Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
235
The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft
·
George Gissing
161
XVII.
That
a
labourer
in
the
fields
should
stand
very
much
on
the
level
of
the
beast
that
toils
with
him,
can
be
neither
desirable
nor
necessary.
He
does
so,
as
a
matter
of
fact,
and
one
hears
that
only
the
dullest-witted
peasant
will
nowadays
consent
to
the
peasant
life;
his
children,
taught
to
read
the
newspaper,
make
what
haste
they
can
to
the
land
of
promise--where
newspapers
are
printed.
That
here
is
something
altogether
wrong
it
needs
no
evangelist
to
tell
us;
the
remedy
no
prophet
has
as
yet
even
indicated.
Husbandry
has
in
our
time
been
glorified
in
eloquence
which
for
the
most
part
is
vain,
endeavouring,
as
it
does,
to
prove
a
falsity--that
the
agricultural
life
is,
in
itself,
favourable
to
gentle
emotions,
to
sweet
thoughtfulness,
and
to
all
the
human
virtues.
Agriculture
is
one
of
the
most
exhausting
forms
of
toil,
and,
in
itself,
by
no
means
conducive
to
spiritual
development;
that
it
played
a
civilizing
part
in
the
history
of
the
world
is
merely
due
to
the
fact
that,
by
creating
wealth,
it
freed
a
portion
of
mankind
from
the
labour
of
the
plough.
Enthusiasts
have
tried
the
experiment
of
turning
husbandman;
one
of
them
writes
of
his
experience
in
notable
phrase.
"Oh,
labour
is
the
curse
of
the
world,
and
nobody
can
meddle
with
it
without
becoming
proportionately
brutified.
Is
it
a
praiseworthy
matter
that
I
have
spent
five
golden
months
in
providing
food
for
cows
and
horses?
It
is
not
so."
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
