general vigour and clearness of thought, with consequent terseness
of expression, than that provided by the curricula of our
universities and schools of public instruction. If a young man, in
spite of every effort to fit him with blinkers, will insist on
getting rid of them, he must do so at his own risk. He will not be
long in finding out his mistake. Our public schools and
universities play the beneficent part in our social scheme that
cattle do in forests: they browse the seedlings down and prevent
the growth of all but the luckiest and sturdiest. Of course, if
there are too many either cattle or schools, they browse so
effectually that they find no more food, and starve till equilibrium
is restored; but it seems to be a provision of nature that there
should always be these alternate periods, during which either the
cattle or the trees are getting the best of it; and, indeed, without
such provision we should have neither the one nor the other. At
this moment the cattle, doubtless, are in the ascendant, and if
university extension proceeds much farther, we shall assuredly have
no more Mrs. Newtons and Mrs. Bromfields; but whatever is is best,
and, on the whole, I should propose to let things find pretty much
their own level.

However this may be, who can question that the treasures hidden in
many a country house contain sleeping beauties even fairer than
those that I have endeavoured to waken from long sleep in the
foregoing article? How many Mrs. Quicklys are there not living in
London at this present moment? For that Mrs. Quickly was an
invention of Shakespeare's I will not believe. The old woman from
whom he drew said every word that he put into Mrs. Quickly's mouth,
and a great deal more which he did not and perhaps could not make
use of. This question, however, would again lead me far from my