_Rural Progress and the Providence of God_ Every man of faith must see in this new rural civilization the purpose of God to redeem the country from the dangers of a rural peasantry and moral decadence. Progress is the will of God. Christ's vision of a Kingdom of Heaven involved a redeemed world. That Kingdom of Heaven is coming ultimately in the country as well as in the city. Every sign of rural progress indicates it and should be hailed with joy by men of faith. The triumph over isolation and the gradual emancipation from drudgery, the development of good roads, trolleys, telephones, rural mail service, automobiles, and the wonderful evolution of farm machinery are all way-marks in the providence of God indicating the ultimate coming of his Kingdom. The increased intelligence among farming people, the many new agencies for popular education, the new social consciousness and growing spirit of cooperation, the new efficiency of rural institutions, a better school, a community-serving church, a character-building home, as well as a scientifically conducted farm, every one of these makes for better rural morals and better religion, and should delight the heart of every earnest man who "desires a _better country_, that is a heavenly." [Illustration: Plan of Macdonald Consolidated School grounds and gardens, Bowesville, Ontario, Canada.] TEST QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER III 1.--Why are the terms "countryman" and "farmer" ceasing to be used as terms of ridicule? 2.--What effect, in past years, has _isolation_ had upon people living in the country? 3.--What modern means of intercommunication have largely overcome the evils of rural isolation? 4.--What are the social possibilities of the telephone for people living in the open country? 5.--Why are good roads so essential, socially and industrially, in the country sections? 6.--When was the "Good Roads Association" formed, and how much has your state expended for state roads the past twenty years? (Inquire of your County Surveyor.) 7.--What do the rural sections owe to the steam railroad system of the country? 8.--What have the trolleys accomplished which the steam roads could not do? 9.--What changes in rural life are due to the rural free delivery of mail? 10.--Describe what these changes have accomplished in your own home county. 11.--To what extent has machinery relieved farm labor of its drudgery? 12.--Describe the evolution of the plow and the harrow. 13.--What inventions in farm machinery have had the greatest influence on rural progress? 14.--What can you say about the increase of intelligence in the country sections you have known? 15.--What agencies are now at work in the country making popular education possible? 16.--Have you observed anywhere yet the new social consciousness or class consciousness among farmers? 17.--To what extent do you think cooperation has gained acceptance in the country? 18.--In what rural institutions is cooperation still greatly lacking?