established common kitchens and bakeries,[1] in which food might cooked with economy, and a better knowledge of cooking among labourers' wives acquired (See Appendix IV.) Several efforts of this character are now being made in various parts of the country, but I am not in possession of sufficient information to speak of the results. If, in addition to district visiting our young ladies would introduce the sewing machine into villages and take the initiative in the needle work of the poorer neighbours, the labourers' wives would gain knowledge in that department, and help at the same time.
Lately, too, penny readings have become fashionable during the winter in many villages, and the squire, the clergyman, the doctor, and the trader have vied with each other in laudable efforts to provide amusement for their neighbours; and, as instruction invariably accompanies mental amusement, much benefit is gained. Dickens, Thackeray, Marriott, Halliburton, and Douglas Jerrold, with occasionally a taste of Shakespeare, Tennyson, or Longfellow, are the favourite authors whose works are read. The subjects and scenes selected, however, are almost invariably beyond the appreciation of the agricultural labourer, who, though fond of native wit and homely habits, and perhaps able to enjoy the sayings and doings of Sam Weller and Jacob Faithful, are quite incapable of enjoying the satire of Vanity Fair, or Sam Slick, the pungent quizzing of Mr. and Mrs. Caudle, or the refinements of high-class
- ↑ Mr. J. K. Fowler remarks: "Mr. Denton had spoken of bakeries for the benefit of the men, but he did not see why they should not have public breweries as well, so as to avoid the bad beer so much complained of, only it would be quite necessary that the present oppressive malt-tax should be removed. The supply of water to the dwellings of the poor was of even greater consequence than that of beer, and should never be overlooked in the erection of cottages."
