The Crown of Wild Olive

by John Ruskin

  PREFACE.

  The following lectures were really given, in substance, at a girls'school (far in the country); which in the course of various experimentson the possibility of introducing some better practice of drawing intothe modern scheme of female education, I visited frequently enough toenable the children to regard me as a friend. The lectures always fellmore or less into the form of fragmentary answers to questions; and theyare allowed to retain that form, as, on the whole, likely to be moreinteresting than the symmetries of a continuous treatise. Many children(for the school was large) took part, at different times, in theconversations; but I have endeavoured, without confusedly multiplyingthe number of imaginary[144] speakers, to represent, as far as I could,the general tone of comment and enquiry among young people.

  It will be at once seen that these Lectures were not intended for anintroduction to mineralogy. Their purpose was merely to awaken in theminds of young girls, who were ready to work earnestly andsystematically, a vital interest in the subject of their study. Noscience can be learned in play; but it is often possible, in play, tobring good fruit out of past labour, or show sufficient reasons for thelabour of the future.

  The narrowness of this aim does not, indeed, justify the absence of allreference to many important principles of structure, and many of themost interesting orders of minerals; but I felt it impossible to go farinto detail without illustrations; and if readers find this book useful,I may, perhaps, endeavour to supplement it by illustrated notes of themore interesting phenomena in separate groups of familiarminerals;--flints of the chalk;--agates of the basalts;--and thefantastic and exquisitely beautiful varieties of the vein-ores of thetwo commonest metals, lead and iron. But I have always found that theless we speak of our intentions, the more chance there is of ourrealizing them; and this poor little book will sufficiently have doneits work, for the present, if it engages any of its young readers instudy which may enable them to despise it for its shortcomings.

  DENMARK HILL:

  _Christmas, 1865._

  FOOTNOTES:

  [144] I do not mean, in saying 'imaginary,' that I have not permitted tomyself, in several instances, the affectionate discourtesy of somereminiscence of personal character; for which I must hope to be forgivenby my old pupils and their friends, as I could not otherwise havewritten the book at all. But only two sentences in all the dialogues,and the anecdote of 'Dotty,' are literally 'historical.'

  THE ETHICS OF THE DUST.