SPORT: ITS RELATION TO THE STATE 355 



to learn the business, or he may enHst. Often it 

 is his sad fate to tramp back to his native village, 

 a man disappointed with the world at the outset 

 of life. This is a gloomy picture, so I will pen a 

 lighter one. 



What is the career of a bright lad who at fourteen 

 is placed in the garden or in the stables ? For the 

 first two years he may not earn much money, but 

 if under a good man, who will take the trouble to 

 teach him, he is earning experience and enough to 

 pay his mother for his clothes. If he has no chance 

 of promotion in his situation, he leaves with a good 

 character in order to better himself. If he is steady 

 and shows ability, by the age of twenty-five he has 

 a cottage and wages varying from 40^'. to $os. a 

 week, or perhaps more, with every prospect of a 

 rise and a comfortable old age. Unless some un- 

 foreseen accident happens he is provided for for 

 life. Very similar is the history of the gamekeeper. 

 It may be contended that I am writing about gentle- 

 men's servants. Perhaps so ; my object is to write 

 about the rural industries which are within reach of 

 the son of an agricultural labourer. I admit that 

 many boys are too dull to rise to the top of the 

 tree, either as grooms, gardeners, or gamekeepers ; 

 but, if they are too dull to succeed in country life, 

 they are not likely to set the Thames on fire in 

 London. 



There are two problems, which the stern school of 

 political economists, who base their conclusions upon 



