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TITHES.-P. 58. "In many parishes of this county, the tithes are taken in kind; and which is nearly the same, in others they are annually valued, and compounded for. In several parishes, a reasonable composition is taken; in some it has been very little advanced during the last twenty years; happily there are farms which pay a modus, and others that are entirely tithe-free.

"I doubt not but that I shall stand excused for relating the following oppressive cases of tithes. It is in order to shew more clearly than I could otherwise do, that tithes operate againt the improvement of the soil, and consequently against the interest of the nation."

After noticing some flagrant instances, Mr. M. thus reflects on them. P. 59. "A few instances equally oppressive with these, have happened in every county in England; and the necessary consequence is, that they have severally put a stop to some expensive, but promising improvement. Every matter of this kind becomes a subject of general conversation among farmers, and of course prevents their making the like attempts. In short, an act of parliament to prohibit the improvement of land by any considerable expenditure, would not more effectually do it than the tithelaws."

INLAND NAVIGATION.-P. 401. "The river Thames is rendered famous by the port of London, in every commercial part of the world; and is navigable, for ships, to London-bridge, and, for barges, along all the southern borders of this county. The Lea, on the east, is navigable from the Thames near Blackwall towards Tottenham, about eight miles, where a canal navigation quits that river, and runs nearly parallel to it through the meadows of Tottenham, Edmonton, and Enfield, accommodating the whole eastern border of the county with a water-carriage to Hertford on the north, and London on the south."

P. 403. "The Grand Junction canal, just finished to the extent of this county, from Brentford passes through a rich corn district near Hanwell, Norwood, Harlington, West Drayton, Cowley, Uxbridge and Harefield. It is already of great importance to the lands through which it passes, and particularly to the market of Uxbridge, and will daily increase in its consequence as it extends, till it reaches Braunston, in a length of ninety miles."

ROADS.-P. 395. "Most of the parish highways in this county, are superior to any other of equal extent, that I have ever seen. They are hard and clean in every sort of weather; so much so, that gentlemen may ride along them, even directly after rain, and scarcely receive a splash.

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"The

"The turnpike roads, on the contrary, are, generally, very bad; although at the toll-gates of this county there is collected a very large sum of money, probably not less than 30,000l. a year; which is uselessly expended in sinking wells, erecting pumps, building carts, and hiring horses and men, to keep the dust down, by watering, instead of more wisely scraping it off. By the folly of this practice, the roads are kept many inches deep in mud: whereas, if 'they were raked and swept clean, winter and summer, there would neither be dust in such quantity as to offend, nor any of the present obstructions. There is now double the draught necessary for conveying every carriage on the roads, along which there is no riding even in boots and horseman's coat, during half of the year. The mud indeed is so very deep all the winter, and so fluid after rain, as to render it unsafe to meet horses, owing to their feet throwing the mud not only over an horseman's clothes, but also into his eyes."

P. 396." The road from Tyburn through Uxbridge, is supposed to have more broad-wheeled waggons pass over it than any other in the county. Therefore, if broad wheels were advantageous to the roads, this would be in high condition, as it certainly is sufficiently rolled; and it has also the advantage of lying on a bed of gravel. But these, and the present management, are insufficient to keep it in repair.

"During the whole of the winter 1797-8, there was but one passable track on this road, and that was less than six feet wide, and was eight inches deep in fluid mud. All the rest of the road was from a foot to eighteen inches deep in adhesive mud.

"This track was thronged with waggons (many of them drawn by ten horses, and most of them having broad wheels, even to sixteen inches wide) and farmers' six-inch-wheel carts, which occupied almost the whole of this confined space. It was therefore with great difficulty, and some danger, that horsemen, and light carriages could pass.

"The road continued in this infamous condition during the whole winter half year. No exertions were made towards cleansing it, although an expenditure of such a trifle as twenty pounds, in the employnient of a road-scraper, drawn by one horse, would have effectually kept it clean and dry; and would also have prevented the unnecessary destruction of upwards of three hundred pounds worth of materials, that were reduced to mud by being soaked and ground, for six months, in water mixed with pounded flints. "The only labourers to be seen on the road, during se

veral succeeding months, were those of a neighbouring gentleman; and they were employed in carting the footpath into his inclosures."

MARKETS.-P. 408. "At Uxbridge-market a great deal of corn is sold, and there is a large public granary over the market-place, for the purpose of depositing it from one week to another.-At Hounslow-market there is a considerable show of fat cattle; such of which as are not disposed of there, are sent on to Smithfield-market."

P. 409. "The following is an account of the number of black, or neat cattle, and sheep, annually brought for sale to this market, from the year 1731 to 1795, being 63 years: which I have divided into seven averages of nine

Those averages stand thus:

1732 to 1741

years each.".

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LAWS concerning AGRICULTURE.-Under a head, entitled, Agricultural Legislation and Police," Mr. Middleton complains, and on good grounds, of the insufficiency and impolicy of the present laws relating to pilfering, or petty thefts. What he advances, however, is applicable to London and its environs, rather than to the County of Middlesex and the kingdom, at large.

