CHAPTER IV.

The Bondage System of the North of England -- Manner in which it strikes a Stranger from the South -- Bands of Women working in the Fields -- Mode of Maintaining the Hinds -- Description of their Cottages -- Cottage of the Herd of Middleton -- Cobbett’s Surprise on discovering the Bondage System -- his View of its Effects on the Population and Productiveness of the Country -- Curious Coach Scene near Morpeth -- Cobbett’s Address to the Chopsticks of the South on the State of the Bondage District -- Bondage Farms and Farm-yards -- Lodgings of the Hinds -- their Allowance of Corn and Pease -- the Schoolmaster paid in Meal -- Precarious Nature of the Tenure of their Houses -- Enormous Rent of the Land -- the Farm-yards, Corn Factories -- Scantiness of the Population compared with the Agricultural Districts of the South -- Hardships of the System on the Hinds -- a Certificate required from the last Master -- the same Custom in the Collieries of the Midland Counties -- Statements of Mr. and Mrs. Grey, Mr. Dodds, etc. -- Concluding Remarks 119