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How Computers Make Books From graphics rendering
search algorithms and functional programming to
indexing and typesetting John Whitington Digital Instant
Download
Author(s): John Whitington
ISBN(s): 9781633438675, 1633438678
Edition: converted
File Details: PDF, 62.16 MB
Year: 2024
Language: english
How Computers Make Books
John Whitington

MANNING
SHELTER ISLAND
For online information and ordering of these and other
Manning books, please visit www.manning.com. The publisher
offers discounts on these books when ordered in quantity.

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Special Sales Department

Manning Publications Co.

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©2024 by Manning Publications Co. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by means
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without
prior written permission of the publisher.

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to

distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where
those designations appear in the book, and Manning
Publications was aware of a trademark claim, the designations
have been printed in initial caps or all caps.

♾ Recognizing the importance of preserving what has been

written, it is Manning’s policy to have the books we publish
printed on acid-free paper, and we exert our best efforts to that
end. Recognizing also our responsibility to conserve the
resources of our planet, Manning books are printed on paper
that is at least 15 percent recycled and processed without the
use of elemental chlorine.
Manning Publications Co.
20 Baldwin Road
PO Box 761
Shelter Island, NY 11964

Development editor: Doug Rudder

Technical editor: Bojan Stojanović
Review editor: Aleksandar Dragosavljević
Production editor: Keri Hales
Copy editor: Alisa Larson
Proofreader: Jason Everett
Typesetter: Westchester Publishing Services
Cover designer: Marija Tudor

ISBN: 9781633438675
contents
preface

Acknowledgments

About this book

About the author

About the cover

1 Putting marks on paper

1.1 Where things go

1.2 Placing dots

1.3 Making lines

1.4 Building shapes

1.5 Problems

1.6 Summary

2 Letter forms

2.1 Straight and curved lines

2.2 Computerized curves

2.3 Complications

2.4 Problems

2.5 Summary

3 Storing words

3.1 Ancient methods

3.2 Numbers in computing

3.3 An international standard

3.4 Formatting

3.5 Modern encoding systems

3.6 Problems

3.7 Summary

4 Looking and finding

4.1 A simple method

4.2 Writing a program

4.3 Speed

4.4 A faster algorithm

4.5 Problems

4.6 Summary

5 Typing it in

5.1 Beginnings

5.2 Layouts

5.3 Other languages

5.4 Summary

6 Saving space

6.1 Compression

6.2 Patterns

6.3 Frequency

6.4 Compressing images

6.5 Shades of gray

6.6 Problems

6.7 Summary

7 The sums behind the screen

7.1 Simple calculations

7.2 More general computation

7.3 More operators

7.4 A larger function

7.5 A second task

7.6 Lists

7.7 Sorting a list

7.8 Problems

7.9 Summary

8 Gray areas

8.1 Simple thresholding

8.2 Historical methods

8.3 Digital halftoning

8.4 Better dithering

8.5 Problems

8.6 Summary

9 A typeface

9.1 Introducing Palatino

9.2 Glyphs and metrics

9.3 Different sizes and shapes

9.4 Problems

9.5 Summary

10 Words to paragraphs

10.1 A paragraph of text

10.2 Hyphenation

10.3 Paragraphs on a page

10.4 Before computers

10.5 Problems

10.6 Summary

11 Out into the world

11.1 Final output for printing

11.2 eBooks

11.3 Introducing PDF

11.4 Building a PDF

11.5 Conclusion
11.6 Summary

Appendix A. Further reading

A.1 Chapter 1

A.2 Chapter 2

A.3 Chapter 3

A.4 Chapter 4

A.5 Chapter 5

A.6 Chapter 6

A.7 Chapter 7

A.8 Chapter 8

A.9 Chapter 9

A.10 Chapter 10

A.11 Chapter 11

Appendix B. Solutions

B.1 Chapter 1

B.2 Chapter 2

B.3 Chapter 3
B.4 Chapter 4

B.5 Chapter 6

B.6 Chapter 7

B.7 Chapter 8

B.8 Chapter 9

B.9 Chapter 10

Appendix C. Templates

Appendix D. Palatino Roman glyphs

index
preface
It can be tremendously difficult for an outsider to understand
why computer scientists are interested in computer science. It
is easy to see the sense of wonder of the astrophysicist or the
evolutionary biologist or zoologist. We don’t know too much
about the mathematician, but we are in awe anyway. But
computer science? Well, we suppose it must have to do with
computers at least. “Computer science is no more about
computers than astronomy is about telescopes,” wrote the great
Dutch computer scientist Edsger Dijkstra (1930–2002). That is to
say, the computer is our tool for exploring this subject and for
building things in its world, but it is not the world itself.

This book makes no attempt at completeness whatsoever. It is a

set of little sketches of the use of computer science to address
the problems of book production. By looking from different
angles at interesting challenges and pretty solutions, we hope to
gain some insight into the essence of the thing.

I hope that, by the end, you will have some understanding of

why these topics interest computer scientists, and perhaps you
will find that some of them interest you.
Acknowledgments
This book has its origins in knowledge created, found and
gathered elsewhere—methods and mechanisms honed over
decades or centuries. It could not have been written without the
inventions it describes, as you will see.

At Manning, Ian Hough and Andy Waldron in Acquisitions took

a chance on this rather unusual book, helping to shape its
contents and structure. My patient development editor, Doug
Rudder, shepherded the book through development and
writing. Bojan Stovanović, my technical editor, and Benjamin
Berg, LaTeX expert, came to the rescue with my frequent
typesetting problems. The production team polished the book
into what you’re reading today.

Finally, I’d like to thank the reviewers: Charles Mike Shelton,

Christopher Villanueva, Darrin Bishop, Eddy Vluggen, Enric
Garcia Torrents, Fatih Ozer, Giampiero Granatella, Howard
Bandy, James J. Byleckie, Jaume Lopez, Jeff Neumann, Jens
Christian B. Madsen, Jeremy Bryan, Jose Alberto Reyes
Quevedo, Kathleen R. Estrada, Lewis Van Winkle, Manu
Sareena, Manuel Ciosici, Roberto Hirata Jr., Romain Jouin, Tim
Wooldridge, To Tuan Nghia, Tony Dubitsky, and Ubaldo
Pescatore, as well as the Manning Early Access Program
customers for their time and invaluable comments on earlier
drafts of the manuscript. Their suggestions helped make this a
better book.
About this book
How do we decide where to put ink on a page to draw letters
and pictures? How can computers represent all the world’s
languages and writing systems? What exactly is a computer
program, what and how does it calculate, and how can we build
one? Can we compress information to make it easier to store
and quicker to transmit? How do newspapers print
photographs with gray tones using just black ink and white
paper? How are paragraphs laid out automatically on a page
and split across multiple pages?

