132 KUEAL LIFE IN CANADA 



sent out to a number of my acquaintances brings more 

 evidence of this than of any other lack. One woman 

 quotes, in passionate protest, the words of Cowper: 



O Solitude, where are the charms 

 Which sages have seen in thy face? 



Better dwell in the midst of alarms 

 Than reign in this desolate place. 



The hunger for comradeship drives many a migrant 

 from the country to the never-filled cities. This need 

 must itself be met, for though there are compensations 

 in the country, " to speak of them is scarcely more 

 effective than to reason with the avalanche concerning 

 the glory of the mountain after it has felt the joy of 

 yielding to the forces that have pulled at its heart since 

 the world began."* 



The social life of pioneer days had two character- 

 istics absent from that of the present. The essential 

 operations of the farm brought people together. Log- 

 ging was perforce a common task. There was not capi- 

 tal in the hands of the pioneers to secure its perform- 

 ance by paid labor. The nature of the task did not per- 

 mit of its being done single-handed. And so it was with 

 many other operations as well. The " bee " the word 

 does not arise from the social habits of the honey bee; 

 word and institution alike came down from ancient 

 Saxon days, when an alarm of danger from a foe 

 brought all together for defence the " bee " to which 

 men had recourse for mutual aid in labor availed for 

 social utility as well. And the other characteristic was 

 that the satisfaction of ends attained gave place for 



* Wilbert L. Anderson, " The Country Town," p. 196. 



