flower expands in your sight, make them your own, and treasure them, and be happy that God has made Nature so lovely, and that you are capable of understanding and enjoying it. But then think of your fathers and mothers, who, in their love for you, have given you liberty, the better to secure your happiness. Think of your fathers and mothers, who often perhaps shed a silent tear because you are no longer near them, because they can no longer embrace you every day. I would that tears should sometimes fill your own eyes because you are no longer able to see them at all times. To-day, with tears in your eyes and with hearts full of love and gratitude, wish them a happy year, and pray to your Father in heaven, who is also their Father, that He will bless them, and by making you pious and good, bring them consolation and happiness.

"I now address you, young men, who are already masters and fellow-workers with us. What should this new year bring you? Be as simple as little children, and walk ever in the way of love and truth. May you increase in strength, virtue, and dignity; may you be united to help on the work which has formed you! Turn your eyes with faith to Him who begins and ends all that is good on earth. May you recognize the magnitude of the work with awe, and may your hearts be far from pride, foolish presumption, or the puerile thought that you have already climbed mountains! Oh, no, no! we are all still at the foot of the mountain; we are far, very far, from the summit we are anxious to reach. I shall not see it; the cold tomb will have covered me long before we are near. When I close my eyes, my last word to you will be: Do not deceive yourselves as to the height of the mountains you have to climb. They are higher, much higher, than they appear. When you have climbed one, you will but find yourselves at the foot of the next, and should you have mistaken the way and wish to stop and rest yourselves on the first height, your feet will become weak, and you will never see, any more than I have done, the true summit of the mountain.

"And you, my friends, who helped me to lay the first foundations of this institute, and have supported with patience and love these troubled times-friends without whom my work would never have existed-what shall I say to you? What is this work? Is it really our work? No.

no! Often, indeed, our fears vanished, though we saw a sword hanging over our heads. But often, too, our expectations have been deceived, and our hopes destroyed. As a rivulet which rushes from the mountain, our work owes its direction to its own weight; nor could we, who were stationed at its source, foresee whither it would flow. As the rivulet increased, it received tributaries of which we knew nothing, and which, by their united force, carried away the waters of our rivulet with their own. And so our work is controlled by a higher power, a power which is of God, and which has helped us far beyond our expectations, and far beyond our deserts. Every one calls it our work, but it is the work of God. Even this year again it requires, a new creation. We are in danger, we are in great danger; but we believe in Him who has so often rescued the work that was in danger in our hands, we believe in Him who has so often led His river through rocks which were impeding its progress. This year again He will cause it to flow on towards its destination.

as it

were,

"Friends, brothers, children! my soul overflows with joy. The Lord has worked great things in me. May I be more worthy of His goodness! May I, in spite of my weakness, be a father to you! I both can and will, so far, that is, as a man can be the father of his fellow-creatures. But God is the Father of us all. May He keep us all in His truth and His love, and pour out upon us during this year His most precious blessings! Amen!"

The Christmas discourse of 1810 speaks first of the great joy that all men should feel in thinking of Jesus Christ, made man for our redemption, and of ourselves, pardoned, sanctified, united through love, in communion with God and the Saviour for eternity. It is a joy which is celestial and Divine, which surpasses all other joys on earth, and which is for all men and for all times. But to partake of this joy our hearts must be full of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and our hands full of good gifts for men. After having developed these ideas, he applies them to the work of his institution as follows:

"If we wish this Christmas-day to be a festival for our hearts, let us make sure that love is in our midst! But

love cannot exist apart from the strength and Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ. Brothers and friends! if we are without that strength and that Spirit, our house is built upon the sand. Association between men does but corrupt instead of exalting them, if they are not made one by the strength and Spirit of Jesus Christ.

"To-day we can no longer expect any happiness save that which results from our own virtue; our virtue alone can maintain our association and lead it on in the right direction. Friends, you are almost without a leader. My strength is spent; I can no longer set the example of what each and all of us must do daily, and your task is heavy. . May this holy day bring us a renewal of strength in the service of our work. Brothers and friends, let us rejoice at the coming of Jesus Christ, and let us rejoice also at our holy association in a common work. May our joy be the pure effect of our faith in Jesus Christ and our love for Him.