We answer these questions and more, taking a meandering tour

of the art and science of book production from ancient times to
the modern day, looking at both the low-level technical details
and the overall landscape. You won’t need any prior knowledge
of publishing or computer programming to enjoy this book—
just a quiet place and a curious mind.
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
Present Position of Theologians.

In attempting to portray the present state of the theological world, it

is needful first to distinguish between a class which may distinctively
be termed theologians and the much larger class which are pastors
of the people.

The two classes are so commingled that it would be impossible to

draw any line so exact as to arrange all in these two classes; for
sometimes the same person is both theologian and pastor. Still there
is foundation for classification as distinct as ordinarily exists in
regard to other professions where men combine diverse pursuits.

In attempting this classification, it must be noticed that the religious

world is divided into great denominations, each having its theological
schools, its [pg 300] colleges, its theological magazines and its
religious newspapers.

All these are conducted by men whose business is not that of

pastors, and yet a great majority of whom were educated for this
office by a regular theological training. Meantime, their position,
professional reputation and daily bread depend on maintaining the
particular peculiarities in doctrine and practice of a given sect. By
this is meant, that should they publicly avow a renunciation of the
peculiarities that distinguish their sect, they would suffer in the
public estimation of their supporters, and be immediately removed
from their professional employment. It is this class who are usually
among the chief leaders of each denomination, and who therefore
are exposed to all the difficulties and temptations which beset those
whose power, influence, profession and pecuniary support are more
or less connected with a conservative course in all matters of
religious opinion—difficulties and dangers to which a pastor is much
less exposed, so long as he maintains his hold on the confidence and
affection of his people, who are his chief protection against
theological persecution of any kind.

The first class depend on a whole denomination for reputation and a

livelihood; the last class depend chiefly on their own people. The
first class, on every practical question, must regard the views and
opinions of a sect, as leaders and guardians of the interests of a
great organization, whose very existence depends on the dominance
of certain opinions. The latter class must chiefly regard the highest
spiritual good of the souls committed to their care.

Thus, for example, the Baptist theological professors, [pg 301] and
editors of religious periodicals, must maintain that baptism by
immersion is the only scriptural mode of admission to the visible
church of God and to the sacrament, or give up their influence,
reputation and professional livelihood. And they must sustain the
organized interests of that sect as its most trusted and talented
leaders. Moreover, the very existence of the sect and of their
position as its leaders, depend on the maintenance of this tenet, for
it is this alone that separates them from the Congregational sect.

In like manner, the Congregational theological professor and editor

must maintain that form of church organization or give up his post.
And so the Presbyterian, Episcopal and Methodist theological
professors and editors are equally bound.

This representation does not necessarily imply any thing invidious. If

it is regarded as a duty to keep up the sectarian divisions, which, as
has been shown, all result from the Augustinian dogma, then men
must be supported to do it by theological schools and periodicals.
And when men are put into positions for the express purpose of
sustaining the peculiar views of a sect, it is not honest for them to
hold these positions after they can no longer conscientiously do the
work they are hired to perform.
But each pastor is the leader of his flock; and their opinions and
practices are more or less at his control as their religious teacher.
And so long as he can carry his people with him he is independent of
every other ecclesiastical power. True, he may be censured, deposed
and excluded from a given sect or party, but his people only have to
declare themselves independent, and that they choose to retain him
as their religious [pg 302] teacher, and no one can harm him as to
his professional employment or his support.

Thus it is that the pastors of churches have fewer of those

difficulties to meet which restrain the chief theological leaders of a
sect.

We are now prepared to notice the present position of theologians in

this country.

It has been shown that the chief theological conflicts, since the days
of Augustine, and also the chief sects, have resulted from attempts
to throw off the dogma introduced by him in some one of its
developments. Thus the conflict headed by Luther was against the
substitution of external rites and forms resulting from man's helpless
depravity for an internal principle of love and obedience.

The conflict commenced by Arminius was to maintain man's ability to

do something by his own efforts to gain eternal life, in opposition to
the utter inability taught by Calvinism.

The conflict commenced by Wesley and his associates, was to rouse

men from a resting in outward rites and forms and educational
training, by making instantaneous regeneration a practicable aim,
and one to be secured by the use of “the means of grace.”

The conflict commenced by President Edwards was to remedy the

Calvinistic tendency to hopeless inefficiency and waiting for God to
regenerate, by insisting on man's ability to obey all that God
requires.
The conflict led by the New Haven school of divines, was, in fact, an
attempt to cut up the Augustinian system by the root, in maintaining
that sin consists in the wrong action of a right nature, and [pg 303]
not in a depraved nature and its inevitable results.

All these controversies have been carried on, more and more, in the
audience of the people, who, in the meantime, have been
continually advancing in mental culture and knowledge.

Especially has this been the case in this country, where religion has
been freed from civil restraints. Several of the religious sects have
been so divided on these matters as to involve civil suits to settle
questions of property, thus bringing theologians and lawyers on to
the same arena. And thus discussions on theological points were
reported in secular papers.

This was the case in the rending of the Presbyterian church into the
Old and New-school sections. During this controversy, some of the
most honored and talented of the clergy were suspended from their
pulpit duties and threatened with dismission from theological
professorships, solely on the charge of denying certain points of
doctrine of the Augustinian system. And the highest judicature of the
nation was called to decide whether the men thus charged had, or
had not so departed from orthodox creeds as to warrant the loss of
place and income.

In this discussion, the endowments of colleges, of theological

schools, and of church property, were so at stake, that the laymen
all over the land were obliged to inquire into and understand the
merits of a discussion strictly metaphysical and theological.

In Massachusetts, at one time, the whole State was excited by the

question whether there were any other churches except the
congregations that worshiped together [pg 304] and supported the
minister. This question was argued before the highest court of the
State, and decided in the negative, while for years the controversy
was prolonged.

Meantime, the study of mental science has been introduced into

both colleges and schools all over the land, and the sons, and even
the daughters of our farmers and mechanics, have gained clearer
and more discriminating views on such subjects than can now be
found in the writings of Aristotle, Plato, and the wisest men of past
ages.

Phrenology, also, has drawn maps of the mental faculties, so that

even the senses have been trained to aid in metaphysics.

The pulpit, the press and public lecturers now, when they refer to
the intellect, the susceptibilities, the will, the moral powers, and use
other metaphysical terms, are understood by all.

