As we turned from the _sacred_ promontory, Mr. Otway playfully shook my elbow, and, by a sudden change in the modulation of his voice, made me feel that we were not to dwell any longer on the topic which had occupied the preceeding hour. At his request I gave him a history of my _life and adventures_. We talked of you, and I so completely _fired_ him by my subject, that he has taken your address, and means immediately to write to young Stanhope who, with his tutor, (a nephew, by the bye of Oliphant's) is to be at Pisa about the time of your arrival there, to make your acquaintance with all suitable activity. Mr. Otway gives a good character of his ward, so that probably you may find him worth knowing; but if not for his own sake, you will I am assured _fly to the meeting_ for the sake of your romance; and consider the youth as a link in that mysterious _concatenation_, by which your fate _or_ your fancy is bound to Glenalta.
Before we re-entered the house, Mr. Otway desired me to follow him down a winding-path, at the end of which I found myself within a nice little enclosure, sheltered by a hawthorn hedge which was bursting into a sheet of fragrant blossoms. "This is my botanic garden," said my companion, "and I must not forget to send Fanny some plants which I promised her. Here, Howard, help me to take these to the gardener, and he shall send them over to my little pupil."
"I will take them myself in the evening," said I, "and shall have the benefit of appearing very learned, if you will tell me their names. Emily has extracted a promise from me in our walk from the mountain this morning, to put myself under her tuition while I remain in these flowery regions, so the sooner I begin my task the better."
"You are very right," replied 'mine host;' "knowledge is never a burthen; and when the news of London is once told, and the stimulus of novelty wears off, we shall then feel the full value of such pursuits as at once sustain social communion, exercise common curiosity, and employ the powers of the understanding."
"You told me this morning, Mr. Otway, that you think the mania for education is outrunning its natural progress; and that it is the fashion at present to overleap the barrier of prudence in a premature and forced extension of learning. May I not urge your zeal in favour of female cultivation as somewhat inconsistent with this theory? Setting all jocularity aside, and banishing _nicknames_, as you call them, from our inquiry, will you tell me if utility be the measure by which you ascertain and determine the question of what possible use is education, beyond the polite limits of fashionable acquirement amongst the higher orders, and the necessary qualifications for a housewife in the lower classes? Can women keep schools for our youth? Can women occupy professors' chairs? Are women called upon to write works of science? In short, do women ever _want_ all this lore? and if not, might not their time be more valuably employed in cultivating the delightful arts of pleasing? I confess to you," added I, "that I have a little scheme of trying to save Fanny, who is as yet a child, and a very engaging one too, from going through the ordeal which her sisters have passed. They are sweet girls, and certainly have contributed to soften my prejudices exceedingly against learned ladies. Still, however, it is a pity not to spare Fanny the trouble as well as the hazard of becoming one. _You_ are so looked up to at Glenalta, that if you are on the opposition benches I may despair of a majority, so pray answer me seriously."