LITTLE 

 JOURNEYS 



prophecy was more than a commonplace. But Goethe 



always claimed it was divine prophecy. 



These boys were 'William and Alexander von Hum- 



boldt ^fc jt 



History does not supply another instance of two 



brothers attaining the intellectual height reached by 



Alexander and "William von Humboldt. 



This being so, it seems meet that we should tarry a 



little to inspect the method adopted in their education 



a thing which the educated world for the most part 



has not done. 



HIS world of ours, round like an orange 

 and slightly flattened at the poles, has 

 produced only five educated men. Of 

 course all education is comparative ; but 

 these five are so beyond the rest of man- 

 kind that they form a class by themselves. 

 ^ educated man means a developed man a man * 

 rounded on every side of his nature. We are aware of 

 no limit to which the mind of man may evolve ; other 

 men may appear who will surpass the Immortal Five, 

 but this fact remains : none that we know have. 

 Great men, so-called, are usually specialists clever 

 actors, individuals with a knack, talented comedians 

 who preach, carve, paint, orate, fight, manipulate, 

 manage, teach, write, perform, coerce, bribe, hypno- 

 tize, accomplish, and get results. There are great 

 mathematicians, financiers, sea-captains, foot-ball 

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