In short, the human mind has developed in all directions, until it is

impossible any longer to conceal absurdities under cover of hard
names and metaphysical abstrusities, especially when the practical
concerns of this life, as well as the life to come, are equally involved.

Meantime, the most vigorous and acute minds in the various

opposing sects and theological schools, have been exhibiting, in
magazines and newspapers, the difficulties and absurdities each
finds in the creed and teaching of all who differ, while it is the
laymen who read and pay for these periodicals. In these, and many
other ways, the discussions which once were confined to
metaphysicians and theologians, have come before the people, and
the Augustinian system has [pg 305] been more and more clearly
exhibited as contrary to the moral sense and common sense of
mankind.

A few years since, Dr. Edward Beecher published the Conflict of

Ages, in which, with a calm and Christian spirit and in a popular
form, was set forth the difficulties consequent on the Augustinian
system, which for ages have agitated all Christendom.
In this work, it is shown that there are “principles of honor and
right” which all theologians agree in maintaining that God must and
does regard and obey; that these principles are violated by God on
the supposition that he has brought mankind into being in this world
with a depraved nature; and finally, that all theories as yet invented
by theologians to relieve the Creator from such an imputation are
failures, except the theory, which is there presented, of a pre-
existent state, according to which, mankind were created with
perfect natures, which they ruined by sinning, and came into this life
to be restored to their former perfect state.

Much that appears in the early portion of this work is from this
source. Still more has been gained from that work in the clear
manner in which it is there proved, that the Bible does not teach
that the sin of Adam had any effect on “the nature” of the human
race, and that the interpretation given to the passage in Romans v.,
which is the chief one claimed as teaching this doctrine, not only has
been interpreted wrong, but is contrary to the rendering of the
whole Christian world from the apostles to Augustine.

In other words, the Conflict of Ages came before the people with the
claim, that the Augustinian theory of a depraved nature consequent
on the sin of Adam, as [pg 306] taught by all theologians of the
great Catholic and Protestant sects, is contrary to the moral sense of
mankind and entirely unsupported by the Bible.

This work was read, not only by theologians and pastors, but by
intelligent laymen, to an extent never known before of a strictly
theological work.

And what was the ground taken by theologians of all schools? They
were bound to show to the people, in opposition to this work, if they
could, that this Augustinian dogma was not contrary to the moral
sense of mankind, and that it was taught in the Bible.
But not a single attempt of this kind has ever been made. This
universal silence is as direct a confession of inability to reply as ever
was known in the theological world. All that ever has been
attempted has been, to show that the theory of a preëxistent state,
offered by that author, affords little or no relief, and is without
scriptural authority.

The words of a distinguished theologian and editor of a theological

quarterly, addressed to the writer, express the case exactly: “Your
brother has succeeded in throwing us all into the ditch, but he has
shown us no way to get out.”

That is to say, so long as the doctrine of a depraved nature that

insures “sin, and only sin,” in every unregenerate mind, is
maintained, there is no satisfactory way yet devised of proving the
wisdom and benevolence of God, by the concessions of theologians
themselves.

At the same time, the Conflict of Ages, in removing the chief

passage in the Bible relied on for proving that in consequence of
Adam's sin the nature of all men has become depraved, has equally
removed the evidence [pg 307] most relied on to prove that there is
any such depravity of nature taught in the Bible at all.

This universal, tacit concession of theologians of all schools, in

reference to this famous passage of Scripture, had no little influence
in bringing before the public the volume entitled Common Sense
Applied to Religion, or the Bible and the People before referred to.

In this work, the principles of common sense and the nature or

construction of mind are by the author exhibited more at large than
in this volume. And the common-sense system of religion as thus
educed is also set forth, though less completely and extensively than
in this work.

The laws of language and interpretation also are introduced into that
work for the purpose of showing (in the second volume not yet
published) that the common-sense system is also taught in the
Bible.

But preliminary to this, it was seen to be important to apply the

principles of common sense to prove that the Bible is a collection of
reliable records, of reliable revelations from the Creator to mankind.

It was seen also, that if the Augustinian system is really taught in

these writings, it is impossible to prove them to be reliable
revelations from God, as is set forth at large in chapter 34 of this
present volume.

For this reason, in the Addenda to the first volume the Augustinian
theory is introduced, and very briefly shown to be, not only contrary
to the common sense and moral sense of mankind, but also without
support from the Bible.

Before publication, this work was sent to a large number of those

regarded as among the most acute and profound theologians of the
several classes described [pg 308] herein, with the request that if
they detected inaccuracies as to facts, or fallacious reasonings, they
would point them out for revision. In making this appeal it was
stated that the writer had little taste for metaphysics or theology,
and had been driven to them in the stress of great sorrow and under
a tremendous pressure of motive as narrated in the Introduction.

Several of those thus addressed, returned criticisms and remarks in

reply. The book was then issued, in which the author appeared not
in the attitude of a teacher, but as an inquirer. And the closing
inquiries were:

Are these principles of common sense accepted?

Is the system of natural religion evolved by their aid accepted?

Is the Augustinian theory of depravity, as tried by these principles

and the rules of interpretation, supported either by reason or the
Bible?

The work, as thus revised, was again sent to these same

theologians, and it was noticed in most of the periodicals.

The result was the same as was accorded to the arguments of the
Conflict of Ages. Some criticisms on style, language and minor
matters appeared in the notices of the book, but the above main
questions thus submitted were met with an ominous silence.

None of the theologians of any school has pointed out any

misstatement of any specific fact; nor have they attempted to
dispute the principles of common sense set forth, or the results of
their application in the system thus evolved. Nor have they
attempted to show that the passage in the Bible on which [pg 309]
the Augustinian theory chiefly rests, is sanctioned by the
interpretations of the apostolic ages, or that the interpretation of it
in the Conflict of Ages, is incorrect.

Moreover, in the columns of the Independent, in reply to their notice

of her work, the following statement was made by the author:

“The case stands thus: I am aiming to present, in a short and

popular form, in my next volume, the evidence that, in the
Bible, we have reliable and authoritative revelations from the
Creator, and to educe from these documents the true answer,
not only to the question, ‘What must we do to be saved?’ but
to the grand question of my own profession, ‘What must we do
the most effectively to train the young mind to virtue and
immortality?’

“At my first step I am met by ‘Young America,’ with such an

honest, amiable, and powerful leader as Theodore Parker.
Regarded as holding the creed in which I was educated, and
most of my life have advocated, I am thus interrogated:
“ ‘Is not the Creator the author of the constitution of mind?

