Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 67, Number 414, April, 1850Various
History
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 67, Number 414, April, 1850
Various
England -- Periodicals; Scotland -- Periodicals
There is yet another kindred delusion to the preceding, which you are
fondly cherishing. You evidently fancy yourself a martyr! "I have
often," you say, "both in public and private, been attacked for my
advocacy of the cause of my brother tenants. I have been upbraided,
and have suffered in the estimation of men of rank, for doing so.
An interested portion of the press have distorted my arguments,
to prove to their readers that I am an enemy to the farmer," (p.
30.) Oh, unhappy man! Your immortal labours unappreciated--your
words distorted--your character attacked, and, to consummate your
sufferings--your reputation injured in the estimation of men of
rank! From the bottom of my heart, I pity you. You have been a very
ill-used man. But let us be calm, and inquire into the cause of your
persecution. You see, my dear sir, in the opening sentence of your
first pamphlet, you personified your brother farmers under the image
of a poor hypochondriac cripple, the victim of imaginary ailments;
and you afterwards insinuated that the agriculturists of the country,
who had been trained and bred up to their profession, were cropful of
"prejudices:" that the gentleman who so wrote might be an "enemy to
the farmer," was a natural enough mistake for people to fall into.
Moreover, your representation of high farming as the substitute for
Protection, and as sufficient to uphold the tottering rent-rolls under
the regime of Free Trade, must have been considered insidious and
dangerous doctrine, in the estimation of all those who looked upon the
Auchness crutch as rotten and treacherous timber, and us calculated to
injure tenants by ministering delusive expectations to the landlords.
Have not the Free-trade newspapers, "the interested portion of the
press," made this very use of your arguments, and are not Free-trade
proprietors acting upon it? On this ground have you not proved an enemy
to the farmer, and are those greatly to blame who think so?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account