piece of music at sight correctly, and when they have learnt the
simple rules of harmony.

For teaching them geography, I have a simple plan; my own early
geography lessons were to my recollection singularly dismal. I
used, as far as I can remember, to learn lists of towns, rivers,
capes, and mountains. Then there were horrible lists of exports and
imports, such as hides, jute, and hardware. I did not know what any
of the things were, and no one explained them to me. What we do now
is this. I read up a book of travels, and then we travel in a
country by means of atlases, while I describe the sort of landscape
we should see, the inhabitants, their occupations, their religion,
and show the children pictures. I can only say that it seems to be
a success. They learn arithmetic with their governess, and what is
aimed at is rapid and accurate calculations. As for religious
instruction, we read portions of the Bible, striking scenes and
stories, carefully selected, and the Gospel story, with plenty of
pictures. But here I own I find a difficulty. With regard to the
Old Testament, I have frankly told them that many of the stories
are legends and exaggerations, like the legends of other nations.
That is not difficult; I say that in old days when people did not
understand science, many things seemed possible which we know now
to be impossible; and that things which happened naturally, were
often thought to have happened supernaturally; moreover, that both
imagination and exaggeration crept in about famous people. I am
sure that there is a great danger in teaching intelligent children
that the Bible is all literally true. And then the difficulty comes
in, that they ask artlessly whether such a story as the miracle of
Cana, or the feeding of the five thousand, is true. I reply frankly
that we cannot be sure; that the people who wrote it down believed