“ ‘If the Creator had power to make it right and yet has made
it wrong, is he not proved by his works (the only mode of
learning his character) to be unwise and malevolent, and is not
a reliablerevelation from such a being, to teach the way of
virtue and happiness, impossible?

“ ‘Do you not claim that the Bible teaches that God has
provedhis power to make mind perfect by creating angels and
Adam with perfect minds, and at the same time, as a penalty
for the sin of the first parent, has made such a constitution of
things, that every human mind comes into existence with a
ruined and depraved nature, that never can, or never will, act
right till God re-creates it, while as yet, for the great mass of
mankind, he never remedies this wrong?

“ ‘Do you not claim that the Bible teaches that no human being
has any right and acceptable feelings or actions till God thus
re-creates the mind?

“ ‘If the Bible does teach thus, we can find a nobler Creator
and more perfect system of religion by the light of nature
without any [pg 310]revelation at all, while the God of the
Bible, by its own showing, is proved unworthy of confidence as
a teacher of the way to virtue and happiness.’

“Pressed by these questions, I have searched the Bible in vain

to find any such doctrines in its pages. I find nothing of the
kind, and so I acknowledge that I have been in the wrong, and
relinquish the Augustinian dogma in which I have been
educated, as unsupported either by reason or revelation; and
first privately and then publicly ask for any evidence to sustain
it.

“I come before the public, not as a teacher of metaphysics or

theology, but as an inquirer for the truth. I state, as nearly as I
am able, the difficulties I have met, and take every possible
method to avoid mistake and misrepresentation in regard to
the opinions of both those with whom I agree and those from
whom I differ.

“I assume that theology is capable of improvement; that

Protestant divines are no more infallible than Catholic; that a
humble and teachable spirit is the distinctive mark of a
Christian teacher; and that the courage and manliness that can
acknowledge mistakes is not only more Christian, but even in
the eye of the world, is more honorable and dignified than any
assumption of infallibility, however well sustained.

“In publicly meeting such an amount of talent, learning, and

influence as seems now to be arrayed against me, I deem that
it in no way implies a presumptuous or self-confident spirit. I
concede that many of those I thus meet are my equals or
superiors in natural abilities, and certainly all are so in learning.
I believe also they are men of conscientious integrity, and that,
probably, most of them, would go to the stake rather than
knowingly to sacrifice their allegiance to truth, duty, and God.
And I believe that if I have any special mission in this matter, it
is to illustrate the truth that common sense, without any
unusual talents or learning, united to a sincere desire to learn
and to obey the truth, are sufficient for all men and all women,
in all important decisions for this life, and as much so for the
life to come.

“Nor do I regard this as a resort to old and unpractical meta-

physical abstrusities. It rather involves that great practical
question of life, before which all others fade into nothingness—
that question which meets every parent and every teacher for
every [pg 311]child—which meets every human being, as in
sorrow, or disappointment, or sickness, or death, the soul asks
from its Creator help and guidance for the dread and eternal
future. Instead of leading to metaphysical and theological
abstrusities, my hope is to entice from their dark and sorrowful
mazes to the plain and cheerful path of common sense.

“The great question involved is, have the people a reliable

revelation from the Creator in the Bible, and are they qualified
to decide what are its true teachings on that great question of
life, ‘What must we do to be saved?’

“And at the same time, the great practical question for my sex
is no less at issue, ‘How are we best to train the mind of
childhood to virtue and eternal happiness?’ These questions
surely are capable of being, and should be, discussed in the
language of the common people, and not in those scholastic
and metaphysical terms which they can not, and will not seek
to comprehend.

“In these circumstances I endeavor first to meet the charge of

my friends of the Independent, that I have misrepresented the
views of that class of theologians with whom they fraternize,
and with whom I claim to agree.

“I offer the following as the exact words in which I have heard

the New Haven divines express their opinions, and which, on
my application, were sent to me as a correct statement of their
views, as taught for more than a quarter of a century, in the
New Haven School of Theology.

“They maintain that ‘man, after the fall of Adam, was as truly
created in God's image as was Adam; that Christ was tempted
in all points like as we are; that the stronger are our inferior
propensities, if we govern them, as we can, by the morally
right act of the will, the greater is the moral excellence of the
act. They do not maintain that man has full power to change
his depraved nature without divine aid, for they have never
supposed he has a depraved nature in any sense, or a corrupt
nature, much less a sinful nature, to be changed; but rather
that in nature he is like God. In discussions, they have always
opposed the use of language by my father and Mr. Barnes of a
corrupt nature, not sinful.’

“I present this as an exact statement of my own views, and I

claim that, on the point of the native character of the human
mind, it is the Pelagian ground in opposition to the
Augustinian, [pg 312]and that no third ground is possible. If
I am wrong in either particular, I ask to be enlightened by the
editors of the Independent, and by the New Haven divines
themselves. I claim also that, so far as I can see, this is the
only ground on which the argument above stated, as that of
‘Young America,’ can be successfully met.

“I understand the editors of the Independent that they occupy

the Augustinian ground, and I therefore appeal to them, as
well as to the theologians of Princeton, Andover, Union, and
Lane, to instruct me and the public wherein I have misstated
their views, and above all, to instruct us how, with this dogma
fastened to it, the Bible can be sustained against the above
infidel argument. In reference to this, should any thing be
attempted, I offer these questions for attention:

“Is there any passage in the Bible that teaches that the minds
of the angels or of Adam were not made exactly like those of
the descendants of Adam, and subjected to the same slow and
gradual process of acquisition and development?

“I have looked and inquired in vain to find any such passage,

or to find any person who ever found one.

“Is there any passage in the Bible that teaches that the
natureor constitution of the mind of man is not the best that is
possible in the nature of things? I have never been able to find
any.

“Is there any passage in the Bible that teaches that man has
received a ruined nature in consequence of Adam's sin?
 “I have read long arguments from Dr. Hodge of Princeton,
proving that there is no such thing taught in Romans v., the
only passage ever claimed to teach this doctrine that I ever
heard of. My brother, Dr. E. Beecher, thus concludes a long
argument on this subject in the Conflict of Ages: ‘The doctrine
that our depraved natures or our sinful conduct have been
caused or occasionedby the sin of Adam, is not asserted in any
part of God's word.’ ”

The high, moral and intellectual character of the gentlemen to whom

this appeal was thus made, forbids the idea that they would allow
such statements and arguments and appeals to go unnoticed if they
felt able to [pg 313] afford any light in reply to these questions. It
was their highest duty as teachers of theology, if they could do it, to
show how to answer the argument of “Young America” against the
Bible as containing the Augustinian dogma; to show that the
passage introduced above as a specimen of the Pelagianism taught
by the New Haven divines either is not the doctrine they teach or is
not Pelagianism; to show that there are some passages in the Bible
that teach that the nature or the constitution of man is not the best
possible in the nature of things, and is different from that of the
unsinning angels or unfallen Adam; and finally, to show that there is
some passage in the Bible that teaches that the depraved nature of
man was caused or occasioned by the sin of Adam.

