CHAPTER V.
THE REALITIES OF LIFE.
"He fixed thee mid this dance Of plastic circumstance, This Present, thou, forsooth, wouldst fain arrest: Machinery just meant To give thy soul its bent, Try thee and turn thee forth, sufficiently impressed." BROWNING, "Rabbi Ben Ezra." "Eh, Dieu! nous marchons trop en enfants--cela me fache!" ST.

JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL.
One of the problems which beset school education, and especially education in boarding schools, is the difficulty of combining the good things it can give with the best preparation for after life.

This preparation has to be made under circumstances which necessarily keep children away from many of the realities that have to be faced in the future.
To be a small member of a large organization has an excellent effect upon the mind.

From the presence of numbers a certain dignity gathers round many things that would in themselves be insignificant.

Ideas of corporate life with its obligations and responsibilities are gained.
Honoured traditions and ideals are handed down if the school has a history and spirit of its own.