Whether in the life of David or of Shylock, or of
the people whom they represent, the study of men is primarily a study
of morals, of conduct. It is in the personal hardships, struggles, and
mutual contact of men that motives and moral impulses are observed and
weighed. In such men as John Bunyan, William the Silent, and John
Quincy Adams, we are much interested to know what qualities of mind and
heart they possessed, and especially what human sympathies and
antipathies they felt. Livingstone embodied in his African life
certain Christian virtues which we love and honor the more because they
were so severely and successfully tested. Although the history of men
and of society has many uses, its best influence is in illustrating and
inculcating moral ideas. It is teaching morals by example. Even
living companions often exert less influence upon children than the
characters impressed upon their minds from reading. The deliberate
plan of teachers and parents might make this influence more salutary
and effective.
It will strike most teachers as a surprise to say that _the chief use
of history study is to form moral notions in children_. Their
experience with this branch of school work has been quite different.
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