Labors in England
79
human beings before the beasts; but this order has been reversed there,
and, compared with the poor, horses, dogs, and other dumb animals
are treated as princes. In some localities the poor are forbidden to step
out of the path to pick the wild flowers which grow in abundance in
many of the open fields. Anciently a man when hungry was permitted
to enter another man’s field or vineyard and eat as much as he chose.
Even Christ and his disciples plucked and ate of the corn through
which they passed. But how changed the order of things now!
If the laws given by God had continued to be carried out, how dif-
ferent would be the present condition of the world, morally, spiritually,
and temporally. Selfishness and self-importance would not be mani-
fested as now; but each would cherish a kind regard for the happiness
and welfare of others, and such wide-spread destitution and human
wretchedness as is now seen in most parts of England and Ireland
would not exist. Instead of the poorer classes being kept under the
iron heel of oppression by the wealthy, instead of having other men’s
brains to think and plan for them in temporal as well as in spiritual
things, they would have some chance for independence of thought and
action.
[166]
The sense of being owners of their own homes would inspire them
with a strong desire for improvement. They would soon acquire skill in
planning and devising for themselves, their children would be educated
to habits of industry and economy, and the intellect would be greatly
strengthened. They would feel that they are men, not slaves; and
would be able to regain to a great degree their lost self-respect and
moral independence. It is not impossible that deer might often be
replaced by equally beautiful herds of cattle; that landscape gardening
and ornamental building behind immense stone walls might be carried
on with less contempt for expense; that there would be less money
to spare for yachting, and for building dog palaces and hiring men to
care for them. Indeed, we might then reasonably look for simplicity
of manners to be manifested among the higher classes instead of their
present exclusiveness and notions of their own dignity, and for high
thinking to take the place of high living.
In a country where so large a part of the people are kept in such
a state of servitude to the wealthy, and the higher classes are held
in bondage by long-established customs, it is only to be expected
that the advancement of unpopular truth will at first be slow. But if