may pluck as he pleases. Culture
is not to be had by programme, by
limited courses of reading, by cor-
respondence, or by following short
prescribed lines of home study.
These are all good in their degree
of thoroughness of method and worth
of standards, but they are impotent
to impart an enrichment which is
below and beyond mere acquirement.
Because culture is not knowledge but
wisdom, not quantity of learning
but quality, not mass of informa-
tion but ripeness and soundness of
temper, spirit, and nature, time is
an essential element in the process
of securing it. A man may acquire
information with great rapidity, but
no man can hasten his growth. If
the fruit is forced, the flavour is lost.
To get into the secret of Shake-
speare, therefore, one must take

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