible for the women to move about 
 on account of the shaking of hands and congratulations of 
 the burgesses. Before leaving, Mr. Hollo way conducted the 
 party to Blenheim Park, and past. the seat of the Duke of 
 Marlborough, whose antagonism to the Union is most in- 
 veterate. On leaving Woodstock, there was loud cheering 
 for "the Union," for President Arch, and the women. 
 
 Our ride from Oxford to Chipping Norton lay through 
 
I40 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 one of the fairest districts in mid-England. On either side 
 the rich and ft,'rtile landscape unrolled itself like a panorama 
 of matchless beauty. One thought, and one thought alone, 
 marred the enchantment of the scene. It was the know- 
 ledge that behind all this luxuriance of natural wealth, 
 there was wholesale human misery, wretchedness, and suf- 
 fering. The loveliness of the scene only brought out in 
 bold outline before my mind the terrible sketches of cottage 
 life, the appalling ignorance of the rural mind, and the 
 abject domestic wretchedness everywhere attendant on the 
 agricultural labourer's existence. It was shown before the 
 Royal Commission in 1869, that at Kidlington, the father 
 and mother, two grown-up sons, two grown-up daughters, 
 and three little children, all slept in one bedroom. The 
 following narrati\'e by Mrs. Bovverman, on the same occa- 
 sion, is typical cf the agricultural laboure-'s existence in 
 this highly-favoured district : — " jMy husband is a milkman, 
 and gets 12s. We pay is. 9d. rent, and have only one bed- 
 room. Last week I got 3d. for a bit of sewing, so we had 
 I2s. 3d., and I spent it in this way — meat, 3s. 7|d. ; bread, 
 3s. ; rent, is. 9d. ; tea, sugar, flour, soap, and soda, 3s. 7^d. ; 
 boys' schooling, 2d. ; total, 12s. 2d. So I had a penny left." 
 Facts like these cast a dark shadow over the broad acres of 
 Blenheim and Woodstock. 
 
 At Chipping Norton Junction an aged labourer recog- 
 nised Mr. Arch, and in the course of the conversation 
 related an incident in his own experience which will hardly 
 be credited. It was to the effect that he was driven out of his 
 native parish, by the squire and the parson, simply because 
 he married without the consent of the former gentleman. 
 The statement was made in such a manner as left no room 
 for doubt, and from inquiries subsequently made, I feel 
 satisfied that oppression of this character is still practised 
 in remote country parishes. 
 
COMMITTAL OF WOMEN TO PR IS OX. 141 
 
 The train which carried us from Chipping Norton Junction 
 to Chipping Norton also bore there the nine women who 
 were released from Oxford gaol on Tuesday last, whom Mr. 
 Leggett had brought down from Ascot. They were on their 
 way to join the other seven martyrs who had gone on in the 
 drag. They were all neatly dressed, and conducted them- 
 selves with a decorum highly becoming their station in life. 
 In the same train there was also 3. posse of police from Ox- 
 ford, sent on to preserve order. 
 
 At Chipping Norton we found numerous bodies of agri- 
 cultural labourers, who had travelled long distances to take 
 part in the indignation meeting in the evening. Around the 
 waggon I think there could not have been less than 2500 
 persons. Some of our friends said 3000, but I like to be 
 within the mark. A better behaved and more orderly con- 
 course of people I have never seen gathered together. The 
 chairman, in opening the proceedings, advised the labourers 
 to conduct themselves in a legal and orderly manner, and to 
 see that there was no obstruction to any vehicles requiring 
 to pass. He characterised the conviction of the women as 
 unnecessarily severe, and said it was another instance of the 
 necessity for reform in our arrangements for the administra- 
 tion of justice. The only satisfactory remedy v;ould be (i) 
 the extension of the franchise, (2) the repeal of the Criminal 
 Law Amendment Act, and (3) the appointment of stipentliary 
 magistrates. Mr Banbury, sen., of Woodstock, moved, "That 
 the Criminal Law Amendment Act is in its operation unjust 
 and oppressive towards the labouring classes c^ this coun- 
 try : this meeting therefore calls for its immediate and entire 
 repeal." In the course of a very earnest address, which was 
 heard with evident interest, he reviewed the general bearing 
 of recent enactments towards the working classes, and showed 
 how unsatisfactory decisions tended to shake the confidence 
 of the people of this country in the administration of justice. 
 
142 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 With regard to clerical justices, he maintained that the 
 Bench was not the place for a clergyman. Even if his 
 decisions could be justified, they were sure to produce dis- 
 satisfaction in some quarters, and weaken his moral in- 
 fluence. — Mr. H. Taylor seconded the proposal. He gave 
 several instances of obviously unfair decisions towards 
 working men by the clergy. — Mr. Joseph Arch delivered 
 a very powerful address in favour of unionism, the rights 
 of the working classes to combine, the injustice of the 
 Chipping Norton convictions, and the necessity there was 
 for removing clergy from the Bench, both for their own good 
 and also that of the public. The resolution was carried with 
 acclamation. — Mr. Mottershead, of London, proposed, "That 
 clerical magistracy is most unsatisfactory ; and, in order to 
 secure a better administration of the law, it is considered 
 absolutely necessary to establish a stipendiary magistracy, 
 on account of class influence on the present administrators." 
 — After Mr. Savage, of Birmingham, had seconded the mo- 
 tion, it was put and carried unanimously. — A collection was 
 made in the crowd for the women, which resulted in upwards 
 ^^ LH' The sums given were principally pennies. Mr. Arch 
 said he had received about ^30, and hoped to be able to send 
 ^5 each for the women. 
 
 At a subsequent meeting this hope was realised, and, 
 amid boundless enthusiasm, Mr. Arch presented each 
 of the sixteen women with five pounds each. 
 
 A kind of counter-demonstration was got up by the 
 sympathisers in the prosecution, which elicited the 
 following trenchant rebuke from the labourers' organ : — 
 
 THE CHIPPING NORTON MAGISTRATES. 
 
 The " Times " and other papers have published the ad- 
 dresses of sympathy presented to the two clerical magis- 
 
CHIPPING NORTON MAGISTRATES. 143 
 
 trates of Chipping Norton by some of their parishioners, 
 and we read in the " Oxford Chronicle " their rephes thereto. 
 These dehghtful *' parishioners " express " their entire ap- 
 proval " of the magisterial decision which consigned the 
 sixteen respectable women (their fellow-parishioners, for- 
 sooth !- -though there does not appear to be much advan- 
 tage in being a fellow-parishioner) to the common felon's 
 gaol. The clerical justices, in reply, actually accept these 
 expressions of sympathy, approval, and support, as though 
 they had fairly earned them by this notorious magisterial 
 decision of theirs, which has excited so much indignation 
 amongst their fellow-countrymen (we are glad there is at 
 least some advantage in being a fellow-countryman) ; and 
 possibly may thereby be encouraged under like circum- 
 stances to do the same again ! Oh, excellent, high-minded 
 justices ! Oh, affectionate and devoted parishioners ! It 
 is to be hoped that there are more enlightened parishes 
 in some parts of England, where praise and blame are 
 " laid on," like after-dinner speeches, as occasion may seem 
 to require on the part of faithful parishioners, with such 
 wonderful discrimination of the merits and demerits for 
 which it is awarded. 
 
 No one doubts, we should think, that these gentlemen 
 " endeavoured " to act to the best of " their knowledge and 
 judgment;" but if it is shown, as we think has plainly been 
 done, that in their magisterial capacity they have acted with 
 very partial knowledge and most unsound judgment, they 
 may be as totally unfit for such an office as if they had not 
 "endeavoured" to administer justice at all. The conse- 
 quences are just the same to the victims of "justices' justice," 
 whether the convicting magistrates are right down bad men, 
 or on the whole good men, but with imperfectly developed 
 social sympathies. It will do these gentlemen good, if they 
 are really good men, to undergo a little self-humiliation. If 
 
144 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 they are not good enough for that, they will flatter them- 
 selves they have been treated unjustly, and won't profit bv 
 the lesson they have had. In the latter case, their removal 
 from the bench is an imperative necessity. In any case 
 their removal would be a good thing, as it would teach " the 
 great unp)aid" the most salutary lesson that they are respon- 
 sible to a broad and enlightened public opinion, and not to 
 their own personal friends and parishioners, for administering 
 justice with an equal hand and without class prejudice. 
 Fancy the two Chipping Norton clerical justices committing 
 sixteen farmers' wives for so slight an offence as that for 
 which they unhesitatingly sent sixteen labourers' wives to 
 prison ! 
 
 Can any of the parishioners of the Revds. Carter and 
 Harris possibly conceive such a thing.-* And supposing all 
 the labourers of the parish had presented addresses to the 
 rev. magistrates, expressing approval of their conduct, not- 
 withstanding that the almost unanimous voice of their 
 countrymen generally had condemned it, should we not think 
 that magistrates who could quietly accept such expressioni> 
 of approval, as though they had been grossly ill-used men, 
 •were utterly incapable of profiting by the rebuke they had 
 received, and were therefore confessedly unworthy of being- 
 entrusted with such responsible duties again "^ The least 
 that could be expected of the Chipping Norton magistrates 
 is that they would confess their error, as professedly Christian 
 men, and in turn rebuke their parishioners for supporting 
 them in what they ought by this time to have understood 
 to be an instance of cruel injustice and class prejudice and 
 oppression. The clergy might as well shut up their churches 
 and doff their sacred robes, as not be capable of genuine 
 sympathy with the poor. They have certainly no place on 
 the magisterial bench, however they may be tolerated as 
 representatives of a State Church. 
 
ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 145 
 
 The next event of interest in connection with this 
 movement, was the second annual conference at Leam- 
 ington, which took place on the 2i.st May, 1873. Mr. 
 George Dixon, M.P. for Birmingham, presided, and a 
 large number of delegates from the rural districts 
 were present. A considerable number of the outside 
 sympathisers in the movement also attended. The 
 report stated tliat the National Union consisted of 
 twenty-three district unions, with nine hundred and 
 eiglity-two branches, and seventy-one thousand, eight 
 hundred and thirty five members. Twenty-four counties 
 were embraced, in the movement. 
 
 The funds of the Union were reported in a somewhat 
 exhausted state, owing to the vigorous but unsuccessful 
 attempts on the part of large numbers of employers to 
 stamp out the Union by means of " lock-outs" among 
 their unionist employes. 
 
 A consideral)le amount of liveliness was infused 
 into the meeting by a personal altercation between Mr. 
 AV. G. Ward and Mr. Edward Jenkins, two members 
 of the consulting committee and trustees of the Union 
 funds. The difficulty arose out of a strongly worded 
 article from the pen of the former gentleman, which 
 had appeared in a recent number of the *' Chronicle." 
 As this controversy has occasioned considerable excite- 
 ment among the patrons of the Union, I will give the 
 article of Mr. Ward /;/ extenso. It appeared in the 
 number for May loth, 1873, and was as follows : — 
 
 II 
 
146 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 THE BATTLE, THE STRUGGLE, AND THE 
 
 VICTORY. 
 
 The struggle of classes has commenced ; the strife is 
 deepening daily, and the battle is very near. The farmers 
 have determined that the farm labourers shall not combine, 
 that their serfs shall continue serfs, their claims to manhood 
 crushed ; that their wages shall not be a matter of mutual 
 consideration or market value — the labourer shall have 
 a maximum of wages at the dictation of a combination of 
 farmers. He shall not be consulted, or his feolings and de- 
 mands considered : submit or starve. And this tyranny in 
 England in the year 1873! 
 
 Yes, to-day, while the tenant farmers are agitating for 
 tenant rights, they are trampling upon the rights of their 
 labourers ; while they are combined to get legislative protec- 
 tion, and by legislation, public money to assist them in their 
 business, they are bitterly indignant that their serfs should 
 presume to combine, even to attain free agency to the 
 simplest element of manhood — the right to say what their 
 labour is worth. 
 
 in Essex and Suffolk and elsewhere there is a Tenant 
 Farmers' League to destroy the combination of the labourers, 
 binding themselves to each other to refuse employment to 
 all labourers in union, and not to give more than 2s. for a 
 day of twelve hours' work ; and now the farmers have locked 
 out, in various parts of the country, fifteen hundred men, 
 and cast them out to starve, or what they expect and aim at, 
 to eat up the Union funds and leave combination stranded. 
 The farmers foolishly imagine that with six weeks' compara- 
 tive leisure before them, they can fling their men upon 
 the Union funds and exhaust them, destroy combination, 
 give their men a sharp pinch, and get them back broken 
 in spirit, humbled to submissive serfs, to work for them 
 
THE BATTLE AND THE VICTORY. 147 
 
 ju?,t .1"^ they want thein, to mow and moil for less than 
 a slave's pittance, with no outlook of hope, no escape but 
 in the grave. 
 
 Have the farmers no power of reflection, no memory of 
 agrarian an-ircliy, no conception what manhood is, when 
 tyranny is striving to crush out manliness, and tramples 
 upon simple but hearty hopes, and leaves no alternative but 
 slavish submission or manly rebellion ? Cannot the farmers 
 calculate the effects of their success in the exhaustion of 
 Union funds, tiic prostration of the peaceable agitation, and 
 the dispersion of the Union delegates and their leaders? 
 Do they know so little of their men, know nothing of the 
 character of Englishmen, that they believe that, silence the 
 Union, and the men will tamely submit to the yoke of 
 slavery ; and that beat back Englishmen from the glimpse 
 of freedom, tear up their union cards, and unity is gone 
 starve them a week, and their submission is perfect t Bah I 
 Lock up the foolish farmers and let the mad go free. 
 
 If our labourers inherit an atom of the spirit of their 
 forefathers, of those who fought at Cressy and Waterloo, 
 and struck for freedom at Naseby and Dunbar, they will not 
 basely bend the neck to a farmer's yoke, let the consequences 
 be what they n^y ; if our labourers inherit within their 
 breasts the heans of iron of their forefathers, that gave 
 them courage to face the battle with any odds, to bravely 
 force the breach against any numbers, to win for their 
 country in a hundred battles, surely now they will not 
 sneak away at freedom's call, and rush to dishonoured 
 graves, frightened at the frown upon a farmer's brow ! 
 Shall they, whose forefathers in the past gave their blood 
 and lives freely for their country, not be able now to give all 
 tu win one battle for themselves ? 
 
 The farmers have blundered ; they have thrown down 
 the gage 01 battle to their men, and come what will they 
 
 II * 
 
148 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 will be beaten. The farmers have done worse than blun- 
 dered —they have insulted every Englishman and sought to 
 tarnish the fair name of our country ; they have treated 
 their labourers as aliens in blood, as unworthy the dignity 
 of freemen, or even the nobleness of manhood. Though 
 our farm labourers are, outside the constitution, treated 
 simply as beasts of burden, yet they have a legal right to 
 combine for mutual protection. But no, say the farmers 
 of Essex and Suffolk and elsewhere ; if we have power you 
 shall starve if you combine ; you shall not dare to stand 
 upright and bargain with us for wages ; as the slave accepts 
 submissively what his master condescends to give him, and 
 the dog his bone, so shall you our 2s. a day, and the day 
 shall be long if the money is short. 
 
 The farmers have ever blundered. They have always 
 gone upon the penny-wise principle, centred in self, seeing 
 only one side, and that their side, blind to the future, 
 incapable of embracing their country, much less humanity ; 
 incapable of consideimg secondary consequences, and there- 
 fore often astonished at the evils of their own success, and 
 to find that a trumpery victory involves irretrievable loss ; 
 and as no man can be a tyrant who is not at heart a slave, 
 the farmers have matriculated under the gamekeeper, the 
 landlord, and the parson, to learn unmanly submission, to 
 qualify themselves to be tyrants over their labourers, and 
 try to crush the man into a serf. 
 
 If the farmers were now to succeed by their lock-out in 
 exhausting the Union funds and prostrating the peaceful 
 agitation, then they would have to face far greater difficulties. 
 They would find they had suppressed a moderate and 
 legitimate agitation, only to arouse agrarian anarchy ; they 
 would find their docile labourers, deprived of their Union 
 leaders and their combination crushed, completely changed. 
 Maddened by tyranny, infuriated by lawful progress, barred, 
 
THE BATTLE AND THE VICTORY. 149 
 
 driven to desperation, they would feast uj)on revenge and 
 glory in anarchy. And who can be surprised ? Hlood is 
 thicker than water. And an Englishman that would tamely 
 submit to class tyranny, to a combination, unjust and un- 
 manly, to crush a legal and noble combination of a 
 depressed and down-trodden class, seeking true manliness 
 and social elevation, would deserve to be spat upon as a 
 willing slave, to be scouted as an outcast, and dungeoned in 
 darkness, until the lire of freedom burned in his breast, and 
 he could offer himself a sacrifice on the cijtar of freedom. 
 
 The farmers may depend upon it, that if they could suc- 
 ceed in crushing the combination of their serfs, in scatter- 
 ing the Labourers' Union, the success would be signalled 
 by midnight surprises, by beacon fires, from one end of 
 England to the other There are circumstances that justify 
 war, even civil war. When the oppression of five hun- 
 dred years had apparently degraded the peasantry of 
 BJigland into brutish insensibility to manliness and freedom, 
 then thoughtful men sighed and lamented at the hopeless- 
 ness of their elevation, from their stolid indifference to their 
 own degradation. But all in a moment the indifference and 
 insensibility were gone ; the serfs awoke and claimed their 
 dues with calmness and moderation, with a business shrewd- 
 ness, and a wide comprehension of circumstances, and a 
 statesmanlike wisdom, and often with simple but dignified 
 eloquence, that charmed as much as it surprised all who 
 believe in progress, and desire the moral elevation of their 
 countrymen. Then the leader of the labourers was inter- 
 viewed by statesmen, helped by philanthropists, feasted by 
 mayors and members of parliament, and patronised and 
 smiled upon by thousands of Englishmen, from the artisan 
 to the manufacturer, who were gratified to see that the 
 English serfs, hitherto the shame of their country, manifest- 
 ing that with fair play they could redeem themselves and 
 
ISO THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 shed honour upon their country. Twelve months of Union 
 education has given to the serfs the notions of manhood 
 and freedom, the knowledge that union is strength, and that 
 sober and industrious men deserve the franchise ; and the'" 
 eyes are opened to the evils of the land monopoly, of vicii 
 rious cultivation, and the necessity of a wide diffusion of 
 the land amongst the people, and now they are fully awake 
 to combination, to the freshness of the air of freedom. A 
 handful of farmers have banded themselves together to 
 arrest the flood of freedom — to stamp out combination by 
 counter-combination — to overcome evil by evil, and rivet 
 the chains of serfdom upon their labourers, by fixing a 
 maximum of wages, insisting upon their combination being 
 broken up, that starvation and lock-outs shall involve sub- 
 mission, and their hopes shall be buried at the dictation of 
 their masters. Surely such tyranny would justify resistance, 
 even to blood and war. 
 
 Men of England, artisans of our towns, manufacturers, 
 traders, shall it be that the farmers shall drive back to serf- 
 dom the growers of your food .'' — shall they succeed in again 
 tramphng down to semi -starvation our poor farm labourers .'' 
 — shall it be that in the richest nation of the world, the 
 peasantry shall be the meanest, most debased, and most 
 down-tro'^den of all the cultivators of the soil, in all the 
 civilised states of Europe and America ? 
 
 We appeal to you, as help is required. The funds of the 
 Union are going out ;^5oo a week over the receipts to main- 
 tain these poor locked-out labourers. Migrate them across 
 England, and help them to emigrate, and seek in a foreign 
 land the bread that is denied them in their own. We know 
 we shall not appeal m vain. We know the heart of England 
 is with us, and no Englishman, except a farmer or a land- 
 lord, will stand supinely by and see th'^ farm labourers 
 driven by desperation to wild revenge and furious anarchy. 
 
THE BATTLE AND THE VICTORY, 151 
 
 But if there is no alternative between submission to serf- 
 dom and starvation, if civilisation has no cheer, no comfort, 
 no protection for the farm labourer, can he be expected to 
 tamely lie down and die? No, no. Better to die in a 
 noble struggle for freedom than linger out a degraded life, a 
 farmer's chattel, than creep on slowly, hunger-bitten and 
 tortured, to an ignominious paupers grave ; l.^etter far curse 
 a one-sided civilisation that worships wealth and crushes 
 honest poverty and die, than live and struggle without hope, 
 toil till despair paralyses all power, and leaves a withered 
 heart and racking frame to the tender care of a board of 
 guardians, composed, of farmers, to doctor, damn, and bury. 
 
