THIS book contains four lectures given in 

 the Colonial Theatre, Boston, as a part of the 

 University Course, under the auspices of the 

 Education Committee of the Twentieth Cen- 

 tury Club. The lectures were delivered in 

 January, 1905, although scheduled for a year 

 earlier. Parts of the fourth lecture once ap- 

 peared in The Independent. 



ITHACA, N. Y., 

 MARCH, I, 1905. 



These chapters have now been revised, and 

 the book is re-set ; and the size of the vol- 

 ume is reduced, for some of the incidental 

 subjects are treated more fully in the other 

 books now combined with it to make the Rural 



Outlook Set. 



L. H. BAILEY. 

 NOVEMBER 8, 1910. 



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