It is the kernel of all the best wisdom of the sages of past times. Great philosophers have spoken of it, such as Socrates and Plato; the grand old heroes, the Stoics, thought about and talked of the beauty and value of the life of the soul; teachers such as Buddha and Jesus believed in it, and urged men to think about it. They kept saying, that while the outside world had its charm and beauty, there was greater charm and greater beauty on what is on the inside, deep within the soul of ourselves. It was the wise Socrates who, when called upon to stand trial for his life, spoke out boldly and said, “I do nothing but go about urging men to care more than anything else for the greatest improvement of the soul". And that is what we keep thinking about and urging other people to think about now-a-days. Care for the body, improve the body; but more than all else, improve and care for the soul.

It is within this "upper self" that we have the feelings of love or affection for others, which bind us to others and others to us, and give some of the keenest joys known to mankind. It is there where you will find the seat of the truest love; within that "upper self" is the centre out of which come the friendships of human life. In that soul of ours is the seat of courage, as well as of endurance. Those who have the most soul are the ones who have the most manhood or womanhood. More than all else, it is due to the soul that we are led to work for others. It is the seat of love and of loyalty. All that is best in us starts there and centres there. The saying of the great and wise Master should never lose its meaning: "What shall a man give in exchange for his soul".

We ask you to wear this thought, or this belief in

your soul-life, like a chain of pearls around your neck, or an armour of steel around your body. Hold on to it as the most precious of all beliefs; be true and loyal to it in life and death; believe in the soul.

After all it may be said that the whole gist of what we have been teaching in this series of lessons comes out in the lines of Tennyson :—

"Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control,
These three alone lead life to sovereign power.

to live by law,

Acting the law we live by without fear;

And, because right is right, to follow right
Were wisdom in the scorn of consequence."

This is the pith of what we wish to bring out concerning the "Self". These lines are so beautiful that every young person ought to know them. They should be carved in marble if possible before all the school. Yet, on the other hand, we should take the utmost care that such lines should not become common or lose their force by being mentioned or recited too often. It were better perhaps to let such verses stand before the eye to be looked at, rather than for them to be said over aloud too much.

CHAPTER IX.

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS: "GOD" AND " ETHICAL LAW”.

WE have now reached the series of studies which closes the course of instruction, in so far as our work deals exclusively with the young. We take the boys and the girls at the critical time between fifteen and sixteen years of age and introduce them to the subject of religion. It may be that their minds are not ripe enough to grasp the points we have to give. But it is not safe to wait any longer; else we may lose our hold upon them; and then it becomes wholly a matter of chance what views they may take or what notions they may adopt on a subject of such vital consequence.

It is not our plan to give them definite beliefs, or a creed of any kind. We wish, rather, to start certain tendencies of thought or belief, and to leave those tendencies to work themselves out in the course of time. I am aware that many a father or mother might prefer that their children should think this subject out for themselves, and choose according to their own best judgment later on, But, as a matter

of fact, we know only too well that most people do not give a great deal of thought to subjects of this kind. They are influenced very largely by the people they are thrown with; so that when the boy or girl passes on to young manhood or young womanhood, one or the other may go off in a direction utterly contrary to what the father or mother would have liked or anticipated. If they are thrown in contact with people atheistically or materialistically inclined, they may become out-and-out atheists or materialists. Or, on the other hand, if they come under the influence of certain of the crude, fantastic theories of supernaturalism, of the kind which are now being offered as substitutes for the conventional religious beliefs, then these young people may go off on a side-track and return to a supernaturalism that suggests the fetich worship of thousands of years ago.

If they are not taught something on this subject, then, as I have said, it becomes a sheer matter of chance what fantastic line they may follow later on. For these reasons we aim to introduce the young people to what the word "God" has stood for in history. We trace it from its lowest forms up to the last thoughts upon it by the latest and best science. We aim to give history, rather than our own theories.

We have a general talk about "religion," and find

out what the word suggests to these young people. We draw out any ideas they may have formed on this subject. Then we aim to bring together what ideas the world at large usually associates with religion-such as the ideas about "Right and Wrong"; about "God ; about "Bibles". Bible" or

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As an introduction to the main theme we begin with the "Bibles," having before us on the table a copy of the "Path of Virtue" of the Buddhists; a volume of translations from Confucius; the "Koran" of the Mohammedans, and the Bible of Judaism and Christianity. We read selections from each one of these books; discuss why it is that different races or countries have fixed upon one special volume, or set of volumes, as more important than all others, and as containing for them the best wisdom of life. We aim to arouse in the young a special regard for these Sacred Books; so that the boys and girls shall feel that there is a rare and peculiar wisdom to be found there, of a kind which cannot, as a rule, be found in other books or in other literature.

We make a brief study of the ages of history, beginning with a talk about the fanciful "Golden Age"; then saying something about the Stone Age; the Bronze Age; the Iron Age; the Age of Hunting; the Pastoral Age and the Age of Agriculture. In this way we have laid the foundation on which we