The same course of time which
has removed many enormities, more shocking however to our
modern feelings than to those who devised and endured them,
has simultaneously removed many alleviating circumstances. If
the mere baron's grasp be not so ruthless, the champion we
found in the church is no longer so ready. The spirit of
Conquest has adapted itself to the changing circumstances of
ages, and however its results vary in form, in degree they are
much the same."
"But how do they show themselves?"
"In many circumstances, which concern many classes; but I
speak of those which touch my own order; and therefore I say
at once--in the degradation of the people."
"But are the people so degraded?"
"There is more serfdom in England now than at any time since
the Conquest. I speak of what passes under my daily eyes when
I say. that those who labour can as little choose or change
their masters now, as when they were born thralls. There are
great bodies of the working classes of this country nearer the
condition of brutes, than they have been at any time since the
Conquest. Indeed I see nothing to distinguish them from
brutes, except that their morals are inferior. Incest and
infanticide are as common among them as among the lower
animals.
Pages:
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307