hardships, if, indeed, not freely watered with the tears of childhood.

Now we know better. A knowledge of child psychology and a more
sympathetic insight into child nature have shown us that instead of
external compulsion we must get hold of the inner springs of action. No
mind can exert its full power unless the driving force comes from
_within_. The capacities implanted in the child at his birth do not
reach full fruition except when freely and gladly used because their use
is a pleasure and satisfaction. If worthy results are to be secured, the
_whole self_ must be called into action under the stimulus of
willingness, desire, and complete assent of the inner self to the tasks
imposed. There must be no lagging, nor holding back, nor partial use of
powers.

Religious education is, therefore, not simply a question of getting our
children into the church schools. That is easy. Parents who themselves
do not attend feel that they have more fully done their duty by their
children if they send them to the Sunday school. After securing the
attendance of the children the great question still remains--that of the
_response_, their attitude toward the activities of the school, the
completeness with which they give themselves to its work.

A friend who is a State inspector of public schools tells me that the
first thing he looks for when he visits a school is the _school spirit_,
the attitude of the pupils toward their teachers and the work of the
school. If this is good, there is a foundation upon which to build
fruitful work; if the spirit is bad, there is no possibility that the
work of the school can be up to standard. For it is out of the
schoolroom spirit, the classroom attitudes, that the effort necessary to
growth and achievement must come.