preventive of industrial monotony, each person will probably be taught a variety of pursuits, achieving a balance appropriate to each case of mental and manual work. The system of multiple vocations would probably be operated in conjunction with some form of industrial conscription; for increased wisdom in government should by this time have undermined popular prejudice on this score.

At the prospect of such extensive changes in our educational institutions one wonders what is going to happen to our ancient and venerable universities. They might, consistently with all that has been said, preserve their functions as specialized seats of learning; but it is more likely that long before a rational system of education has been evolved they will have changed their character beyond all recognition. In optimistic, but perhaps short-sighted, moments, it is commonly supposed that with the increasing demand for education their future is assured, and that they will assume ever-increasing importance and enjoy ever-growing popularity and respect.

Let us, however, for a moment consider the instructive parallel of the Holy Catholic Church, the unfortunate history of which is a byword at the present day. The causes of its decline do not, I think, include one that is frequently suggested. Men are not to-day less religious or less in need of its holy offices. The change has come about not by decreased demands but by competition and an augmented supply. Men still need the things of which the Church once held an almost complete monopoly. They need some sort of philosophy, some personal guidance in the difficult art of the moral life, and many other things which once the Church alone could give.

The invention of the Press made possible the novelist. The novelist found himself adopted as guide, philosopher, and friend. The younger generation now-a-days acquires its general outlook from the novelists and playwrights, who exercise an almost sacerdotal influence. Personal