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PRIZE ESSAYS ON THE CHURCH OP ENGLAND SELF-SUPPORTING VILLAGE . The Destitution and Miseries of the Poor Disclosed , and their Remedies Suggested ; being an Exposition of the Principles and Objects oj the Church of England Self-Supporting Village Society . Bythe Beverend Henry Smith , Senior Chaplain of the Government Juvenile Prison , Parkhurst , Isle of Wight . The Condition of the Labourer in Agricultural Parishes . By the Reverend W . B . Ady , M . A ., Vicar of Little Baddow . Th e Present Circumstances of the Poor Displayed , and the Means Sueuesled for their Improvement , in Accordance with the Plans of the Church of England Self-Supporting Village Society By the Reverend William Stafford Finch , M . A . Curate of St . James ' s , Curtain Road . London : John W . Parker , West Strand .
{ Second Notice . ) The wisdom of the course pursued by Mr . Morgan , in enabling the Society of which he is the founder and honorary secretary to make the offer of prizes which led to the production of the Essays now before us , is evident from the opening words of Mr . Ady's preface : — " The author had never heard of the ' Self-Supporting Village Society' when he saw the advertisement in the Ecclesiastical Gazette , inviting clergymen to send in essays on that subject for three prizes , given by the kindness of J . M . Morgan , Esq . " Having read the prospectus of the Society , he felt that the plan was quite an experiment , but that it was an experiment well worthy of a trial : —
" 1 st . Because experience had convinced him that the state of society in agricultural parishes was very much disorganized , and consequently that the poor , by the very system in which they were of necessity placed , were prevented from fulfilling the purpose for which their spiritual gifts and intellectual powers were evidently given them . * ' 2 nd . Because the plan seemed to afford a readjr opportunity of training a body of men who could unite a competent supply of learning and information , and who could fill up that great want of country parishes , viz ., masters able to conduct agricultural schools . "
We think that the adjudicators exercised a sound discretion in awarding the second prize to Mr . Ady . His essay , as a whole , is complete , as giving a clear and convincing statement of the evils of the class of men of whom , from his experience among them , he is most qualified to speak ; a skilful analysis of the causes to which those evils are referrible ; and a satisfactory indication of the manner by which they might be remedied by the adoption of the plan of the
Self-Supporting Village Society . At the same time it wants the comprehensiveness and varied range of Mr . Smith ' s production , and the prevision which that displays of the ultimate tendencies of the Associative System . On these grounds it may fairly take rank below that more elaborate work ; while of itself it is peculiarly valuable as the exposition of the wrongs of a large and fearfully neglected class , and the vindication of their claims for redress at the
hands of those who have , it in their power to afford it . Of the moral and intellectual deficiencies of this class , with which , more than with their material sufferings , he deals throughout his essay , Mr . Ady thus speaks : — " That the present state of the agricultural labourer is very unsatisfactory , and , what is of more consequence , that it is unsatisfactory to himself , is a fact which no one can be long conversant with their habits and wajs without seeing full clearly ; and in . proof I would not anneal to the statistics of juvenile and adult crime in
country parishes . I should be ungrateful to my own were I to say that I have witnessed , during many years , more than a case or so of great offences against the laws of the land . Neither would I bring forward the demoralized stute of the labourer as an evidence of what I wish to show ; of course it is a very striking proof : and notwithstanding that the beer-shop nuisance brings temptation home to every door , and the very close quarters in which the poor lodge destroy their feelings of delicacy , and are a fertile source of immorality , it must bo allowed that there is a larger amount of general profligacy than these causes will account for . It is ,
however , on entirely different grounds that I am led 10 consider the state of im agricultural parish so imperfect , —it is because , as far as we can sec , there is scarcely a labourer who seems to fulfil the end of his existence ; he has powers and facultiea of mind capable of affording pleasure to himself nnd profit to others , which , because uncultivated and undeveloped , altogether fall short of the design for which they wore given . The mere fact that these faculties are . given shows that God never in-UncUd a man , even in the humblest grade of society , to lmss his life in thut dull , listless , unobservant ,
unintelli'utual state of mind , in which , as a class , the labourer does ; tho wise man did not menu to condemn those he hjmke of to an existence of mental inactivity when he said , « 11 mv enn he get wisdom that holdeth the plough and that glorieth in the goad , that drivcth oxen nnd is occupied in their labour , and whose talk is of bullocks . 'Mcclcs . xxxviii . 26 . It is the system in which the labourer finds himself which pro ' duees these deadening effects , not the providence or the will of his maker , not that he is incapable of uniting a higher degree of mental cultivation with his humble and toilsome occupation . "
