better class of pupils. Severity in criticism should be avoided. "I used to say," Quintilian tells us, "with regard to some compositions, that I was satisfied with them for the present, but that a time would come when I should not allow them to produce compositions of such a character." The natural tastes and capacities of pupils should be regarded, though not to too great an extent. We should strengthen what is weak and supply what is deficient.

III.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION BEFORE THE

REFORMATION.

1. THE RELATION OF CHRISTIANITY TO EDUCATION.

THE education of paganism was imperfect. It was controlled by wrong principles, and confined within too narrow limits. It did not grasp the worth of the individual in all its fullness. It never freed itself from the narrowness of national character. Grecian education aimed at forming the beautiful Greek; Roman education, at forming the practical Roman. But, with the advent of Christ into the world, there came a new era in history. New truths were thrown into the world which were destined to change its character. "In lowliness and humility," says Dr. Philip Schaff, "in the form of a servant as to the flesh, yet effulgent with divine glory, the Saviour came forth from a despised corner of the earth; destroyed the power of evil in our nature; realized in his spotless life, and in his sufferings, the highest idea of virtue and piety; lifted the world with his pierced hands out of its distress; reconciled mankind to God, and gave a new direction to the whole current of history." With his coming, the world started upon the period of its final development. When

the truths announced by him have exhausted their force upon mankind, then comes the end.

The wide-reaching influences of Christianity have profoundly affected education. Christianity has placed education upon a new and immovable foundation. In teaching that God is the common Father of all men, it removes from education the fetters of national limits and prejudices. It gives the world the great thought of the brotherhood of mankind-a thought whose benign effects have not yet been fully realized. In making every one a child of God, stamped with the impress of the divine image, Christianity attaches due importance to the individual. It makes him the object of redemption, the steward of God, the heir of eternal life. He is made to possess an endless worth in himself. Christianity teaches that all men are alike before God, who "is no respecter of persons." With this mighty truth, it sweeps away the false distinctions of class and caste which have weighed so heavily upon Oriental countries. It abolishes slavery. In enforcing the law of brotherly love, Christianity seeks to overthrow the injustice and oppressions of society. Inculcating the duty of personal holiness, it seeks to abolish the vices which were sanctioned by the philosophy, religion, and society of the ancient world, and which polluted and undermined Grecian and Roman civilization. It elevates marriage into a divine rite. It makes the wife the friend and companion of her husband, their union symbolizing that of Christ with his Church. Children are looked upon as the gift of God. Christ took them up in his arms and blessed them. So far from having the right to expose his children to death, according to the universal custom

among pagan nations, the parent is required to "bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." These are some of the great truths of Christianity which have changed the character both of civilization and of education.

2. THE FOUNDER OF CHRISTIANITY.

The life of Christ, apart from its religious significance in the world's redemption, is well worth a careful study. It is now nearly nineteen centuries since his birth. During this vast period, the world has moved forward in its gigantic process of development. The sum of human knowledge has been immeasurably increased, new arts and sciences have arisen, yet the life of Christ stands forth in unapproachable beauty. The greatest minds of modern times, with the docility of the Galilean fishermen, have paid him the tribute of reverent admiration. The brilliant and skeptical Rousseau acknowledged that "the life and death of Jesus Christ are those of a God." The great German, Herder, said, "Jesus Christ is in the noblest and most perfect sense the realized ideal of humanity." No one will deny the intellectual greatness of Napoleon, yet he has said of Christ: "His birth and the story of his life, the profoundness of his doctrine, which overturns all difficulties, and is their most complete solution; his gospel, the singularity of his mysterious being, his appearance, his empire, his progress through all centuries and kingdoms-all this is to me a prodigy, an unfathomable mystery. I defy you to cite another life like that of Christ."

Human life is an unbroken unity, and our early

years, like the infant oak, contain the elements of our future being. As childhood is a peculiarly susceptible and imitative period, the influences and training belonging to it are largely determinative of our destiny. Leaving out of account Christ's divine nature, before which we bow as a mystery, we may trace, as in the case of other men, those influences which contributed to his intellectual and spiritual development.

Nazareth, his native town, is surrounded by an amphitheatre of hills. Flowers grow upon the slopes and in the hollows; birds fill the air with songs; refreshing breezes blow from the sea, and a bright canopy of blue is stretched over the landscape. In the midst of these favorable surroundings, Christ grew up in sympathy with Nature; and, in after-years, he was able to draw wonderful lessons from "the birds of the air and the flowers of the field." As the Jewish system of education had changed but little, the domestic circle at Nazareth was probably his only school. From Joseph he' received formal instruction in the Jewish law, while the gentleness and piety of Mary were not without influence in molding his character. He profited, no doubt, by the weekly synagogue service, and, on his annual visits to the holy city, dwelt fondly upon its wondrous associations.

The results of this training, with its deep religious significance, are apparent throughout Christ's subsequent career. At twelve years of age, he confounded the doctors in the temple; afterward he repulsed the repeated assaults of Satan in the wilderness; he vindicated his Messiahship by the testimony of the prophets; he baffled the cunning of the Pharisees by his profound