THE RURAL EXODUS 77 



ance at a Crystal Palace football match, music- 

 halls filled to overflowing, are phenomena 

 which may be laughed at or ignored by the 

 well-to-do classes, but they are nevertheless 

 full of social significance. They are the signs 

 and tokens of a popular Hedonism, a new 

 spirit in the people, half frivolous, half angry 

 a determination that places the joie de 

 vivre amongst those monopolies of the rich 

 and comfortable which must be broken down. 

 Like all intellectual movements this demand 

 for some greater share in the pleasures of life 

 became insistent first in our towns, and has 

 now reached the villages. Old men and 

 women and young people of both sexes all 

 alike cry out against the dullness of village 

 life. The hours of labour are long ; the 

 distance from work, owing partly to the dearth 

 of cottages, is often very great. Though it is 

 customary to grant the better paid labourers 

 on Scotch farms four days' holiday in the year 

 without deduction of wages no such usage 

 exists in England ; and those who are charged 

 with the care of animals usually work seven 

 days a week. Even from " model villages," 

 where wages may be high and houses excellent, 

 the young people depart to seek in fresh 

 scenes of urban or colonial life some greater 

 opportunities for pleasure. The sarcasm of 