Not only the professors and editors thus addressed, but all the
theologians of all schools, so far as the writer can learn, have
maintained a profound silence on all these questions. The
Independent also declined any discussion thus: “We have no
intention of surrendering our columns to a theological or
psychological controversy such as might be introduced by the
communication we now publish.”

The writer after this, in several cases, suggested to some of the

most active and intelligent minds in some of the above theological
seminaries, to endeavor to secure a full discussion of these topics in
their lecture rooms, and was told, in reply, that all such efforts were
decidedly discouraged.

She also addressed notes to several editors of the secular press to

see if their columns could be used for the purpose. From the one
whose past freedom led to the expectation of an affirmative answer,
the reply [pg 314] was, that he had promised his orthodox friends
that he would not needlessly introduce heresy into his paper, and
that the greatest of all heresies was common sense!

Finally, on consulting one of the most shrewd and best informed

publishers in regard to the future volume, he expressed the opinion
that “in whatever else theologians differed, they were all united in
the determination that the investigation proposed by the author
should not be permitted.”

This being so, the author has concluded, and the public probably will
conclude, that the most profound and acute theologians of this
country have relinquished the idea of attempting any farther defense
of the Augustinian dogma.
Chapter XLVI. Present Position of the
Church.

The word “church,” as used in this article, refers chiefly to those

close corporations which claim to be regenerated persons, whose
depraved nature, transmitted from Adam, has been so far rectified
by re-creation, that they are, more or less, in the practice of true
virtue, of which the unregenerate world are supposed to be totally
destitute.

In this sense they claim to be “the saints,” “the righteous,” “the

elect,” “the children of God,” “the salt of the earth,” “the light of the
world,” “a holy nation,” “a peculiar people.”

While the members of these churches do not claim that all who do
not come into their organizations are [pg 315] of the opposite class,
they do, by their profession and admission to such churches, claim
to be of the regenerated class, to whom the above terms of the
Bible are to be applied, while the great majority of mankind, not in
these organizations, are called by them “the world,” “the
unregenerate,” “sinners,” “the wicked,” and by other similar terms.

So long as the great body of the people were guided chiefly by

ecclesiastics, and were thus trained to believe that heaven was to be
gained by some unintelligible “change of nature,” imparted by
priestly agency, or by some supernatural intervention of God's Spirit,
these claims were regarded with mystified fear and doubt.

But the more intelligence and discussion have spread among the
people, the more such claims have been questioned and distrusted.
Many things have combined to increase such distrust. Among these
may be mentioned the discussions already noticed, conducted by
theologians themselves, by which the absurdities and inconsistencies
maintained by each, were exposed by all the others.

Another cause of distrust has been the great variety of tests and
signs of regeneration. One class of religious teachers claim a certain
kind of experience as indispensable to admission to the church. A
second class reprobate this sign and set up another. A third class
depreciate both and insist upon still another. And thus it is made
apparent, that theologians do not agree among themselves what the
“depraved nature” of man consists in, nor what are the true signs or
evidence of its “saving change.”

Another cause of distrust has arisen from attempts [pg 316] to carry
out a system of church discipline. Some churches expel persons for
interpreting the Bible in a different mode from themselves or their
creed. Others expel their members for vending alcoholic drinks, or
for dancing, or for holding slaves, or for marrying the sister of a
deceased wife. Meantime, the sins of pride, anger, covetousness,
avarice, worldliness, evil temper, unfairness in business, hard
dealings with the poor, and many other developments of selfishness,
often are made no bar to full and honorable communion.

Again, in churches and sects that are most strenuous in attempting

to maintain by church discipline a uniformity of interpretation of the
Bible conformed to their own, it has come to pass that orthodoxy of
interpretation is sometimes practically placed before morality of
conduct. Thus, if a member of a church or a minister is suspected of
denying the supreme divinity of Christ, or the depravity and need of
regeneration of nature in man, a great agitation is produced, and
attempts are made, by church discipline, to rectify the evil as very
dangerous. In the meantime, a slanderous tongue, or dishonest
dealings, or selfish worldliness, excite less concern, and arouse to
less effort. The inevitable result is an impression that churches and
ministers place conformity of interpretation to their own creeds or
opinions before morality, and consequently the feeling is
engendered, that church organizations, founded on the Augustinian
theory, tend to immorality.

This impression as to the immoral tendency of such church

organizations, has been increased by the fact that in times of special
religious excitement, that class of men in many cases, become most
prominent as leaders [pg 317] in prayer meetings and other public
ministries whose character for consistency in private life, or in
business matters, is low. It is perceived that this fact does not
prevent these men from being regarded as religious men, and as
superior to others, who, living exemplary lives, are unable or
unwilling to take any conspicuous place in religious movements. And
when the period of excitement is passed, it is found that these
leaders in revival seasons are no better in their private life and
business dealings than before.

It is also sometimes the case that men of high character and

position, can not be reached by church discipline as are the humbler
members, and thus sin is made respectable by its association at
once with talents, influence, wealth and church membership.

In addition to this, the fact that so many ministers and churches

have taken such an antagonistic course in the public movements to
remove intemperance and slavery from our land, has led to open
attacks on ministers and churches in the newspapers, in public
lectures and in many other ways, in which their inconsistencies have
been held up to public ridicule as well as to more serious
denunciation.

So long as the “change of nature,” which fits man for heaven, was
regarded as a supernatural mystery which no one could understand
or explain, while the approved signs of regeneration were submitted
only to ministers, deacons, elders and church committees, the
matter was exclusively in their keeping.
But as soon as the nature of regeneration began to be explained
intelligibly, and men adopted the common-sense view, that the true
church consists of persons who not only believe in Christ
intellectually, but [pg 318] believe practically, i.e., that they are
those who obey Christ, the case bore a different aspect. “These are
the persons,” they say, “who organize on the assumption that they
are regenerated because they obey Christ's teachings, while so
many virtuous persons are shut out as totally and entirely
disobedient,—as never feeling or acting truly virtuously in the sight
of God in a single instance!”

The more this questionable assumption has become apparent, the

more has been the disturbing influence on both the church and the
world.

Multitudes of serious, virtuous and conscientious persons, who are

really living Christian lives and making it their chief concern to obey
the great Master, have refused to join associations that make such
dubious claims.

