124 HEREDITY AND CHRISTIAN PROBLEMS 



stead of seeking to eliminate the evil and pre- 

 vent any single power from growing abnormally 

 at the expense of the others, our systems of edu- 

 cation commonly ignore the constitutional differ- 

 ences in children, treating them all alike, as if 

 they had been subject to the same hereditary and 

 environing influences ; instead of making their 

 business the bringing out, developing to the full, 

 and making harmonious whatever is best, these 

 systems make it exactly the reverse, — a process 

 of implanting, regardless, too, of the nature of 

 the soil, and often of sheer cramming. 



All schemes of culture should begin with the 

 recognition that each child is different from every 

 other ; that the lines of difference run far back, 

 and therefore are not superficial, and that, in 

 order to secure the highest efficiency, systems of 

 education should be adapted to the individuals to 

 be reached. Every child possesses characteristics 

 which are the results of forces running through 

 generations, for which it is not responsible, and 

 which can be changed only by the most carefully 

 planned and wisely adjusted discipline. Then, 

 there are in most children special modifications 

 of natural traits due to circumstances, tendencies 

 that have been weakened here, and given new 

 impulse there, which are sometimes quickly dis- 



