authority. He forms habits which at first are 

 without moral content, but which become in later 

 years the very means of selfhood. Hence the 

 child should now be taught the habit of prayer. 

 It is a great opportunity now to teach him a cer- 

 tain formula of words, the deep moral meaning 

 of which he can not immediately comprehend; 

 but as their meaning grows in his understanding, 

 their moral force comes home to his life. He can 

 now form the habit of Church attendance, which 

 by its very inertia may carry him subsequently 

 through many an hour of indifference. The habit- 

 forming period will not return again. 



Some people, not comprehending the nature of 

 the child, and reasoning from the nature of an 

 adult, are fearful that harm is being done him by 

 having to go through actions and word-formulas 

 which he does not mean, because he does not com- 

 prehend them. This is an idle fear. Educators 

 assure us that use or action always goes before 

 the comprehension of the reasons for them. "In 

 its application to moral education this law means 

 that the habit of good conduct should precede 

 ethical reasoning, that the child's activities, in 

 harmony with the best, should be developed before 

 he can understand ethical principles." (Griggs: 

 "Moral Education," 75.) A child should pray 

 before he can understand the relation of God to 

 man. All the religious activities may precede the 

 comprehension of the reason for them. It is desir- 

 able that the Church service should become fa- 



