requirements being a previous training to
enter upon so high a plane of mental culture. Every allurement was held
out to the people to come and drink at the public fountain where the cup
was inviting and the waters sweet. "For," said one of the leading
instructors to me, "education is the foundation of our moral elevation,
our government, our happiness. Let us relax our efforts, or curtail the
means and inducements to become educated, and we relax into ignorance,
and end in demoralization. We know the value of free education. It is
frequently the case that the greatest minds are of slow development, and
manifest in the primary schools no marked ability. They often leave the
schools unnoticed; and when time has awakened them to their mental
needs, all they have to do is to apply to the college, pass an
examination, and be admitted. If not prepared to enter the college, they
could again attend the common schools. We realize in its broadest sense
the ennobling influence of universal education. The higher the culture
of a people, the more secure is their government and happiness. A
prosperous people is always an educated one; and the freer the
education, the wealthier they become."

The Preceptress of the National College was the leading scientist of the
country. Her position was more exalted than any that wealth could have
given her. In fact, while wealth had acknowledged advantages, it held a
subordinate place in the estimation of the people. I never heard the
expression "very wealthy," used as a recommendation of a person. It was
always: "_She_ is a fine scholar, or mechanic, or artist, or musician.
_She_ excels in landscape gardening, or domestic work. _She_ is a
first-class chemist." But never "_She_ is rich."

The idea of a Government assuming the responsibility of education, like
a parent securing the interest of its children, was all so new to me;
and yet, I confessed to myself, the system might prove beneficial to
other countries than Mizora. In that world, from whence I had so
mysteriously emigrated, education was the privilege only of the rich.
And in no country, however enlightened, was there a system of education
that would reach all. Charitable institutions were restricted, and
benefited only a few. My heart beat with enthusiasm when I thought of
the mission before me. And then I reflected that the philosophers of my
world were but as children in progress compared to these. Still
traveling in grooves that had