the universal spirit, and by its very nature it points toward the perfect communion of man with man and of humanity with God. It is the afferent and efferent nerve of the soul-the electric line over which spiritual life is both communicated and discharged. Waxing faith means a heightened receptivity to inflowing divinity-waning faith means the rupture of the individual from his own abysmal self, and hence the shrinkage of his powers and the shriveling of his life.

Do you see whither my letter is tending? If faith is the miracle by which the soul invades the realm of miracles, if it is the core of love and friendship, if it incites activity, develops force, and creates heroes, if it originates and sustains institutions and is the antecedent condition of literature, science, art, and religion, if, finally, it seeks and justifies its own presuppositions in philosophy, then may it not be because the little child possesses in larger measure than the man that ardor of trust which overleaps the strict bounds of evidence that we are enjoined to learn from him how to enter the kingdom of heaven, and conversely, must not the terminus ab quo of child nurture be sought in that primordial impulse of motherhood which seeks

to awaken faith? It seems to me Pestalozzi and Froebel have given no higher proof of their wisdom than in their recognition of this impulse as the point of departure for education, and if you will bear with a very long letter I should like to give you Pestalozzi's insight in his own touching words:

"I am unwilling to bring these letters to an end without touching on what I may call the keystone of my whole system. Is the love of God encouraged by these principles, which I hold to be the only sound basis for the development of humanity? Once again I look into my own heart for an answer to my question, and ask myself: 'How does the idea of God take root in my soul? Whence comes it that I believe in God, that I abandon myself to Him, and feel happy when I love Him and trust Him, thank Him and obey Him?'

"Then I soon see that the sentiments of love, trust, gratitude, and obedience must first exist in my heart before I can feel them for God. I must love men, trust them, thank them, and obey them, before I can rise to loving, thanking, trusting, and obeying God. For he who loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how shall he love his Father in heaven, whom he hath not seen?'

"I next ask myself, 'How is it that I come to love men, to trust them, to thank them, and obey them? How do these sentiments take root in my heart?' And I find that it is principally through the relations which exist between a mother and her infant child.

"The mother must care for her child, feed it, protect it, amuse it. She can not do otherwise; her strongest instincts impel her to this course. And so she provides for its needs, and in every possible way makes up for its powerlessness. Thus the child is cared for and made happy, and the first seed of love is sown within him.

"Presently the child's eyes fall on something he has never yet seen; seized with wonder and fear, he utters a cry; his mother presses him to her bosom, plays with him, diverts his attention, and his tears cease, though his eyes long remain wet. Should the unfamiliar object be seen again, the mother shelters the child in her arms, and smiles at him as before. This time, instead of crying, he answers his mother's smile by smiling himself, and the first seed of trust is sown.

66 His mother runs to his cradle at his least sign; if he is hungry, she is there; if thirsty, she satisfies

him; when he hears her step, he is content; when he sees her, he stretches out his hand and fastens his eyes upon her bosom; to him his mother and the satisfaction of his hunger are one and the same thing; he is grateful.

"These germs of love, trust, and gratitude soon develop. The child knows his mother's step; he smiles at her shadow; he loves whatever is like her; a creature of the same appearance as his mother is, in his eyes, a good creature. Those whom his mother loves, he loves; those whom she kisses, he kisses. This smile at the likeness of his mother is a smile at humanity, and the seed of brotherly love, the love of his fellowmen, is sown.

"Such are the first elements of moral development awakened by a mother's relations with her infant. They are also the elements of religious development, and it is by faith in its mother that the child rises to faith in God."

Credo ut intelligam, wrote St. Anselm, and his confession not only suggests the process by which religious truth is apprehended, but has a range of meaning coextensive with our entire spiritual activity. Again applying the fine secret that little ex

plains large and large little, we realize that out of the child's faith in his mother must spring aspiration for companionship with her, while on her side the yearning for her baby's trust deepens into yearning for her child's comprehension. You know that you can not be content with a blind obedience even though it be a loving obedience. As the physical union between you and Harold has been transfigured into emotional union, so you demand that this unity of feeling shall deepen into unity of thought, and heart insight ripen into the insight of intellect. Your earlier effort was directed toward making your baby physically selfreliant in order that you might win the higher dependence of faith; now your effort must be directed toward making your boy intellectually and morally self-reliant in order that you may realize in him that highest dependence of comprehending sympathy which is the goal of spiritual intercourse.

That Froebel has well understood you he proves by showing you, in the concluding paragraph of his Commentary, how you may aid your boy to become master of himself. Notice with what precision he attacks the defects which must be overcome before the child can be safely committed to his own care.