THE CALL OF THE LAND 



original sources of cultivation are seven- 

 sealed books. Cities must put up with open- 

 ing to their children the best secondary 

 sources. God's works failing, they let men's 

 come in the splendid imitations or analo- 

 gies of God's, in music, architecture, paint- 

 ing, sculpture and literature. If we are 

 doomed to miss grace itself, absolute grace, 

 let us have for ourselves and our children 

 the best possible means of grace. 



The crowning advantage of country 

 schooling is this nearness of nature, this 

 openness to nature. Before children enter 

 school they are made familiar with a thou- 

 sand aspects of valuable truth, which city 

 children learn about only with the most 

 painful difficulty if ever. Those who have 

 not attended to the matter will be surprised 

 when they reflect how hard city children 

 find it to get at nature face to face. Differ- 

 ent out upon the country side, where boys 

 and girls lay the foundations of knowledge 

 in botany, zoology, geology, geography and 

 astronomy before school days begin. This 

 accounts for the well-known phenomenon 



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