found an obstacle in us;
when he occupied himself for a long time with an exercise, we were
careful to protect the tranquillity of his work, as a mother protects
the refreshing sleep of her babe.

When he made his first plunge into abstraction, he felt nothing in us
but the echo of his joy.

The child found us always indefatigable when he called upon us, almost
as if our mission to him were to offer him what he requires, just as
it is the mission of the flower to give perfume without limit or
intermission.

He found with us a new life, no less sweet than the milk he drew from
his mother's breast, with which his first love was born. Therefore he
will one day become sensitive to this being who lives to make him
live, from whose self-sacrifice his freedom to live and expand is
derived.

And undoubtedly the day will come when his spirit will become
sensitive to our spirit; and then he will begin to taste that supreme
delight which lies in the intimate contact of soul with soul, and our
voice will no longer be heard by his ear alone. The power to obey us,
to communicate his conquests to us, to share his joys with us, will be
the new element in his life. We shall see the child who suddenly
becomes aware of his companions, and is almost as deeply interested as
we are in their progress and their work. It will be delightful to
witness such a scene as that of four or five children sitting with
spoons arrested over the smoking bowl, and no longer sensible to the
stimulus of hunger because they are absorbed in contemplation of the
efforts of a very little companion who is trying to tuck his napkin
under his chin, and finally succeeds in doing so; and then we shall
see these spectators assume an expression of relief and pride, almost
like that of a father who is present at the triumph of his son.
Children will recompense us in the most amazing manner by their
progress, their spiritual effusions, and their sweet obedience. The
fruit they will cause us to gather will be abundant beyond anything we
can imagine. Thus it comes to pass when the secrets of life are
interpreted. "Give and it shall be given unto you: good measure,
pressed down and shaken together, and running over shall men give into
your bosom."

* * * * *

=The essence of moral education=.--To keep alive and to perfect
psychical sensibility is the essence of moral education. Around it,
as in the intellectual education which proceeds from the exerc