ITS LESSONS AND ITS WARNINGS 103 



the sole reward for our gallant soldiers was, to be 

 banished from the country for which they had 

 fought so bravely, especially as there is ample 

 room for their profitable employment on the 

 land at home. Such a policy of emigration 

 would be ruinous to the country both from 

 an economic and a social point of view. In a 

 discussion on the question " Soldiers as Settlers," 

 Mr. Bonar Law said, " he did not think any 

 one would look with pleasure at the prospect of 

 a very large number of the very best of our 

 population suddenly leaving the country." 



After all, it is to Mother Earth that we must 

 look, now and always, for our salvation. One 

 main object of this book is to awaken the minds 

 of all classes to the vital importance of agri- 

 culture an importance that cannot be ex- 

 aggerated because exaggeration is impossible. 

 Carlyle did not exaggerate when he wrote : 



" Land is the mother of us all, nourishes, shelters, 

 gladdens, lovingly enriches us all. In how many ways, 

 from our first wakening to our last sleep on her blessed 

 mother-bosom, does she as with blessed mother's arms 

 enfold us all." 



Our forefathers, in olden times, regarded 

 the cultivation of the soil as a religious rite : 



