a noble tree. The gentle teacher
promoteth the children of the school to the lofty altitude and the
bestowal of the trainer placeth the little child upon the throne of ether.
Therefore, it is demonstrated and proven that minds are different in the
original entity or nature, and that education commandeth a decided and
great influence. Were there no educator, all souls would remain savage,
and were it not for the teacher, the children would be ignorant creatures.

It is for this reason that, in this New Cycle, education and training are
recorded in the Book of God as obligatory and not voluntary. That is, it
is enjoined upon the father and mother, as a duty, to strive with all
effort to train the daughter and the son, to nurse them from the breast of
knowledge and to rear them in the bosom of sciences and arts. Should they
neglect this matter, they shall be held responsible and worthy of reproach
in the presence of the stern Lord.

This is a sin unpardonable, for they have made that poor babe a wanderer
in the Sahara of ignorance, unfortunate and tormented; to remain during a
lifetime a captive of ignorance and pride, negligent and without
discernment. Verily, if that babe depart from this world at the age of
infancy, it is sweeter and better. In this sense, death is better than
life; deprivation than salvation; non-existence lovelier than existence;
the grave better than the palace; and the narrow, dingy tomb better than
the spacious, regal home; for in the sight of mankind that child is abased
and degraded and in the sight of God weak and defective. In gatherings it
is ashamed and humiliated and in the arena of examination subdued and
defeated by young and old. What a mistake is this! What an everlasting
humiliation!

Therefore, the beloved of God and the maid-servants of the Merciful must
train their children with life and heart and teach them in the school of
virtue and perfection. They must not be lax in this matter; they must not
be inefficient. Truly, if a babe did not live at all it were better than
to let it grow ignorant, for that innocent babe, in later life, would
become afflicted with innumerable defects, responsible to and questioned
by God, reproached and rejected by the people. What a sin this would be
and what an omission!

The first duty of the beloved of God and the maid-servants of the Merciful
is this: They must strive by all possible means to educate both sexes,
male and female; girls like boys;