tamed the elements and made them servants of the universal good, but the brute beasts pass to and fro in their wildness and their isolation, no yoke on their neck or bit in their lips, the enemies of all they meet, yet without the capacity of self-love. They live on each other's flesh; their eyes, their teeth, their claws, their muscles, their voices, their walk, their structure within, all speak of violence and blood. They seem made to inflict pain; they rush on their prey with fierceness and devour it with greediness. There is scarce a passion or a feeling which is sin in man but is found brute and irresponsible in them. Rage, wanton cruelty, hatred, sullenness, jealousy, revenge, cunning, malice, lust, envy, vainglory, gluttony-each has its representative. Is it not marvelous that the All-Wise and All-Good should have poured over the face of his fair creation these rude existences, that they should divide the earth with man, and should be actual lords of a great portion of its surface?" *

It is a half-hearted faith which blinks at problems. To really trust God is to dare to look every mystery straight in the face, and when we so dare * Sermons to Mixed Congregations.

To the

and so look we begin to find our answer. mystery of animal life the answer seems to me clear and decisive. We are told that in our whole vast universe a single atom of matter is never destroyed. That which has once had being never ceases to be. But life is more than mere being: it is a luminous spark which may flame into spirit. Can God suffer this luminous spark to go out in utter darkness, or must the divine breath blow it into flame?

The cumulative evidence of all facts known to us points to idealism for their adequate interpretation, and as I suggested to you in my last letter, idealism means that the only realities in the world are God and the souls in whom he progressively creates his image. Evolution is not material, but spiritual, and the series and procession of vegetable and animal forms is only the semblance of a series and procession of souls. No soul perishes; all ascend through “the spires of form " to humanity. The human form is final and permanent because it is the form of consciousness which is allinclusive. Below man individuality is in process of making. But you will be you and I shall be I forever, because we can include all wisdom, all goodness, and all love in our individual conscious

ness. Accepting this truth, we can survey with untroubled minds that world display of mutual carnage which is the method of developing energy, courage, and all the traits which, when redeemed from selfishness, become the mainstays of selfhood.*

Am I allowing myself to be betrayed into writing you of questions which, while they may have a speculative interest for you and me, are without

* In his Psychologic Foundations of Education, p. 233, Dr. Harris confesses his faith that "permanent individuality may exist as low as the animals-indeed, it is probable that it does so exist, for the world seems to be a sort of cradle for the nurture of independent individuality."

Referring to animals, one of the authors of Lux Mundi (p. 91) writes as follows:

'What are they? Had they a past? May they not have a future? What is the relation of their consciousness to the mighty life which pulses within the universe? May not Eastern speculation about these things be nearer the truth than Western science?" Evidently the writer of these questions was inwardly convinced of their answer.

In the Christ of To-Day Dr. Gordon thus boldly avows his conviction:

"The ultimate center of all the force that shapes from within and all the energy that stimulates from without is the personal being of God. This is the eternal reality of the universe. What we call things are but the various and transient processions of the infinite personal soul; what we call animal life is but the divine differentiated into temporary, semi-independent existence; what we call man is but the primal personality uttered in terms of its own highest being, the finite lifted into the image of the Infinite and ordained to perpetual fellowship with him."

practical bearing on the subject of nursery education? If this doubt has flitted through your mind, remember that your very last letter contained a pitiful account of your vain effort to console little Edith when her pet canary was killed by her kitten. She understood that she must forgive her kitten because "it knew no better," but she wanted to know what had become of her bird, and you could not tell her. Had you really believed that no life perishes and no attained degree of individuality is ever lost, might you not have found true and simple words with which to soothe the real anguish of her loving heart?

Many minor questions are suggested in Froebel's Shadow Songs, but as both your patience and my time have limits I forbear to touch them, and hasten to indicate as briefly as possible the lesson of the Barnyard. Mastery by force is only the semblance of mastery. All true mastery is mastery of love. The triumphant march of the Mother-Play is from the child as a mere object of nurture to the child with nascent consciousness of becoming himself a nurturer. "Answer me," says Froebel, "but one question. What is the supreme gift you would bestow on the children who are the life

of your life, the soul of your soul? Would you not above all other things render them capable of giving nurture? Would you not endow them with the courage and constancy which the ability to give nurture implies? Mother, father, has not our common effort been directed toward just this end? . . . Has not our inmost longing been to capacitate our children for this inexpressible privilege?"

Our educational practice is halting and vacillating because we look toward no sure goal of our endeavor. Froebel is steadfast and consistent because he knows exactly what he wishes to do. Defining education as the nurture of nurturers, he treads with unhesitating feet the path which climbs toward his accepted goal. His educational aim is determined by his world view. Accepting with regenerate intellect that doctrine of incarnation which is the kernel of Christianity, he recognizes that it lies in the nature of God to communicate his own perfection to his creatures. Such a God is a God of self-imparting love, who can never be satisfied with giving until he has given all he has and all he is. Hence he is the supreme nurturer, and the goal of creation is a community of souls in whom he has perfected his own image. Conversely, if God