"Brothers and friends! I am the weakest among you; but I am prepared for every sacrifice to save the holy cause which is our common aim. Be ye so likewise. It is not a small matter to put your hand to the education of men, and to say to the world: 'Here we are, anxious and able to improve the education of mankind. 'The world has given us its confidence; it covered us with laurels when we had barely begun to look for the means of changing our great dream into a reality. I was deceived myself; J. thought that the road leading to my end was much shorter than it really is. The praise we received, the success of some few isolated experiments, strengthened our error, and had a bad influence on our association and our work. The light and superficial spirit of the day lauded us too much, and made praise of us too much a matter of fashion. But now the disease which has betrayed itself in our work has changed the nature of men's judgments; blame has commenced, and I foresee that the same light and superficial spirit will also make fault-finding a matter of fashion. However, it is well for us that this hour is come; it is better for us than the hour of vain glory."

The discourse of the 1st of January, 1811, is remarkable from the fact that Pestalozzi addresses himself personally to Niederer and Krusi, and even to Schmidt, who is no

longer there. He begins by a religious statement, of which the substance is: Life passes like years, years like the hours of the day; everything changes, everything is destroyed. God, and man created in His image, alone remain eternal.

Man is only man, however, and only immortal by virtue of the Divine which is in him: the love of God and of his fellow-men. When man lives for this Divine inward essence, when all his faculties and sentiments are quickened by the love of God, then he sees time and years pass by as a part of eternity, for he is already in possession of life eternal. After having developed these ideas, Pestalozzi first applies them to his institute, and then to the work which is being accomplished there, and to all the persons who are taking part in it. He exhorts every one to work in the love of God and of men, not for what passes with the world, but for the Divine and unchangeable part of us which remains eternally.

The following passages from his speech will show the relations which then existed between him and his fellowlabourers:

"You, Niederer, the first of my sons, what shall I say to you? What shall I wish for you? How shall I thank you? You fathom the lowest depths of truth; you walk in its labyrinths as in beaten tracks. Love guides your steps, and, full of courage, you throw down the glove to those who abandon the path of truth, who seek only appearances, and make imposture their god. Friend, you are my support; my work rests upon your heart; the light of your eyes is my salvation, although at times my weakness shrinks from it. Be, Niederer, the guiding star of my house! May peace dwell in your soul and contentment in your mind! And so the fulness of your mind and heart will exercise a powerful and blessed influence on the work of my weakness. "Krusi! May your goodness spread continually! It was you who founded the spirit of the establishment at the holy hour of its first beginnings, and you founded it on holiness and love. In the midst of children you have always yourself been as a child. By your side, under the influence of your power and love, the children of our institute, even in the first days of their arrival, miss neither father nor mother. You have satisfactorily answered the question: Can the teacher supply the place of father and mother?

"You have laboured with Niederer as with a brother; you have had but one heart; each day strengthened the union between you. Promise me, with hand in hand, to remain united! You are the first and oldest of my helpers, the only ones that have remained faithful. I do not always agree with you in everything, but my soul is attached to you; without your united strength to support it, my establishment would no longer be the same, and its ruin would be speedy.

"Dear friends! you have all been my consolation in my days of sadness. When I lost the heart of the man whom my soul loved as a father loves the soul of his child, when I was afflicted as with the loss of my right hand, when I thought I had no more strength for the work of my life, then you showed me that you believed in me, and you strengthened my belief in myself. I now thank you, for it is owing to many of you that I was enabled to surmount that hour of weakness.

"And I owe you gratitude, too, Schmidt, as does also my work. Fellow-workers, a large part of his marvellous power has passed into your hands, and it is you who continue to support the institute. Schmidt! my gratitude and love must never lessen. You have done me much good. My trust in your strength made me well-nigh forget the establishment, myself, and my one sacred aim. Now I shall no longer forget either house, self, or aim; but neither shall I forget you. You have done me good by your love, which made me happy, and by your departure, which made me sad. Schmidt, the least that I owe you is to respect your views, and gratefully endeavour to carry them out. They are in so many points similar to mine! How can I help respecting them? How can I turn aside from them? No, I will be true toy ou as to myself. No one understands you better than I, no one will do you more justice. May God grant you days of peaceful maturity, love and consideration for the lowly, and faith in God, whose strength is made manifest in the weak. It seems as though I must go in search of you, crying aloud to you to say where you are, so great is my longing to-day to see you as one of my own.

"Blessed hour! raise us above all that is terrestrial, all that is transitory! Father in heaven! lift us in every circumstance of our lives to that which is eternal and