 Men of England^ ariisan.", miners^ merchants^ traders^ 
 we appeal to you. Shall tyranny triumph, shall combined 
 farmers lock out and starve our peasantry into submission 1 
 
 If we had any doubt of you, despair and desperation 
 would redden our villages, and anarchy would triumph over 
 selfish luxury and brutal tyranny. 
 
 Farm labourer^ who are in work, stand by your Union in 
 the dark hour of its struggle for your freedom, earnestly and 
 faithfully as a mother watches the sick bed of her only 
 child. Every man who owes a single copper, pay it up ; 
 volunteer a levy if you will ; every nerve of your leaders 
 will be strained for you. Money must be found, and our 
 towns will be visited, and meetings called, ;aid a hundred 
 town-halls shall ring with cheers for the down-trodden farm 
 labourers. On the moors of Durham the colliers shall meet 
 and hear our appeal ; and on the banks of the Tees shall 
 the iron-workers back us with a hearty response. 
 
 Fann labourers^ never fear, stand with your face to the 
 foe, and he shall yet quiver, smart, and flee : — 
 
 " For freedom's battle once begun, 
 Bequeath'd by bleeding sire to son, 
 Though baffled oft, is ever won." 
 
 \ 
 
152 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 The ni^ht may be dark, but the morning star of hope is 
 visible ; and soon, very soon, the sun in the radiant glory of 
 light and warmth of peifect freedom shall shine around you. 
 
 Larm labourers who are locked out, cheer up ; suffer 
 anything rather than give way to tyranny and oppression. 
 Obey the Union delegates — attend to committee orders ; be 
 patient and faithful, and you need fear not. Every renny of 
 the Union funds necessary will be spent to sustain you in the 
 struggle, and before two months are past your tyrants shall 
 be hu milled. 
 
 But remember you have to bear a share of the burden. 
 The Union may have to send you a long way, and the 
 acconmiodation may be scanty, but the wages will be good. 
 Do not pine and moan if the bed is hard, and provisions 
 have to be fetched some distance. Bear anything, bear 
 everything, rather than bend your necks at a farmer's seltish, 
 unjust dictation, — rather wear out in struggling that you 
 may leave your child en a heritage of freedom, and not that 
 you and they shall '>r ever be serfs, have your wages 
 fixed without consulting you, and be compelled to sign 
 one-sided agreements to keep you in bondnge for a year, 
 and leaving your taskmaster free to dismiss you without 
 any penalty, but for you a jail if you dismiss him ; and 
 never bend to nmsters who combine against you but will 
 not allow you to combine for mutual protection. 
 
 England expects every man to do his duty. The trustees, 
 executive and consulting committees, delegates and secre- 
 taries, are at their posts. The towns will be appealed to 
 as soon as necessary. The organisation is complete, AND 
 VICTORY SHALL BE OURS. He who would succeed 
 must determine success shall be his. 
 
 Men of England, be with us in our stniggle, that the 
 victory may be with the oppressed, that serfdom may cease 
 in England, and her bread-growers receive the fair reward 
 
AGRARIAN AGITATION, 153 
 
 of their labour ; that hunger and oppression may no longer 
 dog the steps of the poor farm labourer. 
 
 THE labourers' UNION FOR LVER ! ! 
 
 A few days after the appearance of this article, the 
 following letter appeared in, the "Times" ; — 
 
 AGRARIAN AGITATION. 
 
 To the Editor of the " Times." 
 
 Sir, — The following passage appeared in the " Labourers' 
 Union Chronicle," published at Leamington, on the loth 
 inst. : — 
 
 "If the farmers were now to succeed by their lock-out 
 in exhausting the Union funds and prostrating the peaceful 
 agitation, then they would have to face far greater difficul- 
 ties. They would find they had suppressed a moderate and 
 legitimate agitation, only to arouse agrarian anarchy ; they 
 would find their docile labourers, deprived of their Union 
 leaders and their combination crushed, completely changed. 
 Maddened by tyranny, infuriated by lawful progress barred, 
 driven to desperation, they would feast upon revenge and 
 glory in anarchy. And who can be surprised? E ood is 
 thicker than water ; and an Englishman who would tamely 
 submit to class tyranny, to a combination, unjust and 
 unmanly, to crubh a legal and noble combination of a 
 depressed and down-trodden class, seeking true manliness 
 and social elevation, would deserve to be spat upon as 
 a willing slave, to be scouted as an outcast, and dungeoned 
 in darkness, until the fire of freedom burnt in his breast, 
 and he could offer himself a sacrifice on the altar of freedom. 
 The farmers may depend upon it that if they could succeed 
 in crushing the combination of their serfs, in scattering the 
 Labourers' Union, the success would be signalled by mid- 
 
154 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 night surprises, by beacon fires, from one end of England 
 to the other. There are circumstances that justify war, 
 even civil war." 
 
 This passage has natuially given rise to severe comment 
 in the provincial press ; it is entirely opposed to the aim and 
 spirit of the labourers' movement, as I have seen it mani- 
 fested by Mr. Arch and his coadjutors from the beginning 
 until now : it is, moreover, compromising to the large Con- 
 sulting Committee, containing the names of Mr. Dixon, 
 M.P., Mr. Morley, M.F., Canon Girdle stone, and others. 
 
 Will you permit me to explain that the '' Labourers' 
 Union Chronicle" is a private venture, and has no official 
 connection with the Union ; that it is not under the control 
 of the Executive Committee, nor are they responsible for 
 anything that appears in its columns, unless it is signed by 
 their officials or put in as an advertisement. And, more- 
 over, I am happy to say that this indefensible piece of 
 truculencc does not come from the pen of any labourer or 
 artisan, but of one who is a landowner, a country gentleman, 
 and a person of cultivation. 
 
 I have never heard such words from Mr, Arch or any 
 country labourer, and regret that a good. cai.,3e should be 
 injured by advocacy so zealous, but detestable ; and were 
 1 not sure it would be repudiated by the men themselves, 
 1, for one, would withdraw from the Union. 
 
 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 May 2o. Edward Jenkins, 
 
 This letter Mr. Ward resented as a truculent imper- 
 tinence ; and, amid considerable impatience on the 
 part of the audience, proceeded to state his grievance. 
 Through the intervention of mutual friends, the affair 
 was ultimately amicably disposed of. • 
 
PUBLIC MEETING IN THE CIRCUS. 155 
 
 A large public meeting was held in the Circus at 
 Leamington, iu the evening, Mr. George Dixon presiding. 
 
 The interest and importance of tliis meeting will, 
 1 think, justify the copious report of it which I have 
 embodied in my " sketch." 
 
 The principal speeches were by the chairman, Mr. 
 Alhngton, a labourer, Mr. Edward Jenkins, the author 
 of " Ginx's Baby," and now M.P. for Dundee, Mr. Jesse 
 CoUings, a Birmingham town councillor, Mr. J. A. 
 Campbell, a justice of the peace, and Mr. Joseph Arch. 
 They were as follows — taken, I ought perhaps to say, 
 from the shorthand report in the " Labourers' Chronicle " 
 for June r4tb, 1873: — 
 
 THE PUBLIC MEETING IN THE CIRCUS. 
 
 At the conclusion of the business of the congress on 
 Wednesday, a public meeting was held in the Circus, under 
 the auspices of the Union. Mr. George Dixon, M.P. for 
 Birmingham, pre:uded, and with him on the platform were 
 the Rev. Arthur O'Neil, Dr. Langford, Rev. F. S. Atten- 
 borough, Messrs. J. A. Campbell, Jesse Collings, J. C. Cox, 
 E. Jenkins, Joseph Arch, H. Taylor, Haynes, AlUngton, 
 \V. G. Ward, and a number of other friends and supporters 
 of the movement. The building, which is estimated to hold 
 2,000 persons, was well tilled, and amongst the audience 
 were many of the tradespeople of the town. 
 
 The Chairman having briefly explained that the com- 
 mencement of the proceedings at this meeting had been 
 unexpectedly delayed by the business of the conference, 
 went on to state that he had been asked to open the meeting 
 with a few remarks bearing upon the subject for the discus- 
 
156 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 sion of which they had assembled together. He was very 
 glad indeed to be with them once more, after what he called 
 a year of very successful agitation on the part of the Agricul- 
 tural Labourers' Union, A short time ago a noble lord 
 residing in a neighbouring county made some remarks upon 
 their movement, and in the course of his address warned 
 the agricultural labourers against the very serious undertak- 
 ings in which they were involving themselves. His argument 
 was this ; — That the semi-feudal and semi- parental relations 
 which had existed between the employers and the employed 
 in the agricultural districts, were now going to be seriously 
 disturbed, and perhaps it might not prove to be altogether 
 to the advantage of the agricultural labourers to substitute 
 in their place those ordinary commercial relations which 
 obtain in large towns. Now he (Mr. Dixon) thought those 
 remarks were very just, and very well worthy the careful con- 
 sideration of the agricultural labourers. It was well, before 
 a great movement of this kind was commenced, to count 
 the cost, and to learn what il was they were going to do, 
 and what they might have to suffer. He believed the mean- 
 ing of the argument he had just given to be this . — If the 
 agricultural labourers were to unite, and to say to their 
 masters that they thought they were entitled to certain money 
 wages and certain other conditions, such as an abridgment 
 of the hours of labour, the reply on the part of the em- 
 ployers would be that the privileges hitherto offered to the 
 labourers, partly in consequence of their low wages, would 
 be partially, and in some cases, entirely withdrawn. Well, 
 that no doubt would be to a great extent true. What those 
 privileges were, and what was the proper value to be set 
 upon them, the agricultural labourer was best able to de- 
 termine ; but it was nevertheless a curious ffict that exactly 
 in proportion as these commercial relations did exist between 
 the agricultural labourer and his employer, or in other words, 
 
PUBLIC MEETING IN THE CIRCUS. 157 
 
 exactly in proportion as the agricultural labourer found him- 
 self placed near to the large manufacturing towns and mining 
 districts, exactly in that proportion was his position im- 
 proved. Now, he had had an opportunity of ascertaining, 
 on the very best authority — on the authority of a clergyman 
 of the Church of England, now resident in the east part 
 of Somersetshire — what these semi-feudal and semi-parental 
 relations were, and what was the character and extent of 
 that care which the farmers and others exercised over their 
 labourers. The gentleman of whom he had spoken was very 
 well able to estimate the advantage to be derived from them, 
 because he had previously lived the greater part of his life 
 in a manufacturing district, and therefore possessed some 
 knowledge with regard to both sides of the question. He 
 said it was a very curious thing, that although in that part 
 of the country the great product of the land was milk, which 
 was extensively used for, making cheese and butter, and 
 although it was obvious that in the rearing of a family 
 nothing was more valuable than milk, yet milk was the most 
 difficult thing for a mother to get for her children. It had 
 to be begged as a great favour, and was not always granted. 
 He thought that semi-parental care of that kind did not 
 amount to much. That clergyman further told him he was 
 of opinion that the allotment system was a good one, and 
 by way of giving a practical expression to his views, he 
 determined on setting apart a portion of his glebe land 
 for the purpose of allotting it out to the labourers at 
 the same rate of rent as was paid by the farmers. The 
 moment, however, the farmers heard such a thing was 
 intended, they were loud in their protests against the system. 
 They warned him that he would not get his rent paid, and 
 went so far as to say that if the labourer gave attention to his 
 garden, he would have less strength to devote to the duties 
 of his master, and consequently would not be so good a 
 
158 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 scrv.uit. 'Ihe clergyman, however, persevered in his object, 
 and lie had since stated that the labourers, one and all, 
 considered these allotments a great boon, and none of them 
 had ever fallen in arrears with thtir rent, no matter what the 
 state of the crops had been. That gentleman also thought 
 it was essential for the well-being of the agricultural labourer 
 that he should be educated, and in accordance with that 
 view did everything in his power to induce the farmers of 
 that district to assist him in the building of a school. 13ut 
 he was unable to induce them to do so until the Elementary 
 Education Act was passed, since which time they had been 
 compelled to subscribe. In neither of the cases cited did 
 it appear to him that there was much benefit to be derived 
 from that semi-feudal and semi -parental relationship existing 
 between the farmers and the labourers, and which was said 
 to be endangered by the present agitation for higlier wages. 
 They all knew very well mdeed that the wages in that part 
 of the country (East Somersetshire) were very low indeed, 
 perhaps amongst the lowest that were paid to the labourers 
 in any part. Now, what was the result of that.'' The 
 clergyman of whom he had been speaking explained to him 
 that two men out of Yorkshire would do as much work as 
 three men in East Somersetshire, so that if a farmer employed 
 two of the former at 1 5s. a week, he would get more work 
 done than by employing three of the latter at 12s. a week. 
 What did that state of things mean, save this, that the 
 small wages given the Somersetshire men was without doubt 
 the cause of the insufficiency of their labour ? If the farmers 
 in that part of the country would do what the men asked 
 them to do, namely, discontinue the old relationship and 
 begin a new one, in which a fair day's work should be re- 
 warded by a fair day's wage, they would find their labourers 
 lifted up to an equality with their brethren in the north, and 
 well worthy the increase of money paid them. Under the 
 
PUBLIC MEETING IN THE CIRCUS. 159 
 
 old system it was not considered the a^^ricultural labourer 
 was a fit person to have the franchise, consequently, the 
 franchise had not been given him ; and so lonj^ as he came 
 to Ve regarded as the fitting object of the kindness and 
 charity of those who were above him, so long those above 
 him would demand that in return for that kindness and for 
 that charity he should continue to be their political depen- 
 dant. His (Mr. Dixon's) opinion was that under the new sys- 
 tem, which had been fairly described as a commercial system, 
 the agricultural labourer would gain that degree of indepen- 
 dence which would enable him to forego the advantages which 
 had hitherto been derived from the " semi-feudal and semi- 
 parental" relationship heretofore existing between employers 
 and employed in the rural districts. At the same time he 
 did not wish to hide, neither from them nor from himself, 
 the fact that in the change, which was one of enormous mag- 
 nitude, they would have to undergo many trials, would have 
 their patience tested, and their powers of endurance tried. 
 But what had they done already after one year of trial ? They 
 all knew how largely wages had been increased, in some 
 districts is. per weel:, in others 25, per week, in others 3s. 
 per week, and he had heard of one district where the increase 
 had been as great as 4s. per week. In a speech lately made 
 in the south by Mr. Arch, he quoted the opinion of a 
 gentleman in whom he placed great confidence, to the 
 effect that the aggregate increase in wages durnig the year 
 amounted to no less than ^1,000,000. Now, he did not 
 wish to endorse that stat'iment, because he had not the 
 materials necessary for forming an opinion, but they knew 
 that the sum was very large, and that it was continually 
 increasing. Tliat, however, was not the only good that 
 had been derived from their labours during the past year. 
 Thousands of those who had been under the most depress- 
 ing circumstances, unable to rise, and with no hope before 
 
i6o THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 them, had been removed into districts in England where 
 wages were higher, where openings of various kinds sur- 
 rounded the working man, and where he beheved all had 
 bettered their position, and some would eventually rise to be 
 men of w^ealth and substance. liesides that, very great 
 attention had been paid to the question of emigration, and 
 many had been assisted to emigrate. There had been a 
 great number cf persons prejudiced against emigration, 
 partly because of a dread to go across the water, while 
 amongst others a well-grounded prejudice had arisen out of 
 the reflection that if our laws and customs were what they 
 ought to be, and it was hoped they would one day become, 
 there was ample employment on remunerative terms for all 
 our labourers at home. Whatever might be the soundness 
 of that opinion, it was clear that by encouraging the labourers 
 to leave the covmtry now, they were hastening the time when 
 those labourers would be wanted, and not being then at hand 
 the country must suffer. He was one of those who believed 
 in the opinion that if we had wise laws, and if the spirit of 
 those laws was carried out into everyday life, such a result 
 would be impossible. But his experience as a politician was 
 that they would have to wait a long time for these wise laws, 
 and they would have to wait a still longer time until the spirit 
 of the people had comprehended the wisdom of such laws, 
 and carried them into execution. What was to be done in 
 the meantime ? As one who had been in the English colonies, 
 he could tell them how fully he appreciated the advantages 
 held out by Canada, and Australia, and New Zealand, as fine 
 countries as England, in some respects much better, while in 
 no respect were they really worse. There there M'as magni- 
 ficent land, almost to be had for the asking. If any portion 
 of those extensive countries could be possibly detached and 
 tacked on to Land's End, so that emigrants had only to pass 
 over a bridge to gain possession, thousands upon thousands 
 
PUBLIC MEETING IN THE CIRCUS, i6i 
 
 would leave and go over at once, so that soon there would 
 not be an acre to be had. He could not see that emigration 
 would be a great evil to England, seeing that every one who 
 went to the colonics, — every agricultural labourer, who went 
 out in the spirit of industry and in the spirit of independence, 
 went forth to certain wealth. In the" Times," the other day, 
 he came upon a letter from some one in New Zealand, who 
 said that one hundred labourers had arrived in Christchurch, 
 and met with remunerative employment in the course of two 
 or three hours ; and there were five hundred families in that 
 part of the country desirous of obtaining such labourers as 
 were then present, and could not obtain them because they 
 were not to be had. One family that had emigrated, in the 
 course of six or twelve months had saved ^90. It was ob- 
 vious that every man who could muster up courage to cross 
 the water, would materially benefit himself in either of the 
 colonies to which reference had been made. And how about 
 those who remained behind ? The number of labourers had 
 been said to be so large that wages .veie depressed on that 
 account. Well, if this stream of emigration was kept up, 
 there would of course be less competition at home, and 
 eventually labour would become so scarce, that in case of 
 a strike it would be absolutely essential for the farmers to 
 give the increase of wages. Let them remember, that it very 
 frequently happened, when persons began really to under- 
 stand the nature of what was going on about them, they did 
 not wait for accomplished facts. So if the farmers came to 
 see that some of the men were migrating to the north of 
 England, and did not come back, and that others were going 
 across the waters and did not come back, they would soon 
 begin to see that this was a very serious matter — that it 
 could not be allowed to go on, and that some steps were 
 necessary in order to make the men satisfied and induce 
 them to stay at home. They would say to one another, 
 
 It 
 
1 62 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 * 
 " Let us repair their cottages ; let us give them a httle land 
 — even enough to keep a cow and a pig ; let us try to better 
 their con(htion, and even go so far as to increase their 
 wages." Let it be remembered, too, that the emigrant re- 
 moved to New Zealand still remained an excellent customer 
 to this country, consuming much more of our commodities 
 than he did when an agricultural labourer at home. Bearing 
 in miiul these facts, he looked hopefully into the future, 
 because he saw all these things taking place, and however 
 certain meh may gloss them over, he said, when gazing upon 
 these facts, that they were facts of extreme significance, and 
 would eventually thrust, themselves upon the notice of even 
 half blind men. And now he would ask them to look upon 
 the other side of the picture. Forbearance was necessary 
 towards the farmers. Very great consideration was required 
 for them. Their position was one of peculiar and great dif- 
 ficulty. It had been said (but he did not know- with what 
 degree of truth, for it was one of those things that never 
 could be ascertained), that they had had a bad year. He 
 knew farmers always had bad years. He was told that it was 
 vei7 much more difficult for farmers to get good labourers 
 than it used to be. Part of that difficulty no doubt arose 
 from the movement now going on amongst the labourers. 
 What the farmers felt was unceitainty as to the future ; and 
 he might say that the labourers did not intend stopping 
 simply with an increase of wages. When they had obtained 
 a settlement of the wages question, they would ask, " How 
 about the hours of labour.?" The farmers, therefore, were 
 asking themselves how long this state of things was to go 
 on, and also whether they could stand it, because they 
 argued that, as the price of corn was regulated not by the 
 amount of produce, but by the export trade, they were 
 unable to increase their selling rates in proportion as the 
 cost of production was augmented. Therefore it would be 
 
PUBLIC MEETING IN THE CIRCUS. 163 
 
 seen that the position of the farmer was one of great diffi- 
 culty, and he confessed that it excited his sympathy for them 
 as a chiss. If the farmer could ^o at once to the landlord 
 and say, " My position is ijuth that it is impossible for me 
 to work my farm, unless I have the rent reduced," and the 
 rent was then lowered, the solution of the diflkulty would 
 bo easy. But it was a very difficult thing to prove to a land- 
 lord that the farm could not be worked without a profit, 
 and that a reduction of the rental was an absolute necessity. 
 Generally, the position of the farmer was by no means so 
 satisfactory as some of them could wish. The fact was, there 
 was now going on through the agricultural districts a change 
 which v.as little short of a revolution. And what they had to 
 say to the farmers and landlords respecting the matter was 
 this, " We admit you are going to be placed in a position of 
 difficulty, but although the sacrifice you may be called upon 
 to make will be a great one, the good that is to result from 
 it — the elevation of an entire class — is greater than the 
 evil." He would also say this, " Put aside all those old- 
 fashioned notions about looking after your labourers, and 
 treating them as you do your cattle — look upon them as 
 men, and place them in a position of independence, and 
 take care that they shall be educated, so that they will be 
 able to do your work better, with better machinery. Give 
 them such wages that they will be physically developed to 
 the extent of being able to do what they now do, or twice 
 the work they now do. Educate yourselves — and then it 
 may be that the new system of working the land may be so 
 improved that you will find that you will be able to do with 
 perhaps fewer w^orkmen, with higher class workmen, pay 
 greater wages, and be able to make more profit out of your 
 land." He felt no doubt such would be the case, but in 
 order to get the land laws altered the labourers must first 
 have the vote. He looked forward to the time v> len many 
 
 .13 -^ 
 
1 64 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 of them would become, landowners it may not be, but the 
 holders of the soil, when they would be able to work the 
 land for tliemselves. When the day catne that the land of 
 the country should be thrown open, and the transfer of it 
 made easy and cheap, he had no doubt its value would rise to 
 such an extent that the landlords would be greatly benehted 
 by the change. These great changes were necessarily slow 
 in their operation, and sometimes involved individuals in a 
 certain amount of trouble, but in the end they contributed to 
 the happiness and prosperity, not of one class alone, but of 
 every class in the community. 
 
