he sees.

He would like to represent and tries to do so

all he sees his parents and other adults do and represent in work, all which he thus sees represented by human power and human skill.

What formerly the child did only for the sake of the activity, the boy now does for the sake of the result or product of his activity; the child's instinct of activity has in the boy become a formative instinct, and this occupies the whole outward life, the outward manifestation of boy-life at this period. How cheerfully and eagerly the boy and the girl at this age begin to share the work of father and mother not the easy work, indeed, but the difficult work, calling for strength and labor!

19. By no means, however, do all the plays and occupations of boys at this age aim at the representation of things; on the contrary, many are predominantly mere practice and trials of strength, and many aim simply at display of strength. Nevertheless, the play of this period always bears a peculiar character, corresponding with its inner life. For, while during the previous period of childhood the aim of play consisted simply in activity as such, its aim lies now in a definite, conscious purpose; it seeks representation as such, or the thing to be represented in the activity. This character is developed more and more in the free boyish games as the boys advance in age.

It is the sense of rare and reliable power, the sense of its increase, both as an individual and as a member of the group, that fills the boy with all-pervading, jubilant joy during these games. It is by no means, however, only the physical power that is fed and strengthened in these games; intellectual and moral power, too, is definitely and steadily gained and brought under control. Indeed, a comparison of the relative gains of the mental and of the physical phases would scarcely yield the palm to the body. Justice, moderation, self-con

trol, truthfulness, loyalty, brotherly love, and, again, strict impartiality — who, when he approaches a group of boys engaged in such games, could fail to catch the fragrance of these delicious blossomings of the heart and mind, and of a firm will; not to mention the beautiful, though perhaps less fragrant blossoms of courage, perseverance, resolution, prudence, together with the severe elimination of indolent indulgence? Whoever would inhale a fresh, quickening breath of life should visit the play-grounds of such boys.

20. The existence of the present teaches man the existence of the past. This, too, which was before he was, he would know. Then there is developed in the boy at this age the desire and craving for tales, for legends, for all kinds of stories, and later on for historical accounts. This craving, especially in its first appearance, is very intense; so much so, that, when others fail to gratify it, the boys seek to gratify it themselves, particularly on days of leisure, and in times when the regular employments of the day are ended.

21.

Man is by no means naturally bad, nor has he originally bad or evil qualities and tendencies; unless, indeed, we consider as naturally evil, bad, and faulty the finite, the material, the transitory, the physical as such, and the logical consequences of the existing of these phenomena, namely, that man must have the possibility of failure in order to be good and virtuous, that he must be able to make himself a slave in order to be truly free. Yet these things are the necessary concomitants of the manifestation of the eternal in the temporal, of unity in diversity, and follow necessarily from man's destiny to become a conscious, reasonable, and free being.

A suppressed or perverted good quality-a good tendency, only repressed, misunderstood, or misguided — lies originally at the bottom of every shortcoming in man. Hence the only and infallible remedy for counteracting any short

coming and even wickedness is to find the originally good source, the originally good side of the human being that has been repressed, disturbed, or misled into the shortcoming, and then to foster, build up, and properly guide this good side. Thus the shortcoming will at last disappear, although it may involve a hard struggle against habit, but not against original depravity in man; and this is accomplished so much the more rapidly and surely because man himself tends to abandon his shortcomings, for man prefers right to wrong..

The state of Massachusetts has been the pioneer in American education. It was the first of the colonies to establish public schools and to found a college. From 1642, when the selectmen of every town were enjoined to see that the young were instructed in "the English tongue and a knowledge of the capital laws," Massachusetts has shown an interest in education by the passage of many laws designed to give greater efficiency to the public schools. But it was due principally to the efforts of one person that between 1837 and 1848 the public school system was unified and brought to a higher degree of efficiency than had prevailed before. This person was Horace Mann, one of the most distinguished of American educators. To natural endowments of a high order he added an invincible zeal in behalf of popular education, and a sublime faith in its possibilities as a means of uplifting and regenerating society.

Horace Mann was born in Franklin, Massachusetts, May 4, 1796. With admirable energy he overcame in early manhood the deficiencies in his childhood education which poverty and constant toil had rendered inevitable. Having learned the elements of Latin and Greek from an itinerant school-master, he entered the sophomore class of Brown University in 1816, from which he graduated three years later with the highest honors of his class. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1823, and four years later was elected to the legislature. In the legislature, to which he

was re-elected for a number of terms, he displayed the same integrity, energy, and eloquence, which had previously promised a bright career at the bar. His moral sense was largely developed, and he showed an especial interest in temperance, charity and education.

In 1835 he entered upon the work with which his name is chiefly associated and in which he rendered the greatest service to his native state and to the American union. In that year the legislature appointed a Board of Education to revise and reorganize the common school system of the state. Owing to various forms of opposition, it was a work of great magnitude and peculiar difficulty. The Board, which was composed of able and distinguished men, called Horace Mann to be its secretary-a position that made him practically the state superintendent of education. Recognizing at once the responsibilities and opportunities of the office, he gave up his legal and political career, and devoted himself with great singleness of purpose to the duties of his new position. He visited all parts of the state, and delivered able and enthusiastic addresses; he established The Common School Journal for the discussion of educational questions; but above all other agencies for reaching and molding public opinion must be placed his “Annual Reports," in which he treated the various phases of education in a practical and masterful manner. To a comprehensive grasp of the subject he joined the charm of an eloquent style and the force of a deep conviction.

In 1848 he was elected to Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John Quincy Adams. To this new field he carried his moral enthusiasm and his interest in education. In 1853, giving up a political life, he accepted the presidency of Antioch College; and during his brief administration of six years, he gave the institution a wise, progressive, and liberal policy. His death, which occurred August