t business men who make fortunes for their children;
lawyers, artists, writers, who work for money and for praise--are these
after all so much nobler than our indolent friend? To begin with,
FitzGerald's life was one of extraordinary simplicity. He lived on
almost nothing, he had no luxuries; he was like a lily of the field. If
he had been a merely selfish man it would have been different; but he
loved his fellow-men deeply and tenderly, and he showered unobtrusive
kindness on all round him.

I find it very hard to make up my mind; it is true that the fabric of
the world would fall to pieces if we were all FitzGeralds. But so, too,
as has often been pointed out, would it fall to pieces if we all lived
literally on the lines of the Sermon on the Mount. Activities are for
many people a purely selfish thing, to fill the time because they are
otherwise bored; and it is hard to see why a man who can fill his life
with less strenuous pleasures, books, music, strolling, talking, should
not be allowed to do so.

Solve me the riddle, if you can! The simplicity of the Gospel seems to
me to be inconsistent with the Expansion of England; and I dare not say
off-hand that the latter is the finer ideal.--Ever yours,

T. B.

UPTON,
May 15, 1904.

MY DEAR HERBERT,--You ask if I have read anything lately? Well, I have
been reading Stalky & Co. with pain, and, I hope, profit. It is an
amazing book; the cleverness, the freshness, the incredible originality
of it all; the careless ease with which scene after scene is touched
off and a picture brought before one at a glance, simply astounds me,
and leaves me gasping. But I don't want now to discourse about the
literary merits of the book, great as they are. I want to relieve my
mind of the thoughts that disquiet me. I think, to start with, it is
not a fair picture of school life at all. If it is really
reminiscent--and the life-likeness and verisimilitude of the book is
undeniable--the school must have been a very peculiar one. In the first
place, the interest is concentrated upon a group of very unusual boys.
The Firm of Stalky is, I humbly thank God, a combination of boys of a
rare species. The other figures of boys in the book form a mere
background, and the deeds of the central heroes are depicted like the
deeds of the warriors of the Iliad. They dart about, slashing and
hewing, while the rank and file run hither and thither like sheep,
their only use being in the numerica