up together they, too, must
learn mutual forbearance, conciliation, and, soon, the joy of service.
One sees selfishness in the little child gradually fading in the
practice of family service, helpfulness, consideration for others. The
single child in a family misses something more important than playmates;
he misses all the education of play and service. But who cannot remember
many families that have grown to beauty of character under the
discipline of home life, and especially when this has involved real
sacrifices? The stories in the Pepper books illustrate the spirit that
blossoms under the trials and hardships of the struggle of a family for
a livelihood and for the maintenance of a home.

A clear function becomes evident for this social group called the
family. It is that of dealing with young lives, in groups bound by ties
of blood and similarity, for purposes of the development of personal
character. The family has an essentially educational function. Bearing
in mind that "educational" means the orderly development of the powers
of the life, we can think of our families as existing for this purpose
and to be tested by their ability to do this work, especially by their
ability to develop persons, young lives, that have the power, the
vision, the acquired habits and experience to live as more than animals.
The family is an educational institution dealing with child-life for its
full growth and its self-realization, especially on character levels.
The educational function suggests the features of family life which we
do well to seek to preserve. Many incidental forms may pass, but the
essential human relations and experiences that go to develop life and
character must be maintained at any cost.

I. References for Study

C.F. and C.B. Thwing, _The Family_, chap. vii. Lothrop, Lee &
Shepard, $1.60.

W.F. Lofthouse, _Ethics and the Family_, chaps. iv, v. Hodder &
Stoughton, $2.50.

II. Further Reading

"The Improvement of Religious Education," _Proceedings of the
Religious Education Association_, I, 119-23. $0.50.

_Religious Education_, April, 1911, VI, 1-48.

S.P. Breckinridge and E. Abbott, _The Delinquent Child and the
Home_. Russell Sage Foundation, $2.00.

III. Topics for Discussion

1. What is the chief end of all forms of social organization?

2. What is in the last analysis the aim of every parent?

3. What advanta