A few days ago, the subject of the Poor-laws Amendment
Act was accidentally introduced at a market-table in Sheffield ; when there was only one out of a dozen country farmers who had heard any thing about it, and he confessed his entire ignorance of its details. Some of them, ere long, will feel its blessings.— ighejfi,h/ h is.
There is nothing surprising in this ignorance, to persons who have ever mixed with our agricultural population. A second-rate English farmer is perhaps one degree less ignorant and stupid than his ploughboy ; but, with this exception, he is the greatest blockhead in the land. Such men as these supply the materials for Penenden heath meetings, and are the main props on which the Conservative party rests. They are the honest, almost the only honest, advocates for the Corn-laws ; for they have not the know- ledge requisite to understand the real operation of those laws. Formerly, they were bigoted Churchmen • but somehow they have recently been made to comprehend that the payment of tithes has to do with the support of the Church ; so now they pretty generally hate the .parson, and strive to "work him.' through the poor-rates. The persons who are most to blame for the state of ignorance in
which hums are immersed, arc Ihe rulers and legislators of the
country ; many of whom, even now while prating about the bees. fits of education, are in favour of making that species of informa- tion which the people prefer, and which would be useful as well as interesting to them, twice as dear as it need be. Had not our news. papers been high-priced, the Yorkshire farmers would have known something about the Poor-law Act.
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