Mr. M. appears to be well versed in the polity of the Metropolis and its neighbourhood.-P. 460. "The fields near London are never free from men strolling about in pilfering pursuits by day, and committing greater crimes by night. The depredations every Sunday, are astonishingly great. There are not many gardens within five miles of London that escape being visited in a marauding way, very early on a Sunday morning, and the farmers' fields are plundered all day long of fruit, roots, cabbages, pulse and corn. Even the ears of wheat are cut from the sheaves, and carried away in the most daring manner in open day, in various ways, but mostly in bags containing about half a bushel each. It has been moderately estimated, that 20,000 bushels of all the various sorts are thus carried off every Sunday morning, and 10,000 more during the other six days of the week, or one million and a half of bushels in a year, which, if valued at so small a sum as six-pence each, would amount to 37,500.

"The

"The occupiers of many thousand acres round London, lose annually in this manner to the amount of much more than 20s. an acre. And all this is done, as it were, under the eye of 270 magistrates, 1000 constables, and upwards of 2500 watchmen and beadles. 'Men who are more attentive to their own emoluments, and more desirous of promoting their own interests, than putting a stop to these nefarious practices."" Are not the above estimates much overcharged?

That pilfering is practised, to a serious, if not an alarming extent, upon the occupiers of lands to the distance of some miles round London, is a well known fact; and that the existing laws, respecting it, are rather an encoragement than a prevention of the crime, is not less obvious. The subjoined remarks sufficiently convey Mr. Middleton's general sentiments on the subject.

P. 458. "One great hindrance to comfort in a life of agriculture, and which drives liberal minded men, who are always the best friends to improvement, out of the profession, is the want of laws to put a total stop to the receivers of stolen goods. These are the wretches who encourage servants in agriculture, and others, to pilfer, by holding out the lure of buying every article which such servants can bring, without asking them any questions. Most things which are usually produced on a farm, from so small an article as an egg, to hay, straw, and grain of all sorts, are daily stolen, and sold on the sides of every principal road in this county.

"These thefts are carried on daily at every farm, in a small way, seldom exceeding a truss of hay, or a bushel of corn, by one man at one time; and are generally of smaller articles. When one of these fellows is taken in the act of stealing to the amount of a shilling or two, who in his senses would prosecute, at the certain expence of 20%. in money, and loss of time?"

Here rests the GREAT ERROR, or, be it put-the more to excite the consideration of those whom it may con cern the PROMINENT ABSURDITY, in the PENAL LAW and DOMESTIC GOVERNMENT of this country. How the Lawgivers of a civilized and enlightened nation can have so long deferred to abolish it, is not to be reconciled to reason or common sense; nor, I will venture to assert, to any sound principle of legislation.

It is well ascertained that wherever LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS for the PROSECUTION of FELONS exist, there the crime of theft is rarely heard of-comparatively, at least, with places in which no such wise regulations have been adopted.

Why

Why, then, have we not NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS→→→ guaranteed by a permanent law of the country, for the same salutary purpose?-Is it not enough for a man to lose his property-perhaps through the negligence of those who are paid to protect it but that he must perform the office, and pay the whole, or some considerable part, of the expence of prosecution!-and moreover alienate his attention from his own concerns, and probably have to undergo an irritation of mind, in which an undertaking of that sort is ever liable to involve him.

I have long been waiting for a suitable opportunity to bring forward my sentiments on this subject,-so far as relates to country concerns; and I cannot do less than thank Mr. Middleton, most cordially, for affording me one*.

Every individual, I conceive, who loses, by theft, property that had been placed, in prudent security, ought to be amply paid for his time and expences, in attending the officers of the executive government; and, for a reason that will be offered, ought further to be remunerated for some part, at least, of his loss.

The hundred, or other division of a County, is liable to remunerate individuals, for losses sustained by day robberies; provided negligence or other improper conduct cannot be proved against the losers. And, surely, it may be worthy of consideration whether it will not be sound policy to make, in like manner, some compensation for the loss of property, by night robbery; provided no neglect of its loser can be shown.

Such a regulation, would not be merely a measure of justice toward the unfortunate; but would radically tend to the SUPPRESSION of THEFT;-as it would make it the interest of every man of property, being an assessee within the district, to prevent it; and would consequently put every active man on the alert, to recover the property, and bring the offender to punishment. Thus would every prudent man's property be, in a certain degree, insured by the district.

On the contrary, no remuneration whatever can be due

to

* It is not to the stealing of a truss of hay, or a bushel of oats, that I am here soliciting the attention of the reader;-but to thefts in general. It is probable, however, that robberies of every degree of magnitude mostly originate in PETTY THEFTS; and suffering these to pass unpunished serves as an encoragement to the commitment of greater.

But how few INDIVIDUALS have public spirit and nerve enough to spend even twenty shillings, and moreover to enter within the entanglements of prosecution, for so trifling a loss? Yet such are the rootlets which require to be extirpated.

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