The Teacher's True Starting-Point.

The spirit of a child is free and undefiled. The God-code of everlasting truth is written in its attributes and intuitions. Whatever its parentage or nativity, and however much its nature may be warped, twisted, and embittered by circumstances in early years, the young immortal spirit is pure and spotless as is the heart of an angel. From this point we start—affirming the interior purity of the child's spirit, and denying that the infant nature inclines to everything that is evil and wicked. Theology teaches that "the little foibles and peevish freaks of the infant are early workings and manifestations of corrupt and depraved human nature." And further, the creed teaches that a supernatural "Grace is necessary to convict, convert, renovate, and sanctify a person, so that he may enjoy the heavenly kingdom of Christ."

Our starting-point is radiant with the gospel of "good news:" that the lite of a child is a pure stream—flowing unceasingly from the God-fountain of infinite perfection; that the human soul is the product of an infinitely wise and good Father; and that there is in every nature, however depraved in condition and manifestation, an immortal spark of holiness, a pure principle of self-redemptiveness, from which the perfect image and state of angelhood may be unfolded.

The intrinsic goodness of the infant spirit is the basis of the celestial superstructure we labour to erect.

The government of Father-God through the love-spirit of Mother-Nature, is one and universal. The heavenly government, although varied in its forms and adaptations in the different spheres and societies according to the varied condition of the countless inhabitants, is purely and simply one of universal Love and Wisdom. The life of everything is Love; but the form thereof, the shape in which that love appears, is determined by Wisdom. The impulse to look up toward heaven is as natural as the beating of the heart; and it is equally natural to feel and acknowledge dependence upon the eternal Soul of things. Children first learn this lesson at home in the tender ties of love that bind them to father and mother; and subsequently the lesson is enforced by every relation of life and society. To teach in accordance with the Divine Government, is our aim and plan.