DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATIONAL IDEAS 33 



world had come to perceive that education, which is conscious 

 evolution, is the method the Eternal employs to produce and perfect 

 all that is brought forth in space and time. In developing whatever 

 is potential in human endowment man cooperates with God to raise 

 life to higher and higher efficiency and quality. 



The value of all things was seen to lie in their power to educate, 

 for mind is the creator of values. Strength is good only when it is 

 controlled by the rational will; obedience is a virtue only when it 

 is enlightened and free. The young are compelled to obey that they 

 may learn that liberty is obedience to law. It is education that 

 makes man strong and reasonable, obedient to law, which is the ex- 

 pression of the mind and authority of the Creator of all things. To 

 assert that education is for freedom and not for authority is to wish 

 to separate things which are inseparable. They who recognize not 

 the authority of reason and conscience, and of the institutions in 

 which they are embodied, live in worlds where there is no right or 

 wrong, and are necessarily slaves. The more the subject of education 

 was studied, the more all-inclusive it was seen to be. The evolution 

 of the material universe had meaning, because it was the preparation 

 of a dwelling-place wherein beings capable of knowledge and love 

 might live and educate themselves. In this lies the significance of 

 history, which is valuable chiefly as a record of the education of the 

 human race. By this standard the worth of work, of religion, of 

 science, of art, of literature, of political and civil institutions, is 

 measured. If criminals are to be reformed, if the blind and deaf 

 and dumb are to be enabled to enter into intelligent communion with 

 Nature and their fellows, if a more wholesome, rational, and moral 

 life is to be fostered in communities and in individuals, the processes 

 and methods of education give the surest hope of success. Faith in 

 education is faith that reason and conscience are the mightiest forces; 

 it is faith in God. 



This deeper insight into the significance and value of education 

 led not merely to its general diffusion throughout the civilized world, 

 it led to more humane and just views in all that relates to the 

 nurture and discipline of the young or to the improvement and cor- 

 rection of the unfortunate or perverse. Love guided by wisdom 

 was perceived to be the supreme educational force. 



Socrates has said: "We can teach only those who trust and love 

 us; " and He who lifted the race of man to higher levels and diviner 

 aims and hopes made love the test of discipleship. The only fear 

 which is salutary is that which springs from love. To make the 

 young unhappy is to arrest or pervert their spiritual growth. From 

 the joys of childhood well the waters which make life's deserts bloom, 

 which refresh and strengthen the heart in the midst of the trials and 

 struggles that none can escape. The house which children approach 



