LETTER XXVI. EDUCATION CONSIDERED IN ITS ADAPTATION TO MY DEAR M, "If the soul be immortal, it requires to be cultivated with attention, not only for what we call the time of life, but for that which is to follow -I mean eternity; and the least neglect in this point may be attended with endless consequences. If death were the final dissolution of being, the wicked would be great gainers by it, by being at once delivered from their bodies, their souls, and their vices; but as the soul is immortal, it has no other means of being freed from its evils, nor any safety for it, but in becoming very good and very wise; for it carries nothing with it but its good and bad deeds, its virtues and vices, which are commonly the consequences of the education it has received, and the causes of eternal happiness or misery." So spake Socrates, and Plato has recorded the dialogue. Socrates and Plato were wise. "Dimly through life's vapour seeing," they subordinated time to eternity, and governed education by a reference to the long future, which they concluded must follow the termination of the earthly career. "Life and immortality are now brought to light," and if we should lose sight of eternity, in our endeavours to train the young spirit for the purposes of its being, Socrates and Plato will rise up against us in judgment and condemn us. The most wonderful infatuation which results from the pernicious influence of sin on the human understanding, is the trifling with everlasting interests. They who hold the immortality of the soul as a tenet of their creed, set the merest trifles in successful competition with the scenes of unchangeable happiness or misery, which await their souls when their bodies shall drop into the tomb. We wonder at the gay and giddy multitude who hear the word, and handle the Bible, and allude to its disclosures respecting eternal destiny as matters of undoubted certainty; yet never spend a serious thought in inquiry respecting personal security, and seem to relish the occupations of time in proportion as they have power to ingulf care of the future, in the whirl of present dissipation. Would that this infatuation were confined to those who "walk in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened." There are many Christian parents and Christian teachers who, having learned for themselves to “look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen," might yet be instructed by these heathen philosophers to consider the souls committed to their care primarily as immortal souls; and to cultivate their powers "with attention, not only for that which we call the time of life, but for that which is to follow-eternity." Many Christian parents, who are very anxious that their children should be reconciled to God, and spend time and eternity in his service, do yet never think of cultivating the powers of the soul in reference exclusively to this end; and teachers, whose special work it is to cultivate these powers, do not make the soul's highest duties, arising out of its relation to God, the occupations by reference to which the character of its training is to be regulated. Yet surely so it should be. The directive influences under which a soul enters upon its being, affect it as immortal, created for a special purpose, and holding a certain relation to its Creator, paramount, infinitely paramount, to every relation in which the mere circumstances of its introduction into being may place it. The word of God has done more than confirm the doctrine of the soul's immortality. It tells us the character of our Creator, the obligations involved in our relation to him, the purpose of our existence, and the means to secure it. It tells us that he who made us is "infinite in being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth;" that he requires of us conformity to his will, perfect in nature and extent; that he created us for himself; and that, notwithstanding our apostasy, the good pleasure of his goodness may yet be fulfilled in us. Now, here is something definite to direct us in cultivating the soul's powers at once for the "time of life, and for that which is to follow." Here we are taught that the preparation for both is the same, regulated not by any thing peculiar in the circumstances of time or of eternity, but by the soul's relation to God, and God's good pleasure respecting it. Here we learn that the soul's perfection is not the perfection of self-sufficient excellence, but of adaptedness to the great purpose of its being the glory of God. It is the perfection of a dependent and subordinate existence, of a being under government, of a creature made for use, not terminating in himself, but in his Creator. Nor are the requirements of the Creator partial, having reference only to special functions of being, and leaving its ordinary operations to be governed by the good pleasure of the creature, and his ideas of personal advantage. They are total, comprehending every motion of vitality from its feeblest essays in the infancy of existence, throughout the activities of its endless duration. In a depraved and perverted heart, the foundation of this perfection is laid in "repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." We present the truth by which the Spirit of God moves the soul to these duties. We present it repeatedly, urgently, affectionately, prayerfully; but whilst we present it, and whether it is or is not embraced, the business of education remains the same-it is still to expand the powers of the mind, and direct its activities, as the nature of the duties involved in its relation to God shall dictate. Do not mistake me. I am not saying that the processes of education fit the soul for spiritual duties; that conversion is a work of time gradually helped on by religious training, and that right affections towards God are slowly developed under its benign influences. Far from me be so unscriptural a representation! All the advantages to be derived from education, whether they be dispositional, intellectual, or having reference to polish and skill, improve not in the slightest degree the condition of an unpardoned transgressor. No amount of culture will modify the character of a sinner's enmity and peril, and if it modify your own and your pupil's conviction of its exceeding evil, it will effect an injury its advantages will not counterbalance. When I say, then, that the business of education remains the same whether or not your pupil become a Christian, I mean, that it is your part, constantly to keep before your own mind, and judiciously, as she may bear it, to place before her's, that to serve and glorify God is the one thing for which she lives, and for which education is to fit her. Let the whole of your arrangements be accordant with such a profession. Let nothing be detected as inconsistent with God's claim on every faculty the spirit possesses, and every function it exercises. Never let a pupil of yours find on her conversion that the principles and affections of her renewed heart have given her distaste for pursuits she has cultivated under your direction; let her find the whole course of education, and the proportion of attention bestowed on each part, such as shall commend itself to a judgment enlightened by the Spirit of God to "approve the things that are excellent." If the subject of your instruction should be so happy as to be converted in early youth, her Christian character will probably be modified, will certainly be materially influenced, by the mental training she will receive from you, the estimate of the relative value of things she will derive from you, the tastes she will acquire. If otherwise, whenever she is brought to present the reasonable service of body, soul, and spirit, to Him who alone has the right, and to examine the pursuits of the past in judgment of their fitness to answer the purposes of this dedication; she will naturally refer them to their origin, and a large number of them will be found to have originated with you. Let, then, the whole style, direction, and arrangement of your labours, be such as will be found accommodated to the very highest and noblest attainments to which gospel motives can raise human character. The more intelligent and |