Page:Rabindranath Tagore - A Biographical Study.djvu/171

 his pictures alone convince one of the reality of this new life. One of them, 'The End of the Journey,' a simple painting of an exhausted camel kneeling, head to ground, against a sunset background, is one of those pictures that reveal a world, though but a tiny thing.

"Such are the fostering influences among which the youths of Shanti Niketan grow up; influences likely to prove of incalculable good effect. In the education of the young it is the great personality that effects the great results. Who could have foreseen when Froebel first led his flock of children over the hillside, singing songs and weaving flower-wreaths, that the spirit evoked would revolutionise the education of children all the world over? It did not seem a great thing when Madame Montessori took over the school for feeble-minded children in Rome, and by force of wisdom and insight developed in them a greater intelligence than was shown by the children of the normal schools. Yet what may not this system of voluntary self-education effect in the future? I know of one school where on one day in the week the children are allowed to choose their own lessons. That day is looked forward to the whole week round.