the venerable grandsires of the valley things of which they had never
dreamed, telling of the advantages of extended thought and education.
After many days spent in persuasion, he gained the consent of some to
erect a large college which was immediately begun. Some of the older
ones shook their heads and asked each other the question, "Were we not
happy? What more can be required?" Thus the first seeds of discord were
sown where all had been harmony. Laborers came from afar to aid in the
erection of the college, and day by day the work progressed and children
stood and gazed in open-eyed wonder at the place where they were to gain
a world of information. The work was finished; teachers came from
foreign lands, masters of languages, teachers of science, and
metaphysicians to puzzle the heads of the old and weary the brain of the
young. Teachers of music with massive organs for the music rooms of the
college arrived, teachers of piano and harp, all of which were a
revelation to these simple people, who could not conceive of any sweeter
music than the song of the birds, their mothers evening hymn or the soft
sweet notes of the happy wife as she crooned her babe to sleep. The
children were sent to the college and and in a short time the strife
began, each one trying to excel the other. No more time to study the
effect of the misty mountain tops, no more time to listen to the songs
of the birds, for here within these four walls were to be found and
learned stranger things than they had ever thought of. After a few years
the youths who went to the old church could scarcely be recognized. The
same sweet welcome was given by the old church bell but how changed were
the people who assembled together! Where all had been love and faith
before, there was now doubt and discord. For had they not dabbled in
science? Some of the more learned ones even whispered that the old
clergyman should be replaced by a younger man, one more advanced in
culture and training. True his head was bent and very grey, his hands
shook and voice trembled and at times it was almost difficult to