LAND-GRABBING IN 17C0.
LTO THE EDITOR Or TRH 'SPECTATOR:1
Snt,—The following entry in Arthur Young's journal of his travels in Prance, under date January 6th, 7th, and 8th, 1790, may be of interest just now :—
" I was here witness to a scene which made me smile : at no great distance from the chateau of Liancourt, is a piece of waste land, close to the road, and belonging to the duke. I saw some men very busily at work upon it, hedging it in, in small divisions ; levelling, and digging, and bestowing much labour for so poor a spot. I asked the steward if he thought that land worth such an expence ? He replied, that the poor people in the town, upon the revolution taking place, declared, that the poor were the nation; that the waste belonged to the nation ; and proceeding from theory to practice took possession, without any further authority, and began to cultivate ; the duke not viewing their industry with any displeasure, would offer no opposition to it. This circumstance shows the universal spirit that is gone forth ; and proves, that were it pushed a little farther it might prove a serious matter for all the property in the kingdom. In this case, however, I cannot but commend it; for if there be one public nuisance greater than another, it is a man preserving the possession of waste land, which he will neither cultivate himself, nor let others cultivate. The miserable people die for want of bread, in sight of wastes that would feed thousands. I think them wise and rational, and philo- sophical, in seizing such tracts : and I heartily wish there was a law in England for making this action of the French peasants a legal one with us."
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