own Greek._'"
This remark made by one whose fingers were glistening with
herring-scales, came to me as a pleasant surprise. Later on in the day,
I visited his house and saw his fine library and his splendid selection
of classical books. Not many teachers of my acquaintance have a better
array of the editions of Homer. He was not one of your ignorant
collectors who know only the outside of what they buy. He had read over
the whole forty-eight books of the text again and again, and could
discuss knotty passages in most interesting and original fashion. His
memory was evidently an excellent one. He informed me that most of his
reading was done in the early morning, and that he found five hours'
sleep quite adequate. I have a most agreeable recollection of my
interview with this self-taught scholar. I believe there are many like
him in not a few outlandish nooks of Scotland,--men who read books not
for any material advantages that result from their studies, but simply
and solely for the intense pleasure that comes from communion with the
masterminds of bygone generations.

Travel in remote districts of Britain reveals the fact that our
provincials, whenever they have the chance, are a studious and
thoughtful race. The isolation and monotony of life in many parts are
bound to drive men to study and reflection if the means for these are at
hand. Sisyphus himself had hardly less variety of occupation than some
of our shepherds whose work on the hills involves long absences from
social intercourse. To such men (whose life is suggestive of a repeating
decimal) the access to an ell or two of good books often means mental
salvation. Nothing is so melancholy as to find a countryman of brains
who has never had the opportunity of cultivating his mind in such a way
as to eliminate prejudice and widen the range of interest.

WHEN EDUCATION ENDS.

I am sometimes inclined to think that many of our rural clergymen,
intent on shielding their congregations from pestilent doctrine and
latitudinarism, are actuated by much the same spirit as the Sultan Omar
when he set fire to the great Library at Alexandria. The Bible is no
doubt the best of books, and it may be that the Confession of Faith
comes next: but when these have got their share, there still remains the
religious duty of educating the intellect by a wide perusal of the
inspired apostles of secular literature. A Highland teacher, who
presided at one of the lectures in the north,