THE HEDGER AND DITCHER. What time the laboured ox In his loose traces from the furrow came, MILTON'S COMUS. It was said by a noble and learned lord, whose fame, like that of many fancied great men of our day and generation, will hang upon the utterance of a single significant phrase, that no act of parliament was ever passed into law, but a coach and six might be driven through its provisions. Admirable legislation -immaculate power of perfection-profundity of consummate wisdom! Laws should be enacted for the benefit of all classes of society, from the splendid star and garter, “the cheap defence of nations," to the humblest badge of industry, the source of the wealth of all king doms, without being so incorrectly framed as to be defeated by sophistry, or so loosely constructed as to be crept through by violence or deception. They are the fences which divide property, which define its just and proper bounds, which protect its rights and enforce its privileges, which raise up barriers against encroachment on the one hand, and against confiscation and destruction on the other. It is true, that, from time to time, it is needful that these fences should be plashed, the old tree of precedent pollared, not uprooted, the gaps made up, the exuberance lopped, the rotten parts amputated. In this view of the matter, the HEDGER and DITCHER is a personage of no inferior importance. He fulfils the great functions of legislation itself; and although it may not be said of him, like the grave-digger in Hamletthat his work lasts till doomsday, yet the Hedger and Ditcher is the means, by the exercise of his laborious capabilities, of fulfiling the several important purposes embraced in acts of parliament, which, sanctioned by the highest power in, the state, still require amendment, according to the altered circumstances of the day, and the inroads which have been effected from time to time, by violence, by turbulence, or by over-strained privilege, totally disregarding the labour of the head in one instance, and the labour of the hand in the other. Truly, the Hedger and Ditcher is, nemine contradicente, an important and useful character. God forbid, it has been well exclaimedGod forbid that the time should ever come when riches shall be esteemed everywhere the synonyme of good! The spirit of Mammon has a wide empire; but it cannot, and must not, be worshipped in the Holy of Holies! No:-if that were the case, poverty would be feared as an inexorable monster; and there would be no freedom, no truth, no wisdom; no harmony. It was well said by Goethe, that "all pleasure in life is founded on the regular return of external things. The alternations of day and night, of the seasons, of the blossoms and fruits, and whatever else meets us from epoch to epoch with the offer and command of enjoyment-these are the essential springs of earthly existence. The more open we are to such enjoyments, the happier we feel ourselves; but, should the vicissitude of these appearances come and go without our taking interest in it should such benignant invitations address themselves to us in vain, then follows the greatest misery, the heaviest malady: one begins to view life as a sickening burden." The Hedger and Ditcher feels this: he exemplifies its truth day by day; but the Hedger and Ditcher expresses it not. Contrary to the hard-worked Thresher, he presents an aspect of cheerfulness. His spirit is light and buoyant:—his heart merry and free from care. In his step, there is a greater degree of firmness as well as of elasticity; and in his manner, a peculiar kind of rough dignity. He is a finished labourer; and although he is a man of all-work connected with the pursuits of agriculture, the employment of hedging, in particular, is his greatest pride; and he may be fairly allowed to indulge in the boast of the superior style in which he can perform that necessary operation. He is a staid character; commands a large share of the respect of those with whom he comes in contact; and can obtain more than the usual amount of common wages. He eschews poaching - a practice which to him is quite repugnant. Nor, while passing along the margin of the woods, does he mark the roost of the pheasant, or the L - numerous "runs" of other kinds of game. He carries no gun; nor does he know the use of the wires. Viewing the Hedger and Ditcher within the walls of his own cottage, he appears to be surrounded by more comforts than is the case with the other laborious sons of hardy toil. There is presented around a greater degree of neatness; and the means of enjoyment, so far as they are embraced within his contracted sphere, seem to be rendered fully available, and devoted to the most beneficial purposes. The absence of the feeling of contentment may mark other dwellings of a similar character-with the cheerless hearth, disorder in the arrangement of all articles of usefulness and necessity, the room unswept and undusted, the dress untidy, the whole aspect uncomfortable-a scene rendered more abhorrent by the forbidding scowl, the mutterings of spleen, the angry expressions of discontent, the imprecations of malice, the curses of hatred, and all uncharitable or unforgiving feelings. But this is not the case with the Hedger and Ditcher. His wife is cleanly and neatly attired; and she diffuses around a kindly welcome to a comfortable home. Well may he be impressed with |