 Mr. Allington said he felt great pleasure in appearing 
 before them on this the first anniversary of the National 
 Agricultural Labourf:rs' Union, and especially was that the 
 case, as he was not present with them at the meeting twelve 
 months ago. As soon as Mr. Arch raised his voice at Welles- 
 bourne on behalf of the down-trodden sons of the soil, he 
 (Mr. Allington) commenced his labour for the cause by 
 organising a branch in his own village. Wh(^'i he first heard 
 of the movement, the good-tidings made his heart leaj) 
 within him, and opening up communications with Mr. Arch, 
 he received directions to commence his work. Well, for his 
 exertions in the cause, he lost his situation, and afterwards 
 went out for the Union as a delegate. With friend Harris, 
 he visited Dorset, and in nine weeks organised several 
 branches, and enrolled upwards of 2,000 members. Since 
 then he had laboured in nine or ten counties successfully, 
 as many could testify that evening. He had also been en- 
 gaged in seeking employment for labourers who had been 
 discharged for joining the Union, or were desirous of improv- 
 ing their position In this way, he believed, much good had 
 been done. The labourers who had been thrown upon the 
 Union funds had been quickly absorbed in the manufacturing 
 districts, to their own advantage and that of their families. 
 
PUBLIC MEETING IN THE CIRCUS. 165 
 
 The result of this migratory movement had been satisfactory. 
 With feehngs of extreme pleasure he bore testimony to the 
 readiness of Trades Unions in all parts of the country to 
 iissist, as far as they were able, the efforts of the agricultural 
 labourer to improve his position. The general feeling was 
 one of determination that the agricultural labourer should 
 not sink. Of course the mam strength, and the secret of 
 strength, rested with the agricultural labourers themselves. 
 But so long as they remained true to the cause and to one 
 another, md so long as they continued to strive for their 
 rights, "'le believed there were thousands of trades unionists 
 in all parts of England who would never let them stand still 
 for want of funds. Recently he paid a visit to Nottingham, 
 when a committee was formed amongst the working men to 
 collect funds for the Union. The result of that, he was 
 happy to inform them, was the realisation of upwards of 
 ^Kx>. They also had some boxes made tor the principal 
 workshops, and on the previous Saturday night, the pence 
 and silver dropped in by the workmen amounted to ^33 17s. 
 These facts showed how the sympathies of the artisans in 
 towns were in harmony with the Union, and how ready they 
 were to assist the cause liberally and promptly. In conclu- 
 sion he moved the suh)joined resolution, and at the same time 
 observed that if the members of the Union continued working 
 together harmoniously, he was sure their work would be suc- 
 cessful : — " That this meeting rejoices c* the success which 
 has attended the National Agricultural Labourers' Union, 
 and, whilst deprecating the hostile attitude of the farmers 
 and landowners to a legal combination of labourers, hopes 
 that the Union will continue with firmness the policy of 
 patient and united deteniiination to redeem the agricultural 
 labourer from the degraded position he has so long occu- 
 pied." 
 Mr. E. Jenkins seconded the motion. He said, whilst his 
 
i66 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 friend Mr. Allington had been addressing them, he (Mr. 
 Jenkins) had been envying, not his powers of utterance, but 
 his legs. He only wished he possessed such a pair of agri- 
 cultural legs. For those legs he was willing to change places 
 with Mr. Allington at that moment. He felt sure with all the 
 strength he had, the Union may look forward and count upon 
 his services for at least thirty years to come. They had 
 heard from the chairman the argument respecting the "semi- 
 feudal and semi-parental" relationship existing between the 
 farmer and his labourer. The statement reminded him of a 
 young Irishman, who had been living in the north of Eng- 
 land, where he got into some swell society. In the course of 
 his conversations he never made any reference to his parents, 
 of whom he seemed to be somewhat ashamed. One of his 
 friends saw his father on one occasion, and afterwards meet- 
 ing with the son said, " I think I saw your father the other 
 day?" The young Irishman replied, "Well, he is my father 
 to a certain extent." Well, the parental relationship existing 
 between the farmer and the labourer appeared to him to par- 
 take of that qualified character — it was only " parental " to 
 a "certain extent." He believed if they appealed to the 
 farmer, and claimed his friendship as a parent, he would turn 
 round and say, " It's all very well, my friend and brother, 
 but our relationship is one only to a certain extent." To 
 " a certain extent " they ought to feel an amount of sympathy 
 with the farmers. What was their position ? It was that of 
 being between two grinding stones. They were like the ham 
 in the sandwich ; they were in the middle, and when the 
 sandwich was bitten the ham was sure to get it. He knew 
 there were some (and he was not quite sure the chairman did 
 not once belong to them), who, with reference to the land ques- 
 tion, had some doubts as to whether it would not be better 
 to allow the plethora of labour to go on increasing until we 
 had arrived at such a state of things that we could endure it 
 
PUBLIC MEETING IN THE CIRCUS. 167 
 
 no longer, and then it would work oat the question of land 
 reform. But for himself he would say that he entered into 
 the emigration movement years ago, with an amount of energy 
 he did not now possess, because he believed it to be a good 
 and noble work, and a step in the right direction. He had 
 always regarded our colonics as the propc heritage of the 
 working men of England. He and other gentlemen, as well 
 as Mr. Arch, had all been accused of setting class against 
 class by aiding this movement. He remembered being in 
 the House of Commons when Mr. Laird, of Liverpool, was 
 charged with the responsibility of having built the Alabama. 
 To that accusation he replied that he would rather be the 
 builder of ten Alabamas than be guilty of going about the 
 country setting class against class, at the same time pointing 
 to Mr. John Bright, the member for Birmingham. Since 
 then the lion, gentleman had taken his seat in her Majesty's 
 Government, and he (Mr. Jenkins; had no doubt there were 
 some people in Birmingham who regarded him somewhat in 
 the light of a Conservative, After an allusion to the 
 mischievous effects arising from class legislation and class 
 magistrates, Mr. Jenkins stated that in the early part of this 
 movement the " Times " refused to insert an advertisement 
 from the Union, on the ground that its object was to set class 
 against class. Considering the amount of opposition which 
 had been brought to beat upon this movement, the success 
 it had achieved was something wonderful. From one end of 
 P^ngland to the other, whatever justices might do, and what- 
 ever might be the tone of the farmers, the taunts of the 
 clergy and the Tory press, he hoped every member of the 
 Union would remember that the movement was now getting 
 thoroughly organised and must succeed. 
 
 The resolution was supported by Mr. J. A. Campbell, 
 J. P., who said, if Mr. Jenkins sincerely regretted that he had 
 not the "understandings" of Mr. Ailington, what did they 
 
1 68 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 think were his feelings on that subject, seeing he was 
 a cripple ! He was not, however, going to make a "lame" 
 excuse on that account. Looking back at ihe past year, 
 he confessed his astonishment at the success of the Union ; 
 it was so much greater than he had anticipated. During 
 the day he had heard some very strong observations about 
 justices, farmers, and landowners, and being himself all 
 three, he could say he was not ashamed to be any one .)f 
 the three. Durmg the time he had been engaged in farm- 
 ing operations he had employed a considerable number 
 of labourers, and from what he had seen, his opinion was 
 decidedly in their favour ; so much so, that as soon as 
 the agitation broke out, he felt it to be an important question 
 as to what course he, as a farmer and a justice, should take. 
 Accordingly he attended a meeting at Dunchurch, whereat 
 the question was discussed by Mr. Arch, and he < t )nce 
 decided that it was his duty to favour the movement, because 
 he was satisfied, the cause of the labourers was honest, just 
 and upright. He would have been heartily ashamed of himself 
 as a Christian man if he had not come forward and done 
 all that lay in his humble power to assist what he believed 
 to be a thoroughly proper movement in this country. There 
 were, as they well knew, different sights amongst different 
 people. There was, in the first place, the " short sight," 
 and then what was called in his own country the " second 
 sight." There was also the " long sight," by which persons 
 were enabled to see objects at a long distance, as contradis- 
 tinguished from the " short sight," which was the ability 
 only to perceive things close at hand. His opinion of the 
 farmers was, that their policy was a "short-sighted" one, 
 inasm.uch as they did not ask themselves whether there was 
 not some foundation for what was now taking place in the 
 country. Viewed from any standpoint, they would arrive at 
 the fact that the state of matters with legard to the agri- 
 
PUBLIC MEETING IN THE CIRCUS. 169 
 
 cultural labourers of England was not what it ought to be, 
 and could not therefore possibly last. Then what should 
 be the conduct of those connected with the labouring classes? 
 Surely common sense ought to tell them, that as this change 
 was coming over the country their wisest course was to 
 meet it. But they ought not to meet it with the old idea 
 that they could repress it with force, but meet it in a spirit 
 of kindiiess and forbearance, and give to the claims of the 
 labourers that consideration to which they were so fairly 
 entitled. What was now taking place in the country had 
 been rightly characterised by the chairman as a " revolu- 
 tion," but it was important to bear in mind that it was 
 a peaceful and not a bloody revolution. They must all be 
 short sighted if they failed to see that che agricultural 
 labourers were taking proper measures for elevating them- 
 selves to that position they ought to occupy, lie had been 
 asked to become a member of the Consultative Committee, 
 and had readily acquiesced, because he considered the 
 men were deserving of sympathy. Since meeting with them 
 on various occasions, he had been surprised at the great 
 amount of really good sense and sterling judgment, ac- 
 companied with extreme moderation, he had witnessed on 
 their part when assisting in the business of the Executive 
 Committee. The fact was this movement was well founded, 
 and if people would throw themselves against it with 
 violence, probably it would end in their own injury and 
 destruction. All the agricultural labourer had to do 
 was to move on quietly, steadily, and persevciringly, and he 
 must inevitably find his proper place amongst the people 
 of this country. What was that proper place } Simply that 
 he should be a man amongst men. The agricultural labourer 
 was as much a man as the greatest nobleman in the land. 
 He had h?s feelings as other men, and knew when he was 
 treated well and when he was treated ill. It would be odd 
 
lyo THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 if he did not. He was capable of choosing his labour, 
 and possessed a perfect right to dispose of that labour in 
 the best market at the best price. If the agricultural 
 labourer were, however, to attempt to force up wages higher 
 than the farmer could afford to give, he would be doing 
 a very foolish thing. He had already mentioned to th;,ii'« 
 that he was a justice of the peace, and having done so, 
 he felt he coukl not sit down without saying a few words 
 with reference to that most extraordinary trial which had 
 taken place in Oxfordshire. He had sat upon the bench 
 for many years, and during that time had been associated 
 as a rule with a very considerable majority of Conservative 
 and game-preserving magistrates. But he did not believe 
 there was any of them who would have been guilty of such 
 an extravagant piece of folly as had been committed 
 by those two clergymen in Oxfordshire. He did not know 
 what they could have been thinking of, and he was equally 
 at a loss to know what sort of an adviser they had as rheir 
 clerk. He did not know how they could have had an officer 
 who would give them such bad guidance. Personally he had 
 strong sympathy for those who had been so treated under 
 the guise of the law. For some fifteen or sixteen years now 
 past he had farmed considerably in this county, and last 
 year he laid before them some statistics as to the wages 
 he had been paying his men. He had been asked to state 
 whether he was able to make it to pay. Well, his answer 
 was this ; he had been farming ail those years, and it was 
 hardly probable that he would have continued if he had 
 been losing money by it. It was not his custom to go on 
 losing money, nor did he think that was the custom of his 
 countrymen. They would understand by that, that he had not 
 sustained a loss. If he had put his money into some 
 business speculation, he might have made more money 
 than by farming ; but he might not have done so. He was 
 
PUBLIC MEETING IN THE CIRCUS. 171 
 
 satisfied the Union was going on in the right way. Every 
 time he attended its meetings he saw that the organisa- 
 tion was becoming more perfect, and that it was spreading 
 itself more and more throughout the country. He heartily 
 trusted that a branch of the Union might be established in 
 every parish in the country. 
 
 The resolution was then put, and carried. 
 
 Mr. Jesse Collings then moved the second resolution, 
 which was as follows : — "That in the opinion of this meet- 
 ing the numerous cases of unf;iirness and wrong in the 
 administration of justice, which have been brought to light 
 during the agitation of the past year, require immediate atten- 
 tion and remedy at the hands of the Government." He said 
 'le disputed one statement made by a previous speaker, to 
 the effect that the farmer was between two millstones. It 
 seemed to him that the labourer was in that position, and 
 was being pretty well ground between the farmer and the 
 landlord. As to the difficulties of the farmer respecting 
 his rent, that was a matter he must settle with his landlord. 
 Perhaps the question might lead to a higher cultivation of 
 the soil ; at all events the farmers had the alternative of 
 forming a Union, as they had already done. They might 
 rest assured that the labourers would not refuse to work for 
 them unless they came out of their Union. If the formers, 
 who were fearfully and wonderfully made, would only con- 
 sider, they would see that Unions were good for them as 
 well as for the men. Failing relief in any of the quarters 
 indicated, the farmers could do what had been recommended 
 to the labourers — they could emigrate. Or if the conditions 
 of the labourer was to be envied, they could all turn labourers. 
 Referring to the great success which had attended that 
 movement, Mr. Collings said he remembered seeing a para- 
 graph in the papers to this effect last year : "Wait till their 
 next annual meeting, and then you will see them split up into 
 
172 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 all sorts of divisions." They had not spht up yet, and he 
 believed they never would. If there had been a little split 
 amongst them that day, it was only the split of men whose 
 love for the movement was bigger than their patience. It 
 was nothing more than the quarrel of two lovers. The 
 Union had now got its paper. And why should it not, seeing 
 that other movements had their papers. The army had 
 its paper ; the farmers had got some two or three papers ; the 
 Church had four or five representing its various divisions, 
 but they only wanted one paper. Therefore let them stick 
 to their paper. Of course, in the other papers they would 
 find misrepresentations of all kinds, and these would be 
 repeated in the next day's papers just as they had been 
 before. It would be said that they were in favour of resort- 
 ing to violence. He was quite sure that untruth would be 
 uttered. He remembered an instance of this perversion of 
 language which occurred at Birmingham several years ago, 
 when they were striving for reform. Speaking at a meeting 
 in the Town Hall, Mr. R. W. Dale said, "If you deny the 
 power to the people — the power of putting wrongs right 
 in a constitutional manner, what is left to them but the pike, 
 the rifle, and the barricade .'' " That was a very just observa- 
 tion, and it was also a friendly warning. Well, what did 
 the papers say the next morning .? Why, what they were 
 saying now. They said that Mr. Dale recommended the 
 people to take the pike and the rifle, and have a revolution 
 m the land. They, however, knew better than utter such 
 sentiments. What they intended was to be free men, not- 
 M'ithstanding the efforts of the farmers, who were doing 
 their best to drive the labourers to desperation. During 
 a period of long-suffering, men were apt to fly to force in 
 order to secure those rights which justices and others failed 
 to give them. But the formers would not drive the labourers 
 to despair, because hope so abounded in this movement. 
 
PUBLIC MEETING IN THE CIRC US. 173 
 
 He need not mention the oppression referred to in that 
 resolution, for they 1 id lived amongst it all their lives. But 
 the public outside were not so well acquainted with the 
 matter, and therefore they were thankful to those reported 
 cases wiiich brought the facts fully to light. Mr. Collings 
 here proceeded to read the details of several cases heard 
 before the magistrates, in which labourers had been pro- 
 secuted for various causes, or had sued their masters. The 
 first was a case in which a labourer was sued for 15s. in 
 lieu of one week's notice. In opening the case for the 
 master, the attorney described the Union as a "detest- 
 able association." Well, he maintained that was a libel. 
 The attorney might have said the same thing about 
 the Church. If he had called the Union "a detested 
 association," he (Mr. Collings) could have understood it. 
 In the next case, the attorney said to the man, " Are 
 you a paid agent of the Union.?" His answer was, 
 " Yes ; I am a paid agent, and receive instructions from 
 Leamington." That was a very proper place to receive in- 
 structions from. The next case came from the Highway 
 Board at F'aringdon, a body elected for public purposes, and 
 to ex'oend the public money. One of the labourers being 
 called into the room had this question put to him, " You are 
 a foreman ?" to which he answered, " Yes." That was a 
 nice thing — di foreman on 12s. a week. He wondered they 
 were not ashamed to let the public know they had a foreman 
 working for sucV- wages. The man was then asked if he 
 belonged to the Union, and he said '" Yes." The men al- 
 ways said '' yes " now. Well, for this alone — being members 
 of the Union — this man and another Unionist were dismissed 
 from their employment, each man having a wife and some 
 half-dozen children to support. Mr. Collings next alluded to 
 the Chipping Norton case, and ironically observed that the 
 women ought not to have put the lives of those two young 
 
174 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 men in peril by laughing them out of their employment. 
 The farmer, however, saw he had a handle and a hold upon 
 those seventeen women, and brought them before the magis- 
 trates. A bold farmer that ! Of the sentence passed upon 
 them he had only to say that if it was justice it was not 
 tempered with mercy, and if it was law 11 was not Gospel. 
 To the labourers he would say, that if they were ever brought 
 before the magistrates, they should try and choose the day, 
 if they could, when there was no clergyman on the bench. 
 Although he had lived all his life in the country, and had 
 had many opportunities for observing the administration of 
 justice, he had never known a lenient sentence, nor anything 
 short of the rigour of the law, come from a clergyman. He 
 hoped they were not going to imitate the conduct of those 
 gentlemen. Mr. CoUings next alluded to the Bishop ot 
 Ciloucester's famous " horse - pond ^' statement, which he 
 stigmatised as being worse than an incitement of violence, 
 inasmuch as it had not the honesty nor the bravery of that 
 offence. He maintained also that it was a " molestation," 
 perhaps not according to law, but it was so when tested by 
 the spirit of the age which governed men before the law. 
 That remark, too, came from a bishop who was paid a salary 
 of ^5,000 per annum. That salary was just £\ 14s. 4.M. 
 per hour, and 6s. 6:id. per minute. Fancy that. And he 
 was not speaking disrespectfully of the bishop. He would 
 never have spoken of him at all if he had not incited to 
 violence. Let them never mind all this oppression, but 
 stand true to themselves, and then they need not fear the 
 result. In conclusion, Mr. CoUings dwelt upon the impor- 
 tance of peaceful agitation, and then passed on to the subject 
 of emigration, which he had always opposed, because he 
 thought it was a pity to send the pith of the labouring class 
 out of this country. But he was now beginning to acknow- 
 ledge the necessity for it. He next proceeded to deal with 
 
PUBLIC MEETING IN THE CIRCUS. 175 
 
 the question of wages, which had risen 43 per cent, since 
 
 1869, and asked how much of it the agricultural labourer 
 
 had received ? Thf reply was " nothing,'' ^o which he 
 
 answered that it was high time he got something. The truth 
 
 was, he had been getting worse wiiile everybody else had 
 
 been getting better. Under these circumstances he could 
 
 not help recalling to their attention the well-known lines of 
 
 Goldsmith : — 
 
 " 111 fiires the land to hastening ills a prey, 
 Where wealth accuinulates and men decay." 
 