Can any protest against the existing state of things , or any recognition of the influence of circumstances on character , be made in stronger terms than those employed by our essayist ? The causes of the deficiencies which he deplores Mr . Ady finds in , first , the short period which , owing to the necessities of his position , the agricultural labourer is able to allow for the education of his children . At six or seven years of age , when the expanding mind of infancy is just about to repay its previous culture in displaying some fitness for the reception of its teacher ' s instruction , boys are withdrawn for weeks together from the village school ,
and bird-scaring , weeding , and seed-dropping occupy their whole time from morning to evening , to the obliteration of the impressions produced upon them by the order and regularity of school , and to the introduction of wild , and desultory , and idle habits , destructive of all improvement , because destructive of that application which is its acknowledged essenial . This education , which , were it in other respects effective , would lose its efficacy from its constant interruptions , ceases at the age of nine , when boys for the most part leave school , and are sent into the fields for regular work . On the reasons which induce this withdrawal of children from instruction , Mr .
Ady observes : — " Nor does this boy ' s father form a wrong estimate , in one way , when he takes him so early from school ; for if he lets him stay on till he is fourteen or fifteen years of age , he diminishes very much his prospect of becoming a thoroughly good workman . There must , then , be something radically wrong in a state of society , when two necessary elements in it cannot consist one with the other ; it argues an unhealthy condition when a boy has to sacrifice his education to his future prospects in life , or else to increase his store of learning at the expense of his skill as a workman , or , what is equally important , of his love for an occupation for which nature has adapted him . "
And again , with reference to the difficulty of producing religious impressions , especially at the period of confirmation : — " His clergyman does what he can , he sees him . very frequently , and having him on each occasion alone , he tries to make up as well as he is able for past neglect ; but it will be impossible for him to escape the reflection , that after all there is in this case a very strange perversion of His Heavenly Father ' s intentions towards His adopted child , and that this perversion has been brought about , not by neglect on his own part , or so much by neglect on the part of the candidate , but has been produced by the unhealthy , disorganized condition of the circumstances in which he is placed . "
The evils thus early commenced Mr . Ady traces through the rest of the labourer ' s career , and shows the deteriorating influence exercised upon him by the various circumstances of his position , all of which he contends are capable of improvement under the organization of a Self-Supporting Village , which would lead to , or at all events admit of , the culture of the individual mind to the full extent of its capabilities . We must , however , conclude our notice of his essay by extracting his estimate of the present state of society , as exemplified in the condition of that portion of it with which he is familiar , and which we
trust his exertions , now for the first time led into the right channel , will have an important share in transforming : — " For these , among other reasons , I am led , after ten years' careful observation , to think that the social , intellectual , and religious state of our country parishes is a very unfavourable one . The different parts of the system , which ought to be coexistent and harmonious one with another , arc quite conflicting ; the whole fabric of society is directed by motives of self-interest and selfishness , and the labouring classes arc looked upon as machines and
necessary implements rather than as responsible beings endowed with feelings and intellectual faculties , having within them the Spirit of God , and before them the knowledge of His truth and a promise of His kingdom . Human pcrverseness , wilfulness , and rebellion will account for much , it will not account for all ; and we find a large residue of evil which must be laid to the charge of the system which has gradually grown up among us . The amount of ignorance and of insensibility upon the most important subjects , the want of resource in themselves , the extent to which the powers of the mind lie
dormant , is beyond the conception of any one who has not searched it out and attempted to grapple with it ; and it is quite impossible that He who has implanted in His creatures so many mental and spiritual gifts , nnd has afforded so many ways in which they can be exhibited , and provided such pure plensure for those who do exercise them aright , can intend any to live in the dull , senseless state in which so many do in a country parish . Putting vice and wickedness entirely aside , the steady , laborious , and well-meaning scorn to come infinitely short of the end and purpose of their existence . "
Mr . Finch , to whom the third prize has been given by the adjudicators , is more general and diffuse in his xomarks on the condition of the people than the
