of science.
But what a number of new ideas this afternoon's walk has afforded you! I
do not wonder that you found it amusing; it has been very instructive,
too. Did _you_ see nothing of all these sights, Robert?

R. I saw some of them, but I did not take particular notice of them.

Mr. A. Why not?

R. I don't know. I did not care about them, and I made the best of my
way home.

Mr. A. That would have been right if you had been sent with a message;
but as you walked only for amusement, it would have been wiser to have
sought out as many sources of it as possible. But so it is--one man
walks through the world with his eyes open, and another with them shut;
and upon this difference depends all the superiority of knowledge the
one acquires above the other. I have known sailors who had been in all
the quarters of the world, and could tell you nothing but the signs of
the tippling-houses they frequented in different ports, and the price
and quality of the liquor. On the other hand, a Franklin could not cross
the Channel without making some observations useful to mankind. While
many a vacant, thoughtless youth is whirled throughout Europe without
gaining a single idea worth crossing a street for, the observing eye and
inquiring mind find matter of improvement and delight in every ramble in
town or country. Do _you_, then, William, continue to make use of your
eyes; and _you_, Robert, learn that eyes were given you to use.

380

Thomas Day's _History of Sandford and Merton_
was published in three volumes, 1783-1789. Day
died in the latter year at the early age of
forty-one. He was a "benevolent eccentric."
Since he was well to do he could devote himself
to the attempt to carry out the schemes of
social reform which he had at heart. Influenced
by Rousseau and the doctrines of the French
Revolution, he believed human nature could be
made over by an educational scheme. _Sandford
and Merton_ is an elaborate setting forth of
the concrete workings of this process. The
inculcation of greater sympathy for the lower
classes and for animals, and a return to the
natural, commonplace virtues as opposed to the
artificial organization of society formed the
main burden of the book. Tommy Merton,
six-year-old spoiled darling of an
over-indulgent gentleman of great fortune, and