312 AWAKENING OF ENGLAND. 



men of the middle class are ashamed to per- 

 form useful and probably ennobling acts of 

 labour, which they are proud of having done 

 in Canada or Australia. I have heard of 

 a Major, it is true, who used to enter 

 Salisbury market triumphantly on a tumbril 

 loaded with pigs or calves, and sometimes 

 with manure ; but how many ordinary trades- 

 men's sons would do this ; and if they did, 

 would they not have to dress for the occasion 

 in spotless gaiters and spotted waistcoats to 

 avoid the danger of being taken for the carter ? 



The farmer class, although often educated 

 in the same village school as the children of 

 the labourer, are for ever inculcating into 

 their children that they are of a superior 

 caste, despite the fact that the farmer may 

 not be any more refined or intellectual than 

 the labourer. To illustrate how far this base 

 training is carried out, I will cite a case where 

 ill-breeding was allowed to defile one of the 

 most sacred times of a child's life. 



A lady kindly offered to make a present of 

 confirmation caps to all the girls in her parish. 

 At this, a small farmer, with little or no 

 education, strongly objected to his daughter 

 wearing the same pattern of cap as the 



