...agricultural operatives would pass by gazing with astonishment at the wondrous youth who could find pleasure in reading ; for it was a striking peculiarity...with as much astonishment as they would look upon amateur hedging and ditching. By the instrumentality of the parish clerk, and the parson to boot, the...

...he was sitting on a gate and reading Thompson's Seasons, the agricultural operatives would pass by gazing with astonishment at the wondrous youth who could find a pleasure in reading; for it was a strikint; peculiarity of the lads of the village to think that they had read quite enough at school,...