 Well, that had been the state of England for some time. 
 There had been an enormous increase of wealth on the one 
 hand, and no corresponding increase on the other for the 
 labourer. What was the remedy for these things } First ot 
 all came the franchise. That lay at the bottom of the whole 
 question. Until they possessed that, they were not true men 
 in the best sense of the term. Over them was a class that 
 would fight against their having the franchise more than 
 against their obtaining an increase of wages. The vote was 
 the only instrument by means of which they could fight their 
 battle successfully. They might even come to move the 
 clerical magistrates off the bench, and then have a word to 
 say about the Church itself. If they had not votes they 
 were not men, for without the franchise there was a degree 
 of serfdom attaching to their position. The vote w-as the 
 lever by which they moved society, and obtained other things 
 they recjuired. The next thing to go in for was free, com- 
 pulsory, and secular education. This would enable them to 
 enjoy to the full those rights and privileges which the fran- 
 chise would secure. Finally, let them persevere, and there 
 was no doubt about their success. Let any one cast his 
 mind back five years, and what was the condition of the 
 agricultural labourer then, in comparison to what it was now .? 
 Although not what it ought to be, it was full of hope. He 
 
176 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 hoped also the men would be bac^ ed up by the women, for he 
 had great faith in the women. Above all, let them remain loyal 
 to the Union, and faithful to the woman each one loved. 
 
 Mr. Joseph Arch, President of the Union, who was re- 
 ceived with an ovation of cheering and applause, said he 
 rose to second a resolution which he could have wished had 
 never been necessary at a meeting like that. When he com- 
 menced this agitation, which was just now the talk of the 
 whole country, he certainly had an idea that it would meet 
 with opposition — in fact, he had never known any good 
 movement start but what always had its opponents. There- 
 fore he was not surprised that they should to some extent 
 meet with opposition in their attempts to form a Union for 
 the protection of their interests. But at the same time he 
 certainly must say that he had been surprised at the very 
 injudicious and unfair way in which the labourers had been 
 treated by those who ought to have administered justice. 
 Now, p'^^'-haps their opponents, whether on the magisterial 
 bench or amongst the landlords and farmers, thought by 
 these acts of injustice to drive away the Union, and cause 
 the men to despair. In that case, he would tell them most 
 distinctly that — having such a hope in their combination 
 which had accomplished such great things in one year — all 
 the injustice which could be brought to bear upon it would 
 never, he trusted, make it desirable to use anything improper 
 in so noble a cause. He was not going to refer to cases of 
 oppression towards the labourer, because his esteemed friend, 
 Mr. Collings, had given them cases which every sensible 
 man ought to diiiounce in a land like England. He con- 
 curred in the opinion expressed by the'r friend Mr. Camp- 
 bell, that the fanners of this country were short-sighted in 
 reference to this movement, and he believed that not only 
 the farmers, but the landlords also, were similarly mistaken 
 with regard to the same matter. He sincerely hoped that, 
 
SPEECH OF MR, ARCH AT CONFERENCE. 177 
 
 whilst they were so infatuated as to shut their eyes to facts — 
 which, in his humble opinion, did not augur well for the 
 greatne-^.s of this country — the Union would, by virtue of 
 its agitation, raise thje minds of the public in general, so fur 
 as to lead them to see that if the landlords and farmers, by 
 their oppression towards the Union and Union men, jeopar- 
 dised the interests of England, they would say to these 
 farmers and to those landlords, " We are subjects as well 
 as you, and we mean to be protected against your unjust 
 actions." Now he was almost inclined to *hink that at the 
 present time the case which had been referred to at Chipping 
 Norton was beginning to make many of the clergy of the 
 country feel themselves to be in an awkward position. He 
 wished to be allowed to express his own views and feelings 
 with regard to the position of a minister of the Gospel. He, 
 for one, respected — and he might say that respect was second 
 to none — an earnest minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
 Every earnest minister ought to be well cared for by the flock 
 to which he preached and administered spiritual truth. He 
 should be exonerated as much as possible from the cares and 
 anxieties which belong'^d to the life of the man in business ; 
 but whether he belonged to the Church of England or a Non- 
 conformist body, when he left his sacred duties to sit upon 
 the magisterial bench, and after preaching, " Be ye all one, 
 even as Christ your Master is one," supplemented his teach- 
 ing by sentencing sixteen poor women to gaol, he lowered 
 his office in the f^ice of the world, and rendered his ministry 
 of no etfect. When they spoke of Mr. Miall and his sup- 
 porters in the House, they must not forget the action ot 
 those gentlemen at Chipping Norton, which would un- 
 doubtedly have a tendency to give him an overwhelming 
 majority the next time he attempted to disestablish the 
 English Church. They had done more by that single act to 
 disestablish the English Church than the Liberation Society 
 
 13 
 
178 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 had ever done before. There was one case to which he 
 would like to call the attention of that audience. He had 
 no doubt they did want knocking off the bench, and he 
 would tell them how and when they would be knocked off 
 the bench. The agricultural labourers would knock them 
 off the bench when they had got the franchise. He would 
 ask, what were the agricultural labourers to understand by 
 the way in which the law was administered at the present 
 time r They had to submit to the administration of the law. 
 Well, if a farmer could discharge a man at a moment's 
 notice, as had been held by some of the county court judges 
 and magistrates, the labourer should be allowed the same 
 latitude, if that law bound the labourer to serve his em- 
 ployer a week's notice, it ought to bind the employer to give 
 an equal notice in return. But that was not the only mis- 
 chief. \i the farmer discharged a man without notice be- 
 cause he did not want him, the man might seek redress. And 
 if he got redress, what was it 1 To begin with, it would cost 
 him something to get it, and when obtained it would only be 
 a week's wages. On the other hand, what could the farmer 
 do if the man left him without notice "i Why, he had power 
 to send him to prison without the option of a fine. What 
 was wanted was justice, and they were determined to agitate 
 vmtil they got it. He was just about to make an allusion to the 
 highway board at Farringdon, which had discharged several 
 men because of their having joined the Union, and it was to 
 this effect — if this sort of thing were to go on, he should not 
 be surprised if eventually some of the young men present 
 were discharged even for getting married. He was surprised 
 to find that although the Hon. Auberon Herbert had in- 
 quired in the House of Commons if the House had considered 
 the discharge of these men, the question had been shelved. 
 Now, he (Mr. Arch) wanted to know if the Government was 
 a Liberal Governnkent or not .'' He was not going to speak 
 
SPEECH OF MR. ARCH AT CONFERENCE. 179 
 
 disrespectfully of the Government, but he ast say that we 
 had had too much of that " dodgery," of that obnoxious 
 thing called " Liberalism," which when put to the test proved 
 to be only rank Toryism. Again, he would ask if that 
 Government was practically Liberal which would allow a 
 body of honest labourers that had broken no law, violated 
 no right, injured nobody, to be coerced and oppressed as the 
 labourers had been, drifted out of their empl<iyment, to go — 
 God knew where. Such a Government was an anomaly and 
 a monstrosity; and they did not want any more Liberalism of 
 that ki/id. He would now sit down, as there were several 
 other gentlemen to address them. But he must first make 
 some reference to the tendency of the "justice" dealt out to 
 the agricultural labourers. In consideration of this per- 
 sistent conduct, it was really wonderful that they had never 
 resorted to violence That they had not done so was not 
 because they had not had good provocation. He knew there 
 were many in this country so thin-skinned that they 
 had come to regard the labourers as a dangerous class 
 of men. Well, as one of them, he thought he might say that 
 the treatment they had received had proved them to be the 
 most docile, the most willing, and the most forbearing of any 
 class in the country. But he was not going to say to them 
 that night that the labourers were ahvays going to stand such 
 humbugging as they had to suffer. He had been in the 
 town of Buckingham, at a meeting which was frequently 
 interrupted and disturbed by a number of the Yeomanry, 
 whom he called "butterfly shooters." They came to that 
 meeting in the uniform purchased by the ratepayei s, to dis- 
 turb the labourers in the quiet and peaceable discussion of 
 their grievances. Repeatedly he requested them to be quiet, 
 and explained that the object of the meeting was a peaceable 
 one, and what he was going to say was nothing but truth. 
 Well, those men would not desist from interruptions, nor 
 
 13* 
 
i8o THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 would they allow the business to proceed. Some of the 
 labourers looked at him in a manner which seemed to say, 
 " Shall we put them out? " At last, when it was impossible 
 to bear with the men any longer, he said, *' Put them out/' 
 and in one minute they were flying across the square, and 
 glad to take refuge in a neighbouring public-house. Now, 
 as he had already said, their opponents must not think that 
 the labourers were going to stand humbugging for ever. If 
 the farmers and others would by oppression and tyranny try 
 to crush the very life out of these men, he would do his best 
 to keep them in order ; but if their opponents were deter- 
 mined to crush the very life out of the men, sooner than they 
 should be made door-mats and the slaves of the farmers, he 
 would lo-^se them to a man. As they were all aware, the work 
 of emigration was going on, and that was a matter of import- 
 ance to the country. Reading history, he found that in the 
 reign of Henry VIII. the landowners of the Isle of Wight 
 thought it was better to rear sheep than to rear men. Well, 
 what was the result of that ? The French heard of the de- 
 population of the country, and came and swept everything 
 before them. In the House of Commons, the other day, a 
 landlord said, " Oh, when the labourers are gone, we'll turn 
 the land into grass as we have done in Ireland." They had 
 been told to reduce the surplus labour, and then matters 
 would be improved. Why, he could take them into many 
 places where they would not find the labourers averaging one 
 to the loo acres. Mr. Arch then proceeded to deal with the 
 abuse and misrepresentation of the press, and specially 
 named an attack upon himself by one paper which had called 
 him " the Arch-Apostle of Arson." He had never burnt 
 any one's ricks, nor set fire to any person's property. If he 
 had preferred such a charge against the landowners and land- 
 lords they would have brought an action against him and he 
 would have been incarcerated in prison ; then why should 
 
rOLiriCAL ASPECT OF THE MOVEMENT. i8i 
 
 they be allowed to do the same thing against himself with 
 impunity ? In one of the local papers he had seen an obser- 
 vation with respect to the evidence he had given in the 
 House of Commons touching the game-laws. The writer 
 said that Mr. Arch had stated before the House of Commons 
 committee that he had known many agricultural labourers 
 given to taking hares and rabbits because they wanted food, 
 lie supposed that if the game-laws were abolished these 
 same agricultural labourers would take to sheep stealing and 
 foul stealing for a similar reason. When a man inserted in 
 the public papers such unfair, unjust, and absurd statements 
 they had the right of reply; and if the writer thought fit to 
 box their ears because they spoke strong things,^ they would 
 box his ears because he wrote like a fool. In conclusion, Mr. 
 Arch referred to the great success which had been achieved 
 by the Union, and expressed a hope that all would stand 
 firmly by the cause, which would eventually triumph over all 
 difficulties. • 
 
 Fro.n some cause or other the agitation of the field 
 labourers has gradually become more political than at 
 first It has come to be realised by the leaders that 
 no half-and-half measures will meet the necessities of 
 the case. The comments of the London press on the 
 conference proceedings probably contributed somewhat 
 to this result. The *' Times," in an article on Mr. 
 Dixon's speech, had the following very suggestive re- 
 marks : — 
 
 Are we to elevate the British labourer by telling him to 
 be entirely satisfied with the very worst feature of his degra- 
 dation? Mr. Dixon can hardly intend this, but it is a point 
 on which he has to explain himself much more clearly than 
 he did the other day at Leamington. 
 
i8i THE REVOLT OE THE FIELD. 
 
 And In another place the writer observes : — 
 
 We cannot think that the question before us is simply 
 one of labour and wages. It is rather the real and com- 
 plete elevation of the agricultural labourer to a higher and 
 larger share of our common, and perhaps we may add our 
 Christian, humanity. He is to be made a more independent, 
 more self-governing, more rational, more social personage — 
 in a word, more of a man. He is to be made really a 
 citizen of this great commonwealth, and more worthy of 
 the franchise which one day he is to have. ' 
 
 Mr. Arch and his coadjutors have not been slow to 
 take the hint thus given to them by the leviathan of the 
 press ; and hence, probably, the widening of the area 
 of controversy and agitation. 
 
 On the 23rd of July, of the same year, Mr. Dixon 
 presented a petition to the House of Commons from 
 eighty thousand farm labourers in favour of household 
 suffrage in counties. On the motion for the second 
 reading of the Household Franchise (Counties) Bill, Mr. 
 Trevelyan proceeded to move it in a very able and 
 effective speech, concluding as follows : — ' 
 
 It is impossible to saddle any individual with the respon- 
 sibility of a measure which the nature of things is rapidly 
 and irresistibly bringing to the front. We draw a distinction 
 almost unknown in any constitutional country or in our own 
 colonies, which did not exist even here in its present 
 invidious and aggravated form before 1867, between the 
 inhabitants of the towns, and the inhabitants of rural Eng- 
 land. We brand our village population as if they were 
 poUtical pagans, just as their class were accounted religious 
 
ENFRANCHISEMENT OF THE LABOURERS. 183 
 
 pagans in the days of the Roman Empire. At a time when 
 we must soon be debating questions nearly concerning their 
 welfare, bodily, intellectual, and religious, we cut ourselves 
 off from all acquaintance with their own opinions as to their 
 own affairs, except such as comes to us filtered through the 
 medium of the speeches and resolutions of self-elected poli- 
 ticians, responsible to no colleagues, and to no constituency, 
 and all this we do, not because there is any reason for it in 
 logic, in justice, or in common sense, but because it was so 
 ruled by the wisdom of your ancestors — that is to say, be- 
 cause 400 years ago one of the worst Parliaments that ever 
 sat in this country, robbed the county inhabitants of their 
 votes, on the ground that (to use the very words of the Act), 
 " being people of small substance and no value, they pre- 
 tended a voice equivalent with the most worthy knights and 
 esquires." There is a story told of Napoleon, who, in the 
 park at Fontainebleau, noticed a sentry walking to and fro 
 in the middle of a grass plot. On inquiry, he ascertained 
 that in the time of Louis XIV. some young trees had been 
 planted there, and a soldier was placed to keep off the cows. 
 The plantation had grown up, had withered, and all traces 
 of it had disappeared, but the sentry walked there still ; 
 and so we keep up a difference between the town and the 
 county franchise, because in 143;; a Parliament of Henry VL 
 was afraid of our rural population. That fear has altogether 
 passed away. What danger is there for us in giving the 
 franchise to the householders ? They are the heads of 
 families, the industrious, stationary population of the country. 
 We are accustomed to assert that the mass of our people are 
 loyal to the Queen, tender of the rights of property, attached 
 to the institutions under which they have the happiness to 
 live. Well then, by voting for this Bill we shall prove that 
 we believe what we say. By voting against it we shall show 
 that we use this language from the teeth outwards. In the 
 
1 84 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 hope that I have said nothing to damage a cause with regard 
 to which my desire is that the day may come quickly for me 
 to dehver it over to more potent and responsible hands, I 
 beg to commit this Bill to the earnest consideration of the 
 House. 
 
 Other members carried on the debate. 
 
 Mr. O. Morgan, as a county member, said if he had con- 
 sulted his own convenience, or his own pocket, this would 
 have Ijeen the last Bill he would have touched. County con- 
 stituencies were already unwieldy enough ; but inasmuch as 
 this was a change which must come sooner or later, he 
 thought the House might as well make up its mind. There 
 WMS a time when the peasant belonged to a different class 
 and represented a different interest. Now the urban popula- 
 tion had overflowed into the country ; and, given the same 
 amount of education, he very much (oubted whether the 
 rural population were not quite as much to be trusted as the 
 urban population. Njo danger was to be anticipated from 
 the change proposed in the Bill ; but he did see danger in 
 nine hundred thousand or a million men brooding over real 
 Q\ imaginary grievances, and whose wrongs were aggravated 
 by the thought that they were not to have a voice in redress- 
 ing them. This question was rapidlv coming to the front ; 
 and when the next appeal to the country came, it would form 
 one of the most important points raised by the constituen- 
 cies. The honourable member concluded by seconding the 
 motion. 
 
 Mr. T. Collins drew attention to the fate of proposals of 
 this kind, repeatedly made by the honourable member for 
 East Surrey, for counties, and the honourable member for 
 Leeds, for boroughs, and deduced from these instances that 
 no such change could be made, except as part of some great 
 general measure. What was wanted in the House was .a 
 
ENFRANCHISEMENT OF THE LABOURERS. 185 
 
 number of intelligent and capable men, and not mere dele- 
 gates to carry out any set of miserable crotchets which 
 ignorant constituencies might wish to see carried out. The 
 honourable member entered in great detail into discussion 
 of propable effects of the change proposed on county repre- 
 sentation — a change which he said was of far too great im- 
 portance to be dealt with by what was at this late period 
 of the session only au abstract resolution. He begged to 
 move the previous question. 
 
 Sir J. Kennaway, in seconding the amendment, thought 
 that it would be admitted on all hands that at this period of 
 the session it was mere waste of time to go on with this Bill. 
 There might, perhaps, be some discussion in which members 
 would feel themselves called on to make pledges which there 
 was not the slightest intention to redeem. He denied that 
 the feeling of the country was in favour of the Bill, because 
 working men, who were really representatives of their class, 
 knew very well that they would be welcomed in that House. 
 He did not think the agitation in the rural districts would be 
 permanent, or that there was any real desire to re-open the 
 question of reform. He thought no one could deny that the 
 condition of the agricultural labourer had been much im- 
 proved of late years. The honourable member seemed to 
 want more steam put on, but he had probably heard the 
 results of putting steam on and sitting on the safety-valve 
 of ar engine. Recent legislation had effected such great 
 changes in the direction of extending the suffrage, that they 
 could well afford to wait awhile. 
 
 Mr. Cadogan said that he represented a district in which 
 there were thirty-one parishes, thirty of which were purely 
 agricultural, and one alone partook of a manufacturing 
 character, being thai of Swindon.. No constituency could 
 have left greater liberty of action to their member than 
 his constituency had done, and he totally denied that if the 
 
1 86 THE REVOLT OF THE FUiLD. 
 
 franchise were extended to the labourers, they would be 
 sending up mere delegates to Parliament. The quer)tion 
 whether the agricultural labourer ought not to have the same 
 franchise as his neighbours in the towns, was one that re- 
 quired immediate settlement. He contended that he ought 
 to, and that sooner or later he would. He believed that the 
 public activity on this subject would increase instead of 
 dying out, as the Conservatives fondly hoped. 
 
 Mr. B. Beach said that the county franchise had always 
 been based upon property. He did not think it would be 
 advantageous to make the county constituency too unwieldy. 
 What was wanted was a careful representation of ail in- 
 terests, but the Bill was only a step in the direction of 
 electoral districts. 
 
 Mr. Dixon had rejoiced to hear so many admissions from 
 honourable gentlemen opposite, that the agricultural labourers 
 were as well fitted to exercise the franchise as the artisans 
 in towns. He could assure those* honourable members that 
 there was not the slightest jealousy of the counties on the 
 part of the towns. He would also admit that whenever 
 the House approached the question of a fair distribution 
 of political power, a very much larger number of members 
 must be given to the counties. He entirely concurred in 
 what had been said on the other side as to the fitness of 
 the agricultural labourer for the franchise. In this convic- 
 tion he was strengthened by what he had seen and heard 
 at recent meetings in connection with the new movement, 
 which had originated with the labourers themselves, Mr. 
 Arch himself being an agricultural labourer, 
 
 Mr. Newdegate considered that the present discussion 
 was a complete waste of time, because nothing could result 
 from it. He believed the adoption of such a measure as 
 this would tend to universal suffrage, which he should in 
 every way oppose. 
 
ENFRANCHISEMENT OF THE LA30URERS, iS;; 
 
 Mr. W. E. Forster said ho should give his support as an 
 individual to the Bill. It was not his honourable friend's 
 fault that he could not bring it forv/ard at an earlier period 
 of the session. This was a question in which the people 
 of this country took great interest, and especially that part 
 of the community which had no direct representation in 
 the House, namely, the agricultural labourers. He thought, 
 on the whole, the opposition to the Bill had not been as to 
 the principle, but rather to the details, and he congratulated 
 his honourable friend on having introduced it. The prin- 
 ciple of the extension of the suffrage to the country house- 
 holders seemed to be admitted by the honourable member 
 for Warwickshire, though he was rather dolorous about it. 
 
