"It might be worse," I said with a smile; "you might slate his whiskey and drink in his ideas at the same time; and I've never met a man who could stand being accused of keeping bad whiskey, although I know dozens of men who will sit with a grin on their faces while you tear their philosophy of life to pieces." "They grin at your ignorance, eh?" "Exactly!" Macdonald held up his glass to the light and eyed it thoughtfully. "Macduff's theory is that if you spare the rod you spoil the child," he said. "Yes," said Macduff, "I agree with old Solomon. You know, it's all very well to be a heretic, but you are up against the wisdom of the ages. All the way from Solomon downwards parents have agreed that youngsters must be trained strictly. You can't smash up the wisdom of the ages as you try to do." "The wisdom of the ages!" I mused.... "When I come to think of it the wisdom of the ages taught men that the earth was flat, that the sun went round the earth, that the touch of a king cured King's Evil. Do you mean to say that because a thing has a tradition behind it it must be believed for ever? Because Solomon said a thing is it eternally true? The wisdom of the ages must be made to give place to the wisdom of the age." "Then you would have each generation ignore all that had been said by men of previous generations?" "I don't mean that. By all means find out what wise men of old have said, but don't worship them; be ready all the time to reject their wisdom if you feel you can't agree with it. This using the rod business is a tradition because men found it the easiest method for themselves. A child was weak and he was noisy; the easiest thing to do was to whack the little chap. Do you allow conversation in your school?" "I do not!" he said grimly. "And why?" "They can't work if they are talking." "And that's your sole reason?" "Yes." "If an inspector stood at your desk chatting to you about the war, would you have a silent room?" "Certainly." "But why?" "Oh," he said impatiently, "for various reasons. They aren't there to talk; and they've got to be disciplined, to understand that they are not free to do as they like whenever they like." "Also," I suggested, "the inspector might be annoyed?" "There's that in it," he confessed with a little confusion. "The wisdom of the ages agrees with you," I said, "and I think that in this case the wisdom of the ages is wrong. In the first place I want to know what you're trying to produce." "Educated citizens," he replied. "And since the Solomon tradition has been in vogue for quite a long time, do you consider that it has produced educated citizens as yet?" "More or less," he answered.