r, whom he had relieved in the morning, carried upon the shoulders
of the blind man whom he had helped out of the pond. "There, my little
dear," said the Sailor, "God be thanked! We have come in time to do you
a service, in return for what you did us in the morning. As I lay under
a hedge I heard these villains talk of robbing a little Boy, who, from
the description, I concluded must be you: but I was so lame that I
should not have been able to come time enough to help you, if I had not
met this honest blind man, who took me upon his back while I showed him
the way."

The little Boy thanked him very sincerely for thus defending him; and
they went all together to his father's house, which was not far off;
where they were all kindly entertained with a supper and a bed. The
little Boy took care of his faithful dog as long as he lived, and never
forgot the importance and necessity of doing good to others, if we wish
them to do the same to us.

381

It has been no unusual thing for critics and
others following in their wake to sneer at
Maria Edgeworth (1767-1849) and her school as
hopelessly utilitarian. But to find fault with
her on that score is to blame her for having
achieved the very end she set out to reach. Sir
Walter Scott, who certainly knew what good
story-telling was, had the highest opinion of
her abilities, and it is difficult to see how
any reader with a fair amount of catholicity in
his nature can fail to be impressed with her
power to build up a story in skillful dramatic
fashion, to portray various types of character
in most convincing manner, and to emphasize in
unforgettable ways the old and basic verities
of life. Of course fashions change in outward
matters, and we must not quarrel with a taste
that prefers the newest in literature any more
than with one that prefers the newest in dress.
Miss Edgeworth helped her eccentric father
present in _Practical Education_ an extended
discussion for the layman of the whole question
of the ways and means of educating people. That
was one of the very first modern treatments of
that much-discussed subject, and its ideas are
not all obsolete yet by any means. _Castle
Rackrent_ belongs in the list of classic
fiction. However, her chief i