to others and for himself. He is born, both in body and mind, a feeble creature. As his physical frame needs a mother's judicious care for its growth and development, his moral and mental faculties would remain feeble and become distorted if left to themselves; and if ever his powers are so drawn out as to render him what he is capable of becoming, he must be led to his duty, not driven to it. He is not a mere machine, nor can he be governed as such. You may, by mere force, prevent him from doing what is wrong, but you cannot, by the same means, constrain him to do what is right. You must help him to understand his duty. You must use the means which his Maker has appointed to free him from the thraldom and degradation of ignorance, and thus awaken him to a sense of the destiny before him; and then, and only then, can you expect him both to comprehend and fulfil his duties to his Maker, to himself, and also to his neighbor.

Such being the case, it is very obvious that, over and above the essential importance of instruction to men viewed as immortal beings, if they are ever to become the subjects of self-government as a nation, they must be educated for it-educated to understand and appreciate their privileges and responsibilities, and the respective duties arising out of them. Accordingly, let us see what God ordained on this

point for the nation of the Hebrews when he organized them as a commonwealth.

Strange as it may perhaps seem to some of us, there has scarcely ever been a nation in which the people were so universally taught to read. That such was very generally the case in the time of our Saviour, we would infer from the manner in which he often appeals to the people, asking, "Have ye not read what Moses saith," "Have ye not read in the Scriptures," thus implying that his hearers could and did read the writings of Moses and the prophets. The same thing is plainly to be inferred when we are told respecting the inscription which Pilate placed over the head of the Redeemer at his crucifixion, "This title then read many of the Jews." But we have proof that may be viewed as still more conclusive. We may quote to you the law which impliedly enjoins it on parents, as a solemn duty, that the young should be taught to read and to study the statutes and the ordinances which God had revealed. "The words which I command thee this day," he ordains, "shall be in thy heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children." But how was this diligent instruction to be given? The command proceeds to say, "Thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and

when thou risest up." But was this oral instruction all that they were bound to give? Was there no other mode of teaching enjoined? See what is added: "And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between. thine eyes; and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thine house, and on thy gates." It scarcely needs to be observed that if parents were to instruct their children in God's law, by thus writing it for them; it follows that both parents and children must have been able to read it when written, for otherwise the writing would have been comparatively useless. And when you consider that in those days the art of printing had not been discovered, and that great time and labor were required in order to write the contents of the inspired volume on the posts of their doors and on their gates, you may learn the importance which the Most High attributed to the ability to read, as a means of preparing a people for the intelligent and conscientious discharge of their respective duties. Accordingly we find it to be the uniform testimony of Jewish writers that the school was to be found in every district throughout the nation, and under the care of teachers who were honored alike for their character and their station.

Nor was this all. As the divine command plainly implies, and as intelligent Jewish commentators in

terpret its meaning, it was not left to parents to decide whether their children should or should not be suitably educated. This duty was viewed as enjoined upon them by the authority of law; and up to this point we believe that wise legislation should come in every commonwealth. A parent should be required to educate his children if he has the ability to do it, and if not, the state should do it for him. There is nothing in such a requirement which can be accounted unjust or unreasonable. It implies no violation of a parent's rightful authority over his own family. Parental duty may be, and is enforced by the laws of the land in other cases. If a parent neglects to provide food and raiment for his children, the civil authority compels him to do it if he has the ability; and if not, it takes them out of his hands and does it in his stead. And is the body of more value than the mind; or the animal wants of a people of more consequence to public welfare than the moral and intellectual? Apart from the benefits which such laws ensure to the young themselves, in securing them against the degradation of ignorance, every well-ordered state should feel that, as it values public safety, it must not allow its youth to grow up within its own bosom in a condition of ignorance that would render them incendiaries, and pests to all its best interests.

Still farther, schools for the general education of the people were not the only institutions of learning among the Hebrews. To shed upon our earth the full and various illumination which it needs, there must be not only the lesser, but also the greater lights in the firmament; and it is from the greater that the lesser often derive their power to shine. The same laws prevail in the world of learning and of mind. The higher and greater seminaries of education are indispensable to a sound state of intellect in a people; were they to disappear, the common school would soon be shorn of its brightness. They are both parts of the same system, and they must exist and move together if the system is harmonious and complete. Accordingly there were higher institutions introduced and established among the Hebrews, under the title of "Schools of the Prophets," by which are meant seminaries where were taught, not only theology, but also other branches of knowledge which were reckoned among the pursuits of learning in that day.*

66

These Schools were under the care of men who stood high for their own intellectual attainments and their ability to impart knowledge to their

*The term "prophet" is sometimes used in Scripture not only for one who fortells future events, but also for one who is employed in giving instruction. Num. 11:25, 27. Also, 1 Cor. 14:1, 3 4.