lue of their object by the question of wages
and food--'How will it affect my wages and food?'--and probably that
is the test he will apply. A little knot of resolute and
straightforward men should be formed in every village to see that
the natural outcome of the franchise is obtained. They can begin as
vigilance committees, and will ultimately reach to legal status as
councils.

THE WILTSHIRE LABOURER

Ten years have passed away,[4] and the Wiltshire labourers have
only moved in two things--education and discontent. I had the
pleasure then of pointing out in 'Fraser' that there were causes
at work promising a considerable advance in the labourers'
condition. I regret to say now that the advance, which in a
measure did take place, has been checkmated by other circumstances,
and there they remain much as I left them, except in book-learning
and mental restlessness. They possess certain permanent
improvements--unexhausted improvements in agricultural language--but
these, in some way or other, do not seem now so valuable as they
looked. Ten years since important steps were being taken for the
material benefit of the labouring class. Landowners had awakened to
the advantage of attaching the peasantry to the soil, and were
spending large sums of money building cottages. Everywhere cottages
were put up on sanitary principles, so that to-day few farms on
great estates are without homes for the men. This substantial
improvement remains, and cannot fade away. Much building, too, was
progressing about the farmsteads; the cattle-sheds were undergoing
renovation, and this to some degree concerned the labourer, who now
began to do more of his work under cover. The efforts of every
writer and speaker in the country had not been without effect,
and allotments, or large gardens, were added to most cottage
homes. The movement, however, was slow, and promised more than it
performed, so that there are still cottages which have not shared
in it. But, on the whole, an advance in this respect did occur,
and the aggregate acreage of gardens and allotments must be
very considerably larger now than formerly. These are solid
considerations to quote on the favourable side. I have been
thinking to see if I could find anything else. I cannot call to
mind anything tangible, but there is certainly more liberty, an air
of freedom and independence--something more of the 'do as I please'
feeling exhibited. Then the sum ends. At that time exp