previous writers . His essay , however , does him much credit as showing the attention which he has devoted to the investigation of his subject , and as giving a full and lucid explanation of the Self-Supporting Village Society ' s proposals , which it would be impossible , for any candid person , after reading his remarks , to misunderstand . He displays also an amount of liberality in speaking of those who differ from him in religious opinion that gives us a favourable impression of his goodness of heart and largeness of toleration , and of its fitness , therefrom , as an Association reformer . We give his own words in illustration : —
" And here we may observe that , although these plans have been arranged upon the supposition that the Society would consist of members of the Established Church , they are , nevertheless , applicable to every religious persuasion . Only , it would be desirable that uniformity of opinion should exist in the society on religious points ; so far , at least , as that there should be no difference so great as to preclude any individual from joining in public worship with the body , and from recognizing the minister as his lawful and proper pastor and director . There is nothing more
calculated to bring on the ruin of a community than a fundamental diversity of sentiment in religion ; and , therefore , while we earnestly disclaim any hostile feeling towards those who conscientiously differ from ourselves , we would deem it nothing but a prudential measure to have all the members of each community in the Self-Supporting Villages of the same creed , and attached to the same system of religious government . * Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation ; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand . ' " —Matt- xii . 25 .
There is much acuteness , too , in the way in which the advantages of the proposed plan are set forth in the lowest , perhaps , but by no means an unimportant point of view : — " It is a trite maxim , that prevention is better than cure ; and the immense sums which are annually expended in the attempt to cure the evils which poverty and crime produce , should be sufficient to stimulate us to devise some plan of prevention . The apparatus of punishment is very costly ; and this all persons feel , directly or indirectly . It may be sufficient to mention one instance , by way of illustration—that of the county prison
of York , which cost £ 200 , 000 , and provides for the accommodation of 190 prisoners . Compare this with the outlay required for the foundation of one of our Self-Supporting Villages . More than £ 1200 for each inmate was spent in building a prison ; while , in the peaceful and happy establishment which we propose , £ 170 would provide all conveniences for a family of four persons on the average . A rough calculation will show that the last plan is thirty times cheaper than the other ; since £ 200 , 000 , the cost of the prison , would establish four Self-Supporting Villages and provide for their 4800 inhabitants , instead of 160 criminals , only one-thirtieth of the number of our colonists . "
It would be useful to extract the passage in which Mr . Finch adduces the success of the Moravian settlements and the pauper colonies in Holland and Belgium as an argument in favour of that of the system which he advocates : but , space compelling us to a preference , we give the following , which evidences in the writer no inadequate idea of the distinction between the systems which he is busied in contrasting . The vexed question of the influence of machinery upon general comfort and advancement ,
Mr . Finch deals with thus : — " In communities where the interests of the body and of each individual were identical , the introduction of improved machinery , or of any expedient which tended to abridge labour , would be received as a boon and a blessing by a'l . Now , on the contrary , scientific improvements of this sort are received with doubt and dislike by many , and not altogether without reason , notwithstanding the undoubted ultimate good which contrivances for the economy of manual toil must bring ; because , in the midst of the present clashing interests of capitalists and labourers , such improvements tend , for a season at least , to throw many hands out of erriployment , and the struggle and competition which improved machinery supports are
injurious to the interests of those whose subsistence depends upon their daily labour . Take away , however , from any community , small or great , the principle of selfish competition ; let it be practically felt that the prosperity of the general body is the interest of each individual , —that any time , or other advantage , gained by one , is gained by all ; then would jealousy cease ; the improvements of science in every art and calling would be hailed with general enthusiasm , as tending to place more time at the disposal of the community , whereby they would , individually and collectively , have larger opportunities for the cultivation of their intellectual powers and for those ennobling pursuits which are most worthy of rational creatures . "
It would be impossible for the question to be put in better terms ; and with these remarks we close , rejoiced to hail in these three successful essayists coadutors in our work , and trustful that they nro but the harbingers of a mighty accession from that body which above all is interested in our success , the conscientious ministers of that Teacher who first taught fraternity to men , and lived among them as its example .
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426 &ff $ & *« & £ *? [ Saturday ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 27, 1850, page 426, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1848/page/18/
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