The fiction which ascribes superior chastity to the country dis-
tricts is rapidly dying out. Mr. J. Percival, in a long letter which has been published, states that out of every 100 children born in Cumberland and Westmoreland 11 are illegitimate, and that "modesty dies out among their population." He recommends that the periodical fairs should be abolished, that annual hiriugs or statute fairs should be discontinued, that farm servants should be watched "like the servants in a gentleman's family," and that employers should inquire into the chastity of those whom they employ, both male and female. The suggestions, except that for the abolition of annual hirings, seem exceedingly feeble. The notion of control over people living in their own houses is absurd, and when they live in their employers' the control is practically all but nominal. The true remedy is the education of the people, which will ultimately produce that terrible dread of dishonour among women which is the first guarantee for chastity in the middle and upper class. As for the men, religious feeling is, we believe, the only restriction which has the slightest effect.
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