In order to arrive at a fair answer to these questions it might be well to study and discuss some divergent views on education and then to learn how these questions are answered by those who were born in non-Christian lands or who have lived and worked there for many years. Some Views on Education “To educate a girl is like putting a knife into the hands of a monkey.” Hindu Proverb. “The hope of our country is in the education of our girls, and we shall never have statesmen till the mothers are educated.” A Persian Nobleman. “Men are superior to women on account of the qualities with which God has gifted the one above the other.” The Koran, Sura 4.38. “No scheme of education for primitive races can succeed that neglects the woman’s influence in the family and the tribe.” E. W. Coffin.[54] “When a man does not ask, ‘What shall I think of this and of that?’ I can do nothing with him. Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.” Confucius Quoted in “Oriental Religions,” Samuel Johnson. “Education should lead and guide man to clearness concerning himself and in himself, to peace with nature and to unity with God.” Froebel. “The aim of female education is perfect submission, not cultivation and development of the mind.” Confucius. “Not knowledge or information, but self-realization is the goal. To possess all the world of knowledge and lose one’s own self is as awful a fate in education as in religion.” John Dewey. The Head Master of an English school declared it to be his ideal of education to create an atmosphere of loyalty that should teach the pupils to adapt themselves to the sphere in which their lives should be cast, at the same time giving them self-reliance through the knowledge that they are responsible for doing the things that are worth while, and arousing their ambition to achieve that which is highest and best. As a practical basis for the study of our topic, “The Child at School,” write out if you will your own definition of the scope and ideals of education, drawing up a list of those members of the human family who would benefit by such an education. [Sidenote: Reasons why missionary education should be continued.] Referring again to the question of whether our missionary obligation ceases when the child’s education begins, we must first of all realize clearly how recent has been the awakening in most of these lands, how appalling is the illiteracy, how long it will take the most advanced government to meet the need without assistance, and how infinitely more a _Christian_ education will do for the little ones than a merely secular education can possibly accomplish. [Sidenote: Statistics of illiteracy.] From the new Cyclopedia of Education[55] the following latest available statistics are taken:-- Country Illiterate Basis Year