religious principle, are, in this relation, the only sure reliance for human virtue. But when thus grounded and rooted, it becomes the firmest security for every trait of excellence.

(9.) Self-reliance is the moral reward which man becomes entitled to reap from the conscious power of self-government; and, within such limitation, it is the pledge of many of the distinguishing traits of manly virtue. It may, without the genial guidance of education, become over-weening confidence and presumption. But rightly developed, it is the proper result of faith in the attributes conferred on man's nature by the Source of his being, in virtue of which he is rendered competent for the station and the duties assigned him, as an intelligent, but responsible moral agent. The conscious feebleness which induces infancy and childhood to rely on the power on which they feel they are dependent, is a natural and appropriate influence. But in the history of the moral progress of the human being, there soon succeeds a stage, in which for the highest purposes of life and character, he is weaned from the helpless condition of dependence on others; and self-intelligence and self-respect consciously demand the independence of self-exertion and self-reliance. A manly spirit of just confidence in conscious ability, never inconsistent with the crowning grace of modesty, secures the sincere respect of all who themselves feel the dignity of manhood, whether in its dawn or its maturity. It is an indispensable element in personal character, as the pledge of courageous enterprise, and persevering application, of firmness of purpose, efficient exertion, and final success, in whatever the sense of duty, or a just ambition, prompts the aspirant to attempt.

14. THE SELF-RENOUNCING VIRTUES.-The dependent condition of childhood suggests the indispensable relation of habitual obedience to parental and guardian authority, and unquestioning submission to requirements which the young mind may not always be able to comprehend. The unity of plan and administration, and the perfect subordination, which even the imperfect vision of the human eye can distinctly trace in the arrangement of the visible creation, suggest to the reflective mind the universal prevalence of Law, as the prominent feature of Divine government. Order, and system, and gradation, which man sees inscribed on all things around him, and to which he is conscious that his own mind is an analogous agent, he feels to be indispensable in his own sphere of action. He recognizes them as prompters endued with a wisdom and anthority above his own, and as the legitimate directors of his whole course of action. From the habit of early subordination, acquired under the guardian care of education, when rightly conducted in the sphere of home and school life, the self-intelligent mind, in its maturity of Christian growth,

learns to recognize the paramount claims of Divine authority to unhesitating obedience and cheerful submission, in the spirit of filial confidence and love, even when patient resignation to ordination not understood is the duty of the moment, and the utterance of the trusting spirit to its Author can only be, "not as I will, but as Thou wilt."

In the relations of human intercourse, the Modesty which feels what is due to others as exceeding the measure of merit in self, is no less surely an attribute of true nobility in man, than the self-reliance which forbids a feeble dependence on others, or a weak, subservient compliance with their arbitrary wishes. A sincere respect for just superiority, indicates the open eye for excellence, as manifested in the attainments and actions of others, and a full recognition of the true worth and genuine merit embodied in their character or conduct. It is the rightful homage of the heart, which ennobles, and never degrades. It restrains presumptuous self-confidence and arrogant assumption, and accepts, in true nobleness of spirit, that lower relative position which conscious immaturity, or inexperience, or limited attainments justly assign. It constitutes the docility of childhood and youth, and not less that of the mature student of science, who loves to sit at the feet of a competent instructor, and treasure up his words of wisdom.

The true dignity of man, as an intelligent and moral being, while it secures his personal independence, and his equality, in the sight of God, with every individual of the race, is by no means inconsistent with that profound respect for man, as the offspring of the Father of spirits, which generates humility of spirit and deportment, between man and man, forbids all assumption as usurpation, arrogance as injury, and haughtiness as insult, and yet knows how to meet them with the gentle spirit of Christian meekness. True humility deems no office of kindness too low which can minister to the welfare of a fellow being, whether the beneficent act be gratefully or thoughtlessly received. The perfect model of this virtue exhibited by Him whose spirit was so lowly that he condescended to wash the feet of his followers, was nobly copied in the heroic explorer* who did not disdain. to perform the lowest of menial offices for his suffering crew.

The spirit of condescension which shuns all parade and formality in intercourse with the young and the dependent, and easily and gently glides into sympathy and due familiarity with all worthy fellow beings which skillfully breaks down every "middle wall of partition" between man and man, and knows how to “condescend to men of low

* Dr. Kane, in the scenes of his Arctic expedition.

estate," without the display of condescension-does homage to the Maker, in honoring the man, and recognizes the individual's own position as on the common level of membership in the great family which has but one Head and one Master.

In the management of the family and the school, the whole class of virtues on which we are now dwelling, requires particular attention in all communities in which there is a peculiar tendency, owing to the free spirit of their institutions, to place a high nominal value on those traits of character which indicate independence and self-reliance. The unreflective, unreasoning nature of childhood, early catches the spirit of the moral and social atmosphere in which it breathes, and in its natural tendency to exaggeration and excess, carries what might have been a positive excellence to a noxious vice. The absurd and culpable neglect of parental control, so prevalent in our day, often exhibits a spectacle of apparent insanity, in the boys and girls of our families and our schools abandoning the natural and beautiful character of their years, and ridiculously trying to play the part of self-responsible men and women.

