The question as to how its growth may most wisely be
promoted is, therefore, one of surpassing importance.

The object of nurture is to provide an unhindered path along which the
soul may move, to bring into full and free exercise all the powers which
it possesses, and to secure for them development and harmony. To insure
for each individual soul in the struggle of life a fair opportunity to
be itself is the end of nurture. Emerson has said that at birth every
child is loaded with bias, and that the purpose of culture is to remove
all impediment and bias, and to secure a balance among the faculties so
as to leave nothing but pure power. The same may be said as to the
object of nurture. Since impediment and bias are never a part of the
essence of the soul, the statement that the aim of nurture is to furnish
a full and free opportunity for each individual to secure a normal
development is, practically, identical with what Emerson has said of
culture.

What are the agencies which have most to do with promoting the ascent of
the soul? The first is atmosphere. In a bright, clear, sunshiny
atmosphere the body attains its most healthful growth. So with the soul.
Atmosphere is one of those intangible things that every one understands
and no one can easily define. It is composed of a thousand different
elements. The atmosphere of a household is the spirit by which it is
pervaded. Are all reverent, earnest, cheerful, optimistic? Do love and
mutual helpfulness prevail? Do the members of the family live as if God
were a near and blessed reality, and right and duty were more sacred
than life? Then there will be an atmosphere of hopefulness, devotion,
service, reverence, pure religion, which will affect all as sunlight and
air, unconsciously but evidently, grow into the beauty and fruitfulness
of meadows and gardens. The rare spirituality, the urbane manner, the
exquisite regard for others, the dignity and deference which are found
in some persons have no explanation except that they have been absorbed
from the households in which their early lives were passed. Nurture is
chiefly a matter of mental and spiritual atmosphere. Attraction is
always stronger than compulsion. A child born into conditions in which
love prevails, where truth, duty, honor, are reverenced, and where all
dwelling together seek the highest things, will need neither instruction
in morals nor motives in religion. It will naturally turn toward truth
and righteousn