226 A Walk from 



Grovernment and people of England ; so much is doing 

 to make the children of the manufacturing districts 

 pass through the school-room into the factory, carry- 

 ing with them the ability and taste for reading ; 

 ragged-schools, working-men's clubs, and institutions 

 for all kinds of cheap learning and gratuitous teaching 

 are multiplying so rapidly; the press is turning out 

 such a world of literature for the homes of the poor, 

 and the English Post, like a beneficent Providence, 

 is distilling such a morning dew of manuscript and 

 printed thoughts over the whole length and breadth 

 of the country, and all these streams of elevating 

 influence are now so tending towards the agricultural 

 laborers, that there is good reason to believe the next 

 generation, of them will stand head and shoulders 

 above any preceding one in the stature of intelligence 

 and self-respect. This in itself will give them a new 

 status in society, as beneficial to their employers as 

 to themselves. It will increase their mutual respect, 

 and create a better footing for their relationships. 



But the first improvement demanded in their con- 

 dition, and the most pressingly urgent, is a more 

 comfortable, decent and healthy housing. Until this 

 is effected, all other efforts to raise them mentally and 

 morally must fail of their expected result. The 

 London Times, and other metropolitan, and many local, 



