ht be able to read the Bible and study the catechism. For some time the
church had charge of and controlled education, but gradually, as democracy
developed, the influence of the state began to overshadow that of the
church, and education came to be recognized more and more as a function of
the state, and its control was gradually taken over by the latter
institution.

The chief function of education, therefore, may be seen clearly from the
foregoing. In a democracy it is necessary for every child to be educated
because the existence of free institutions is based upon the intelligence
of the masses. Jefferson once remarked: "If anyone believes that free
government and an ignorant people can exist at one and the same time, he
believes that which never was or never can be." Universal education is,
therefore, a social necessity; its chief purpose is to train and instruct
the child in the duties and ideals of citizenship. He must be instructed in
the history of his country and learn what the ideals are for which his
country stands; he must learn the real meaning of the words: equality,
justice and freedom; he must be taught that obedience to law is the highest
form of freedom, and that license is destructive both of self and country.
Furthermore, he must learn that in a free country every individual must be
taught to be self-dependent, that no one owes him a living, that he ought
to produce a little more than he consumes for the sake of the unfortunate.

The school, therefore, may teach better than any other agency the habits
and ideals of duty, social service, justice and patriotism. It also teaches
frequently better than does the home, the habits of obedience,
punctuality, regularity and industry.

A secondary purpose of the school is to assist the home to develop in the
child the physical, mental, moral and social habits and ideals to which we
have referred in previous lessons. To the shame of the home, it must be
said that the school is accomplishing its particular function far better
than is the home. The school rarely fails to exact obedience, regularity,
punctuality, and industry from the pupil; the home, on the other hand,
frequently fails to train children in these habits because of the softness
and vacillation of the parents. The school trains to proper habits of
hygiene and sanitation, and is often under the necessity of acquainting
parents with physical defects in their children which too often they have
overlo