and this applies to going to theatres."

"No, George; there is your error. There would be no two opinions about
the bog; but suppose you go for a tour to the Pyrenees, and, from
prejudice or some other cause, come back disgusted. You warn me not to
go, telling me I shall be wasting my time, and find nothing interesting
to reward my trouble in the journey. But Hardy goes the same tour, comes
home delighted, and says, 'Go to the Pyrenees by all means; it is a
glorious place, the most pleasant in the whole world for a tour.' To
decide the question, I read two books; one agrees with you, and the
other with Hardy. How can I arrive at an opinion unless I go myself, and
see what it is like? So it is with the theatre: some say it is the great
teacher of morals, others that it is the most wicked and hurtful place.
Therefore I think every one should form his own opinion from his own
experience."

"You may be right," said George, waveringly. "I am not clear upon the
subject; but I do not think, even if I were to form an opinion in the
way you prescribe, that I should ever choose the theatre as a place of
amusement."

"Then what is your favourite amusement?" asked Ashton.

"To come home and read, or spend a social evening with a friend," George
answered.

"Then I know what will suit you all to pieces," said Ashton; "and your
friend Hardy too. I am a member of a literary institution. It is a
first-rate place--the best in London. There are lectures and classes,
and soirees, a debating society, a good library, and rooms for