We see, in the last place, from this passage, what a black catalogue of evils the human heart contains. u Out of the heart of men," says our Lord, u proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness : all these evil things come from within."
Let us distinctly understand, when we read these words, that our Lord is speaking of the human heart generally. He is not speaking only of the notorious profligate, or the prisoner in the jail. He is speaking of all mankind. All of us, whether high or low, rich or poor, masters or servants, old or young, learned or un- learned— all of us have by nature such a heart as Jesus here describes. The seeds of all the evils here mentioned lie hid within us all. They may lie dormant all our lives. They may be kept down by the fear of consequences — the restraint of public opinion — the dread of discovery — the desire to be thought respectable — and, above all, by the almighty grace of God. But every man has within him the root of every sin.
How humble we ought to be, when we read these verses ! " We are all as an unclean thing" in God's
ever carefully conducted. It must needs be so. We must expect it. But it is no less true that there are great dangers in private educa- tion, and dangers in their kind quite as formidable as any which beset a boy at public school. Of course no universal rule can be laid down. Regard must be had to individual character and temperament. But to suppose, as some seem to do, that boys educated at public schools must turn out ill, and boys educated at home must turn out well, is surely not wise. It is forgetting our Lord's doctrine, that the heart is the principal source of evil. Without a change of heart a boy may be kept at home, and yet learn all manner of sin.
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