n for any soul. Hence, the
members of the human race all possess the capacity of attaining to the
highest station, and the proof they adduce therefor is this: "The
inhabitants of a country like Africa are all as wandering savages and wild
animals; they lack intelligence and knowledge; all are uncivilized; not
one civilized and wise man is to be found among them. On the contrary,
consider the civilized countries, the inhabitants of which are living in
the highest state of culture and ethics, solidarity and inter-dependence;
possessing, with few exceptions, acute power of comprehension and sound
mind. Therefore, it is made clear and evident that the superiority and
inferiority of minds and comprehensions arises from education and
cultivation, or from their lack and absence. A bent branch is straightened
by training and the wild fruit of the jungle is made the product of the
orchard. An ignorant man by learning becomes knowing, and the world of
savagery, through the bounty of a wise educator, is changed into a
civilized kingdom. The sick is healed by medication, and the poor man, by
learning the arts of commerce, is made rich. The follower, by attaining
the virtues of the leader, becomes great, and the lowly man, by the
education of the teacher, rises from the nadir of oblivion to the zenith
of celebrity." These are the proofs of the wise men.

The prophets also acknowledge this opinion, towit: That education hath a
great effect upon the human race, but they declare that minds and
comprehensions are originally different. And this matter is self-evident;
it cannot be refuted. We see that certain children of the same age,
nativity and race, nay, from the same household, under the tutorship of
one teacher, differ in their minds and comprehensions. One advanceth
rapidly, another is slow in catching the rays of culture, still another
remaineth in the lowest degree of stupidity.

No matter how much the shell is educated, it can never become the radiant
pearl. The black stone will not become the world illuming gem. The
calocynth and the thorny cactus can never by training and development
become the blessed tree. That is to say, training doth not change the
human gem, but it produceth a marvelous effect. By this effective power
all that is registered latent of virtues and capacities in the human
reality will be revealed.

Cultivation by the farmer maketh of the grain the harvest, and the effort
of the gardener maketh of the seed