Here, where I write to you now, it seems as if mankind were nearer, and the legends of the ages written out for me on the surface of the world. Under the shadow of Jove's hill rises before me one of the most ancient of European cities, _soror et æmula Romæ_. She bears on her walls and edifices the record of sixty generations. Temple, and arch, and pyramid, all these bear witness still, and so do her ancient bulwarks, and many a stately tower. High above all, the cathedral spire is drawn dark in the morning mist, and often in the clear summer evenings it comes brightly in slanting sunshine against the steep woods behind. Then the old city arrays herself in the warmest and mellowest tones, and glows as the shadows fall. She reigns over the whole width of her valley to the folds of the far blue hills. Even so ought our life to be surrounded by the loveliness of nature--surrounded, but not subdued. FOOTNOTE: [14] How purely this is the misery of a man of culture! A peasant would not have gone so far. INDEX. Abolition of custom, how to effect, 252 Abstinence from newspaper reading, 461 Accomplishments, masculine and feminine, 303 Accumulation of preparatory knowledge, 448 Accumulators, great, of money, 237 Activity, mere, a waste of time, 190 Adult brain, the, 162 Advantages of few authors to poor, 244 -- of experience, 420 Affectations of caste, 351 Affirmations based upon authority, 282 African traveller and map-makers, 469 Alcibiades, education of, 117 Alphabet, Greek, 354 Amateurism, 134 Ampère, profoundly scientific, 278 -- anecdote of, 287 Amusement, necessity of, 454 Analytical observation, value of, 310 Anatomy, difficulty of study, 116 Ancients, incorrect use of word, 146 -- and moderns compared, 255 Application and opportunities, 244 Arabia, use of coffee, 40 Archimedes in the bath, 310 -- at Syracuse, 539 Aristocracy, liberal and illiberal, 358 -- unwritten religious law of, 366 -- and democracy, 341 -- spirit of, in reading, 472 Arnold, Dr., quoted, 144, 535 -- definition of religion, 271 -- intellectual force, 278 Arnold, Matthew, "Self-dependence" quoted, 458 Art of reading, 211 -- of resting, 455 Artist, idea of happy marriage, 289 Artistic conception of black coats, 249 Artists, drudgery of, 75 -- poor critics, 95 Arts, practical pursuit of, 498 Assimilating power of brain, 162 Assimilation, power of, 167 Association of ideas, 168 Atheism, popular construction, 272 Athenian education, 117 Attraction of the future, 255 Author in mortal disease, to an, 53 -- and tradesman compared, 236 -- his advice about notes, 167 -- his study described, 551 Authors, dependence upon private means, 232 -- young, eagerness of, 419 -- selfishness of, 471 -- condition since Goldsmith's time, 509 Authorship, privilege of, 341 Available knowledge, 115