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 prudently supplied to the mind, lead it naturally to wisdom, virtue, and piety).

That the education given shall be not false but real, not superficial but thorough; that is to say, that the rational animal, man, shall be guided, not by the intellects of other men, but by his own; shall not merely read the opinions of others and grasp their meaning or commit them to memory and repeat them, but shall himself penetrate to the root of things and acquire the habit of genuinely understanding and making use of what he learns. (vi) That this education shall be not laborious but very easy. The class instruction shall last only four hours each day, and shall be conducted in such a manner that one master may teach hundreds of pupils at the same time, with ten times as little trouble as is now expended on the teaching of one.

3. But who will have faith in these things before he see them? It is a well-known peculiarity of men that before a remarkable discovery is made they wonder how it can be possible, while after its achievement they are surprised that it was not discovered before. When Archimedes undertook for King Hiero to move down to the sea with one hand an immense ship that a hundred men were not able to stir, his proposal was received with laughter; but its accomplishment was viewed with stupefaction.

4. When Columbus suspected that there were new islands in the west, no one, with the exception of the King of Castille, was willing to hear him or give him any assistance towards making the experiment. It is related that his very companions on the voyage, in despair at their frequent disappointments, were within a little of throwing him into the sea and returning with their task unfulfilled. But, in spite of all, that vast new continent was discovered, and now we all wonder how it could have remained so long unknown. That well-known jest of Columbus illustrates the same point. For when, at a banquet, some Spaniards, who were envious that an Italian should have the glory of such a discovery, began to mock him, and