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p1" -vrv -fej " '" ''' ' ' ''utitI iriii5fp,'?rv-rt"f,-' '"wto i90 Tfi" INDIAN ADVOCATE. Superior Excellence of Christian Education. In the busy walks of life and in the wild rush for material wealth, men too easily pass over the fact that man is the greatest being in this world, and that the best part of him is the im material. They are apt to place too high a value on a hurried and utili-tarion-like system of education, paying little heed as to what kind of men are turned out in society. Too little re flection is often given to the subject of properly educating young men for the business of life, and the work of ef ficiently preparing youth for life in its whole and entire scope too little con sidered. It must not be forgotten that character is never infused by mere mental cultivation or by ordinary dis cipline alone; the whole school must breathe the spirit of pure life and refine ment, secular training combined with the moral and Christian in perfect form, and the scholar prepared for life in the best sense of the word. Thus considered, education may be truly de nominated Christian. Taking into ac count the advantages, afforded in every walk of life, and the nobleness and purpose of the work, together with its extent to the better part of all knowl edge, we may have an adequate idea of the real excellence of a Christian school. To the sphere of Christian educa tion belongs all that is most high, most noble and most worthy of man's atten tion. To it belongs the work of proper ly cultivating the soul's affection, of developing well the moral and Christian virtues, and of rightly directing the higher faculties in man. The benefits flowing from such a well ordered Chris tian training are simply invaluable, its advantages innumerable and the value derived from it beyond all estimation. For Christian cultivation thus ordered can result in nothing less than the building up of man's moral and social nature, the forming of right and or derly habits and the molding of a noble and upright character. Its highest aim must be the diawing out of the moral and intellectual man, to guide aright the course of his intellectual powers, and to direct his mornl acts toward the object which is his chief and highest good. A thorough Christian training leaves nothing undone to imbue the soul with high and noble sentiments, to perfect man's better nature, and to pre pare the mind for the conception of the grandest and highest ideals. The Chris tian ideal, which looks upon man as of the noblest work of created nature, loves to contemplate the direction, con trol and government of all his acts, as reflecting the greater honor and glory of the Creator, it contemplates with pleasure every heroic deed, as em blazoned on the pages of history, where it may serve as an example for the good of mankind, that we may take courage to act more earnestly and to live more uprightly. The ideal beauty of Christianity, which views none of the works of God's material world as useless or unneces sary, and regards man as the highest, and better than them all, believes him to be capable of the highest culture and re finement and the most worthy of care and attention; and thus contemplating him as the noblest work of creation, that he may be raised to that high sphere of perfection which even divin ity loves to look upon. It is the work of the Christian school to realize the high ideal entertained of man, to direct with care his younger days, and to cul tivate his mental powers, that ho may lead a life of honor in this world and gain eternal bliss in the next. Physical culture and mental cultiva tion have much to do in bringing about careful and regular habits, but the whole spirit of Christian culture and the powerful influence of Christian vir tues forms the complement of the odu-