ness and force were broken. From the viewpoint of external conditions, this is the darkest period in the religious annals of our American colleges. From the viewpoint of the inner spiritual life of the students, I am inclined to think that it is in nowise so dark and depressing as the latter part of the period preceding." And he gives statistical and other facts to support his statements.

During the century that opened thus darkly for the perpetuation and dissemination of Christianity, the gain in the growth of religious development was, however, a steadily accelerated growth, though, of course, not without checks and temporary retrogressions. First calling attention to the fact that in his historical study he had found (280) "that in every single instance the characteristic fluctuations of religious life in the college(s) correspond with similar fluctuations among men outside, with this distinction, however, that the religious tone of the college is invariably a little higher," Mr. Hardy subsequently sums up the results of his investigations as follows (290):—

"In the first period (1636-1770) undoubtedly there was a larger proportion of professing Christians than to-day (for reasons already explained); from 1775 to 1795 about twelve per cent; from 1795 to 1800 the ratio sinks to one in twenty, or five per cent of Christians in the total enrollment of the undergraduates. At the opening of the century the percentage suddenly rises to fifteen or more in 1808, sinking again to ten at the end of the decade. From 1810 to 1825 the ratio sinks still lower, to rise steadily to twenty-five at the end of the first quarter of a century. From this time on to 1850 there is a gradual and permanent gain till the percentage registers thirtythree. Eight years later more than forty per cent of the students are Christians. Just before the war the percentage reaches forty-five, and then remains largely unchanged for a score of years. From 1885 to 1900 there has been a slow but sure gain, till more than one half of the American students are professing Christians. The indications for the first years of the new century are most encouraging."

Now, I contend that it is significant that the decline of religious faith and morality went on under compulsory religious

instruction, and in an atmosphere saturated with ecclesiasticism in school and college; and that the growth of religious faith and morality is contemporaneous with the gradual emancipation of the school and the college from the incubus of compulsion in religion, and with the growth of the free secular public school. It is well known that the secularization of the public school and its phenomnal growth were effected during the nineteenth century, the latter particularly during the second half of the century. Religion, like patriotism, thrives under freedom. The gains to religion sketched above have all taken place, I repeat, under a system of free public elementary schools, free public high schools, and free state universities, all without explicit or formal instruction in religion.

And what of morals? Is the public and private conscience also gaining in sensitiveness and force? I think it is. We are even now in the midst of a great moral awakening. The remorseless exposure, conviction and punishment of men of whatever social grade, who have been false to a private or public trust or corrupt in office, are an indication that the moral sense of the American people is keen and effective. I am no prophet, but I believe that it will soon be popular to be an earnest and honest public official, and, at the same time, more profitable than to be a shirking, or self-seeking, or dishonest official. Meanwhile, the real brotherhood of man is being recognized in our slow but steady gain toward universal peace, in the winning fight of the intelligent and efficient laborer to obtain a just share of the fruits of his labor, and in the enormous gains in public philanthropies of every description. Men are feeling, or are made to feel, as never before, their duties to their fellow-men-the obligation and the privilege of doing good.

In this paper I have endeavored to maintain the truth of two propositions :

1. Formal or explicit instruction in religion in the public schools is undesirable, unnecessary, and, in most cases, legally impossible: and

2. Religious education, including detailed instruction in the Bible, is the duty of the Church.

These propositions are not new; but in the contemporary transitional state of religious belief, and in view of the strong, increasing and justifiable demand for instruction in the Bible, we need to remind ourselves often of their validity; lest, in spite of the lessons of history and of contemporary experience, we entertain unwise or even disastrous suggestions; and, failing to aid the contemporary promising, though as yet only incipient efforts of the Church, we invite dissension and disaster, and so defeat our own ends.

God's Temple

MAISIE B. WHITING

God's holy temple is the sea, the waves,

And tawny sands; and loud voiced winds that smite
The broad harp of the unconquered deep with might,
Uplift unceasingly vast hymns of praise,

Until the tumult swells the farthest caves
Of ocean, and the dim, living forms of night
That sleep in depths forbidden to the light,
Shudder, and dream of his mysterious ways.

The unhewn rocks, where the chanting waters bide,
His altars are; like incense pure, the tide,

In flowing purple clad, lifts its white spray
Toward heaven, and when the Almighty One, by day
Or night, broods o'er his shrine, the mists on high
Are spread, lest we should see his face, and die.

1

XII

Practical and Impractical Ways of Educating the Will

PROFESSOR H. H. HORNE, DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY AND EDUCATION, DARTMOUTH COLLEGE, N. H.

I

T is not the purpose of this paper to set before us the theory of will; for this we must go to the books on psychology. Nor is it our purpose to consider the theory of the education of the will, save for one quotation which I will make; for such theory we must go to the books on applied psychology. But our purpose is to consider certain practical and impractical agencies in the education of the will. These agencies are already in fairly general use; they need to be strengthened and to come into universal

use.

By way of preliminary to such a practical discussion it may be briefly remarked that the will represents consciousness in action, that consciousness in action is essentially a matter of a motive becoming a deed, that such deeds make character, and that character is the crown of educational endeavor. The theoretical background of our discussion is sufficiently indicated in the following quotation from Professor Thorndike :

"The Elements of Moral Training.-The training of character is correspondingly complex. Useful instincts must be given a chance to exercise themselves and become habits. Harmful instinctive responses must be inhibited through lack of stimulus, through the substitution of desirable ones or through actual resultant discomfort, as best befits each special case. The mind must be supplied with noble ideas through the right examples at home, in school, in the world at large and in books. These ideas must be made to issue in appropriate action or they may be worse than useless. The capacity to examine any situation and see what the essential fact in it which should decide action is, must be constantly exercised and guided. The habits of letting It is right' or 'It is best' or 'It will be for the real welfare of the world' or the like, be an absolutely final warrant for action must be firmly fixed. The will must be pre

vented alike from precipitate responses and from dawdling indecision. The power to banish from mind attractive but unworthy ideas and to go one's way regardless of the effort involved in so doing, must be gradually built up. Especially important is the actual formation of definite habits. If a man does what is useful and right he will soon gain proper ideas of social efficiency and of morals. If he learns to do the right thing in a thousand particular situations, he will, so far as he has the capacity, gain the power to see what act a new situation demands. If he is made to obey a thousand particular This is right,' and 'That is right,' he will, so far as he has the capacity, come to connect respect and obedience with the abstractly right and true. If he does what he has to do well and treats his fellow beings as he should in the thousands of situations of the ordinary course of life, he will gain the power to conquer attractive counter-impulses.'

Against this theoretical background, our first practical suggestion is, utilize well the opening religious exercise. It should not be didactic, but a real experience of the heart. The principal ought not to comment on the passage of Scripture read, even if the law would allow him. The singing should be hearty and in unison, a social expression of individual emotions. And the Lord's Prayer should be said in concert, not as a formality, but as a sincere expression of the religious nature. This simple opening exercise should mean the morning uplift of the temporal school life into the eternal order of God's life. The intellect has been taught nothing ethical, but the whole life has been nourished spiritually.

In the second place, make good use of the special days in school, like Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The celebrations of the lives of great men should mean the feeling of the heroic spirit by the school, the kindling of high enthusiasms by a sympathetic interpretation of the great old past. Thanksgiving should be the special day on which the sense of gratitude in the school finds fitting expression. And Christmas should mean nothing less than the re-birth of the Child of Love in the hearts of the children. In the preface of a very serviceable book containing suggestions for the programs of these days occur the words: * Thorndike, Elements of Psychology, pp. 293, 294.