{"product_id":"2940012760364","title":"Crying for the Light Volume III","description":"CONTENTS OF VOL. III.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER                                            PAGE\u003cbr\u003e       XXII.  AT THE CATTLE-SHOW                      1\u003cbr\u003e      XXIII.  THE FUNERAL                            36\u003cbr\u003e       XXIV.  THE HONEYMOON                          48\u003cbr\u003e        XXV.  A REVELATION                           65\u003cbr\u003e       XXVI.  THE ITALIAN COUNTESS                   82\u003cbr\u003e      XXVII.  IN BRUSSELS                           114\u003cbr\u003e     XXVIII.  A COUNTRYMAN IN TOWN                  131\u003cbr\u003e       XXIX.  THE COLONEL                           159\u003cbr\u003e        XXX.  ROSE RETIRES FROM THE STAGE           183\u003cbr\u003e       XXXI.  CHIEFLY ABOUT THE LAND                201\u003cbr\u003e      XXXII.  CONSULTATION                          223\u003cbr\u003e     XXXIII.  THE FINAL RESOLVE                     247\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER XXII.\u003cbr\u003eAT THE CATTLE-SHOW.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAgain we are at Sloville, on the occasion of the anniversary of the\u003cbr\u003eflourishing Agricultural Society of the county—an occasion which fills\u003cbr\u003ethe town with rosy-faced, ruined British farmers; which blocks up all the\u003cbr\u003eleading streets with flocks and herds of oxen and sheep from a thousand\u003cbr\u003ehills, and which not a little astonishes and vexes the soul of the\u003cbr\u003etrue-born son of the soil, as he contemplates new-fangled machinery of\u003cbr\u003eevery variety and for every purpose; alarms him with ominous forebodings\u003cbr\u003eof a time when, Othello-like, he will find his occupation gone, and the\u003cbr\u003erascally steam-engine doing the work, and taking the bread out of the\u003cbr\u003emouth of an honest man.  He thinks of Swing and sighs.  That mysterious\u003cbr\u003epersonage had a way of putting down threshing-machines which was\u003cbr\u003esatisfactory for a time; but, alas! steam is king, and it is vain to\u003cbr\u003efight with him.  It is steam quite as much as the wickedness of the\u003cbr\u003elandlord, incredible as it may seem to the Radical politician, which has\u003cbr\u003eemptied the country and filled the town.  It would be all right if steam\u003cbr\u003ewould work off our surplus population.  Alas! it does nothing of the\u003cbr\u003ekind, and each year the labourer finds himself of less account; nor can\u003cbr\u003ethere be any change for the better till we get the people back on to the\u003cbr\u003eland, away from the crowded city with its ever-increasing drudgery and\u003cbr\u003etoil.  Perhaps when they have settled Ireland our wise men of Gotham may\u003cbr\u003elook at home.  There is plenty for them to do there.  It is high time\u003cbr\u003ethat we do something for our bold peasantry, once their country’s pride.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is a fine, bright, sparkling morning, one rare in England, but to be\u003cbr\u003emade the most of when it comes.  There are no clouds in the sky, and\u003cbr\u003ethere is scarce a breath of air to bring them down from the vasty deep\u003cbr\u003eabove.  Every hedgerow is bright with flowers, and musical with the song\u003cbr\u003eof birds.  Overnight there was a shower, which laid the dust and added a\u003cbr\u003etouch of freshness to the emerald meadows.  On every side ancient oaks\u003cbr\u003eand wide-reaching elms cast a grateful shade.  What can be dearer than an\u003cbr\u003eEnglish landscape on such a day?  Even the thatched clay cottage, with\u003cbr\u003eits roses and honeysuckle, looks picturesque, and the brown cows suggest\u003cbr\u003emore than milk as they lie chewing the cud, apparently at peace with\u003cbr\u003ethemselves and all below.  Here and there amidst the trees is the\u003cbr\u003ered-brick manor-house, or the old-fashioned farmhouse, or the gray spire\u003cbr\u003eof the village church, where from time immemorial the tribes have\u003cbr\u003erepaired.  Yesterday, it were, they were teaching there the Mass; now the\u003cbr\u003eMass is unsung, and we have the doctrines and Articles of the Church of\u003cbr\u003eEngland, which seem sadly at variance with one and another.  To-morrow\u003cbr\u003ewhat shall we hear there?  Who can say?  Man and his opinions change only\u003cbr\u003ein our villages, the face of Nature remains the same.  You travel all the\u003cbr\u003eworld over, and you come back to your native village to find it ever the\u003cbr\u003esame, only a little smaller, that is all.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the lodge of a neighbouring hall rides forth a cavalcade; Sir Watkin\u003cbr\u003eStrahan, well-mounted, is the leader of the party.  A fair girl, the rich\u003cbr\u003emerchant’s daughter, is by his side; on the other is the rich merchant\u003cbr\u003ehimself.  Behind them follows a groom in livery, perhaps the best rider\u003cbr\u003eof the lot.  As they leave the gate the keeper hands Sir Watkin an\u003cbr\u003eill-written epistle on a dirty piece of paper, which Sir Watkin\u003cbr\u003eindignantly tears to pieces without reading.  ‘If the contents are of\u003cbr\u003eimportance,’ he says to himself, ‘they will come before him in a more\u003cbr\u003elegitimate manner.’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘’Tis that old woman from the workhouse,’ says the lodge-keeper to the\u003cbr\u003egroom, who gives a knowing smile in reply as he passes out.  ‘She’s a\u003cbr\u003egood deal arter the maister,’ she replies, ‘but he’s not one to take up\u003cbr\u003ewith the likes of her.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47162947404016,"sku":"2940012760364","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012760364_p0.jpg?v=1763571991","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012760364","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}