thorough and
symmetrical cultivation of all his noble faculties. If he were endowed
with a mere physical nature, he would need, he would _receive_ none but
a physical training. On the other hand, if he were a purely intellectual
being, intellectual culture would comprehend all that could be included
in a perfect education. And were it possible for a moral being to exist
without either body or intellect, there would be nothing but the heart
or affections to educate. But man is a complex, and not a simple being.
He is neither all body, nor all mind, nor all heart. In popular
language, he has three natures, a corporeal, a rational, and a moral.
These three, mysteriously united, are essential to constitute a perfect
man; and as they all begin to expand in very early childhood, the
province of education is to watch, and assist, and shape the
development; to train, and strengthen, and discipline neither of them
alone, but each according to its intrinsic and relative importance.

"When it is said that 'man is a religious being,' we should carefully
inquire in what respects he is so. In a guarded and limited sense the
proposition is undoubtedly true. Terrible as was the shock which his
moral nature received by 'the fall,' it was not wholly buried in the
ruins. Though blackened and crushed to the effacing of that glorious
image in which he was created, his moral susceptibilities were not
destroyed. The capacity of being restored, and of infinite improvement
in knowledge and virtue, was left. In the lowest depths of ignorance and
debasement, the human soul feels that it must have some religion, some
support, some refuge 'when flesh and heart fail.' There is a natural
dread of annihilation, a longing after immortality, a starting back from
the last leap in the dark. Men, if they have not true religion, will
cling to the greatest absurdities as substitutes. Hence the pagan world
is full of idols. Tribes and nations seemingly destitute of all moral
sense, nevertheless have 'gods many and lords many.' If there are any
cold-blooded, incorrigible atheists in the world, you must look for them
not in heathen lands. You must go where the altars of the true God have
been thrown down. In this view, _man is a religious being_. He has a
moral nature. He is susceptible of deep and controlling religious
impressions. He can, at a very early period of life, be made to see and
feel the difference between right and wrong--between good and evil. He