, good atlases, and works of reference have, in most
cases been included.[1]

[1] Let the southern reader remember that a boy born in a city
like Glasgow has, as respects opportunities of getting on,
infinitely better chances than a lad of equal ability born in a
Highland village. The crofter's son has no reading-room with
costly works of reference, scientific manuals, English
translations of Latin authors, etc., to go to when he is in need
of help. He begins the battle of life at a very serious
disadvantage, and often gives up the fight altogether. Anything
that tends to equalise the chances of town and country, from the
point of view of mental equipment, would do more general good to
Scotland, by bettering the available brain power, than any
half-dozen Acts of Parliament taken at random.

GAELIC BOOKS.

In selecting the books specially intended for the perusal of the older
people, an attempt is made to meet the needs of the various localities.
In the bi-lingual districts there is always a shelf of Gaelic books,
such as the original texts of Norman Macleod's exquisite sermons,
M'Rury's religious compilations, Macleod's clever poetry _The Lyre of
the Grove_, Campbell's _Popular Tales of the West Highlands_, and Magnus
Maclean's manuals of Celtic Literature. There being a distinct dearth of
comely Celtic reading that the ordinary native can understand,
arrangements have been made for the translation into Gaelic in several
volumes by competent scholars, of extracts from Mr. Lang's _True Story
Book_, and from other sources.

The regrettable thing about Gaelic is its hopelessly bewildering
spelling. The sounds are pleasing and melodious in a high degree, but
they hide themselves behind most peculiar disguisements of print. Most
people will admit, I think, that a language which spells Avon,
_Amhuinn_, and Rory, _Ruaridh_, would benefit greatly by a visit from
Pitman. The utility of sane phonetics was brought home to me very
forcibly by a story I heard from a gentleman in the west of Skye. This
gentleman is an excellent English scholar, can speak Gaelic but is
unable to read it. He got a letter once from St. Kilda composed by an
islander who spelt Gaelic by ear and not according to the awe-inspiring
orthography of the dictionary. The gentleman, who could not have made
out the letter had it been spelt correctly, was able to read it as it
stood, without the slightest hesita