 Mr. Newdegate — I don't desire it. . 
 
 Mr. Forster— Still the honourable member seemed to 
 look upon it as a foregone conclusion, and classed it with 
 one of those subjects on which he uttered forebodings, but 
 seemed to be very comfortable after they passed. He seemed 
 to think it would lead to democracy. As an old household- 
 sufifrage man he (Mr. Forster) looked forward with pleasure 
 to the probable extension cf the county franchise- -nor did 
 he believe it would lead to democracy, or even to manhood 
 suffrage or woman suffrage. The honourable member for 
 Boston complained of piecemeal legislation but in point of 
 fact, the county franchise was about the only thing which 
 had not been dealt with by piecemeal legislation. The 
 right honourable member for Buckinghamshire, who gave 
 the country household suffrage in the boroughs somewhat un- 
 expectedly, had often comforted his more fearful followers by 
 pointing out to them the limitations that still existed ; and 
 the question now was, should that comfort be any longer 
 continued .? The right honourable gentleman had never 
 expressed himself of opinion that the agricultural labourers 
 were not as well fitted a people as the same class in towns 
 
1 88 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 to have the franchise, but he (Mr. Forster) doubted very 
 much whether, taking the average, the labourers were not 
 quite as well able to exercise the franchise as mechanics. 
 Day by day the agricultural labourers were taking more 
 and more interest in political matters, owmg to the recent 
 movement in the agricultural districts, and they had shown 
 that they had as much interest in obtaining the franchise 
 as the people in the towns had. He was not prepared to 
 say that at first the Conservatives would not gain a little by 
 it, but that was not a consideration which would deter him 
 from extending the franchise, while it would be a ground 
 for the support of Conservative members. There was no 
 reason whatever, why a man in a manufacturing village in 
 Lancashire should not have a vote just as well as a man in 
 a borough. In what were termed county boioughs, the 
 anomalies were becoming more and more startling. The 
 House surely could not adopt the statement that, to extend 
 the county franchise would necessarily lead to manhood 
 suffrage. They must all feel hopeful of the future of their 
 country when they saw such a large portion of the com- 
 munity taking so deep an interest in the matter. It deeply 
 concerned that House and the country that they should 
 have found the agricultural population — when they were 
 awakening to their rights and engaging in a dispute with 
 their employers — conducting themselves with such modera- 
 tion as to afford an example rather than a warning to 
 citizens. The fact that those persons who had not votes 
 were uniting together was the very reason why the House 
 ought seriously to consider how long they should be without. 
 A petition signed by 82,000 agricultural labourers was not 
 one which the House of Commons would ignore, and it was 
 very possible that some discussion might arise in Parliament 
 itself upon this question, and perhaps such discussion 
 might be followed by legislation. He was of opinion that 
 
ENFRANCHISEMENT OF THE LABOURERS. 189 
 
 it H'as quite indefensible tliat this large class should feel 
 that they -had little, or no direct voice, in the government of 
 the country. They could not forget that the county mem- 
 bers represented not the en^.ployed, but the employers, 
 and that must needs be a question for the House to consider 
 when questions respecting employers and employed came 
 before them. Those were the grounds on which he felt 
 able to vote for the Bill ; and he might add, that his right 
 honourable friend the Prime Minister, who was confined to 
 his room by indisposition, had desired him to state that while 
 the Government expressed no opinion, and made no recom- 
 mendation on this matter, and while he regretted that it 
 should have been so long postponed, as now to present the 
 aspect of an abstract resolution, yet he (Mr. Gladstone) 
 desired him to state that he retained the opinion which he 
 had more than once uttered, that the extension of the 
 franchise in counties was just and politic in itself, and that 
 it could not long be avoided. 
 
 Lord J. Manners (10 whom Mr. Fawcett gave way) con- 
 sidered that it was very improper of the Prime Minister, 
 whose absence from the cause stated they all regretted, 
 to send down such a message as that just delivered, and that 
 it was taking an unfair advantage of the forms of the House. 
 The right honourable gentleman told them that this was an 
 open question. Just let the House imagine a question of such 
 magnitude, and involving such important issues, being 
 thrown, in the dog days, on the table of the House of 
 Commons as an open question. They were not told what 
 the opinion of the Cabinet was, and it would go out to 
 the country while her Majesty's Government carefully ab- 
 stained from giving a collective opinion, as the responsible 
 advisers of the Crown, they are willing that this question 
 should be trailed during the recess as one which received the 
 individual support of the Prime Minister and the Vice- 
 
190 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. ' 
 
 President of the Council of Education. When they were 
 told by the Vice President that momentous issues were 
 bound up with the second reading of the Bill, which they 
 need not now discuss, but that they might leave it to time 
 and chance to settle how many seats, as the necessary 
 consequence of its passing, should be taken away from 
 the boroughs and given to the counties, he thought the 
 House should refuse to give its assent to a Bill which dealt 
 with a fragment only of this great question. 
 
 Mr. Fawcett said, that after the speech of the Vice- 
 President of the Council, and the message sent to them 
 by the Prime Minister, it could not be doubted that this Bill 
 was virtually taken out of the hands of his honourable friend, 
 and was now a settled part of the policy of the Government. 
 It was absolutely impossible for the Prime Minister and 
 one of his most influential members of the Cabinet to 
 vote on such a question as this as ordinary members of 
 Parliament. They voted for the Bill as members of the 
 Government, and it henceforward became undoubtedly 
 a Government measure. Therefore, what he would im- 
 press particularly on the House was, that it was no 
 longer the assertion of an abstract principle, but the begin- 
 ning of another great measure of representative reform ; 
 and the question they had to consider was this — were they 
 going to sanction a great extension of the suffrage again, 
 without having any definite statement from the Government 
 of what should be the principle which should regulate the 
 distribution of political power ? Now, although he was 
 as ardent as any man could be, in favour of the extension 
 of the suffrage, yet when a bill with that object was intro- 
 duced by the Government he would not vote for it unless 
 he knew what were the principles Government were going 
 to adopt with regard to the redistribution of political power 
 in this country. They might have the most democratic 
 
ENFRANCHISEMENT OF THE LABOURERS. 191 
 
 suffrage in the world, and yet, if they did not take security 
 that minorities should be represented, that democratic 
 suffrage, by concentrating unchecked power in the hands 
 of the majority, might lead to the wors» of all kinds of . 
 oligarchy The principle which should regulate them in 
 trying to improve the representation of the people should be, 
 on the one hand, to enlist as voters every single person who 
 was not disqualified to vote, and at the same time to take 
 care that that House should not simply represent local 
 majoritic--, but should be truly a great national assembly, 
 in which every opinion should, as far as possible, be re- 
 presented by its ablest and most independent advocates. 
 
 Mr. Bruce said his own individual opinions on this 
 question had been so fully represented by the speech of 
 his right honourable friend the Vice-President, that he should 
 not have risen on the present occasion if it had not been for 
 the remarks that had been made in reference to the Govern- 
 ment, "i'he noble lord opposite had found fault with the 
 course taken by the Prime Minister, but he (Mr. Bruce) 
 thought the House would feel that it was only natural and 
 respectful to the House that, when a discussion of such 
 importance was proceeding, his right honourable friend 
 should explain the cause of his absence, and should add 
 to that, that the opinions he now entertained were those 
 which he had always expressed in favour of the principles 
 embodied in the Bill of the honourable member for the 
 Border Burghs, Any one who heard the noble lord would 
 have supposed that this was an occasion w ch had been 
 seized by his right honourable friend at the head of the 
 Government for making a political manifesto of a new and 
 startling kind. But was there one honourable gentleman 
 who cheered that statement who did not know perfectly well 
 that on more than one occasion his right honourable friend 
 had given expressions to those opinions .? Then the hon- 
 
19a THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 ourable member for Brighton stated that the Bill having 
 received the support of the Prime Minister and the Vice- 
 President it must be considered to have passed into the 
 hands of the Government. He (Mr, Bruce) denied the right 
 of any honourable member, however respectable, to come 
 forward on any occasion he pleased, and challenge the 
 opinion of the Government a.s a Government on any par- 
 ticular question. This was a question which required great 
 study and careful thought, and any Government which, 
 without having given it that study and thought which were 
 necessary, would express an united opinion, would be rash 
 indeed. There was, however, no real force in the argument 
 of the honourable member for Brighton, for the instances 
 were not few in which individual members of the Govern- 
 ment had expressed their opinions in reference to particular 
 subjects without in any way committing their colleagues. 
 
 Mr. Scourfield asked the House to pause, before it sanc- 
 tioned the principle of identity of suffrage, which was 
 described by the Secretary of State for War in 1859 as 
 " laying the axe at the root of our national liberties, and 
 destructive of the British Constitution." 
 
 Mr, J. G. Talbot characterised the message of the Prime 
 Minister as a political manifesto to the country. 
 
 Henceforth the franchise question was a plank in the 
 
 Union platform. At every village meeting the coming 
 
 event of political enfranchisement was an important 
 
 part of the discourse. And the instinr.t of the labourers 
 
 which leads them to make much of the prospective boon, 
 
 is undoubtedly a true one. The day of their elevation 
 
 to the rights of citizenship will certainly hasten on the 
 
 day of their social elevation. It will be impossible to 
 
 keep half a ^lillion of i^arliamentary voters in the state 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL MOVEMENT. 193 
 
 of semi-pauperism, which the agricultural labourers are, 
 for the most part, in to-day. Invested with the dignity 
 of political manhood, they will soon cease to be the 
 mere burden and difficulty of the poor-law board. 
 
 It is not the least significant feature of the labourers' 
 movement, that already it has told upon the pauperism 
 of the rural districts. 'J'he bare assertion of their man 
 hood, to which the young and energetic organisation can 
 hardly, at present, be said to have much more than 
 attained, has gone far towards making the workhouse 
 and the relieving officer an impertinence and an insult. 
 In a journal published in the very heart of a great 
 agricultural district — one of those Cricklade " hundreds" 
 of which Mr. Cadoganwas for years the worthy Liberal 
 representative, I find the following statement : — 
 
 At the weekly meeting of the High worth and Swindon 
 board of guardians, on Wednesday, April i6th, the clerk re- 
 ported that the guardians had in the hands of their treasurer 
 ^^3,98 1. Every half-year, contribution orders are made 
 upon the various parishes in the Union to provide funds for 
 the relief of pauperism, &c. Although these orders have 
 not of late exceeded in amount any former ones, the 
 guardians, after meeting the liabilities consequent upon the 
 pauperism of the winter quarter, have the above-mentioned 
 balance left in hand and uncalled for ! This fact cannot 
 in any way be attributed to a favourable winter, for it is 
 well known that the past season has been unusually un- 
 favourable for agricultural operations. But it may with 
 great safety be alleged, that the slight increase agricultural 
 labourers have been enabled to obtain in their wages has 
 
194 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 saved so many families from being driven into pauperism, 
 that thQ public rates are affected in this one Union alone 
 to the extent above indicated. Of course it is only in the 
 relief given to paupers that any saving can have been 
 effected, for the establishment, county, and other charges 
 have remained unaffected. We believe we are correct in 
 saying that the balance now in hand would be ample for the 
 relief of the poor in the Union for the next twelve months, 
 without another penny being raised. Nor is this state of 
 things confined to one Union. In the adjoining Union — 
 the Cricklade and Wootton Bassett Union — the guardians 
 are advertising for two general servants to do the necessary 
 work about the workhouse at Purton, there being no inmates 
 to do it. — Swindon Advertiser. 
 
 The returns for the agricultural county of Berkshire, 
 are even more conclusive testimony on the subject 
 
 POOR RELIEF IN BERKSHIRE. 
 
 The following is Mr. Henley's return of the cost of poor- 
 law relief in the county of Berks for the last four years : — 
 
 t) 1 ..• Total number -n • 
 
 Population. relieved i.t ^'^'."g 
 
 ^«7x- Januarj'. 1873 
 
 Abingdon ^^1,552 i,343 i6 
 
 Bradfield 15,852 987 ' l$ 
 
 Cookham 14,875 Tjo If 
 
 Easthampstead 10,630 466 %% 
 
 Farringdon 15,091 43^ 3^ 
 
 Hungerford 19,347 1,096 • 1/ 
 
 Newbury 20,640 1,381 If 
 
 Reading 33,33° ij^^g .^ 
 
 Walhngford 14,641 877 17 
 
 Wantage 17,367 1,014 l^ 
 
 Windsor 26,805 760 35 
 
 Wokingham 16,191 907 18 
 
 Total 226,322 ii,20i 20 
 
POOR RELIEF IN BERKSHIRE. 195 
 
 IN-MAINTENANCE. 
 1870. 
 
 £ 
 
 Abingdon 1,849 
 
 Bradfield 1,929 
 
 Cookbam 1,695 
 
 Easthampstead 829 
 
 Farringdon i . 1 14 
 
 Huiigerford I1259 
 
 Newbury i ,947 
 
 Reading 3,778 
 
 'Wallingford 1,210 
 
 Wantage 819 
 
 Windsor 2,677 
 
 Wokingham 1,685 
 
 Total 20,791 21,823 21,750 19,992 
 
 OUT-RELIEF. 
 
 1870. 1871. 
 
 £ £ 
 
 Abingdon 6,547 6,898 
 
 Bradfield 4,373 4,632 
 
 Cookham 2,557 2,939 
 
 Easthampstead 1,400 1,632 
 
 Farringdon 1,401 1,383 
 
 Hungerford 3,801 3,973 
 
 N( wbury 6,629 6,819 
 
 Riading , 3,296 3,621 
 
 Wallingford 5,405 5,515 
 
 Wantage 4,502 4,650 
 
 Windsor 1,915 2,322 
 
 Wokingham 5,508 5,417 
 
 1871. 
 
 1872. 
 
 1873. 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 1,807 
 
 1,670 
 
 1,823 
 
 2,152 
 
 2,210 
 
 1,792 
 
 1,740 
 
 1,848 
 
 1,805 
 
 883 
 
 906 
 
 1,02 r 
 
 1,130 
 
 1,082 
 
 1,095 
 
 1,349 
 
 1,280 
 
 1,275 
 
 1,900 
 
 2,000 
 
 1,910 
 
 3,921 
 
 4,314 
 
 3,288 
 
 1,290 
 
 1,338 
 
 1,424 
 
 940 
 
 784 
 
 764 
 
 2,930 
 
 2,64.1 
 
 2,534 
 
 1,781 
 
 1,674 
 
 1,261 
 
 1872. 
 
 1873. 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 5,607 
 
 5,043 
 
 4,384 
 
 3,887 
 
 2,893 
 
 2,927 
 
 1,481 
 
 1,258 
 
 1,340 
 
 1,297 
 
 4,097 
 
 4,014 
 
 6,861 
 
 6,119 
 
 3,226 
 
 2,780 
 
 4,596 
 
 4,203 
 
 4,141 
 
 3,895 
 
 2,318 
 
 2,325 
 
 4,290 
 
 3,605 
 
 Total 47,334 49>8oi 45>234 4i,353 
 
 14 * 
 
10 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 » • . 
 
 These returns show that the Farringdon district of 
 15,091 inhabitants has only 431 paupers, and spends 
 ;£"i,o95 for in-maintenance, and £i,'2C)'] for out-reHef, 
 which is lower than any other district proportionately. 
 And side by side with this fact stands this one, that 
 in no other district has "Unionism" taken such deep 
 root. The West Berks' branch, which commenced in 
 1872 widi ten members, now numbers more than three 
 
 . thousand. Hundreds of pounds have been remitted by 
 the meml)ers to Leamington, and the ratepayers have 
 been saved a corresponding sum. 
 
 "^he next and last incident of the agrarian agitation 
 to which I intend referring, is the journey of Mr. Arch 
 to Canada. While remote contingencies, such as a re- 
 adjustment of the land laws, and the possession of a 
 vote, were engaging the attention of the members of 
 the National Dnion, and while their organ was weekly 
 pouring forth volumes of most valuable instruction upon 
 the somewhat bewildered understandings of its readers, 
 the pressing necessities of their every-day life were call- 
 
 . ing aloud for present and practical measures of relief 
 In a word, something was wanted to be done, and that 
 quickly. Philosophers might demonstrate that by other 
 arrangements of the land of England, and an alteration 
 of its laws, things might be made much better for the 
 agricultural labourer, but meanwhile that same valuable 
 individual was starving on ten or twelve shillings a 
 week, and he was growing very tired of the process. 
 
EMIGRATION RESORTED TO. 197 
 
 Sometliing must be done, and practical men were not 
 slow in seeing that that something was emigration. 
 From all parts of the world pressing and urgent de- 
 mands were made for agricultural labourers. In every 
 colony the cry was heard for field-workers — men with 
 sinew and bone to till the earth, and gather in the rich 
 bounty of its exhaustless treasury. 
 
 Hence, the somewhat reluctant, but at length earnest 
 appeal of the labourers to their leader to go forth and 
 see what promise of deliverance the "greater Britain" 
 would afford. Canada, as the nearest and most acces- 
 sible of our colonies, was fixed upon as the one first to 
 be visited. Of this mission, the series of letters which 
 accompany this sketch of the historv of the " Revolt of 
 the Field,' will afford some little information. They 
 were addressed originally to the " Daily Nev s," with 
 a view to the world-wide diffusion of reliable information 
 respecting our north-west dependency. A considerable 
 amount of controversy having arisen out of some of the 
 statements contained therein, it has been again and 
 again suggested to the writer to republish them in a 
 collected form. Having, with some considerable re- 
 luctance, at length yielded to the request, he has, at 
 the recommendation of his publishers, prepared this 
 brief historj'- of the great movement from its rise to the 
 time of Mr. Arch's departure for Canada on the 28th 
 August, 1873. It is not, of course, anything like a 
 complete history of the movement; that is reserved for 
 
198 THE REVOLT OE THE EI ELD. 
 
 some abler hand at some later date. Such as it is, how- 
 ever, it is sent forth, in the earnest hope that it may con- 
 tribute to the removal of a portion of that distrust and 
 opposition which have marked its progress hitherto, 
 and which have been the only causes of anything bor- 
 dering on anxiety respe(*ting its future, which its friends 
 have experienced. In itself an unmistakably good 
 thing, as a systematic effort on the part of a too much 
 neglected and sadly underpaid class of workers to raise 
 themselves in the social scale, it has sometimes been 
 feared lest through an obstinate resistance of their 
 reasonable demands, and that oppression which drives 
 wise men mad, resort should be had to a violent settle- 
 ment of the question. Thanks, however, to the high 
 moral and religious character of the leading spirits of 
 the revolt, and the presence in their council chamber 
 of men who, to a sincere respect for the honest toiler, 
 united the moderation wiiich comes, sometimes at any 
 rate — we cannot say always — of superior culture and 
 higher social position, no real cause for anxiety has 
 ever yet been experienced. A singular moderation has 
 characterised the movement from the first No in- 
 stance of a vindictive spirit has stained its history. Men 
 have been again and again turned out of home and 
 work for no other cause than identification with the 
 Union. Justices of the peace, lay and clerical, have 
 dealt out to them a merciless justice, and in not a few 
 cases even the very letter of the law, as well as its 
 
EMIGRATION RESORTED TO. 199 
 
 spirt, has been nearly, if not quite violated, at the bid- 
 ding of a relentless detestation of the movement. Re- 
 fused public balls and other places of resort, they have 
 had to do costly battle lor even the right to meet in 
 the pul)lic market-place, or on the village green. I'he 
 sad necessity for parish relief has been made addition- 
 ally degrading by the strong anti union feeling of its 
 administrators. Workmen of a highway board com- 
 posed of landlords and farmers have been summarily 
 dismissed from their employment because they had 
 named the name of Arch. A tliousand indignities have 
 been heaj^ed upon both the Union and its disciples, 
 but there has been no wilful retaliation, no agrarian 
 outrage, no loss brought home to an employer's door. 
 And there can be no doubt that to this pleasing fact 
 the marvellous success of the cause is in no small 
 degree attributable. An unwilling homage, like that 
 which has latterly been paid it by the leviathan of the 
 press, has thereby been extorted, while, as the following 
 correspondence will show, it has secured to it the warm- 
 est admiration of our fellow- subjects across the Atlantic. 
 The name of Joseph Arch is fragrant as incense all 
 over the American as well as North American con- 
 tinent. Not as the instigator of a lawless conspiracy 
 is he known throughout the length and breadth of that 
 mighty country, but as the leader of a loyal and law- 
 abiding host of worthy citizens, whose only crime is 
 their poverty, and whose only demand is the right to 
 live by their toil. 
 
