{68 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF EDUCATION. 
detail than is given to the abode of the blest; but there is much greater 
aniformity in the descriptions. 
The general type of devil is well described by a boy who says: “I 
thought the devil had a man’s head, with a long hooked nose and pointed 
chin, with an ox’s ears and horns. He had a man’s body, and one leg like 
a man and the other like that of an ox. He had a tail with a ball of 
;hree points at the end. He carried a spear with three prongs, the same 
as his tail. He could spit fire, and had a tongue like a snake.” Often 
he is black, sometimes red ; three or four speak of him as a fallen angel ; 
a few as a serpent or monster. 
His activities are tempting and fooling people, and killing and burning 
people. Some say he bites and scares people, or carries off children. 
Generally, however, the children do not go into any detail about him, but 
simply say he is a bad man who tempts people. 
Hell is generally located under the earth, or below us. It is a place of 
fire, some say like a furnace, and a very few add snakes and darkness; but 
hell and the devil play a small part in the compositions, and disappear 
almost entirely from the compositions written by children over ten years 
old. 
In all this scheme of theology natural phenomena play but a small 
part. The stars and moon are a very few times spoken of as lighting 
heaven. In two or three cases the clouds support or hide heaven. Two 
or three speak of God as like a cloud, and one says the devil is like smoke ; 
but there is little connection in the compositions between the celestial 
hierarchy and the mountains and hills, the plains and woods, the deserts 
and oceans of this world. Thunder and lightning, birth and death are 
hardly mentioned in these connections. God is certainly not seen in his 
works by our ordinary school children. 
To summarize briefly the theological ideas of California children, we 
should say : The world of spirits is for the most part attractive ; there is 
very little dark and forbidding imagery ; terror is unknown ; the ideas are 
generally vague, and the standard theological beliefs are often quoted in 
ways that show that the children have had little or no teaching. 
The attitude that children of different ages take toward this theology 
is an important question for the educator. 
The young children under six examined by mothers and teachers 
almost always accept what they have been told, without question or com- 
ment. They, however, recast their theology into forms that appeal to 
their experience and their modes of thought. 
The spirit world is simply a beautiful playroom or playground where 
shildren have what they want ; God is a more serious form of papa, the 
angels are playfellows, and Satan is simply a ¢ boogie.” while hell is a 
dark closet. 
From seven to ten there are occasional vague questionings, but under