CHAPTER IV 



RURAL EDUCATION 



ONE of the most depressing features in the 

 rural life of England, as apart from that of 

 Wales and Scotland, is the general unpopu- 

 larity of education. The village heckler 

 who demands of a parliamentary candidate 

 whether he does not think that children should 

 leave school earlier in order to help towards 

 their upkeep is always sure of much sympathy 

 from Liberals and Tories alike. It is not 

 difficult to explain this dislike of elementary 

 education on the part of so many parents. 

 One reason is the absence of any general 

 enthusiasm for education in England : " the 

 last thing," says one of Bernard Shaw's 

 characters, " that an Englishman likes to be 

 called is intellectual." There are very few 

 Robert Elsmeres amongst our landed gentry ; 

 nor can you expect much enthusiasm for 

 " book-learning " amongst the labouring 

 population of our countrysides. From gener- 

 ation to generation the dependent poor have 

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