ng we departed on
the search, and frequently wandered all day without 'lifting a head.'
These were the best times for us young ones, whose hearts were too
light to care for more than the fun of the thing, as we then had a
glorious opportunity of getting a feast of bramble-berries and wild
raspberries in the woods and moors; but to the older members of our
party the disappointment was anything but pleasant.

I have spoken of a field being _ready_. Now, to some readers, this may
convey a very erroneous idea. We learn that in early times not only
were the gleaners admitted among the sheaves, or allowed to 'follow
the shearers,' as the privilege is now termed, but, in a certain
instance, the reapers were commanded to leave a handful now and then
for the gleaner. Now, that custom is entirely changed: the sheaves are
all taken away from the field; and instead of the reapers leaving
handfuls expressly for the gleaners, the farmer endeavours by raking
to secure as much as possible of what they accidentally leave on the
stubble. I am not inclined to quarrel with the condition that requires
the stocks to be removed ere the gleaners gain admittance; because
many would be tempted to pilfer, and besides, the ground on which they
stand could not be reached. But there is no doubt that the custom of
gleaning was originally a public enactment; while the fact that it has
spread over the whole earth, and descended to the present time, shews
that it still exists on the statute-book of justice, in all the length
and breadth of its original signification; and it amounts almost to a
virtual abrogation of the privilege when the stubble is thus gleaned.
At all events, if these sentiments are not in consonance with the new
lights of the day, let them be pardoned in a _ci-devant_ gleaner.

Upon arriving at a field, our first object was to choose a locality.
If we were first on the ground, we took a careful survey of its
geographical position, and acted accordingly. When the field was
level, and equally exposed, it mattered little to what part we went;
but in the event of its being hilly, or situated near a wood, we had
to consider where the best soil lay, and where the sun had shone most.
It was in the discovery of these important points that the sagacity
and experience of our aged leaders were most brilliantly displayed,
and gave to our party an immense superiority over the other, whose
science was much more scanty; it therefore happened that w