15. EXAMPLE, as a Moral Influence.-Imitation-the power by which man is enabled to maintain his personal analogy to surrounding conditions of nature, life, and character, and thus to conform to the laws of being, in their requirements-lays him open, in the early stages of life, more particularly, to the influence of example in the actions of his fellow beings. The character of parents, teachers, companions, is, in this way, unconsciously transcribed in the daily life of childhood and youth, and, to a great extent, even in the habitual actions and expressions of maturer years. The law of sympathy, written on the human constitution, in its effects on the imitative tendency natural to man, is a most fruitful source of good or evil in every moral relation and, emphatically calls for the watchful care of the faithful educator.

16. PRUDENCE, as a Moral Monitor.-This virtue-if, in obedience to ancient classification, it may be so called-when it springs from just and honorable motives, is a negative but preventive wisdom, somewhat analogous in its conservative effects, to the modesty which reserves itself in communication with others. It is, indeed, but a preventive virtue, yet one which education properly inculcates as a protection against manifold evil to the individual himself as well as to others. It forbids hasty conclusions, rash resolves, injudicious communication, inconsiderate conduct, hazardous undertakings, foolish expenditures of time, strength, health, or other means of useful or beneficent action. It resembles thus the self-control which keeps man in possession of his powers, and enables him to use them at will. Its

moral value, therefore, though negative, is great, and great, obviously, in proportion to the inexperience and unconsciousness of the mind in its earlier stages of progress.

17. PERSONAL HABITS: their Moral Value.-(1.) The observance of Order and Method in the distribution of time and the succession of occupations, seems to be, in the sphere of daily life, what the regularity of alternation in day and night and the return of the seasons, is to the year. They form a security against a thoughless, random mode of life, destitute of steady aim and purpose, made up of loose scraps of time, unconsciously or idly passed in effecting nothing. Man's dignity and destination imperatively forbid such a life. Morality and religion equally condemn it. But from the multitude and variety of objects soliciting its attention, and of desires craving gratification, the young mind, unaided by education, is prone to lose itself in vague and abortive endeavor at the passing moment, instead of relying on that continuous and systematic industry to which nothing practicable is denied. As the bark of life floats down the ceaseless stream of time, the hand of diligence gathers into it, hour by hour, the rich and ever increasing freight of varied acquisition, in anticipation of another and yet happier voyage, in the great Hereafter.

Activity and energy, in any pursuit, are valuable or successful only as far as they have the continuity and sequence of system. It is this logical principle which gives unity and invaluable results to studies pursued under even the most limited opportunities of time, and which enables the student to weave the life of a day or of an hour into the continuous web of the week, the month, and the year.

(2.) Industry.-The love of work, and the habit of working-the steady pursuit of a practical purpose in practical forms, is man's first step in the efficiency which elevates him above the lower tribes of animal life, as a being endowed not with the mere sagacity—if it may be so called-of instinct, but with the intelligent forecast which foresees, and fore-ordains, and prepares; and which consciously shapes and sustains a definite purpose, and willingly and skillfully toils for its accomplishment. For the attainment of such results he is qualified by his original, native love of activity; and when this primary impelling power is directed by intelligence and benevolence, it gives efficiency and success to all his endeavors, whether in the toil which wins the treasures of knowledge and learning, in that which accumulates those of wealth, or in that which indefatigably works for human good, in the labors of beneficent philanthropy.

A judicious apportionment of time and occupation, however is indispensable to successful and continuous industry. By such a

method only can the fatal evils of excessive close application be avoided, and the due alternation of intervals of entire rest and of renovating recreation afford opportunity of restoring and maintaining the energies of life and mind. He who does not bring to his work the powers of a whole man, is incompetent even to the task of the moment, and, in the long run, his exertions prove but a succession of failures. The jaded student or teacher, and the harassed man of business, are alike unfitted for the nobler moral purposes of their being. Habits of early-formed obedience to the Creator's laws which regulate the whole nature of man, are the only sure reliance for the possession of permanent vigor of body and mind, or the soundness of moral health in the dispositions and affections of the heart. Nothing short of this personal morality in planning and conducting the business of life, can secure the unity of life in the whole man, as an intelligent, efficient, responsible moral agent.

The hygiene of man's moral being demands the most faithful attention even to the minor details of corporal well-being; and in no respect can education more effectually subserve man's best interests, than by an enlightened and constant attention to these requisites of mental health, through the whole decisive period of childhood and youth, which so effectually determines the character of subsequent life.

The lengthened catalogue of virtues and of duties, which a distinct enumeration of the moral capabilities, of human nature, as the subject of educational culture, required, will not discourage the faithful teacher, in view of the manifold duties devolving on him as the guardian of the young mind; if, as we hope he does, he regards moral culture as the chief part of his work, and values intellectual attainment in his pupils only as it conduces to the higher ends of being and of character. Nor will the extent of detail in our suggestions be objected to by those who feel, from the daily experience of the teacher's life, how close must be the watchful observation of disposition and habit, and how thoroughly practical must be the meliorating methods of influence, in the management of the schoolroom as a scene of moral development.

If the preceding outline of classification serve no higher purpose than that of a convenient list for reference to prompt the memory of the teacher, in his endeavors to do some measure of justice to the numerous sources of moral influence on life and character, the purpose of the writer will have been effectually accomplished.