Still more has been the revulsion from those churches which demand
as terms to admission professed belief in certain modes of
interpreting the Bible contained in a creed. They, holding the
Protestant doctrine that every man is to interpret the Bible for
himself, responsible to no man or body of men, can not thus resign
their religious liberty.

Meantime, the Christian profession has ceased to be a cross in any

way, and has rather become honorable. Those who have been
taught that a purpose or determination to obey Christ was
regeneration, have in many cases formed such a purpose, confessed
belief in the needful creeds and joined the church in great numbers,
before they had time to ascertain whether they had moral strength
to carry out this purpose. They find on trial that they have not, and
then discover that though there is an open door to enter the church
[pg 319] there is none for exit that is not discreditable, and so they
remain.

Others come into the church for worse motives, to secure the
confidence, respect and trust that is accorded to that profession.
Thus it has come to pass that the class, denominated “the world,”
has been growing in Christian character and practical virtue, while,
as a body, “the church” has been deteriorating.

The writer, in her very extensive travels and intercourse with the
religious world, has had unusual opportunities to notice how surely
and how extensively the conviction of this fact has been pressed on
the minds of the best class of Christian ministers and laymen. More
than twenty years ago, one of the most laborious Episcopal bishops
of the western States, in reply to inquiries as to the state of religion
in his large diocese replied, “the world is growing better and the
church is growing worse.”

More than ten years ago, a distinguished lawyer, who had extensive
financial business to transact, himself an honored and exemplary
member of the church, stated to the writer that he was decided in
the conviction that the better class of worldly men were more
honorable and reliable in business matters than the majority of
church members. When asked to account for this, the reply was that
religious men were chiefly interested to get to heaven, which in their
view was to be secured “by faith and not by works,” and so good
works became a secondary concern. But the chief concern of worldly
men is to succeed in this life, and they have learned that honesty is
the best policy in attaining their chief end.

This statement was repeated to another exemplary [pg 320] church

member, who, as a bank officer and lawyer of distinguished integrity,
was said to transact more business than any other man in the north-
western States. He remarked that the above was exactly his own
opinion, and, moreover, he stated that a friend of his, also a church
member, who, he said, did more business than any other man in
Central New York, had expressed to him the same opinion.

These statements were repeated not long ago to a business man, an

exemplary member of an orthodox church in Boston, and he
expressed the same opinion. In repeated other instances that need
not be enumerated, in various sections of the country, the same
opinion has been expressed by intelligent and consistent members of
the church, whose prejudices would naturally lead them to the most
favorable view of the case.

Such impressions have not been decreased by the recent multiplied

defalcations, forgeries, and other business dishonesties that have
occurred in the last three years among church members and officers
of religious charities in high places of trust.

To all this add the fact, that a large class of men of exemplary
private life, who are spending their time, money and influence for
the relief of human woes and the redress of social and political
wrongs, are at the same time openly attacking the church as the
chief bulwark of these wrongs, while all the delinquencies of
ministers and churches are freely discussed and denounced by them
before the people.

The result is, that a large portion of the most exemplary and
intelligent part of the church feel themselves to be in a dubious and
false position, and are [pg 321] daily querying whether professing to
be a peculiar people is not doing more harm than good; and
whether it would not be better that the influence of good men
should rest on their unassociated individual character, and not on
organizations making such high profession where the light of
goodness is obscured by associated darkness.

Great doubt and skepticism, both in the church and out of it, have
thus arisen also as to what real religion consists in, and as to what
are the true claims of the church and its ministry.
Multitudes who would enter the church if it was regarded simply as
an association of persons to support the ordinances appointed by
Jesus Christ, and to aid each other in obeying his Word, turn from its
present position and claims with distrust or disgust. At the same
time ministers and church members, feeling these difficulties, have
more and more relinquished the Augustinian theory as the basis of
their organization, and are advancing to an open avowal of the
common-sense ground, i.e., that the real invisible church of Christ
embraces all those who acknowledge him as their Lord and Master,
and make it their chief aim to understand and to obey his teachings,
and that a visible church is any association of persons who organize
to aid each other in this object, by sustaining a ministry and worship
as they understand to be most in agreement with the teachings of
Christ.

The Episcopal church, both in Great Britain and in this country,

although as strictly Augustinian in its articles as any other, has taken
the lead of all others in practically renouncing that system. Any man
can more readily secure all the privileges of membership [pg 322] in
that church without any confession of faith or public profession of a
“change of nature,” than in any of the other Augustinian
denominations, and this is probably one great reason of its
prosperity in this country.

Any sensible man of good moral character, who should state in a

respectful and candid spirit, that he could not conscientiously submit
to acknowledging in any form, the rights of any man or body of men
to decide for him in regard to the interpretation of the Bible; that
according to his understanding of its teachings, he was bound to
acknowledge Jesus Christ as his Lord and Master in all matters of
faith and practice, and to associate himself with other avowed
followers of Christ by some form of open acknowledgment; that as
he understands the New Testament, the rites of baptism and the
Lord's Supper were instituted as forms of such acknowledgment and
communion, and that he wished thus to connect himself with the
Episcopal church without any creed, confession or acknowledgment;
it is believed, that in such a case, there are few ministers and still
fewer laymen who would not think it right to gratify such a desire. It
is believed that there are many, also, of the highest standing for
intellect, piety and position in the Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist
and Congregational churches, who have so far thrown aside the
system of Augustine, that they also would receive such a man to
their communion on these terms.

In this state of feeling among laymen the developments of

sectarianism, which, as has been shown, all relate to matters of rites
and forms, resulting from the Augustinian theory, have become more
and more suspicious and offensive. Especially is this the case [pg
323] in the newer States, where union and harmony among good
men are most needed.

In the volume, of Common Sense Applied to Religion, page 342,

statistics are introduced from the reports of three of the largest sects
of this country, the Old and New school Presbyterian and the
Congregational churches, showing that, owing to their sectarian
divisions, nearly one third of their churches are without ministers,
and nearly one half of these churches have not over fifty members,
the majority of these being women, while the relative amount of
ministers to churches is constantly decreasing. Not only in the large,
but the smaller towns, the struggle to build churches and support
ministers among the various sects, that differ only as to rites and
forms, is most mournful, making a taxation both on the East and
West for their support which is incredible.

