ancy; this fits one
for life too, for life does not always bring what we long for, but what
we need and must have."

"And what is your second point?" asked Eric, as his mother paused.

"My second point is only a repetition of the first. I remember your
father's saying once, that the first and only true support, or rather
the very foundation of education, must be:--'Thou shalt, and thou shalt
not; straight forward without comment, without explanation, without
illustration.' Now ask yourself whether you are not weakening his
character. When our Roland is brought into a conflict, I don't know
whether knowledge will help him, rather than the ancient command: 'Thou
shalt and thou shalt not.' I only say this to you that you may think it
over; others may praise you, I must warn you. I can say, though, that
you have attained one important point; the boy has a holy reverence for
the spirit of the Past."

Eric grasped his mother's hand, and walked on sometime in silence. Then
he explained to her how he wished to give Roland not only knowledge,
but a firm foundation of self-reliance, on which his life might rest.

"My son," replied his mother, "you have set yourself a difficult task;
you want to accomplish a three-fold work at once; that is not possible.
Listen to me patiently. You want to complete and perfect a neglected
education; you want to lead to higher aims, gaining at the same time a
moral foothold and moral elevation, without using the means handed down
to you; and, finally, you want to train a youth, who knows his own
wealth, to be a useful, unselfish, even self-sacrificing man. Now why
do you laugh, pray? I will stop, though I might add, that you want to
make a boy without a family affectionate, and a boy without a country
patriotic. Now tell me why you laugh."

"Forgive me, mother; there's reason in your being called Professorin;
you have discoursed like a Professor from his desk. But let me tell you
that the two-fold or the five-fold task is only a simple one in the
end. I confess I have often said to myself that I might make it easier,
but then I would ask myself whether this was not an attempt to excuse
my own desire of comfort. I must make the experiment of placing a youth
upon the platform of acting freely from----"

"Reason?" responded the mother. "Reason may give composure, but not
happiness nor blessedness; reason may not be the nourishment which
suits the young spirit. Remember, my son, that meat is good