the fields, to be devoured by wild beasts. It is the Gospel which has softened man's nature, and taught us that we are all the children of our Heavenly Father. Let all who are weary and heavy laden go to Him, and He will give them rest. We have cost dear to our blessed Saviour, since He died for us on the cross amidst obloquy and maledictions," &c.

Such are the motives which our course of language will suggest, to promote in our pupils feelings of gratitude towards our Saviour. It will also endeavour to give its right direction to those feelings of gratitude by the following or similar reflections

:

"It is not by saying 'Lord, Lord,' that we can prove our love to our Redeemer, but by keeping His commandments. Walk in His steps, if you wish to do what is pleasing to Him. Do you desire to make some return to our Saviour? do good to the poor and needy, whom He deigns to call His brethren. There is but one way to please Him; that is, by striving to do the will of the Father, as He did it from the cradle to the cross. We have but one means of discharging our debt to Him, and that is by labouring in the work of love which He began upon earth. 'He that loveth me, keepeth my commandments,' are our Lord's own words. We can only approve ourselves to be His true disciples by bearing one another's burdens. I can render no service to the Redeemer Himself; but He has brethren on earth, and I can serve them."

To animate Trust in Christ.

The Saviour is the Mediator between God and man, and He has redeemed us with His blood. He will come to be our Judge, and from the heaven of heavens He looks down upon us, and He is our Advocate with the Father. We may come boldly to His throne of grace, for he can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, because He was made like unto us in all things, sin only excepted; and having suffered, being tempted, He is able also to succour them that are tempted. He learned compassion

also by the things which He endured in the days of His flesh, and which He endured for our sakes.

Our course of language, whilst inspiring its pupils with trust in God the Father, will approve itself to be truly Christian, by directing this trust to the Son, who is one with the Father. The Son is nearer to us by His human nature; we have seen and heard Him, He has dwelt among us, and He laid down His life for us. One thing that must not here be omitted is His particular tenderness to children, whom He loved to bless, as this is a motive for trust which our pupils will feel in their inmost hearts. The following are a few suggestions for our course of language :

"I may go boldly to my blessed Saviour, for once He was a child like me. He blessed little children while He was on earth; and He still beholds them from highest heaven, and watches over them. We may boldly call upon Him for aid, for when on earth He never cast out any that came to Him. Our Saviour was the depository here on earth of Divine power, and He used it solely for the benefit of mankind. If you repent, fear not to draw near to Him after you have sinned, for He never rejected a penitent sinner. He knows all our wants and infirmities, having been touched with the feeling of them, and having groaned and wept over them in the days of His flesh. Our Saviour has called us brethren, and from highest heaven He still deigns to bestow this name upon What will He not do for us now that He has entered into His glory, since He laid down His life for us upon earth?" &c.

us.

Trust in Jesus Christ must also be regulated in education; and our course of language will thus discharge this duty:

66 If you try to walk in the steps of our blessed Lord, you may fearlessly trust in Him. We may gain the favour of man by flattery; but we cannot deceive our Saviour, and He requires of us purity of heart. He will one day say to false professors, Depart from me, I know you not. He has said that His disciples shall be known by the love which they bear to each other; if, then, you have this

L

love in your heart, you may hope in Him, and your hope will not be vain. Remember that our Lord took compassion upon sufferers, and delighted to dry their tears. How can we rely on the protection of our Saviour, if we fear not to ensnare the souls for whom He died? He who prayed on the cross for His persecutors will not accept our prayers, unless we forgive others, as He has forgiven us," &c.

All the doctrine that we have sketched out in this chapter is essentially Christian, and calculated to produce Christian feelings in our pupils. Some, I fear, may object to there being too much of Christianity in our work, but I hope that if they seriously put themselves in the place of their pupils, and have any feeling of kindness for them, they would wish their children to believe, even though they do not themselves. Diderot belonged to that anti-Christian conspiracy which disgraced France towards the end of the last century. Whether he had abjured the faith of his childhood, or whether he still secretly cherished it, is a point which I will not undertake to determine; but this man was a father, and he had a beloved daughter, whom he educated himself, and the book from which he taught her was the Gospel. One day he was surprised when thus occupied by another conspirator, who reproached him, and his answer was, "I know of nothing better for my child." Let infidels seek to acquaint themselves with what they condemn, and they will not fail to think as did Diderot, and to teach as he did.

CHAPTER VI.

Cultivation of the Social Tendency by means of our Course of Language.

THE Social tendency, such as the Creator has implanted it in the human heart, is composed of three elements, which are, as we have seen, gratitude, compassion, and benevolence. Here we shall consider them one by one, but

only with reference to the objects on earth of these social affections; and exclusive of their reference to God and our Saviour, because the preceding chapter has sufficiently considered this noble direction of a tendency which embraces heaven as well as earth. We shall now begin with filial piety, and then advance step by step to the love of the whole human race.

If ever education was called upon to cultivate the social tendency in childhood, in order to counteract the preponderance of self-interest, and to come in aid of religion and morality, it is now, when egotism is spreading far and wide in society, and seems to threaten to break its bands asunder. Nevertheless, it is not enough to quicken the social tendency; we must also control it, for it may err from excess as well as from deficiency; and since it is subject to misdirection, education ought in prudence to anticipate this.

The moral and religious tendencies will here offer us their assistance, which we shall accept, as we have already availed ourselves of the social in support of religion and morality. Everything is connected; all is action and re-action in the life of the soul; and the great secret of education lies in turning to account this intimate connexion, this reciprocity of the natural affections.

Filial Piety.

We sometimes hear of the ties of blood, as if it was enough for a child to have been born of such and such parents, in order to acquire attachment for them. This is, indeed, to revive one of the occult qualities of the ancient system of Physics; and to utter sound instead of sense. Give to the new-born babe a strange nurse, who shall nourish and cherish him, and the child will attach himself to her, and be utterly indifferent to the mother who does nothing for him. And is it not also by frequent demonstrations of benevolence that the father distinguishes himself to his child from all other men? No: blood says nothing; it is kindness alone that speaks to the young heart, which responds by gratitude; and that is also another form of kindness.

And why is it that parents do not always discharge their duty to their family? If the mother cannot be the nurse of her child, she should at least watch over his cradle, that she may become his first teacher of language, his educator, his guardian angel. In return she will be beloved by him through life; and she will have done her duty. Gratitude and attachment cannot be commanded, for kindness must inspire them. Gratitude produces spontaneously all the affections contained in filial piety; and therefore we shall fix our attention upon it, and leave it to develope itself according to its nature. And our course of language will endeavour to kindle it in our pupils, and to familiarize them with the motives which may awaken and sustain it. Sometimes clouds arise between the parents and child, and impair gratitude; and these we shall endeavour to prevent, or to disperse if they shall unhappily have arisen.

Motives to be suggested.

Here our course of language will have a noble task to fulfil, and will commence these duties in its very first exercises; for it will remember that in cultivating filial piety it is labouring in the cause of religion, which is in fact no more than filial piety rising from earth to heaven.

Now you will animate filial piety, by quickening in your pupils the sense which they have of their dependence on their parents, from the first moment of their existence up to the present time. Their memory, it is true, cannot reach back to the cradle; but they can picture to themselves what they themselves were in it, by viewing the little ones whom they daily see there. Thus they can judge of the extent of their own helplessness; of the trouble which they cost to their parents, and of the innumerable benefits which they have received from them. Our course will therefore refer them to these first years of life.

But it will do more. Children long accustomed to the tender care of their parents, do not feel its value, and too often consider as a debt what is nevertheless a free gift. They forget that they live but by their kind