xiv FOREWORD. 



valuable education. All alike were ascripti glebes and felt 

 that inspiration which present or past contact with our 

 common alma mater, the English country-side, so potently 

 evokes in the breasts of her own children. If the great 

 defects of modern rural England are (as indeed they are) 

 the prevalence of suspicion between classes and creeds, and 

 a general lack of vocal expression of thought and aspiration, 

 no one could suggest that such defects vitiated the atmos- 

 phere of the Agricultural Club. All listened with respect and 

 generally with sympathy, if not with agreement, to conver- 

 sational speeches, free from all conventional veneer and 

 artificiality, which they felt to be candid and sincere, and 

 prompted by the conviction that their translation into 

 everyday experience would redound to the happiness, 

 contentment and prosperity of the whole village community. 

 Never have I heard the voice of the son of the soil ring 

 truer than at these historic gatherings. The Press was 

 unrepresented. The farmer, the land-owner and the worker 

 alike spoke their true minds to one another fearlessly and 

 honestly. Notably so the worker. What we always listened 

 to was the authentic voice of rural labour, tinged of tentimes 

 with a touch of true poetic sentiment which carried its 

 earnest appeals straight to the heart of its audience. 



The fact that this section (and may I without offence 

 add, the most interesting, informing and attractive section 

 of our Club) appeared to desire and unhesitatingly advocated 

 the entire elimination, by the process of Nationalisation, 

 of that branch of the agricultural Trinity to which I and 

 several others belonged, in no degree affected our profound 

 admiration of many of its representatives and of the talented 

 genius which inspired the able and clear presentment of 

 their case. 



Many of those whose social environment differs profoundly 

 from theirs, but who, as the outcome of these happy evenings, 

 can now claim and be proud to claim comradeship with 

 these men, must surely realise in face of the many and 

 grave economic difficulties which menace (and threaten some- 

 times to overwhelm) our oldest and most essential industry, 

 that greater mutual knowledge and the sympathy and con- 

 fidence which flow from it will prove more effective in solving 

 the pressing and vital problems of our country-side than 

 the well-meant but often harmful activities of political 

 enthusiasts. If there is bondage in the country-side, it is 



