96 THROUGH RUSSIA ON A MUSTANG. 



sponging his living off the labor of other people, and 

 is doing an injustice to his fellow-men. Some days I 

 mow, others I sow grain, plow, dig \\\ the garden, 

 pick berries or apples, or, like Mr. Gladstone, fell a 

 tree. I live very simply. I make my own boots, and 

 if my women would let me, would also make all my 

 own clothes. I do not have to work very long hours 

 to pay for what I consume, and so I find plenty of 

 time to write and study. I am only sixty-two years 

 old, and intend to write a great deal. My only con- 

 cern is that life may prove too short to enable me to 

 finish all I wish to do." 



" What particular literary work have you in con- 

 templatation ? " 



" Oh, I have many things ! My future works will be 

 on educational rather than on purely social matters." 



" Will you advocate a new system of education, or 

 only suggest improvements in the present methods?" 



" The present system is all wrong," replied the 

 Count. "The foundation of the system which I shall 

 advocate will be the purity and perfection of the 

 parents. In the shadow of paternal perfection the 

 boys will attain perfection, and the purit-y and good- 

 ness of the mothers will be transmitted to the girls. 

 This will be the foundation of a better system of rear- 

 ing and educating; children than the world has vet seen. 

 The present system is full of evils. People have be- 

 come so used to evils that they are no longer capable 

 of distinguishing the evil from the good. Or, if they 

 recognize an evil, they have been used to it so long 

 that they have lost the sense of proportion, and it 

 seems to them less real and grievous than it is. I hope 



