Transcribed from the [1915] National Labour Press Ltd. edition,
PRICE ONE PENNY.
The Burston
School Strike
By “CASEY”
(of THE LABOURLEADER).
This little booklet is dedicated tothe
BRAVE WOMEN OF BURSTON,
who have since April, 1914, nobly
struggled against the tyranny of the
Countryside.
p.1PREFACE.
“To understand the things that are at ourdoor is the best preparation for understanding those that liebeyond.”—Hypatia.
In this sentence the Reverend Charles Kingsley carries forwardthe message left by Aristotle.
When preparing to write this little booklet I was greatlyimpressed with the above words. No more fitting motto couldI find for it, since it deals with the tyranny of our own countryside.
It is a challenge to autocracy, a protest against injusticeand a warning signal to the teaching profession.
It shows how a simple, moral, God-fearing little community maybe roused into action against parochial busybodies and localglebe lords. The squire and the rector have been the LordHigh Tololorums of the countryside for centuries.
To dispute their divine authority, or to question theirinsolence, oft means social ostracism, or a tour abroad without aCook’s guide.
Emigration returns will prove this.
The people of Burston, in Norfolk, are deeply religious andlaw-abiding. The reverend rector has, however, gone toofar.
Their struggle against him for fifteen months, their bravedevotion and loyalty to their teachers, is almost withoutparallel in the history of Nonconformity.
They have seceded from the Church, their children havevoluntarily left the Council School, and the parents, thoughfined again and again, have successfully defied that poorman’s Dragon p.2of Wantley—the Law. The struggle is not yetconcluded, and Heaven knows where and how it will end.
The reverend rector finding teachers, parents, and childrenstill true to each other, has issued notices to quit atMichaelmas, next September.
Not succeeding from the religious point of view, he is nowabout to try his luck as landowner.
By means of these glebe notices he seeks to remove the bravestand best so that he may once more hold the destinies of thevillagers in the hollow of his hand.
The purpose of this booklet is to focus the clear white lightof public opinion upon Burston. I believe I voice the wishof every true woman and man, every lover of justice and genuinefreedom, when I express a hope that he may not succeed. Hadhe brought an atom of brotherly love or the true charity which hequotes on Sundays, or sought to crystallise the true spirit ofChristianity into his dealings with his village folk, then thisbooklet would have remained unwritten.