ren to Himself as
well as parents themselves, when He feels like it. Parents who ignore
this do not give their children the love the latter have a right to
expect.

Intelligent and Christian parents, therefore, need to understand the
true status of the offspring, and should make careful allowance for
children's own interests, both material and spiritual, and for the
all-supreme rights of God in the premises. Since true love seeks to do
good, in parents it should first never lose sight of the child's soul
and the means to help him save it. Without this all else is labor lost.
God frowns on such unchristian affection, and He usually sees to it
that even in this world the reaping be according to the sowing.

The rearing of a child is the making or unmaking of a man or woman.
Love is the motive power behind this enterprise. That is why we insist
on the disinterestedness of parental love, before touching on the
all-important question of education.

CHAPTER LXI.
EDUCATE THE CHILDREN.

BEFORE reaching the age of reason, the child's needs are purely animal;
it requires to be fed, clothed and provided with the general
necessities of life. Every child has a natural right that its young
life be fostered and protected; the giver must preserve his gift,
otherwise his gift is vain. To neglect this duty is a sin, not
precisely against the fourth, but rather against the fifth, commandment
which treats of killing and kindred acts.

When the mind begins to open and the reasoning faculties to develop,
the duty of educating the child becomes incumbent on the parent. As its
physical, so its intellectual, being must be trained and nourished. And
by education is here meant the training of the young mind, the bringing
out of its mental powers and the acquisition of useful knowledge,
without reference to anything moral or religious. This latter feature--
the most important of all deserves especial attention.

Concerning the culture of the mind, it is a fact, recognized by all,
that in this era of popular rights and liberties, no man can expect to
make anything but a meagre success of life, if he does that much,
without at least a modicum of knowledge and intellectual training. This
is an age in which brains are at a high premium; and although brains
are by no means the monopoly of the cultured class, they must be
considered as non-existent if they are not brought out by education.
Knowledge is what counts nowadays. Even in the most