Emerson warned England of the fact that her—
“Robust rural Saxon population had degenerated, in the mills, to the Leicester stockinger, and to the imbecile Manchester spinner far on the way to be spiders and needles.”[77]
Why did a handful of undisciplined Boers beat our soldiers in the Transvaal? Simply because they are physically a finer set of men than our 5 ft. 3 in. army, rapidly degenerating for want of a healthy agricultural population for recruiting purposes.
FOOTNOTES:
[76] See Fortnightly Review, November, 1883.
[77] Emerson—Traits, Chap. X.
[CHAPTER XXI.]
IRELAND UNDER THE WHEELS.
I repeat the assertion that Ireland has been ruined by Free Trade.
Let us take a brief retrospect of Ireland before the introduction of Free Trade.