31. SWftOg'u Oavnfon

were familiar to alL The speeches of the popular
orators of that day were filled with distinct allu-
sions to the Bible and these were quickly and clearly
apprehended by the people. It may be questioned
whether popular speeches of the present day would
have equal force if based on the assumption that
everybody knows the Biblical stories. Indeed it is
a common remark made by professors of English
in the higher institutions of learning that pupils
know little of the Bible as a distinctly formative
and conservative element in English literature. In
the texts authorized for the study of English classics,
Biblical allusions are very common. These have lit-
tle meaning to pupils who have not read the Bible,
unless the passage is pointed out and hunted up.
  From the pages of these readers the pupils learned
to master the printed word and obtain the thought
of the authors. Without conscious effort they re-
ceived moral instruction and incentives toward right
living. Without intent they treasured in their mem-
ories such extracts from the authors of the best
English Literature as gave them a desire to read
more.
  In one of his sermons Dr. David Swing of Chicago
said: "Much as you may have studied the languages
or the sciences, that which most affected you was
the moral lessons in the series of McGuffey. And
yet the reading class was filed out only once a day
to read for a few moments, and then we were all
sent to our seats to spend two hours in learning
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