ches life carefully that
hardly anyone reaches the objects which all should live for who does not
strive to reach them, and that at present not one person in a hundred so
much as knows what are the objects which should be sought in life. It is
astounding, therefore, that in a country which possesses an Established
Church, richly endowed universities, and even several professors of
education, no book exists which can be put into the hands of every
intelligent youth, and of every intelligent father and mother, showing
what our wisest and best men believe are the best things which can be
done in life, and what is the kind of training which makes the doing of
these things most easy. It is often said that each of us can profit only
by his own experience, but no one believes that. No one can see how many
well-meaning persons mistake means for ends and drift into error and
sin, simply because neither they nor their parents have known what
course should be steered, and what equipment is needed, in the voyage of
life,--no one can see this and doubt that a 'guidebook to life,'
containing the results of the comparison of the experiences of even
half-a-dozen able and sincere men, would save countless people from
wasting their lives as most lives are now wasted.

4. "That which is true with regard to music is true with regard to
beauty of form and color. Because a great many grown-up people, in spite
of great efforts, find it impossible to sing correctly or even to
perceive any pleasantness in music, it used to be commonly supposed that
a great many people are born without the power of gaining love of, and
skill in, music. Now it is known that it is a question of early
training, that in every thousand children there are very few,--not, I
believe, on an average, more than two or three,--who cannot gain the
power of singing correctly and of enjoying music, if they are taught
well in childhood while their nervous system can still easily form
habits and has not yet formed the habit of being insensible to
differences of sound.

"There is every reason to believe that susceptibility to beauty of form
and color can also be gained through proper training in childhood by
almost everyone.

5. "In such circumstances as ours there is no such thing as 'a _wise_
passiveness.' If we are to attain to a high morality or to strong love
of beauty, attainment must be the result of strenuous effort, of strong
will.

6. "The principle I refer to is,