That he should be able to respond to their appeal is of vital importance.

When he has become a decent "scholar," a chance is given to him, which if he neglects he will probably lose for ever,--the chance of making good, in part at least, the deficiencies of his early education.

Had he lived in Utopia, his life of many-sided self-expression would have given a general training to his perceptive faculties, in which the twin faculties of imagination and sympathy would have had their share.

But neither in his Preparatory School nor in the lower classes of his Public School has any serious attempt been made during school hours to ripen either of those mighty faculties, whereas much has been done in both schools to retard their growth.

He is doomed, then, to begin his study of the history and literature of the Ancient World with a considerable knowledge of the Latin and Greek languages, but (in too many cases) with an unimaginative mind and an unsympathetic heart.