Each denomination is trained to regard itself as “the church of God”

and to labor for its increase as a service to God's cause, while the
extension of other sects is not so regarded. Although few intelligent
Protestants now believe that any forms or rites are indispensable to
salvation, each sect regards its own peculiarity as of very great
importance. And as all the large sects are divided only on modes of
baptism or of church organization there is a constant tendency to
magnify these points of difference. Were it not for this, in small
places and in new settlements, all would unite in one large,
harmonious church, that could not only support its own ordinances,
but send of its surplus to supply the destitute. Instead of this, the
feuds, envies, jealousies and bickerings between small and
struggling churches, of from four to twenty diverse [pg 324] sects,
are an occasion of reproach and contempt to the world, and of
mortification to all honorable and pious minds.

So in regard to education, each sect is now acting as a sect, in

starting new colleges and seminaries, or in endowing those already
started, and this often with little reference to the supply provided by
other sects. For example, in Ohio there are twenty-six endowed
colleges, in Indiana there are eleven, and thus at the same rate in
other new States.

Besides endowments to support professors, vast sums have been

spent in buildings, many of them unused for want of pupils. After
each sect has thus gained its colleges, it must struggle to find pupils,
and thus multitudes of young boys are pressed into a Latin and
Greek course, not at all demanded in their future pursuits, and often
forsaken before the college is ever reached. The waste of
educational benefactions in these ways is enormous.

These expenditures are all to be met by the laity, and the more the
nature of these sectarian divisions is understood, the more
distrustful are the people in regard to these profuse expenditures to
keep up such divisions. Multitudes of intelligent laymen contribute
simply because their clergymen urge it, and entirely without
intelligent approval of these things. To their own view, Christianity,
as exhibited by contending sects, is a source of more evil feeling,
contention and needless expense than of compensating benefits,
and distrust and misgiving increase and abound.

In such a position of the organized church, one of the most

remarkable indications to be noted is the occurrence of a “revival”
among all sects, in which the [pg 325]people take the lead, and
theologians and pastors willingly resign their wonted place. All
badges of sect are dropped, and the dogmas of Augustine, from
which they originated, are thrown aside. The system of common
sense is recognized, and its intelligent and harmonizing influence
secures, for the first time, the respectful attention of worldly men
toward religious developments, which in all past time have been
regarded by them with suspicion or scorn.
Chapter XLVII. State of the Pastors of
Churches.

That portion of the clerical world who, as pastors, are most nearly in
connection with the people, are necessarily affected with the
influences that touch theologians, and also with the condition of
their people.

They find that what they have been trained to regard as a

fundamental doctrine of the Bible, has ceased to be defended by
those who have been their teachers in theology, and who are the
leaders of their sect.

They find their own minds very greatly in doubt as to many points
taught them in their theological training. They find intelligent laymen
refusing to enter the church, whom they feel to be as really
followers of Christ in heart and life as any in their churches, while
they see many professors of religion as selfish, worldly and
unprincipled as most of the world around, and yet they can not
exclude them.

They find intelligent young men coming to them expressing a desire

to obey Christ and to unite with [pg 326] his followers in efforts to
“be good and to do good,” but unable to subscribe to the creed of
the church in regard to a depraved nature and associated tenets,
while by one expedient or another these pastors waive the difficulty
and receive them into their churches. They find intelligent mothers
and Sunday-school teachers throwing aside the Augustinian dogma,
and training their little ones to believe that they can love and serve
their Saviour with their present nature and faculties, and that every
attempt to conform to the rules of duty is well-pleasing to God, and
a step forward in the path to heaven.

They find intelligent Christian mothers wishing to bring their children

to the communion with no other profession than that they desire
and intend to obey their Saviour in all things.

In this state of things, some of the most successful and intelligent

pastors have decided, in such cases, to cut loose from their creeds
and confessions, and to receive to the communion any young
children whom their parents believe and feel to be thus prepared for
it.

The position assumed by the parochial clergy in the great revival of

the past year, has been a remarkable index.

The people of all sects and creeds came together to express their
wish and intention to serve the Lord Christ by obedience to his word
in heart and life, and their pastors sat with them as equals in all
respects before the common Father. They related their experience;
they exhorted each other to persevere; they united in prayers for
help and guidance, and their pastors ceased to urge attention to
those “doctrines” [pg 327] founded on the Augustinian theory, which
in former revivals were made so prominent.

There are incidents that have come under the personal observation
of the writer the past year in regard to the parochial clergy which
are very ominous on account of the character of the persons
involved, who not only are among the first in intelligence and
influence, but may properly be denominated, in reference to the
leading class of pastors, “representative men.”

In one case, a young man of great intelligence and moral worth,

who might properly be regarded as a “representative man” of the
better portion of “Young America,” informed the writer that he and
his wife had accepted the general invitation of their pastor to receive
the communion. Inasmuch as the doctrines of the creed of that
church were not accepted by him, the inquiry was made whether
this step was taken with the approval of his pastor, and the reply
was in the affirmative.

The inquiry was then made, on what ground he united in this

ordinance. The reply was, substantially, that he wished to be good
and to do good, guided by the teachings of Christ; that he wished to
be united in feeling and action with good men, who cherish the
same aims, and also to make it manifest that he was associated with
that class; that he regarded this sacramental ordinance as instituted
for this very purpose, while his minister, as a consistent Protestant,
did not insist that he should interpret the Bible according to his
creed or be shut out from this privilege.

In another case, an intelligent mother who had trained her children

exclusively on the common-sense [pg 328] theory, informed the
writer that she had taken them to the Lord's Table with the consent
of one of the most distinguished pastors of the land, without any
examination or admission to the church. She simply narrated to him
her own opinion that her children from early years had learned to
love the Saviour and to be conscientious in daily efforts to obey his
teachings; that they and she felt that they were commanded by their
Saviour openly to acknowledge themselves as his followers, “even to
the death,” if need be, in order to fulfill all righteousness, and that
they did not and could not believe the creed of that church, nor in
the right of any man, or body of men, to exact such belief under
penalty of exclusion from the table of their Lord.

The pastor welcomed these lambs of the fold with their mother, and
felt that had he driven them away it would have been in defiance to
their Saviour's word, “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and
forbid them not.”

In still another case, one of the most honored Congregational

pastors of New England openly declared to friends of the writer that
it was in vain to try to preach this Augustinian system any longer;
that the people would not hear it, and that he should have to preach
to bare walls if he attempted it any more.

Many other similar incidents that have come to the knowledge of the
writer in different quarters of the country, might be added, but the
above will suffice as illustrative indications of the present position of
pastors.

[pg 329]
Chapter XLVIII. The Position of Popular
Education.

It is a significant fact in regard to the religious training of the young

in this country, that the most influential leaders of popular
education, especially in its earlier stages of improvement, have been
laymen, and laymen who reject the Augustinian dogma, and all
organizations founded on it. And yet they are men who believe in,
and have exhibited by their example, the great duty of love to God
and love to man, in a life of obedience to the physical, social and
moral laws of God.

