“The change was obviously a very great one, and it was to be seen how far my past training, if I may apply the term to what was in so large a degree fortuitous, had fitted me for the duties that now devolved upon me. Necessity had taught me diligence, punctuality, and perseverance; and combined with inclination, and perhaps some natural aptitude, it had cultivated in me the power and habit of invention, created a certain versatility, and armed me with boldness to surmount obstacles, to disregard mere conventionalisms, and to feel and exercise a certain independence of spirit. I had also been led to acquire a power of influencing and directing others, and of holding subordinates to responsibility. In my new occupation all these powers and habits were to find abundant exercise; and the question naturally arises in my mind whether, considering all that lay before me, the course of circumstances by which they had been formed or strengthened was not more fortunate than the training which would have been given by a more premeditated and systematic mode of proceeding, with ample means at command. Had I been more regularly prepared for the profession I was leaving, should I have been equally able to perform what I afterwards accomplished, or indeed equally fitted to make those improvements in school management of which I have already spoken, and which, however trivial some of them may appear in these more advanced days, were at the time decided and even bold innovations?[80] “Before going on to my proceedings in reference to the South Australian Association, I will, for the sake of convenience, mention two passages which occurred in the midst of them; and here I will take the liberty to remark that, though I had ceased to take part in formal education, I nevertheless bore the general object constantly in mind, and made all my subsequent efforts more or less subservient thereto.