Pair though it be, to watch unclose The nestling glories of a rose, Depth on rich depth, soft fold on fold; Though fairer he it, to behold Stately and sceptral lilies break To beauty, and to sweetness wake: Yet fairer still, to see and sing, One fair thing is, one matchless thing: Youth, in its perfect blossoming. LIONEL JOHNSON. INTRODUCTION A book was published in the United States in 1910 with the title, EDUCATION: HOW OLD THE NEW. A companion volume might be written with a similar title, EDUCATION: HOW NEW THE OLD, and it would only exhibit another aspect of the same truth. This does not pretend to be that possible companion volume, but to present a point of view which owes something both to old and new, and to make an appeal for the education of Catholic girls to have its distinguishing features recognized and freely developed in view of ultimate rather than immediate results. CHAPTER I. RELIGION. "Oh! say not, dream not, heavenly notes To childish ears are vain, That the young mind at random floats, And cannot reach the strain. "Dim or unheard, the words may fall. And yet the Heaven-taught mind May learn the sacred air, and all The harmony unwind." KEBLE. The principal educational controversies of the present day rage round the teaching of religion to children, but they are more concerned with the right to teach it than with what is taught, in fact none of the combatants except the Catholic body seem to have a clear notion of what they actually want to teach, when the right has been secured. It is not the controversy but the fruits of it that are here in question, the echoes of battle and rumours of wars serve to enhance the importance of the matter, the duty of making it all worth while, and using to the best advantage the opportunities which are secured at the price of so many conflicts.