248 AWAKENING OF ENGLAND. 



expansion of rural industries naturally ancillary 

 to husbandry. 



To revive village life, not only must land 

 be given to the mechanic, but the tiller of the 

 soil should be taught a craft to which he can 

 turn his hand and exercise his creative faculty 

 when the earth lies sodden under sable clouds. 

 The country girl must be given some other 

 outlook in life than that of domestic service, 

 some other chance of a mate than an ill-paid 

 agricultural labourer. Let him be a worker 

 on the land by all means, but a worker who 

 has joy in his work and obtains an adequate 

 financial reward for his industry. And it 

 must be clearly understood that no amount of 

 agricultural education will ever arrest the rural 

 exodus unless the wages paid to the village 

 labourer are high enough to render unattrac- 

 tive the lure of the town, with its higher wages 

 and its greater freedom. 



