man mind, and skill in diving into the hidden
currents of character, became so great that no incipient quality, or
defect however minute, could escape their observation.

There is a man whom the sagacity of Vyora discovered, whose wondrous
power in his art is the admiration of Montalluyah. The good he has done
and the greatness of his work in searching out and developing hidden
qualities and genius in children, who to the unskilled eye gave no
promise, is celebrated in pictures, in sculpture, and in song, and his
portrait is repeated in the highly finished and artistic mosaic pavement
of our palaces and dwellings.

We delight to enrich our houses and public places with subjects which
daily inspire great and pleasureable thoughts.

The subjects of the tesselated pavements include wise kings, inventors,
and discoverers, character-divers and preceptors, physicians, great
electricians and chemists; astronomers, men skilfully learned in the
power of the sun; men versed in the knowledge of the human mind; eminent
painters, sculptors, and architects; men skilled in the properties of
birds, beasts, fish, and other living things. Moral qualities are
greatly estimated; and we have many portraits of women famous for their
virtues, gentleness, and superiority; even of servants distinguished for
remarkable cleanliness and other qualities. Every house has its
tesselated pavement, more or less elaborate, but always beautifully
executed, for all our artists are great, and occupy high positions.

Where a young man evinced qualities which, when tested, showed that he
would make but a second-rate artist, the character-divers demonstrated
that these youths possessed natural tendencies better fitting them for
some other pursuit.

I have in my thoughts at this moment a favourite subject of the artistic
pavement;--a man--Zolea by name--who as a boy was inattentive to his
studies, while his talent for sketching from nature[1] was so
remarkable, that even during school hours, with his eye seemingly on his
book, he would occupy himself in sketching those around him. Every one,
except the character-divers, thought that Nature intended this boy for a
great artist. These demonstrated that as an artist he would never attain
a high position; and after observing how he occupied himself in
play-hours, and subjecting him to numerous tests, so completely cured
him of his want of application and other defects, that he became the
wisest and greatest a