and the grandeur of creation; and piety follows. Is it not thus that is formed that holy bond which we term religion, or which Pythagoras calls the golden chain reaching from heaven to earth, and binding man to God?

But filial piety is more than a type. Study it well, and you will discover in it the precious germ, which will in due time expand into religion. The child, when passing beyond the boundaries of the material world, in order to discover maternal love, was trained to pass beyond the works of nature, and to discover divine love, which dwells within the veil. What is religion, but filial piety, which soars towards our heavenly Father, in order to present to Him our homage, and to offer up to Him our boundless hopes and desires?

There is then a religious tendency in human nature. It does not indeed appear in the earliest dawn of life; because a certain degree of moral and intellectual developement must take place before it can burst the shell which encloses it. Its first appearance is, moreover, very variable, because the previous developement depends both on external influences, and on the exercise of the free will; and therefore it takes place very unequally. Indeed it sometimes happens that this previous developement is either checked or turned aside. Then religion, which is the choicest blossom of our nature, either perishes in the bud, or never expands fully.

For all this, it is not the less true, that there is a religious tendency in human nature; for if there were not, there would be no trace of religion in life, and men would not differ from the brute beast. At all times, and in all places, human nature has been religious, though very variable in the mode of expressing the feeling; and this may be easily accounted for, when we consider that the noblest tendency of our nature requires right cultivation for its due developement; and how defective is that which is common among men!

CHAPTER III.

General Culture of the Heart by means of Instruction in the Mother-Tongue.

Ir now remains to show what instruction in the mothertongue can do, and what it can not do, for the education of the heart. This teaching, if under right regulation, presents us with admirable helps for the attainment of this noble end; but its powers have their due limits; and these we must indicate, in order that too much may not be promised, on one hand, or required, on the other.

Moral State of the Pupils when admitted to our Course of Language.

Our pupils should enter the elementary school at six years of age, and should there spend from twelve to eighteen months in learning the elements of reading, writing, and arithmetic; while their young thoughts will also be polished and enriched by suitable exercises of language and intelligence. They will therefore be from seven to eight years old, when promoted to our course of language.

The teacher who then observes them narrowly will not only find in them the absence of what is right, but by looking a little closer he will detect traces of evil, as well as of error. Not that the child is born with enmity to what is right and true; for, as we have before said, the love of it remains in his soul, as the indestructible remnant of that image of God in which he was first created. But he carries this treasure in an earthen vessel*, for he is flesh as well as spirit; and it is the animal part which developes itself first, and the spiritual part afterwards †.

Consequently, the inferior part of our nature has already acquired ascendancy over the child, while the superior part, which ought to exercise it, still lies dormant, or is but seldom and partially aroused. It is this priority

* 2 Cor. iv. 7.

+1 Cor. xv. 46.

and predominance of the animal part which we term original sin, or that original corruption with which all the children of Adam are born, and which requires a prompt and salutary remedy, ere they can become children of God and heirs of everlasting life. They must be born again, as our Saviour said to Nicodemus*, and thus delivered from the bondage of the flesh†.

This depravity is as yet but faintly sketched out in our pupils of seven or eight years old. Nevertheless you will detect in them idleness and greediness; symptoms of insubordination, envy, jealousy, and temper; together with the grievous tendency not to tell the truth, when doing so would involve unpleasant consequences. But the evil is not irremediable; nor is it inveterate, for together with it there is much that is amiable in childhood. Surely those children could not have been reprobates whom our Saviour loved to bless, and whom He pointed out as models to His disciples, saying, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

The besetting sins of childhood spring from the personal tendency, which is earliest developed, and which, unhappily, meets with frequent stimulants in the example and conversation of others. But be just to your pupils; and let not the evil which you lament prevent you from discovering the good dispositions which they bring with them to your lessons. I shall not speak of the intellectual faculties that have been awakened under the paternal roof; but with regard to the heart, your pupils have probably made greater progress than you imagine.

Question them as to right and wrong, or attend to their judgments, not only on the actions, but on the affections of others, and you will soon be convinced that the

* John iii.

+ We may here trace in our author, one of the peculiar doctrines of the Church of Rome, which limits the effects of the fall of man to his inferior or corporeal nature, and holds the superior, or mental part, to have escaped the taint, and to be pure in itself, until overpowered by the lower, or animal part.

Matt. xviii. 3.

moral tendency has been considerably awakened even at their early age, at the very threshold, as it were, of life. The innate respect for what is right, and the hatred of evil, will show themselves together with conscience; as you will find whenever you mention an anecdote which displays virtue or vice in its true colours. The one will receive the homage which is its due; and the other the reprobation it deserves. Your pupils will express their feelings in words if you ask them, or in their eye and countenance, if you understand this language. We have already said that a sense of justice early shows itself in children; and we may therefore infer, that the moral tendency has attained considerable developement in our pupils of seven or eight years old.

Nevertheless, you will look in vain among them for that virtue or moral strength of mind which constantly prefers duty to pleasure, and triumphs over the obstacles which beset the path of duty. This moral strength is not born in us, for it is the result of our own voluntary exertion; and its growth requires both time and courage.

But let us again examine our pupils of seven or eight years of age, and, together with good moral dispositions, we shall also find others which will come in aid of our proposed education. I need not dwell on filial piety, which was first awakened in their cradle; and which, though frequently defective, has never been extinguished in the hearts of any, while in some it has grown with their growth, till it has amounted to devotedness. Generally speaking, the whole social tendency will show itself, more or less, in our pupils. You will detect in their conduct indications of gratitude, compassion, kindness, friendship, and even self-sacrifice. But remember that children are as volatile as the birds of the air; and that you must not expect from them those steady affections which may reasonably be required of men, in whom experience and reflection have been matured by years. Gratitude in the child rarely survives the benefit, which is soon forgotten; but it has been awakened, and may be so again. Compassion presupposes a knowledge of suffering; and of this children have but little, because they have not acquired it by ex

perience, and consequently they cannot sympathize with sufferers. Here it is their knowledge, and not their heart, which is in fault.

The religious tendency has also been aroused by the mother; and it has responded to her maternal appeal. This response, we allow, is at first a very feeble echo; but let us never forget that piety is a sublime aspiration, which soars above the material world, and that our pupils, even at their early age, are incessantly drawn towards the objects which incessantly appeal to the senses. Therefore, before piety, which is in them but a feeble spark, that flashes for a moment, and then vanishes away, can become the sacred fire which our Saviour came to kindle upon earth, these novices in life must acquire the habit of rising above the visible world, in order to discern the Creator in His visible works, and to read the future in the present.

From what we have now said as to the moral state of the pupils who come to our course of instruction, it will be seen that they are far indeed from the standard towards which we would fain bring them. Whoever reaches it would be able to say, as did our Lord, " My meat is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to finish His work;" would, like Him, love all men for the sake of our common Father; and would be ready to lay down his life for their salvation. Far, indeed, are our pupils from having attained to such Christian charity. It must be the labour of their whole life; and we find that the Apostle of the Gentiles, advanced as he was in his high career, loudly acknowledged that an immeasurable distance yet lay between him and his Master and Saviour*.

Let us not overlook the good which has begun to show itself in our pupils. If we are just, we shall find that, in comparison to the point from whence they started, they have already made considerable progress. We shall ac

knowledge our obligation to the mother, and to those who have seconded her labours; and we shall willingly contribute our share towards this work of salvation, in the

* Phil. iii. 4.