200 
 
 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 May the same moderation cliarncterise the agitation 
 till its work is done ! Tlien will the future historian 
 have to record among the trium|)hs of the nineteenth 
 century — among tliose mighty though bloodless revolu- 
 tions which the religion of Jesus Christ was destined to 
 effect— that of the " Revolt of the Field," which is the 
 designation I have chosen for the work of the National 
 Agricultural [labourers' Union of England. 
 
 I\ 
 
 .)fi 
 
 
WITH MR. ARCH IN CANADA. 
 
 Quebec, S^t-pt. 9. 
 
 AS some misapprehension seems to exist as to the mission 
 of Mr. Arch in America, it may be as well to preface my 
 correspondence with a brief sketch of its origin. For some 
 time it had been growing apparent to the executive com- 
 mittee of the Labourers' Union that such measures as the 
 migration of labour from one part of the country to another, 
 would but very inadequately meet the necessities of their 
 case. Mr. Arch and ctther prominent leaders of the move- 
 ment had hitherto steadily set their faces against emigration. 
 Sympathising, perhaps, too largely with that love for the old 
 home which has kept so many thousands from pushing their 
 fortunes in other parts of the world, these men have con- 
 tended that their fellow-labourers have a legitimate claim upon 
 the owners of the land which their toil enriched, for com- 
 fortable and adequate support. "" Why," they have said, 
 "should we be driven beyond the seas to obtain a livelihood, 
 when millions of acres of land are lying uncultivated in 
 England .'' " But the emphatic non possianus of the land- 
 lords to this somewhat unusual reasoning, combined with 
 the difficulty of obtaining increased wages and better house 
 accommodation, has at length forced attention to the practical 
 measure of wholesale emigration. This position reached, the 
 steps to the present mission were few and short. If it was 
 
202 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 best for the labourers to go elsewhere, whither should they 
 go ? A hundred eager claimants soon appeared. Each 
 colony and each foreign Government had its agents in the 
 labour market bidding against one another for the much 
 coveted article — for the English agricultiu'al labourer is 
 known f;ir and wide as the best thing of the sort on the face 
 of the globe. But the executive committee, composed as it 
 is of farm labourers alone, or at any rate of men who were 
 such but yesterday, received the overtures of these agents 
 with much caution. The lamentable breakdown of the 
 Brazilian scheme had done not a little to shake their faith 
 in emigration. Hence the mission of Mr. Arch. The offer 
 of a membf^r of the consultative committee to accompany 
 him being cordially accepted, the deputation sailed in the 
 Caspian on Thursday, the 28th August, for Quebec. The 
 weather, which at first worked sad havoc among the passen- 
 gers, improved after the first two or three days. As all 
 travellers know, Messrs. Allan have contributed their full 
 share towards that perfection of oceanic transit accommoda- 
 tion which makes an Atlantic trip little more than a delightful 
 recreation. On the 4th September we had the double gratifi- 
 cation of seeing in the distance sundry monster icebergs 
 and the hills of Newfoundland. The former phenomena 
 were more interesting to the passengers than to the captain. 
 The caution and watchfulness exhibited in presence of these 
 terrific ice mountains are beyond all praise. Wc had a num- 
 ber of Canadians on board, and it was pleasing to us Eng- 
 lishmen to listen to their enthusiastic loyalty. 
 
 Another peculiarity of these prosperous colonists is equally 
 striking and satisfactory — their profound satisfaction with 
 their union with Great Britain. " I suppose annexation to 
 the States will be your final destiny," I said tentatively to a 
 group in the smoking-room. " Never ! " was the unanimous 
 and emphatic reply. 
 
WITH MR. ARCH IN CANADA. 203 
 
 On Sunday, the 7th inst., we steamed into the maj^nificent 
 harbour of Quebec. (3n landing, a gentleman connected 
 with the Emigration Department soon found us out ; and 
 after our luggage had been passed, be took us over the exten- 
 sive emigration barracks which the Dominion Government 
 has erected. ?-(r. Arch was much gratified by the complete- 
 ness and variety of accommodation provided. A thousand 
 emigrants could there find a temporary home free of charge. 
 The women have, in a lofty wing of the building, an admirable 
 laundry, where all the family linen could be renovated. 
 Lavatories for both sexes also are provided, and ample 
 cooking accommodation. Upstairs large rooms are fitted 
 with sloping benches for sleeping purposes. Driving out for 
 some miles into the country both yesterday and to-day, we 
 had an opportunity of seeing soMe of the Canadian small 
 holdings. As the settlers were mostly French, the evidence 
 was not of much value as respects the English labourer. A 
 careless, slovenly style of farming seemed to be the rule 
 everywhere. Knowing how much better his English brothers 
 would improve such advantages, Mr. Arch seemed to see in 
 those miles of small farms, with their brightly coloured and 
 tasteful little homes, something like a realisation of his 
 fondly-cherished hopes. 
 
 From an interview we had with the Deputy Minister of 
 Public Works here, it appears that the Government of 
 Canada is engaged in maturing an emigration scheme which 
 embraces most of the points deemed essential by Mr. Arch. 
 I am not at liberty to divulge the scheme, as it is at present 
 but very imperfectly developed. Suftice it to say that it is 
 contemplated to supplement the free grants of land with 
 some provision for the immediate starting in life of the 
 settler who, like our agricultural labourers, has no capital. 
 A rough home will be built for him ; seed will be supplied ; 
 a portion of his land cleared. The cost will be repaid after, 
 
204 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 say, the third >ear, by annual instahnents, ranging over from 
 five to ten \ '-ars. 
 
 Here we have all that reasonable men could desire, and 
 should the results of IVlr. Arch's personal investigation of the 
 grants, and contact with those who have ai ready availed 
 themselves of them, be satisfactory, a stream of emigration 
 will pr(>bably flow out westward next spring which, for good or 
 bad, will exert a considerable influence on liritish agriculture. 
 
 To-morrow we start for the " bush," and I shall hope to 
 furnish you by the next mail with an account of the Lnglish 
 farm labourer at work in his new home. 
 
 Mr. Arthur Clayden, who has accompanied Mr. Joseph 
 Arch on his mission to Canada, writes from Quebec as 
 follows to the "Birmingham Daily Post": 
 
 On Wednesday, the loth inst., a message reached us from his 
 Excellency the Governor-General of Canada (Lord Dufferin), 
 requesting us to call upon him. On arriving at the Citadel, 
 where his lordship resides during his visits to the city, we 
 were speedily ushered into his presence. He received us with 
 the frankness and courtesy of the true English gentleman. 
 Taking his seat opposite to us, he soon plunged into the very 
 heart of the subject. Happily, the man who had passed so 
 well through the ordeal of the Game Laws' Special Committee 
 of the House of Commons was quite equal to the occasion. 
 Clearly, intelligibly, and most forcibly did Mr. Arch put 
 before his Excellency his great life mission, and the object of 
 his travels westward. And with equal intelligence and 
 clearness, and with considerable sympathy, was the story 
 received and apprehended. After an hour's interview we 
 left, and on arriving at our hotel we found invitations await- 
 ing us to dine with his Excellency and his lady in the 
 evening. On arriving there, we found a brilliant assemblage 
 
WITH MR. ARCH IN CANADA. 205 
 
 crngregated, and a very pleasant evening was spent. Several 
 eminent men were present, who, during the evening, took 
 opportunities of conversing with Mr. Arch. Having another 
 engagement, we requested permission to withdraw at an 
 early hour, and his Excellency at once came forward, shook 
 us very warmly by the hand, and bade us God-speed on our 
 journey, at the same time prrnnising to write a letter of intro- 
 duction for us to his subordinates throughout the Dominion. 
 To-day we are off to the "bush," to see how the toilers fare, 
 in the apparently "good land. " 
 
 SlIERHROOK, .9<y^/. 1 5. 
 On Thursday, armed with the letter which his Excellency 
 had kindly promised us on the previous day, we started for 
 this thriving part of what are called the Eastern townships. 
 Our first impression of Canadian railways was on the whole 
 favourable, though I should much prefer a two hundred mile 
 ride on our " Great Western " to a hundred mile ride on this 
 " Grand Trunk.'' There is so much shaking that an un- 
 pleasant impression is produced that a screw is loose some- 
 where. These light wooden bridges which span the various 
 rivers en route may be safe enough, but they don't look so. 
 An Englishman, accustomed to the solidity and elaboration 
 of workmanship of his own costly lines, finds it difficult to 
 believe that these simple steel-lined tracks are all right. The 
 bridge, however, carried us safely over it on Thursday, and 
 therefore we are bound to speak well of it. The scenery 
 through which we rode was exquisite. The authorities of 
 Quebec had deputed a gentleman well acquainted with the 
 district to accompany us. On Friday, escorted by this 
 gentleman and another Government official established here, 
 we started to spy out the land. By Saturday night we had 
 gone over some eighty or one hundred miles. Our first stage 
 was forty miles by rail to a village named Stanstcad, from 
 whence we drove back to Shcr'orook. This drive took us 
 
2o6 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 through several villages and past numbers of farms. I am 
 sorry lo say our investigations were not satisfactory. If the 
 farmers whom we met last week are a fair specimen of the 
 Lower Canada farmers, I would earnestly dissuade the Eng- 
 lish labourers from leaving their present masters to come out 
 and serve under them. 
 
 Toilworn. narrow-minded, and apparently without one 
 other idea than that of how much work they can get out of 
 a man for the dollars they must pay him, I know of no agri- 
 culturists iti England whom I would not elect to serve under 
 in preference to them. " What are your hours ? " we said to 
 one of the farmers who intimated his desire to ha\ t an Eng- 
 lish labourer sent out to him. " From sunrise to sunset 
 during f.'ve monrhs, and from six to six during the rest," was 
 his reply. *' Then all I can say to you," replied the out- 
 spoken Warwickshire man, " is that I wish you may get 
 him." " But our pay," continued the farmer; " consider how 
 good it is — a dollar and a quarter a day, with board and 
 lodging." "Can't help it," responded Mr. Arch ; "what you 
 want is a slave, and Britons never will be slaves." The 
 dried-up, labour-starved owner of hundreds of broad acres 
 seemed as much nonplussed as English employers have been 
 by Mr. Arch's strong utterances. The truth is, these men 
 have led such a hard, tough life, that they are not likely to 
 be very considerate to others. Of course there are many ex- 
 ceptions, but this was the rule with these self-made men, as 
 far as we saw them. On my expressing astoni<^hment at the 
 absence of labourers from the farms — for, driving all day 
 through a farming district, I saw no men at work anywhere, 
 except here and there one, whom our guide assured us was 
 either the farmer or his son — a farmer with whom we stayed 
 to converse assured us that they got on very tolerably. 
 '* Yonder," said he, " is a farmer who is worth 6,000 dollars 
 and a farm of 300 or 400 acres, and all his ordinary help is 
 
WITH MR. ARCH IN CANADA. 207 
 
 one young fellow whom you see now with him." And, sure 
 enough, as we drove past, there was the tough old fellow 
 slaving away with his rake among the barley, and close at 
 hand was the one farm hand. The comfortable, jolly-faced 
 farmers of Old England need not grudge these Canadian 
 farmers their rent-free domains. Verilv there are worse 
 things than rent audits. I have seen more haggard-faced 
 farmers since 1 have been in Canada than I have met during 
 a forty years' residence in rural districts at home. And 
 never have I seen during the same period such miserable- 
 looking, lank and hopeless labourers as the few whom I have 
 seen in the service of these terrible task-masters. 
 
 I am afraid this testimony will spread something like dis- 
 may among the Unionists who are looking to emigration for 
 help from the pressure of their present circumstances. Let 
 it be clearly understood that these strictures do not apply to 
 Canada as the home of the Englisn. labourer. If, as 1 am 
 sanguine will be the case, the Minister of Agriculture at the 
 seat of Government should fall in with some suggestions 
 which Mr. Arch will submit to him, a hope of a very bright 
 and inspiriting character may yet arise for the English 
 labourer in this western colony. But unless, as may possibly 
 be the case, our investigations in Upper Canada should be 
 more favourable than those which we have gone into in this 
 lower province, Mr. Arch will certainly not recommend his 
 clients to exchange their masters of the Old World for those 
 of the New. 
 
 One of the interesting features of this rising and most 
 picturesque town is a large cloth manufactory, which Scottish 
 enterprise has established. We dined to-day with the able 
 head of the factory. He has some five hundred hands at 
 work, and the business is growing every year. I am struck 
 with the fine openings presented on every hand for young 
 farmers with a moderate capital. I am convinced that our 
 
2o8 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 English farming is the one thing needed to develop the 
 resources of the country. The bad farming of the ;Men now 
 in possession is its greatest misfortune. One gendeman — 
 I think, or at any rate I hope, an Englishman— has de- 
 monstrated in a most remarkable manner what may be done 
 in the way of farming upon this fertile continent. We 
 drove near his estate yesterday, and but for his unfortunate 
 absence from home we should have called and seen his farm. 
 He has within the last six months sold ten head of cattle, 
 reared by hiinself, for no less a sum than ten thousand 
 guineas. One splendid animal has gone to England, pur- 
 chased for the sum of three thousand guineas. 
 
 We started yesterday on a forty mile drive to a place 
 called Scott's town, wliere a few enterprismg Scotchmen 
 have formed a sort of colonisation society. wSome thousands 
 of acres of land have been purchased, and already over a 
 hundred hardy Highlanders and others are there hewing 
 down timber and carving out fortunes. We found an ex- 
 ceedingly interesting community, and the spirit of enterprise 
 displays itself in a 6o-horse power engine hard at work driving 
 a saw through the timber as it is felled, and an excellent 
 dam which is being built across the river. By-and-bye 
 water will have to do what steam is now doing, and the 
 surrounding forests will be rapidly converted into lumber 
 for house building and a thousand other purposes. The 
 presiding genius of the colony is Mr. John Scott, a (ilasgow 
 man, 1 believe. He appears to be just the man for his work, 
 and has little doubt of having a thousand families established 
 round his mills before five years are gone. 1 think he is not 
 more sanguine than the appearance justifies. His scheme 
 is very much like that which Mr. Arch will submit to the 
 authorities at Ottawa next week, as the only one which will, 
 in his judgment, meet the case of English farm labourers. 
 Mr. Scott will build a cottage for each family, and grant an 
 
WITH MR. ARCH IN CANADA. 209 
 
 uncleared plot of hind. The timber on this land will be 
 purchased of the men by Mr. Scott, so that the settler will 
 not only be getting his land cleared for cultivation, but will 
 be getting a supply of ready money wherewith to live in the 
 meanwhile. The cottages are substantial erections, and ap- 
 pear very comfortable. All the folks seemed happy and hopeful. 
 
 The more we see of the country — and I need scarcely say 
 these long drives into the very heart of it give us the best 
 possible means of judging— the more are we impressed with 
 its immense importance for emigration purposes. It would 
 really seem as if half Europe might be gathered into its 
 capacious bosom. There is plainly nothing requisite for 
 man that may not be grown upon its rich and fertile soil. It 
 appears to me that the one grand requisite for the develop- 
 ment of its resources is a wholesale importation of Scotch or 
 English agriculturists. Frenchmen make capital cooks — 
 blessings on their skill ; but of their farming I am sorry 
 to say that to an Englishman's eye it is as bad as bad 
 can be. ' • ' 
 
 Niagara Falls, Sept. 28. 
 
 The incessant occupations of our present life leave little 
 time for correspondence. I have brought my table out on 
 the broad verandah which encircles our hotel, and sit down 
 in view of the Falls, of which I will not attempt a new de- 
 scription, to report progress. After leaving what are called 
 the Eastern townships, in the province of Quebec, we 
 reached Montreal on the i6th, and received the hearty 
 welcome and hospitality which have been accorded us from 
 the moment of our landing at Quebec. Government officials 
 awaited us, to see that we were well cared for, and a 
 programme was soon drawn up for future operations. 
 Next day, accompanied by the proprietor of one of the 
 leading journals, we visited the Provincial Agricultural 
 Show, and were introduced to a number of the agriculturists 
 
 15 
 
2IO THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 of the province. One gentleman whom we there met, has 
 done perhaps more tlian any one else to develop the capa- 
 bilities of the colony. From being an importer of prize 
 beasts from England, he has come to be an exporter; and 
 he told me that he had, within a short period, sent off to 
 Europe ten animals, whose united value amounted to over 
 ten thousand guineas. He has thus demonstrated what can 
 be done in Canada, and certainly the specimens of short- 
 horns which we saw at Montreal justified any amount of 
 confident anticipation. The show of horses, too, was re- 
 markably satisfactory, and although the sheep were few, 
 there were pens of Southdowns that my old friend the late 
 Mr. John King Tombs would have been glad to number 
 among his fine flocks in Gloucestershire. The roots and 
 cereals were only such as the practical agriculturist, Mr. 
 Arch, had long been convinced might be grown to perfection 
 ir. these fertile plains. The only reason why so few roots are 
 grown is the universal hindrance — the scarcity of labour. 
 But when the condition of adequate capital, and what capital 
 can command — adequate labour — is complied with, corres- 
 ponding and most satisfactory results are reached. This 
 ready response of the prolific soil to proper culture has been 
 again and again proved to us. It was only a day or two ago 
 that we spent an hour or two with a gentleman who owns 
 one of the best farms in Canada. He told us that he had 
 grown thirty tons of Indian corn, and nearly as much of root 
 crops to the acre. Indeed, he said he could get off one acre 
 enough to keep a cow the whole year. And this is the land 
 about which one of your contemporaries warned Mr. Arch 
 against inviting his fellow-labourers to, lest they should be 
 starved or eaten up by horned beetles and grasshoppers. 
 Few things have impressed us more forcibly while travelling 
 through Canada than the lamentable ignorance of English- 
 men generally respecting the true character and resources of 
 
WITH MR. ARCH IN CANADA. 211 
 
 this splendid colony. To think that within a fortnight's dis- 
 tance of Eni^land all the unknown and incalculable wealth of 
 this magnificent country should remain comparatively un- 
 sought after is positively overwhelming. What are all those 
 hundreds of young farmers thinking about who, with utterly 
 inadequate capital, are fretting against the social bars of 
 their P2nglish homes and English circumstances, that they 
 do not come over here and pick up the one and two hundred 
 acre well-cleared farms which lie scattered over the various 
 provinces ? In each of these farms is a mine of wealth, and 
 it only needs strong arms and clear heads to develop it. 
 
 At Ottawa, the seat of Government, we had several 
 important interviews with the heads of departments. In 
 Mr. Lowe, the Secretary of the Agricultural Department, 
 we found, what we had already found in his chief, the Hon. 
 Mr. Pope, a shrewd, practical, and exceedingly intelligent 
 public officer, who warmly supported Mr. Arch's mission. 
 Nor was the reception accorded us by the Prime Minister of 
 the Dominion, Sir John A. Macdonald, one whit less cordial 
 and satisfactory. He dwelt principal!) on the vast openings 
 for European emigration in the new province of Manitoba. 
 " There," said this statesman — who, by the way, is wonder- 
 fully like Mr. Disraeli in personal appearance — " is a country 
 just opening up, and which a vast railway will speedily 
 traverse, containing untold millions of acres of the finest 
 land in the world, and to every settler we now offer one 
 hundred and sixty acres free of all cost ! " One hundred 
 and sixty acres ! a decent freehold estate, and to be had 
 for the asking ! ... 
 
 Reaching Toronto on the 25th, we found the welcome 
 information awaiting us that the Government of the province 
 ■would consider us as its guests during our stay in Ontario. 
 Apartments had been secured for us at the Queen's Hotel, 
 one of the largest on the continent, and Lieutenant-Colonel 
 
 15 '' 
 
2f2 THE REVOLT OE THE EI ELD. 
 
 Denison was deputed to act as our guide throughout the 
 province. When on the next day we visited the Ministry at 
 the Ciovernnient buildings, we found our highest anticipations 
 as to the attitude of the authorities more than realised. The 
 Attorney-General and Premier of the province, Mr. Mowatt, 
 entered warmly into Mr. Arch's projects, and saw in him at 
 once a very valuable coadjutor. After taking a drive round 
 the city during the day, and inspecting its principal buildings, 
 which, I may remark in passing, are far more massive than 
 might have been expected from a young and struggling 
 province, we met at the Government buildings some of the 
 chief men of the province to dinner. In addition to the 
 ministers, we had the honour of meeting Mr. Mackenzie, the 
 leader of the Opposition in Parliament, and various other 
 Canadian celebrities. Nothing could exceed the universal 
 good feeling, and all appeared in perfect unison on the ques- 
 tion of emigration. It was the common admission that the 
 English farm labourer was the one want of Canada, and no 
 one seemed to express a doubt as to the universal willingness 
 there would be to pay almost any reasonable sum to secure 
 him. 
 
