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The poor English hind or agricultural labourer is greatly to be pitied, on account of the low wages he receives; but, as it respects the nature of his location and employment, he is to be envied by the town labourer, living in a garret in a dirty, narrow alley; or by the miner, who works under ground; or by the fire, foundry, or factory man, who has the moisture dried out of his bones,—the lack of which he endeavours so supply by liquid fire. I sometimes look at the pale faces and reduced frames of the workmen that turn out of our large yards and workshops, and compare them with the navvies, fresh from the country, with their broad shoulders and muscular bodies, and cannot avoid the conclusion that we are paying a heavy fine in flesh, and bone, and muscle, for our superiority as workmen! I often think of the lines of the "Deserted Village":—
"Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay:
Princes or lords may flourish, or may fade—
A breath can make them, as a breath hath made;
But a bold peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied."
But the question presents itself, How are you to get to Canada, and its agricultural employments?
Well, I am happy to say that public opinion is, at last, cod fast round in favor of more extensive emigration from this country; the signs of the times are, at length, becoming decidedly favorable. There is an interest, bustle, and excitement in this end of London among employers, as well as workmen, on the subject of emigration, which reminds me of the hum or buzz in a hive about to cast a swarm. They say that the ringing of a bell at such a time, or even the clatter of an old tin kettle, helps on the parturition. I have, therefore, prepared this paper, and a petition to Parliament, in order to help forward the good work; and let me request you to have the petition numerously signed, if you expect Parliament to put the proper pressure on the Boards of Guardians, to compel them to do all that they are legally empowered to do, in order to stimulate emigration. The Guardians may go as far as ten pounds a head, to enable people to emigrate; they may vote half the year's income of the Union for this purpose; they may do more than this, they may borrow money to promote it.
A proper system of emigration from this country would be as certain—though not as great—an advantage to those who remain at home as to those who emigrate. Its immediate effect would be to give employment to the unemployed, to raise wages where they are too low, and to produce a better state of feeling than has lately existed between the employer and the employed
