THE LONGMAN LETTERS. 197 



face. The Church, the Chapel, the Houses of 

 Parliament, legislation, society, at home ; abroad, 

 the same. Note the Nihilism in Russia, and 

 the railway insurrection in the United States 

 lately. Everywhere the masses are heaving 

 and fermenting. In our own rural districts I 

 clearly foresee changes in the future through 

 the education now beginning of the cottagers. 

 Personally, I have little feeling, and my book 

 will be absolutely free of party politics. I 

 look at it much as I should dissect and 

 analyze a given period in the history of 

 ancient Rome." 



Nothing came of this proposal, and, indeed, 

 one feels that Jefferies was not the man to 

 write such a book. Of the people in other 

 countries he knew nothing but what he read 

 in the papers; of the people at home he knew 

 only the agricultural portion ; and though 

 he had read a great many books he was ir 

 no sense an historical student. But he was 

 still young, and it still seemed to him, 

 as to all young writers, that he could write 

 a book upon any subject which it interested 

 him to read about in the papers or elsewhere. 



