Book II - Wilbourhall.org

X INTRODUCTION. [lmore complex qualities of mind, to possess which isto be great Curiosity lies at the root of manydiscoveries.But, as the majority of minds which arecapable of absorbing are incapable of producing,curiosity does not in most cases result in anythingmore than disorderly and ill-proportioned study.The desultory reader is perhaps the most interestingas he is one of the most amiable products of curiosity.For the desultory reader, who, shrinking from difficultenterprises, avoids hard authors, the chief historianought to be Plutarch. And as, for most of us, thereare but two periods in life in which we can indulgein such reading—the first in early youth, and thelast when many can read only through the eyes ofothers, and when the time for obtaining the greatestadvantages to be gained by reading of any kind isgone by, it is most desirable that some of the Livesbe read while we are young ; in Langhorne's translationrather than not at all. Plutarch was a greatand a good man, and his biographies are well calculatedto sharpen the intellect, to purify the taste,and to humanise the character ; so that, if ourcuriosity can lead us to read Plutarch, then, almostwithout our suspecting such a result, and though wescarcely wished for more than to gratify a desire foracquiring knowledge without trouble, our curiositymay help us to reach the true end of education. Tosharpen the intellect, to purify the taste, and tohumanise the character—these are the true ends ofeducation. At least, such was the opinion of Milton,beyond doubt the greatest scholar, and probably thegreatest man, of his age. For what else did he in-