companies requiring this class of labourers; in fact it becomes
necessary this should be so, since, prolific as is the country from
whence they are drawn, the supply would in a little time cease to keep
pace with the demand, and slave labour cannot be substituted to any
extent, being much too expensive; a good slave costs at this time two
hundred pounds sterling, and to have a thousand such swept off a line of
canal in one season, would call for prompt consideration.

Independent of interest, Christian charity and justice should alike
suggest that the labourers ought to be provided with decent quarters,
that sufficient medical aid should always be at hand, and above all,
that the brutalizing, accursed practice of extorting extra labour by
the stimulus of corn spirit should be wholly forbidden.

Let it be remembered that, although rude and ignorant, these men are not
insensible to good impressions, or incapable of distinguishing between a
kindly and paternal care of their well-doing, and the mercenary
cold-blooded bargain which exacts the last scruple of flesh it has paid
for.

I have inquired much, and have heard many worthy, well-informed men
comment upon this subject, and feelingly regret the existing system; but
it is only by the close supervision of the Directors of Public Works
that this crying evil can be effectively checked, and the condition and
character of the labourer improved.[4]

At present the priest is the only stay and comfort of these men; the
occasional presence of the minister of God alone reminds them that they
are not forgotten of their kind: and but for this interference, they
would grow in a short time wholly abandoned and become uncontrollable;
unfortunately of these men, who conscientiously fulfil their holy
functions, there are but too few,--the climate, and fatigue soon
incapacitates all but the very robust. Those who follow the ministry of
God in the swamp and in the forest must have cast the pride of flesh
indeed out from them, since they brave the martyr's fate without a
martyr's triumph.

If a few of our goodly Cheltenham Parsons, the non-resident gentlemen,
who so laudably desire to uphold their church, were to come here, they
would find ample employment for their leisure, and might make hosts of
converts; for courage and kindliness of heart are irresistible in
appeal; and it is on these foundations, whether amongst the bogs and
mountains of Ireland, or in the wilderness of America,