 The issue of our visit will be a systematic co-operation on 
 the part of the Dominion Government with the Leamington 
 Union, to ensure a perennial stream of first-class emigration. 
 A registry will be kept here of wants, and a descriptive list 
 of such wants will be sent to the office of the Union, and 
 from thence distributed, through its complete and efficient 
 agencies, all over the rural districts. So in all human pro- 
 bability will the great problem of the agricultural labourers' 
 position in England be henceforth solved. If the home em- 
 ployer cannot really afford to pay proper remunerative 
 wages for the services of the men, a clear and straight path- 
 way will be opened before them to a land where ihose 
 services will be adequately rewarded. 
 
WITH MR. ARCH IN CANADA. 213 
 
 The following extract from my diary may be interesting, 
 as giving the impression produced on the mind by a first 
 view of the w orld's greatest wonder : — 
 
 October 'i.'jth. — Tc-day will be memorable on acccmnt of my first 
 view of Niagara. We started at seven o'clock by steamer from 
 Toronto, across Lake Ontario. The day was gloriously fine, the sun 
 shining in a cloudless sky. Beautifully our vessel glided over the rip- 
 pling waters, and in about two hours we entered the Niagara river. 
 Here we exchanged the steamer for the rail, and along this we rode 
 by the river's side towards the Falls. The scenery was all that could be 
 desired. The steep banks of the picturesque river were clothed with 
 forest verdure — trees of all kinds growing down to the water's edge, re- 
 minding me very much of the Leigh woods on the Avon at Cliftort. In- 
 deed, if that river were only some twenty time.> as wide as it is, and about 
 ten times as rapid, it would very much resemble the Niagara river. A3 
 we drew nearer the Falls, the river became more impetuous, and the 
 scenery altogether wilder and more impressive. On our way we passed 
 General Brock's monument —a huge stone erection two hundred feet 
 high, raised on a sort of natural plateau on the opposite side of the 
 river. This brave soldier fell there on the 13th October, 18 12, while 
 defending Canada from an Anierican invasion. Soon the first gliiT)pse 
 of the Falls was caught. Looking eagerly ahead through the car 
 windows, I saw a cloud of white mist. I knew what it meant, and 
 began to experience that sti-ange sensation which, I suppose, all highly 
 nervous temperaments are subject to on the eve of an important epi- 
 sode in their career. On went our prosaic ne, and soon the stupen- 
 dous sight burst upon us. There was the uuique spectacle right before 
 me — a vast river falling over a precipice one hundred and fifty-eight feet 
 deep. The sun shone brilliantly on the dazzling spectacle, and in mute 
 astonishment I gazed on '"hat myriads hav ; gazed on, and yet no one has 
 described. It is simply indescribable. The Falls on the American side 
 are not so imposing as the Horse-shoe Fails on the Canadian territory. 
 We soon exchanged the cars for another conveyance, leaving our lug- 
 gage to find its way to the Clifton House Hotel, while we "did " the 
 Falls. After visiting all the points of interest, I had what I must call 
 the grand adventure of my tour, if not of my life. The Cave of the 
 Winds is familiar enough to all Canadian tourists : f will help those who 
 know it not to comprehend somewhat of its romantic nature. My 
 
214 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 companions deeming discretion the better part of valour, left me to do 
 this part of tiie programme alone. Entering a wooden shanty just 
 over the Falls, I had first to exchange my clothing for something more 
 waterproof. I then followed a guide down s.ome hundred and thirty 
 steps on to the rocks bilow. Over these we clambered, amidst the 
 blinding spray from the descending torrent, till a wooden bridge was 
 reached. " Now turn round and look up, sir." 1 did so, and was ap- 
 palled. Right in front of nie, high up in the air, was a river falling 
 over as if it must wash me and the puny erection on which I stood 
 away like a feather. But no, right down into the abyss eight, feet in 
 front of me it falls, and save a baptism of spray, I am safe and un- 
 harmed as my companions on yonder eminence. On went my guide 
 through the deafenuig noise and confusion. I began to question the 
 wisdom of my adventure. It seemed like an invasion of nature's pri- 
 vacies to be there. It was the very fastness of the romantic. O that 
 overhanging torrent ! will it not deviate a few feet and wash the brace 
 of inquisitive mortals into the foaming rapids beyond? But nature is 
 not vindictive, and we were spared. " P'orward," cried my guide. Well, 
 thought I, huw much nearer death I Climbing over the rocks, keeping 
 up as best I could with my agile companion, who like a chamois leaped 
 from point to point — apparently oblivious of the fact that I had not 
 been alike accustomed to danger — until all sense of it was lost. ' ' Hold ! " 
 I at length cried out to the remorseless fellow, whose outline I but 
 dimly discerned through the cloud of mist. Vain appeal ! A dis- 
 chnrge of artillery would scarcely have been heard, I suppose. Soon 
 our vantage point is reached. We are in the Cave of the Winds. 
 Behind us, reaching up some eighty or a hundred feet, was a hollowed 
 rock, and over the projecting ledge came the magnificent torrent in an 
 exquisite curve. Imagination could not conceive any position more 
 romantic. There was the descending water right before us, and 
 pictured on the clouds of spray caused by its descent was a resplen- 
 dent rainbow — not a mere arc as we behold it, but a complete circle. 
 Nowhere else is the phenomenon visible, I believe. Like the wanderer 
 of the German legend through the realms of space, I felt satiated 
 with wonders, and v/ith him was ready to cry out, "It is enough 1 
 End there is none in the universe of God." Silently and gladly 
 I followed my guide along the awful track back again, and it was 
 no mean sense of relief which I experienced when the hireling re- 
 called me to earth and sense by askmg for his fee. "Lo, these are 
 
WITH MR. ARCH IN CANADA, 215 
 
 parts of His ways, . . . but the thunder of His power who can under- 
 stand." The exact height and distances of the Falls are as follows: 
 — From Lake Erie to Lak«! Ontario (36 miles) the total fall is 339 feet, 
 distributed thus .-from Lake Frie to the head of Goat Island (2a 
 miles) 25 feet. From the head of Goat Island to the main Fall (half-a 
 mile) 50 feet. The perpendicular height of the American Fall, 164 feet ; 
 the Canadian or Horse-shoe Fall, 158 feet. From the P'alls to the 
 whirlpool {2% miles), 64 feet, and from thence to Lake Ontario (it 
 miles), 25 feet. The depth of the water just over the Falls is supposed 
 to l)e a' ">ut 20 feet. Dr. Dwight has estimated the quantity of water 
 that goes over the Falls every hour at 100,200,000 tons. ^ 
 
 HUNTSVILLE, Oct. 5. 
 
 We left Niagara on the morning of the 29th ult. for 
 J'elham township, where a local agricultural show was to 
 be held. The seventeen miles' drive took us through some 
 of the best and most fruitful land in Canada. Orchard after 
 orchard and vinery after vinery met our view, and on reach- 
 ing Fen wick, the village where the chow was, other signs if 
 material prosperity appeared. Scores of single and double- 
 horsed " buggies " were standing about, and the street was 
 full of comfortably-dressed farmers, with their wives, sons, 
 and daughters. Conversing freely with these good folks, 
 we gathered a variety of valuable information bearing on our 
 mission. It appeared that while none of the farmers were 
 millionaires, most of them were well off. The township of 
 Pelham contains about yj,ooo acres, divided between some 
 three hundred owners. " And what is the average amount 
 of labour employed on these farms .? " I asked an intelligent 
 farmer. " Scarcely one paid labourer each," he replied. 
 Here was a revelation touching Canadian farming. Well 
 may the farms everywhere present the laboui -starved 
 appearance hey do. Each of those three hundred farmers 
 ought to have at least six labourers on his estate, to develop 
 it properly. The fruits of this district were remarkably fine, 
 
2i6 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 especially the apples and grapes. From this place we drove 
 over to St. Catherine's, about fourteen miles distant, and 
 took the rail for Hamilton, where another large show was 
 to be held on the morrow. We arrived there towards even- 
 ing, and found the town full of people. The next day we 
 visited the show, and a splendid affair it was. As we passed 
 through the great buildings where the various products of 
 the country were displayed, astonishment was the most pro- 
 minent feeling with us. I fancy Englishmen generally have 
 a very imperfect conception of the productiveness and enter- 
 prise of Canada. It would have made the fruit merchants 
 of Covent Garden open their eyes to see the magnificent 
 varieties of apples, pears, grapes, melons, &c., which filled 
 the long rows of tables. Not less excellent were the fine 
 roots, such as beet, swedes, turnips, &c., which these Ontario 
 farmers had to display. The horses, too, were a splendid 
 sight. A dozen teams of what they call " general purpose " 
 horses, a sort of cross between our carriage and cart horse, 
 would have been a striking feature even in one of our own 
 great agricultural shows. Canadians evidently pay a good 
 deal of attention to their horses, and few of the farmers are 
 without two or three which would excite admiration in 
 Rotten Row. The liglu gigs, too, which they drive, are 
 exceedingly elegant, and after riding in them for some 
 hundreds of miles, I can only express the hope that they will 
 soon become general in England. The speed with which a 
 couple of horses will carry you in them from village to 
 village is very great. The horse seems to have nothing 
 behind iiim. A drive of twenty-five miles without a rest is 
 nothing uncommon. Accompanied by the courteous Mayor 
 of Hamilton, we paid a visit to some of the manufactories 
 of the town. The most striking was that of the Wanzer 
 sewing machines. Here s©me five hundred hands are em- 
 ployed, and 1 50,(X)0 dollars are paid yearly in wages. The 
 
WITH MR. ARCH IN CANADA, 217 
 
 next morning we returned to Toronto, and had the honour of 
 lunching with the Lieutenant-Governor of the province and a 
 large number of the leading men of the city. 
 
 On Friday, the 3rd inst., we started for a tour through this 
 Muskoka district. W-e rode by the Northern Railway to 
 Washago, about one hundred and twenty n\iles from Toronto. 
 We then drove along a bad road for some fourteen miles to 
 Gravenhurst, a straggling sort of village — I beg the Cana- 
 dians' pardon, I should have said town —on the side of the 
 beautiful bay of Muskoka. Here a steamer took us across 
 the bay and up the picturesque river Muskoka some twelve 
 miles to Bracebridge, another Canadian " town." Nothing 
 could exceed the exquisite beauty of the river, which winds 
 like a serpent, and of the autumnal tints of its thickly- 
 wooded sides. The town was disappointing. It consisted 
 of a few straggling wooden buildings, and streets which 
 were mud tracks. The people wee ragged and haggard- 
 looking. On the morrow we started on a primitive sort of 
 carriage, drawn by a couple of good stoui horses, on a twenty- 
 five miles' drive right through the district to Huntsville. 
 Anything more desolate than that wild track through the 
 forest I cannot conceive. The hundred acres of land 
 given to settlers are a sort of white elephant to the unfortu- 
 nate recipients. The donation drags them down to the very 
 verge of barbarism. A very intelligent young married lady 
 on board our steamer was returning to her home on one of 
 these grants. Her husband had held a good position in 
 England, but attracted by the representations of a pamphlet 
 on Muskoka, lie had thrown up his situation to come out 
 here some seven years ago. He had about a thousand 
 pounds with him, and got a pretty good start. Their life, 
 however, had been one of intense privation and discomfort, 
 and she had been glad to teach in the public school, to eke 
 out their scanty existence. The truth is, none but the hardiest 
 
2i8 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD, 
 
 and most persevering men can do any good in these wild 
 regions, and they must lay their account for years of " rough- 
 ing it." I am driven to the conclusion that if men in England 
 v/ere to work as hard and to live as hard, and to abstain 
 from strong drink, as they do and must do to get on abroad, 
 very few of them would need to leave their old homes. 
 Those poor villagers of my acquaintance in Berkshire, Ox- 
 fordshire, and Wiltshire, are rich by comparison with many 
 of these owners of hundreds of acres. They have social 
 comforts and advantages which I look in vain for among 
 the scattered shanties of these Canadian forests. I'he truth 
 is that the voluntary hardships of Canadian settlers are far 
 greater than any of the involuntary ones which are imposed 
 on English labourers. Take a case in illustration. Just 
 as we were ploughing our way through the last mile or two 
 of mud before reaching the town, we pulled up to speak to a 
 farmer who was standing at his shanty door. 
 
 This man was the first settler in this neighbourhood. He 
 told us that when he came nine years ago he had to hold his 
 own against the Indians. One day an old Indian came into 
 his log hut, and, brandishing a formidable club about him, 
 warned him off the place, crying out, " What business have 
 you white man here in our land.'' " The white man was un- 
 armed, but, by a firm demeanour, managed to get rid of the 
 intruder. There were other Indians close at hand. After 
 years of incessant toil, he has got some forty acres of his land 
 *' cleared," by which term it must not be understood that the 
 land is anything like our English fields. They cut the trees 
 down within about three feet of the ground, and when the 
 tmiber has been either burnt or cut up into "lumber," as the 
 case may be, they call the land " cleared." The final st?ge 
 of clearing — the removal of the stumps — is extremely hard 
 work, and where it is done extensively you have the best 
 possible proof of the prosperity of the owner. 1 saw anjong 
 
WITH MR. ARCH IN CANADA. 219 
 
 the implements at Hamilton a machine for the forcible re- 
 moval of these stumps. 
 
 By a reference to the map of the province of Ontario, it 
 w' be seen where we are. All around us is the primeval 
 fort . Yonder exquisite sheet of water is a part of the 
 Muskoka river, one of the most picturesque rivers in Canada. 
 Scattered about on the shores of this river are the wooden 
 shanties, the hotel in which 1 now write, a general store, and 
 a general church, where all sects meet for worship — the Epis- 
 copalian in the morning, and some other sects in the other 
 parts of the day. I wish I could convey by my pen an idea 
 of the rare beauty of these interminable forests just now. 
 The deep crimson of the maple trees, the bright yellow of 
 the beech, and the different shades of the ever-green hemlock 
 and balsam, make up a glowing picture. Unfortunately, the 
 phenomenon indicated by the name jMuskoka-- clear sky — 
 has not been vouchsafed to us during our brief visit. A 
 cloudy sky and a continuous rainfall have been the only wel- 
 come accorded us. But even under these adverse circum- 
 stances, and traversing a road which would have thrown any 
 English horses, and smashed up any English carriage, my 
 enjoyment was great. 1 scarcely wonder that amid all their 
 hardships the settlers shrink from the thought of leaving 
 their forest home. After all, it is their own, and they are 
 wholly unfettered by the conventionalisms of society. 
 
 London, Ontario, Oct. 23. 
 
 Having received an invitation to visit the celebrated model 
 farm of the Honourable George Brown, the proprietor of the 
 " Globe " newspaper, we left Toronto in the morning, and after 
 a ride of some sixty miles by the Great Western Railway, 
 reached the town of Paris. Here a grand agricultural show 
 was being held. These shows appear to be quite an institu- 
 tion in this flourishing province. We have already attended 
 
220 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 three or four of them, and from the numbers present, and 
 the extensive display of native products, I take it that their 
 value and importance are pretty well understood by the 
 thriving husbandmen who constitute the main population of 
 the country. After spending an hour or two in the shovv^, 
 and experiencing once more something of the astonishment 
 with which we first beheld a fine display of the fruits, vege- 
 tables, and cereals which this prolific soil produces, we 
 accepted an invitation to lunch with the Mayor of the town. 
 This gentleman, who, like every one else here, is a self-made 
 man, is the owner of extensive flour-mills, and we met at his 
 beautiful villa some of the leading men of the district. Each 
 one had his story to tell of early battling with adverse cir- 
 cumstances, and victories won. Mr. Arch found in the fore- 
 man of our host an old schoolfellow. He had been in 
 Canada about a quarter of a century. Like every other 
 honest and industrious emigrant, this Barford man had done 
 well. He had bought his own house — a house worth some 
 two hundred pounds — and had perhaps a couple of thousand 
 pounds out at interest. Thus, side by side, were flourishing 
 both master and man. In the afternoon, accompanied by 
 one or two of Mr. Brown's friends, we started for a ten miles' 
 drive to Bow Park. Our road lay through what must, I 
 think, be called the garden of Canada. All the farms 
 appeared to be, unlike those of the Quebec provuice, which 
 we first went through, in a high state of cultivation. "Yon- 
 der," said a gentleman, a brother senator of Mr. Brown, " is 
 my farm of five hundred acres. I bought it thirty years 
 ago, at forty dollars an acre ; and to-day I should want as 
 many pounds an acre for it. Over yonder," at another 
 point, he said, " is a farmer who came out twenty years ago 
 without a cent in his pocket, and now he has two hundred 
 acres of as fine land as is to be found in Canada." Passing 
 by a rather dilapidated-looking^ farm-house, I remarked on 
 
WITH MR. ARCH IN CANADA. 221 
 
 its exceptional appearance. " Yes," said my companion, 
 " the man drinks." This seems to be almost the only im- 
 pediment to a settler's progress here, but I have previously 
 remarked on the happy rarity of this vice in Canada. We 
 have not seen a single drunkard. One of the causes of this 
 happy state of things is of course the clear, bracing climate ; 
 but another is undoubtedly the general discouragcniont of 
 the habit of drinking strong liquors in the homes of the 
 people. For instance, at the Mayoi-'s table yesterday, iced 
 water and delicious coffee might be had, but neither wine 
 nor ale. At the hotels few drink anything at dinner stronger 
 than tea or coflee, and it is a universal practice to serve these 
 up at the dinner-tables of private individuals. 
 
 After a delightful drive of an hour and a half, passing on 
 our way through the flourishing town of Brantford — a place 
 of about 10,000 inhabitants, and the county town of the 
 " Brant " district, so named after the celebrated Indian 
 " Brant " — we reached the point towards which we were 
 tending. Bow Park Farm contains 900 acres, all of it, with 
 the exception of the reservations for ornamental timber, 
 under high cultivation. The farm is nearly surrounded by 
 the grand river, and the soil is alluvial deposit of the most 
 fertile character. The energetic proprietor purchased the 
 estate some few years ago, and has invested a very large 
 capital upon it. Commodious buildings have been erected, 
 one barn alone being about 250 feet long by nearly 50 feet 
 broad. There are about 400 head of high-bred short-ho' ns 
 in the stalls, and no expense is spared in replenishing the 
 stock with the best breeds. The situation of the fan.i is 
 highly picturesque, and Mr. Brown, like Mr. Mechi, is con- 
 fident of reaping a pecuniary success, although he has taken 
 to farming as a recreation. It took u? ihe whole morning to 
 go through his extensive range of cattle-sheds, and certainly 
 it was a grand display for so young an establishment. A cata- 
 
I 
 
 222 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 logue of the stock, with full details as to pedigree, &c., was 
 placed in our hands ; and at the annual sale, which will be 
 held next week, Mr. Brown expects purchasers from England, 
 Scotland, and all parts of the United States. Not the least 
 interesting part of the exhibition — for such, in truth, the farm 
 is— was the show of Berkshire pigs. It will be gratifying to 
 Berkshire farmers to hear what Mr. Brown said in answer 
 to my inquiry as to whether he had any other breed of pigs. 
 " Of course not," was his reply. *' What's the use of having 
 any but the very best ? " Some of the thoroughbred short- 
 horns of Mr. Brown's herd would have won the applause of 
 the severe critics of the great English agricultural shows, 
 and doubtless many of them will yet pass under the review 
 of those gentleman, as Mr. Brown contemplates a consider- 
 able exportation of them to the parent country. It would 
 seem that the climate, or feeding, or something else of Canada, 
 vastly improves the breed. Hence the fabulous prices rea- 
 lised occasionally. At a recent sale on this continent, one 
 beast actually fetched forty thousand dollars, and the buyer 
 was an Englishman. Mr. Brown has bought several of his 
 best animals in England, and he will probably get for some 
 of their offspring, from English buyers, treble the original 
 cost of the parents. 
 
