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view it may be said that the fashion plates, music, pictures, 
poems, novels, styles of furniture, of any particular age, 
constitute the true mental history of that age. The grand- 
iloquent oratory of our grandfathers’ days has given place 
under changing standards of taste, to a quieter, more direct, 
and simpler style of speech. Similarly in higher matters ; 
no age sees Truth completely, one age emphasises one aspect 
of Truth and delights in its contemplation, and another, 
another aspect. 
In conclusion, the lecturer shewed what an important 
place in education the cultivation of taste should take. The 
mere imparting of information was of comparatively small 
moment when measured against the importance of forming 
a taste for the best that has been thought and said and done 
in the world. If such a taste can be developed it provides 
a sure defence against the insidious dangers of low and 
vulgar pleasures. 
