crowded, while in the Vale of Belvoir the population is near extinction. The cottages have no gardens, and are built up close against the side of the road. "Mushroom halls" and "charity houses" exist largely in this county, and this is perhaps the chief reason why its cottage accommodation is so peculiarly bad. "Mushroom halls" are cots originally erected by squatters on the edge of a common or waste, rapidly put together to avoid interference, only just serving for shelter, and patched up from time to time to keep out wind and weather. "Charity houses" are dwellings built expressly for or devoted to the use of the poor by private benevolence, or sometimes by the parish. Negligent administration is generally the fate of these well-meant charities. No rent being demanded, after a time the inmates frequently become the virtual owners, and sell or in various ways get rid of the property. Of course it falls into the hands of the worst class of proprietors, as none else would purchase houses with no title.
In the close parishes of Northamptonshire the cottage supply is insufficient for the amount of labour; in the open ones the accommodation is rarely, if ever, adequate to provide for the health, comfort, and morals of the inhabitants. As an instance of the sort of building supposed to be good enough for a labouring family: "Four cottages stpod together in a village near a malt-kiln. They had gardens. A speculator bought them. He turned the kiln into six cottages, and built five others on the ground which had been used for gardens." In almost all the villages of Northamptonshire instances are to be met with of overcrowding. "A cot, measuring 16 feet by 18 feet," the report states, "was inhabited by a grandfather, aged eighty-four, father, mother, and eleven children—fourteen in all; and at the time the place was visited the mother of the family was engaged in washing out clothes in the only living-room." This is spoken of as the worst case, but others very bad are mentioned.
Education is very defective in Northamptonshire, not for want of schools, but owing to the indifference and want of affection on the part of the parents. This is attributed to the demoralisation resulting from bad cottages, and to the poverty of the people and consequent want of hope.
