middle classes, and that word 'snob' (thanks very much to Mr.
Thackeray) used by them in its true sense, without regard of rank;
when one watches, as at Aldershott, the care and kindness of
officers toward their men; and over and above all this, when one
finds in every profession (in that of the soldier as much as any)
young men who are not only 'in the world,' but (in religious
phraseology) 'of the world,' living God-fearing, virtuous, and
useful lives, as Christian men should: then indeed one looks
forward with hope and confidence to the day when these men shall
settle down in life, and become, as holders of the land, the leaders
of agricultural progress, and the guides and guardians of the
labouring man.

I am bound to speak of the farmer, as I know him in the South of
England. In the North he is a man of altogether higher education
and breeding: but he is, even in the South, a much better man than
it is the fashion to believe him. No doubt, he has given heavy
cause of complaint. He was demoralised, as surely, if not as
deeply, as his own labourers, by the old Poor Law. He was
bewildered--to use the mildest term--by promises of Protection from
men who knew better. But his worst fault after all has been, that
young or old, he has copied his landlord too closely, and acted on
his maxims and example. And now that his landlord is growing wiser,
he is growing wiser too. Experience of the new Poor Law, and
experience of Free-trade, are helping him to show himself what he
always was at heart, an honest Englishman. All his brave
persistence and industry, his sturdy independence and self-help, and
last, but not least, his strong sense of justice, and his vast good-
nature, are coming out more and more, and working better and better
upon the land and the labourer; while among his sons I see many