" which is an exquisite study of woman's life
and education. These two lectures properly constitute the book, but a third
is added, on "The Mystery of Life." The last begins in a monologue upon his
own failures in life, and is pervaded by an atmosphere of sadness,
sometimes of pessimism, quite different from the spirit of the other two
lectures.

Though the theme of the first lecture is books, Ruskin manages to present
to his audience his whole philosophy of life. He gives us, with a wealth of
detail, a description of what constitutes a real book; he looks into the
meaning of words, and teaches us how to read, using a selection from
Milton's _Lycidas_ as an illustration. This study of words gives us the key
with which we are to unlock "Kings' Treasuries," that is, the books which
contain the precious thoughts of the kingly minds of all ages. He shows the
real meaning and end of education, the value of labor and of a purpose in
life; he treats of nature, science, art, literature, religion; he defines
the purpose of government, showing that soul-life, not money or trade, is
the measure of national greatness; and he criticises the general injustice
of his age, quoting a heartrending story of toil and suffering from the
newspapers to show how close his theory is to daily needs. Here is an
astonishing variety in a small compass; but there is no confusion. Ruskin's
mind was wonderfully analytical, and one subject develops naturally from
the other.

In the second lecture, "Of Queens' Gardens," he considers the question of
woman's place and education, which Tennyson had attempted to answer in _The
Princess_. Ruskin's theory is that the purpose of all education is to
acquire power to bless and to redeem human society; and that in this noble
work woman must always play the leading part. He searches all literature
for illustrations, and his description of literary heroines, especially of
Shakespeare's perfect women, is unrivaled. Ruskin is always at his best in
writing of women or for women, and the lofty idealism of this essay,
together with its rare beauty of expression, makes it, on the whole, the
most delightful and inspiring of his works.

Among Ruskin's practical works the reader will find in _Fors Clavigera_, a
series of letters to workingmen, and _Unto This Last_, four essays on the
principles of political economy, the substance of his economic teachings.
In the latter work, starting with the proposition that our present