vantage ground of truth."--BACON.


"Divine Philosophy!
Not harsh and crabbed as dull fools suppose,
But musical as is Apollo's lute,
And a perpetual feast of nectar'd sweets
Where no crude surfeit reigns."--MILTON.


It may seem rather surprising to include education among the pleasures of
life; for in too many cases it is made odious to the young, and is
supposed to cease with school; while, on the contrary, if it is to be
really successful it must be suitable, and therefore interesting, to
children, and must last through life. The very process of acquiring
knowledge is a privilege and a blessing. It used to be said that there was
no royal road to learning; it would be more true to say that the avenues
leading to it are all royal.

"It is not," says Jeremy Taylor, "the eye that sees the beauties of
heaven, nor the ear that hears the sweetness of music, or the glad tidings
of a prosperous accident; but the soul that perceives all the relishes of
sensual and intellectual perceptions: and the more noble and excellent the
soul is, the greater and more savory are its perceptions. And if a child
behold the rich ermine, or the diamonds of a starry night, or the order of
the world, or hears the discourses of an apostle; because he makes no
reflex act on himself and sees not what he sees, he can have but the
pleasure of a fool or the deliciousness of a mule."

Herein lies the importance of education. I say education rather than