and generally--were not,
it is true, derived from our own scientific investigations; they were
derived from the conversation of our elders. But the knowledge which
these elders possessed as to the ways, the temper, and the conditions of
the rural poor was intimate, and was constantly illustrated by
anecdotes, to which we as children were never weary of listening. The
descriptions so often given of the misery of the agricultural laborers
and the oppression of the ruling class from the beginning of the
nineteenth century up to the abolition of the Corn Laws may be correct
as applied to certain parts of the kingdom; but, in the case of
Devonshire at all events, they are, it would appear, very far from the
truth. The period more particularly in question, including the decade
known as "the hungry 'forties," is precisely the period with which these
elders of ours were most closely acquainted; and, though we occasionally
heard of disturbances called "bread riots" as having occurred in Exeter
and Plymouth, no hint reached us of such outbreaks having ever taken
place in the country, or of any distress or temper which was calculated
to provoke protests of any sort or kind against the established order.
On the contrary, between the rural poor and the old-fashioned landed
aristocracy, lay and clerical alike, the relations were not only
amicable, but very often confidential also.

This fact may be illustrated by the case of old Miss Froude, the "Lady
Bountiful" of her immediate neighborhood, who was constantly appealed to
by its inhabitants, not only for material aid, but for religious
guidance as well, and appreciation of their religious experiences. Thus
on one occasion an old woman was ushered into Miss Froude's presence who
had evidently some fact of great importance to communicate. The fact
turned out to be this: that she had spent the whole of the previous
night in a trance, during which she had ascended to heaven, and been let
in by "a angel." "Well," said Miss Froude, "and did they ask you your
name?" "No, ma'am, not my name," was the answer; "they only asked me my
parish." "And do you," Miss Froude continued, "remember what the angel's
name was?" The old woman seemed doubtful. "Do you think," said Miss
Froude, "it was Gabriel?" "Iss, fay (yes, i' faith)," said the old
woman. "Sure enough 'twas Gaburl." "And did you," said Miss Froude,
finally, "see anybody in heaven whom you knew?" The old woman hesitated,
but caught hersel