 It has again and again been asked me by Canadian 
 agriculturists, " Why do not some of your farmers come 
 out here and buy the cleared farms which are always in the 
 market ? " The question is easier asked than answered. 
 Certainly it would be the best thing they could do, provided 
 the conditions of success were complied with. One of these 
 is a year's servitude under a good Canadian farmer. Intend- 
 ing emigrants of this class may take this hint as an all- 
 important one. Whenever it is not acted upon, it matters 
 little what may be the capital at command, failure will be the 
 inevitable fate of the farmer. On this there is a marvellous 
 
WITH MR. ARCH IN CANADA. 223 
 
 consensus of opinion throughout Canada. " Did you notice 
 that young man ?" said our host, as we were passing along 
 his farm buildings. " He is an educated gentleman. He and 
 another Eton lad are with me, to get a thorough knowledge 
 of farming. They live and work with the other -nen, and 
 are in every respect just like the rest." The "gentleman" 
 was merged in the " working man." As Mr. Brown sen- 
 tentiously remarked, " He's all right.'' Yes, his success 
 is tolerably sure. By-and-by he will have served his 
 apprenticeship, and then with his two or three thousand 
 pounds capital he will repeat on. a small scale the splendid 
 success of his enterprising employer. If a few hundreds 
 of those young gentlemen who are hanging about their 
 fiithers' halls in England, trusting to the chapter of acci- 
 dents, would just follow the example of these young 
 Etonians, they would experience the new sensation of 
 independence. 
 
 After a pleasant day among these high-bred cattle, and 
 the picturesque meadows in which they grazed, we took our 
 reluctant departure for the city of London. A two or three 
 hours' rapid ride in a Pullman's car — the perfection of 
 travelling — brought us to this somewhat ambitious name- 
 sake of the imperial city three thousand miles away. At 
 the station we found a deputation from the town council 
 waiting to receive us, and after refreshing ourselves with 
 a cup of what seems to be the drink of Canada— tea — we had 
 to yield to the solicitations of the mayor and his colleagues 
 to accompany them round the city. Canadians feel a great 
 satisfaction in showing the proofs of their vigour and enter- 
 prise, and these excellent Londoners were no exception to 
 the rule. And certainly they have much to be proud of 
 At their agricultural show, which we were unfortunately 
 too late to see, no less than 34,000 persons paid for ad- 
 mission, and the exhibition of every kind of agricultural 
 
224 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 produce was, according to all accounts, remarkable. The 
 further we come west, the greater are the signs of 
 material prosjjerity. Unlike England, wealth appears 
 to be distributed in almost equal proportions among all 
 classes. Poor people seem to be unknown. In sailing 
 down the Muskoka River, ♦iie other day, we had to get 
 our canoe over some rapids, and some young fellows near at 
 hand kindly helped us through our difficulties. We actually 
 had to finesse a little to get them to take a gratuity for their 
 services. It is a somewhat significant fact — and one that 
 English statesmen would do well to ponder - that even the 
 smallest of Canadian villages have their spacious drill-sheds 
 for the use of the volunteers. There is nothing that pro- 
 vokes a smile more readily than a suggestion to a Canadian 
 of danger from invasion. An impression obtains in I^ngland 
 that Canada is the weak point of the empire. I am 
 thoroughly convinced that it is a delusion, like many others 
 which are zealously propagated and conscientiously believed 
 respecting the colony in England. It can never be too 
 thoroughly understood by the people and Parliament of 
 Great Britain that this portion of the empire can well take 
 care of itself. Any one who has seen the tens of thousands 
 of lithe, active, intelligent, and well-disciplined men of 
 Canada, and witnessed the innumerable proofs of their 
 patriotism, loyalty, and respect for the parent institutions, 
 will never again have one moment's uneasiness respecting 
 its future. When the unhappy Trent business was agitating 
 England, the fear respecting Canada was confinec^ to that 
 side of the Atlantic. Nothing but enthusiasm dwelt in the 
 breasts of these poor relations of the west. The banker 
 left his till, the lawyer his desk, the biijy trader closed his 
 ledger and the student his book ; and in an incredibly short 
 period the whole country was in a state of preparedness for 
 whatsoever might happen. 
 
IVITH MR. ARCH IN CAXADA. 225 
 
 I may say, in conclusion, that from hints thrown out by 
 some influential persons, there is good reason for beUeving 
 that the Ontario Government will co-operate with Mr. Arch 
 in certain very satisfactory arrangements for facilitating the 
 emigration ol' agricultural labourers to Canada. In all 
 probability, such as would like to come out and settle upon 
 the free grants of Muskoka will have comfortable homes 
 erected for them, a portion of the land cleared for immediate 
 cultivation, and work found by which they will be enabled 
 to get together a little capital to start them upon their farms. 
 Mr. Arch has promised, on condition of these helps being 
 afforded, to bring out next spring a hundred picked men 
 and their families, and see them safely through to their 
 respective lots. An equally satisfactory arrangement has 
 been entered into with the Government immigration agent 
 at Toronto, with reference to the larger body of emigrants 
 who will elect to go into service here for a while. A registry 
 will be kept of applications for such men, giving full par- 
 ticulars as to hours of work, accommodation, &c., certified 
 by the reeve of the township from whence the application 
 comes. Thus, as our mission hither draws near its end, we 
 have good hope that it will be fruitful in beneficial results. 
 
 New York, Oct. 3TJ"/. 
 
 A few days spent with Mr. Arch in the neighbourhood of 
 Paris, Ontario, constituted one of the most interesting and 
 satisfactory episodes of his Canadian mission. He there 
 found several of his old Barford acquaintances, men with 
 whom he had worked, and with whom as boys he had gone 
 to the village school. For periods varying from five to 
 thirty years these men have been m Canada. They were, 
 therefore, in a position to give good, sound information on 
 the question of agricultural labourers' emigration thither. 
 No possible motive for misrepresentation could influence 
 
 16 
 
226 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 llicm. And what was their unanimous verdict ? In the 
 hi^^hcst degree favourable. By their words, by their social 
 positions, by the comfort of their families, they said most 
 emphatically to their English brother labourer, "Advise 
 your clients, the farm lal^ourers of England, to come out to 
 this labour-starved country. They cannot fail, f honest, 
 sober, and industrious, not merely of getting a good living 
 as servants, but of becoming proprietors of the soil. Here 
 are we, owners of good farms, possessors of well-built houses, 
 with money out at interest, with children being well edu- 
 cated, and thereby fitted to occupy the best positions in 
 the State. Had we remained at home, as others did, where 
 should we '.ave been but whore they are -pacing wearily the 
 social treadmill, toiling hard from week to week and from 
 year to year for inadequate wages, ever on the edge 
 of the precipice of want, the pauperised hangers on of the 
 poor-law board, or discontented agitators whom landlords, 
 priests, and farmers might combine to denounce as the 
 nuisances of their respective parishes." Sitting at their well- 
 spread tables, and looking out upon their well-stocked farms, 
 Mr. Arch has been compelled to acknowledge that the 
 evidence is complete. The land which he had come to 
 spy is emphatically "a good land." Thus terminated our 
 Canadian mission, and as I notice that American papers 
 have caught up very greedily the somewhat disparaging 
 comments which I felt bound to send you on the agricul- 
 tural prospects of the eastern province of Canada, I hope 
 they will as readily reproduce my equally emphatic testi- 
 mony of another character respecting the western province. 
 On the 23rd we left for Ottawa, having received a telegram 
 from Mr. Lowe, the ^Secretary for the Agricultural Depart- 
 ment, intimating that his chief, the Hon. Mr. Pope, particu- 
 larly desired a final interview before we returned to England. 
 As it was the day for the reassembling of Parliament, our 
 
Wnil MR. ARCH IN CANADA. 227 
 
 train was crammed with senators and M.I'.s, and the excite- 
 ment of the past three months respecting the I'acirtc Railway 
 business was evidently approaching its crisis. No other talk 
 was heard during th'* long, tedioas Journey, but the re- 
 spective merits and demerits of the (jovernment. The 
 unfortunate Premier at Ottawa, Sir Jolin A. Macdonald, 
 appears to be al)out the best-abused man in Canada just 
 now. 1 have listened to strong language in England in 
 times of political excitement, but never have I heard, even 
 from the rowdies of large cities, such wholesale abuse poured 
 forth upon a statesman, as I heard heaped upon the head 
 of the Canadian Premier. It is not, of course, a part of our 
 mission to enter into such questions, but it is impossible 
 for an Englishman to feel otherwise than deeply interested 
 in matters which are in their bearings imperial rather than 
 provincial. No one can come into contact with Sir John 
 A. Macdonald without feeling that he is in the presence of 
 no ordinary man. His severest critics freely admit that his 
 services to the Dominion have been neither few nor small. 
 Hence the toughness of the task assigned to Mi. Mackenzie, 
 the leader of the Opposition, of driving him from power. 
 
 On the morning of the 24th we had a long interview with 
 Mr. Pope, and the result was in the highest degree satis- 
 factory. He was fully prepared to co-operate with the 
 National Agricultural Labourers* Union in an extensive 
 scheme of colonial emigration. He would have been glad, 
 indeed, if Mr. Arch could have accepted an appointment 
 in England from the Government of the Dominion. A 
 salary much larger than anything he had ever received 
 from the Union would have been readily offered him. Of 
 course this was out of the question. Mr. Arch is no office- 
 seeker. His one aim in life is to raise and benefit others — 
 not to exalt himself. His emphatic non-possumns, therefore, 
 at once dismissed this tempting offer of the minister. Not 
 
228 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 the least important of the points conceded to Mr. Arch 
 was the offer of Mr. Pope to take the signature either of 
 himself or the secretary of the Union, in lieu of a clergy- 
 man's or magistrate's, to the forms of application for assisted 
 passages, A book of warrants for such assistance will be 
 forwarded to the Leamington office, and thus members of 
 the Union will be henceforth entitled, on the recommenda- 
 tion of their president or secretary, to a grant towards the 
 passage to Canada, amounting to about forty-live shillings 
 each adult. Mr. Pope was pleased to express the great 
 satisfaction with wliich he had watched our progress 
 through the Dommion. Our plan of avoiding all noisy 
 demonstrations, and keeping closely to our work of obser- 
 vation and investigation, seemed to have afforded him im- 
 mense satisfaction, and his confidence in the judgment and 
 good practical common sense of Mr. Arch was evidently all 
 that even English landlords and farmers could have desired. 
 In saying a few last words touching this Canadian mission, 
 I cannot resist the temptation of directing attention once 
 more to the uniform courtesy accorded to the representatives 
 of the English agricultural labourers by the Government and 
 people of the Canadian Dominion. We brought no creden- 
 tials to their shores. No potent Une from Downing-streot 
 preceded us. A few private letters of introduction were all 
 that we had. And yet from the moment we embarked at 
 (2uebec to the hour when we last week stepped into the New 
 York train at Prescott junction, we received every attention. 
 Had we been honoured with the imprimatur of the British 
 Government we could not have received more. Our hotel 
 bills were discharged. Free passes over the railroads were 
 given to us. Carriages were placed at our disposal to enable 
 us to penetrate those remote regions where the iron rails had 
 not yet been laid. Efficient guides were deputed to facilitate 
 our researches. The municipal authorities of the various 
 
IVITH A/A\ ARCH IN CANADA. 229 
 
 towns along our romc to Ontario extended to us their gene- 
 rous hospitalities, and last, though not least, the press, with 
 scarcely one exception, bade us a very hearty " God speed !" 
 Of course cynics reply to all this that the Canadians know 
 what they are about. Undoubtedly they do, but I take it 
 that even this assumed self interest in the matter does not 
 lessen the respect and gratitude which are due to our colo- 
 nists for their cordial welcome of the man whom many of his 
 own countrymen affect to despise. ,, 
 
 And I would respectfully submit for the consideration of 
 all whom it may concern, whether it is not pretty well time 
 for other than Canadian authorities to treat with something 
 better than cold contempt a man and a work whose aim it 
 is to elevate an important section of the British community. 
 When will English landlords learn the value of that which 
 Canadian landlords are so anxious to procure.-* Is not the 
 measure of the pains taken by the latter to allure the la- 
 bourers to their fields the true measure of their worth ? Mr. 
 Arch has repeatedly said that Emigration is his "strange 
 work." He was long in direct opposition to it. Could he 
 but see his brother labourers emancipated from the wretched 
 thraldom in which he sees them in England, and possessing 
 a fair chance of earning an independence, in the shape of an 
 acre or two of land to their respective homes, held direct 
 from the landlord, and with proper security of tenure, 
 Canada and the United States might offer their inducements 
 in vain for him. He would elect to see his people settling 
 down peacefully on iheir native soil, and enjoying with him- 
 self the unique advantages of England. 
 
 The unsettled condition of things in New York, together 
 with the lateness of the season, have determined us to 
 defer for the present an investigation of the States. We 
 therefore purpose returning home by the White Star line 
 steamer the Republic^ on Saturday, the 8th prox. On Monday 
 
230 THE REVOLT OE THE EIELD. 
 
 we go to Boston, at the urgent solicitation of a deputation 
 of citizens, who are bent on giving Mr. Arch a welcome such 
 as they think he deserves. This will bring our mission to 
 a close. • 
 
 On riOARD THE Steamer "Republic," 
 Nov. 17. 
 
 The protracted stay of Mr. Arch in Canada, rendered 
 necessary by the immense area to be traversed, left him 
 little time in which to see the States. He therefore resolved, 
 with the full concurrence of his colleague, to abandon the 
 idea of anything like a systematic survey for the present. 
 Another and a more convenient season must be chosen in 
 order that the vast territories of the Republic may be done 
 equal justice to with Canada. As regards British America, 
 there need be no hesitation in stating that Mr. Arch's opinion 
 respecting it is on the whole exceedingly favourable, although 
 he will require, on the part of both the (jovcrnment and 
 people of Canada, some very important modifications of 
 their arrangements before he can commit himself to an 
 unqualified recommendation of the colony as a field tor 
 emigration. The Canadians are for the most part self-made 
 nien, and are great believers in what they call " roughing it." 
 Their unfailing argument against anything in the shape of 
 provision for the comfort of coming emigrants is their own 
 experience. " We came out with next to nothing," say they, 
 " and with no one to look after us, and here we are, well-to- 
 do, prosperous men. Bid your clients come and do like- 
 wise." Mr. Arch's reply is that the relative circumstances 
 of the different times demand different treatment. The 
 civilisation of to-day is widely different from that of half- 
 a-century ago. The roughing of these men in that day was 
 but a trifling change from their home life. Now the poorest 
 peasant has, as the necessaries of his life, what would then 
 
WITH J/7?. ARCH IN CANADA. 231 
 
 liave been deemed luxuries. To expect, therefore, similar 
 disreg'ard of social comfort now, as tlien, is unreasonable. 
 Mr. Arch must have houses found for his fellow-labourers 
 if they are to become tillers of Canadian soil ; and if the 
 Dominion is desirous of an English agriculturist settlement 
 on its boundless prairies and forests, it must offer them the 
 conditions of something like civilisation. It is highly satis- 
 factory to be able to say that both the Dominion Govern- 
 ment and the Governments of the Provinces fully recognise 
 the importance of this opportunity of getting what their 
 country so sorely needs, and there is no doubt of their ful- 
 filling his utmost wishes. He brought from Ottawa the 
 amplest guarantees of this, and although a change of Govern- 
 ment has taken place, there will be no change in emigration 
 policy, as all parties are ec^ually alive to its supreme im- 
 portance. 
 
 Mr. Arch found himself the subject of intense curiosity 
 in the States. The newspapers had heralded his approach, 
 and were loud in his praise. Letters from all parts poured 
 in upon him as soon as his arrival was announced, and the 
 apartment at his hotel was occupied from morning till night 
 by persistent interviewers. The day after his arrival in 
 New York nearly every paper had its pen and ink descrip- 
 tion of the Warwickshire labourer. His height, shape, 
 hair, clothes, all were described with amusing minuteness. 
 1 am afraid the New Yorkers will not be best pleased 
 with the Labour Reformer's attitude towards them. Mr. 
 Arch did not understand their ways. It appears that two 
 months ago it was heralded all over the city that he had 
 arrived from England, and would address a monster meet- 
 ing of working men in the Cooper's Institute. The news- 
 papers enlarged on the affair, and at the appointed hour 
 thousands were assembled. I believe an entrance fee was 
 charged. " And who got up the infamous hoax ? " asked 
 
232 THE REVOLT OE THE EHCLD, 
 
 tlie straightforward Warwickshire man of his informant. 
 " Oh, the Central Working Men's Union, or some such 
 organisation," answered he. "Then I'll have nothing what- 
 ever to do with them," replied Mr. Arch. To this resolution 
 he firmly adhered. It was in vain that one after another 
 came, beseeching him to address them. " No," said he, 
 " you have acted dishonourably towards the public, and, 
 whatever may be your American customs, we in England 
 only know two things, right and wrong. You had no 
 authority whatever for publishing my name as a speaker at 
 •your meeting. You did not even know where I was, and 
 yet you deliberately advertise me all over the city, and so 
 associate my name with an imposition. I wish you gooci- 
 morning, gentlemen ; Til have nothing whatever to do with 
 you." 
 
 A pressing invitatio i from Boston to attend a working 
 mens demonstration met with more favour. Although, how- 
 ever, the New York Trades Unionists thus got the cold 
 shoulder from Mr. Arch, his co-religionists were more suc- 
 cessful. On Sunday, the 2nd instant, he preached to a large 
 congregation in one of the Brooklyn Primitive Methodist 
 Chapels.' The number of letters arriving daily during our 
 stay in New York testified to the great interest felt in the 
 English agricultural labourers' movement throughout the 
 United States. On the 3rd instant Mr. Arch started for 
 Boston, and on the 5th, accompanied by Mr. Wendell 
 Phillips and other prominent politicians, he made a tour of 
 the city. In the evening the promised reception took place 
 in the Faneuil Hall. It was certainly a splendid demon- 
 stration. Mr. Arch, as is usual on all important occasions, 
 was fully equal to the necessities of the hour. His speech 
 took every one by surprise. Those who had come, like Mr. 
 Wendell Phillips and General B. Butler, to patronise the re- 
 jected of English squiredom, were lost in admiration of the 
 
WITH MR. ARCH IN CANADA. 233 
 
 perfect self-command and ease of expression displayed by 
 the English f;inn-labourer. More than one influential gentle- 
 man by my side on the p-atform assiiied me that they had 
 never heard a more effective hour's speech in their lives. 
 When, in illustration of the animus against which he had to 
 contend, Mr. Arch referred to the bankrupt prosecution of 
 Chipping Norton, cries of " Shame " were heard all around. 
 Those clerical justices and the manly prosecutor may con- 
 gratulate themselves on a considerable augmentation of the 
 area of their fame. And it is interesting to have to record 
 that the applause which Mr. Arch received was not the 
 gratitude of an England-hating assemoly for abuse of her 
 fair fame. This he distinctly repudiated, and when his com- 
 panion, Mr. A. Clayden, referred, in a short speech towards 
 the close of the proceedings, to the fact that it was no part 
 of their mission to defame their country, which they loved 
 with an affection vastly increased by its comparison with 
 other countries, cheers as hearty as they were sincere 
 greeted the declaration. 
 
 The day following the Mayor of the city g.ive us an invita- 
 tion to dine, having previously taken us to see the poet 
 Longfellow, and other celebrities and attractions of the city. 
 At this final celebration of the time-honoureci institution of 
 civic hospitality, a very different circle of guests were in- 
 vited to those whom we met at our first conjplimentary 
 bancjuet at Quebec. The Mayor had invited some half- 
 dozen representative working men to meet their friend. It 
 was all the same to Mr. Arch. As he told the Bostonians, 
 in a playful allusion to the petty sneers of some at home 
 about his being feasted by the rich, that as an Englishman 
 he had a profound respect for a good dinner, and, whether 
 It was in the cottage of a labourer or the palace of a king, 
 if he found a hearty welcome, he was ec[ually prepared for 
 the feast. 
 
 17 
 
234 THE REVOLT OF THE FIELD. 
 
 At 5.30 p.m. wf; took the train for the point where the 
 evening steamer for New York would start from some two 
 hours later. In this we steamed through the night down 
 the magnificent Fall River, and in the morning took posses- 
 sion of the cabin generously placed at our disposal by the 
 owners of the steamship Reptcblic^ one of the very fin3 
 vessels of the White Star Line. 
 
 Thus terminates this mission from the National Agricul- 
 tural Labourers' Union. So far as it has been prosecuted, 
 Mr. Arch feels satisfied with its success ; and if, as he is 
 hoping, he has the opportunity of doing next year in the 
 United States what he has do le in Canada, he will certainly 
 have gained sufficient data for emigration purposes, to enable 
 him to act as an efficient guide to all who, from choice or 
 necessity, contemplate a removal from the parent country. 
 
 VNWIN BROTHERS, THE GJfESHA.M PRESS, CHILWORTH AND LONDON.