The former
sees only the few points of agreement, and decides upon them; while the
latter has observed and studied the more numerous points of difference,
until he is blind to all others. Hence a portrait may appear true to a
stranger, which, to an intimate acquaintance, is barren in expression,
and destitute of character. Therefore, the artist wisely and properly
esteemed himself successful when his work was approved by the wife or
the mother. The world around us is full of knowledge. We should so
behold it as to be instructed by all that is. The distant star paints
its image on our eye with a ray of light sent forth thousands of years
ago; yet its lesson is not of itself, but of the universe and its
mysteries, and of the Creator out of whose divine hand all things have
come.
Conversation is at once an art, an accomplishment, and a science. It
leads to valuable practical results. It has a place, and by no means an
inferior place, in the schools. Facts stated, questions proposed, or
theories illustrated, in conversation, are permanently impressed upon
the mind. It is in the power of the teacher to communicate much
information in this way, and it is in the power of us all to make
conversation a means of improvement.
But, when the pupil leaves the school, _reading_, so systematic and
thorough as to be called study, is, no doubt, the best culture he can
enjoy.
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