XXVI 
IMPROVEMENTS 
At the end of my second year in Abeokuta, 
most of the young people in the school could 
read in their mother tongue and had taken a 
course of study as far as its translated literature 
permitted. The Bible, of course, was their prin¬ 
cipal text-book and they knew more of this 
book than many children of enlightened parents 
in so-called Christian lands; for it is a sad truth 
that while there is much show of studying and 
teaching them among us, comparatively few out¬ 
side the ministry and those who have been 
specially trained as Christian workers, have any¬ 
thing like a complete and systematic knowledge 
of the Holy Scriptures. 
Even when used as a text-book in schools, the 
Bible is often more valued as a treasury of an¬ 
cient literature than as a source of religious light. 
It would be a good thing for some highly edu¬ 
cated young people if they were so placed for a 
year or two that they would have nothing else to 
read but that Book of books. Not only on the 
subject of true religion but on many other sub- 
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