THE STUDY OF MATHEMATICS 73 



of an age or a nation, the austerer virtues have a strange 

 power, exceeding the power of those not informed and 

 purified by thought. Of these austerer virtues the love of 

 truth is the chief, and in mathematics, more than else 

 where, the love of truth may find encouragement for wan 

 ing faith. Every great study is not only an end in itself, but 

 also a means of creating and sustaining a lofty habit of 

 mind ; and this purpose should be kept always in view 

 throughout the teaching and learning of mathematics. 



