expressed himself very
appositely thus on the subject of education: "The supposition that
education is over when a boy leaves school, is far too prevalent," he
said. "Education properly considered comes to an end when the last
breath of life is drawn. Edward Young in his _Night Thoughts_ says:
'Were man to live coeval with the sun, the patriarch-pupil would be
learning still.' Young was undoubtedly right: some of the most forceful
and penetrating lessons of life are given to us long after we have cast
our text-books into some dusty corner, never to be opened more. In our
early days, we cannot choose our own teachers, and there is often a good
deal of force and constraint. The delightful thing about our education
in mature life is that we have the selection of our own masters. There
is no compulsion whatever. I am convinced that for everyone of us there
is some one author whose works will act as medicine for the mind and be
an unfailing tonic in all conditions of the soul."

OBJECT OF CHAPTER.

I intend to devote this chapter to a description of a few of the
speeches delivered by some of the speakers at such literary evenings in
various parts of the country. After I had said my say, I sometimes
invited an expression of opinion. Almost invariably someone responded to
the invitation, with the object of asking a question, expressing
dissent, or intimating concurrence. I do not recollect a single meeting
out of hundreds that could be called monotonous. It did not in the
slightest detract from the interest of a meeting that many of the
remarks erred on the score of irrelevancy. The attention never flagged
from first to last, and it was no uncommon thing for the proceedings to
last for over three hours. In giving typical speeches delivered by
crofters, lairds, tradesmen, and clergymen, I mean to indicate to the
reader _the subjects that are of interest to our provincial population,
their attitude to questions of literature and social life, and
incidentally the great amount of humour that still exists in the world_.

MUSIC.

The free and unconventional character of these meetings was perhaps seen
best of all in the musical part of the proceedings, which was always
arranged locally. Usually the songs were well-known Highland or Lowland
airs, in many cases so exquisitely rendered that it was quite evident
there had been much previous preparation. When my opinion was asked
beforehand, I invariably recommended national mel