Meantime, the laws of the land which forbid any exclusive favor to
any religious sect, do, in fact, forbid any religious training in common
schools that conflicts with the common-sense system. It has been
shown (chapter 39) that the larger Christian sects are all founded, in
their distinctive features, on the Augustinian dogma. This being so,
the law that excludes distinctive sectarian teaching excludes the
Augustinian system.

In regard to smaller sects, not Augustinian, the distinctive doctrine

of the Unitarian creed is such a unity in regard to the Creator as
forbids the idea of more than one divine person who has all the
attributes of God. This, it has been shown in chapter 18, is contrary
to the common-sense system.

The distinctive doctrine of the Universalist creed forbids the idea of

the perpetuated existence of sinful and miserable beings; this, also,
is contrary to the common-sense system, as shown in chapter 28.
Thus [pg 330] the chief sects that are not counted as Augustinian or
Evangelical, are also excluded from introducing their distinctive
tenets into the common schools of the people.

Moreover, while the people, in the schools under their control, thus
forbid by law any religious training which conflicts with the common-
sense system, they permit prayers to God and the use of the Bible,
provided the privilege is not used, in opposition to the spirit of the
above law, to introduce distinctive sectarian tenets.

It is also very noticable that in Great Britain the most influential

patrons of popular education, and writers on the training of the
young, have, though members of the established church, vigorously
opposed the Augustinian system. Archbishop Whateley has written a
most powerful argument, and one which none have attempted to
answer, in favor of the common-sense view of church organization.
He also has given all his influence to the establishment of schools for
the people, in which every parent and child shall, as far as possible,
be free in regard to religious matters.

The beloved and honored name of Arnold, dear to every liberal

educator of every sect and name, has set the example of a religious
training that is based entirely on the common-sense system. And
probably there is not a man living or dead whose influence has been
so extensive in guiding public opinion on this subject. Without
openly denying the articles, or forsaking the established church,
Whateley, Arnold and their associates have warred on the
Augustinian theory and its offsets more energetically and effectively
than any two men that can be named.

Thus, it appears, that the people themselves, and [pg 331] the chief
leaders in popular education, have decided that no teaching that
conflicts with the system of common-sense shall be introduced into
the common schools.
Chapter XLIX. The Position of Woman as
Chief Educator of Mind.

One of the most important indices of religious change is the advance

in the character of female education during the last thirty years.

Fifty years ago, to read, write and cipher, and a few

accomplishments, were all that were attempted in the school
education of women. A little history and one or two other branches
were added in some of the higher schools.

It being assumed that the equal culture of all the faculties, so as to

insure a well-balanced mind, is the chief aim of all education, it is
probable that the mental culture of women in this country for the
last thirty years has approached nearer to the true standard than
was ever known in the experience of any other nation.

The training to the handicraft of the needle, even if only for

ornament, the measure of domestic duty that most young girls learn
to perform, the culture of the musical taste and the art of drawing,
the combination in female schools of mathematics, languages and
general knowledge, and the immense variety of culture from lectures
and general reading, all have [pg 332] tended to develop the female
mind on a scale of advancement and equable culture never before
known.

The result is a generation of women well trained for high and

independent thought and action. At the same time, it is probable
that there never before was so large a proportion of the best
educated women who were so decidedly conscientious and religious.
It is granted by all, that it is to woman more than to man, that is
committed the chief business of training the human mind at its most
important stage of development. It is granted, also, that in order to
success in culture, both physical and mental, it is the first step to
understand the nature of that which is to be trained and developed.
The first question, then, to every woman, in reference to her first
duty is, what is the nature of the minds given us to train?

In this light, it is as if a gardener were to receive some rare and

delicate plant with directions from his lord to train it with the utmost
care; his first inquiry would be, What is its nature? Does it require
sun or shade? Does it need a moist or a sandy soil? Is it a climber, or
a shrub, or a tree? Or, it is as if a young machinist should receive
from his master a collection of wheels and springs, and a great
variety of delicate machinery, with the direction to put them together
and adjust them for right action. His first inquiry would be, what is
the nature of the thing to be thus arranged? For what end or
purpose is it constructed? What is the mode of working it which will
best accomplish the end designed?

In like manner woman receives from her Lord the delicate physical
form and immortal spirit of her child to train aright for an existence
never to end. She [pg 333] asks of those who are her Lord's
messengers for this very end, what is the nature of this wonderful
and delicate organization? What is the end or purpose for which it is
made? What is the mode of training which will best accomplish the
end designed?

The preceding pages exhibit the kind of replies that for ages have
met these heart-wrenching queries of womanhood. From most, it is
shown, she hears that the ruined nature of her offspring is such that
she can do absolutely nothing to secure any right development.
Others tell her that no one knows what was the end or purpose for
which the mind of her child was made. Others tell her that no one
knows what are right means in regard to the training and action of
mind. Others tell her that the mind of her child is constructed wrong,
and that nothing can be done to secure its right training and
development, but in some way to induce its Maker to re-create it.

Meantime, also, her teachers are in conflict as to what is the

difficulty with the nature of her child, and what would be its right
action, and what is to be done to secure its right development. At
the same time, the greater portion of the teachings on this great
matter are so enveloped in abstruse theological and metaphysical
technics as to baffle the wisest in their attempts to gain clear and
definite ideas from them.

In this state of the case many sensible mothers and teachers, all
over the land, have adopted a course dictated by their own common
sense and their experience of the nature of mind, as discovered in
their attempts to train it. In pursuing such a course, many of them
have taught simply the system of common sense, leaving out
entirely the Augustinian contradictions. They [pg 334] have in
various forms of language taught their little ones after this fashion:
“Your heavenly Father made you to be happy and to make others
happy. In order to this, he wishes that you should always have what
you like best, except when it would injure you or others. But when
what you like best and want the most, is not best for you or best for
others, you must always choose what is for the best, and in so doing
you act virtuously and please and obey God. And just so far as you
do all that is best for yourself and for others, guided by the
teachings of Christ, and with the desire and purpose to obey him,
you become a virtuous, pious and holy child, and a true Christian.”

In taking such a course as this, many mothers and teachers find

themselves in antagonism with the teachings of the pulpit, the
Sunday School and the great body of religious books, and yet they
persevere. And sometimes they take their children from the Sunday
School because the home training is there so directly assailed. And
they would, in some cases, keep them from the church also, were
not the theological technics so effective in protecting childhood from
all comprehension of a large portion of pulpit teachings.
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