Utopia belongs to a county which is proverbial for the dullness of its rustics, but there is no sign of dullness on the face of any Utopian child.

On the contrary, so radiantly bright are the faces of the children that something akin to sunshine seems always to fill the school.

When he gets to know the school, the visitor will realise that the brightness of the children is of two kinds,--the brightness of energy and intelligence, and the brightness of goodness and joy.

And when he gets to know the school as well as I do, he will realise that these two kinds of brightness are in their essence one.
Let me say something about each of them.
The Utopian child is alive, alert, active, full of latent energy, ready to act, to do things, to turn his mind to things, to turn his hand to things, to turn his desire to things, to turn his whole being to things.

There is no trace in this school of the mental lethargy which, in spite of the ceaseless activity of the teachers, pervades the atmosphere of so many elementary schools; no trace of the fatal inertness on the part of the child, which is the outcome of five or six years of systematic repression and compulsory inaction.