Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 3.djvu/176

166 can be effectually Christianized. Prof. Henslow therefore commenced by gaining the confidence of those whom he wished to influence, and to do this he had to adapt himself to them, and utilize whatever forces he could find available. He began by amusing them. He got up a cricket club, and encouraged various manly games. He introduced ploughing-matches, and competitive exhibitions. His acquaintance with chemistry enabled him to construct fireworks, which he would let off upon the rectory lawn, and which were a great attraction to the people. He brought out various natural and artificial curiosities, which were at first vacantly stared at, but, with his extraordinary faculty of adapting his language and illustrations to the commonest capacity, he gradually kindled an interest in the minds of many which grew into a desire to learn. Other recreations and incitements followed, which will be presently referred to. Prof. Henslow resorted to many measures of amelioration and improvement, and carried them all along together; but, in our brief sketch of his labors, we must consider them separately; and we will take up first what he did for the laborers, next for the farmers, and lastly, what he accomplished for the education of the children:

One of the first evils which he attacked was the degradation and dependence of the laborers. The Hitcham farmers held their men in brutal subjection, viewing them as little better than slaves, for whose concern they felt no interest. They were, therefore, the enemies of every measure for the improvement of the laboring-class. Prof. Henslow considered the lack of an independent home as one of the great barriers to the elevation of the working-men, and he therefore urged the adoption of the "allotment system," by which the laborers might become the owners or tenants of small pieces of ground, to be cultivated by themselves for their own benefit. This encountered the fiercest opposition from the farmers, and led to a long and determined struggle. All sorts of objections were raised. It was said the laborers would steal the farmers' seed to sow their own ground; they would give their masters slack work in order to reserve their strength for their own patches at the end of the day. But the worst difficulty was the profound class or caste spirit which pervades English society, and which impelled the farmers to fight the change, because it would raise the laborer, and bring him one step nearer to themselves. It was in 1845 that Prof. Henslow made his first public appeal upon this subject, in which he pointed out the many advantages that would result from the allotment system to the laboring-class. He urged the reform energetically, and initiated it by granting portions of his own land for the purpose. He pushed the project until he had got fifty more of one-quarter of an acre each. The farmers here made a stand, and determined to crush the whole system. They went into coöperation, and gave mutual pledges that they would "refuse all employment and show no favor to any day-laborer who should hold an allotment."