RURAL EDUCATION 105 



is often rendered ambiguous and uncomfort- 

 able. He is frequently the best educated 

 man in the parish and yet wholly cut off from 

 the society of intellectual equals. The very 

 unapostolic tradition that clerical families 

 must be, in an especial sense, " gentlefolk " 

 usually prevents any real intimacy between 

 the School House and the Vicarage ; on the 

 other hand, while the farmers and tradesmen 

 are ready to extend the hand of fellowship, 

 these honest and kindly neighbours never pos- 

 sessed either the time or the money to equip 

 themselves with a mental training like that 

 of the schoolmaster. And so it comes to 

 pass that the master or mistress is almost 

 always to some extent an isolated being. Yet 

 despite all such drawbacks these zealous 

 servants of the State, generally underpaid and 

 often unappreciated, not only carry on their 

 normal employment, but frequently add to it 

 voluntary works of supererogation in the 

 way of night schools and other forms of extra 

 tuition. 



