of upheavals and storms: he takes the stamp of his people and grows up in their detestable habits, and becomes a misfit.
This is because the child spends the early years of his life within the walls of the family, and at that stage he is highly sensitive, quick to be affected and molded, owing to the pliancy of his nervous system. We see him powerfully affected by the atmosphere that surrounds him, be it good or bad — to a degree that bears out the proverb: "from the wolves one may learn to howl."
It goes without saying that the success of every form of productive endeavor in the nation depends on the family's good guidance of its children. In the matter of education, the family must take care to direct its children toward the line that accords with their inclinations and aptitudes, and to acquaint itself with those inclinations and aptitudes; for it is shameful ignorance to leave this or that to chance, or to be swayed at times by certain traditions — that the son should be an officer like his father, or a doctor, or a merchant. Rather it is the parents' duty to proceed by the light of their children's natural aptitude, so as to direct them toward what will assure them happiness and success in their future lives.
A home is happy only when every member of it feels his duties as he feels his rights, and when all cooperate for whatever serves the good of the family, so that every member of it may be sound for himself, for his family, and for his nation. For just as the individual is the unit of the family, so the family is the unit of the nation; and it alone — be it sound or corrupt — is the best rearer of children, tending them with its mercy and tenderness, leading them along the straight path, and preparing for them the ways of success.
Above these words we publish some scenes from the exhibition held, under the guidance of Miss Bahija Yumi Suleiman, by the Islamic Girls' College of Beirut. From them readers may see the degree of perfection and excellence attained in this exhibition, the like of which has rarely been held in Lebanon.