The order to be followed in the acquisition of learning, as indicated by the three foregoing Tables, is conformable to the order established by nature in the successive manifestation of the intellectual powers. And, although the various departments of knowledge admit of being classified under different heads, they are all connected by innumerable and imperceptible links which render them an assistance to each other. Thus, historical information, which depends on memory, leads directly to scientific and to artistical information, which depend on judgment and imagination.

The history of nature leads to the natural sciences and to the imitation of nature; the history of man leads to the science of society or of government; the history of language to the science of ideas and of the mind, as well as to the fine arts, which have for their object the expression of thought and feeling. †

The sciences, in their turn, assist in engraving on the memory the information acquired by that faculty, and serve as a foundation for the various professions of social life; for we must not forget that the principles of all the arts spring from the truths

* We have been induced to class music and dancing under this head, because the modulations of the one and the movements of the other bear a close affinity to the passions and emotions of the soul. If people enter so quickly into the impressions conveyed by them, it is because these impressions are in harmony with their own feelings and mode of existence.

The word history means here the record of the facts of language, its words and phraseology, as found in the works which constitute the various branches of its literature. This application of the word history is analogous to the sense which it bears in the other two cases.

ascertained by the testimony of the senses or by the power of reasoning.

The natural sciences lead to the learned, military, industrial, and practico-speculative professions. The sciences of society and government lead to administrative professions, the science of language and of ideas to literary professions, the science of God and the soul to the ecclesiastical profession. Mental and moral sciences combined lead to the educational profession.

The arts derive powerful means of improvement from the sciences; and, vice versû, the principles of science are rendered more clear and interesting by their application to the arts. This reciprocity of influence shows the propriety of introducing in education the practice of such arts as may bear some relation to the intellectual studies and the future destination of young

persons.

SECT. V.-OF THE FITTEST INSTRUCTION FOR YOUTH.

The various branches of knowledge have latterly been so multiplied that it is impossible for a single individual to embrace them all; and some sciences have been carried so far that it almost requires the exclusive exertion of a long life to reach their utmost extent :

"One science only can one genius fit,

So vast is art, so narrow human wit." *

However, if the immense variety of arts and sciences does not permit short-lived beings, such as we are, to possess them all, their admirable connection, by aiding the memory, furnishes us with an easy means of acquiring an extensive portion of them. We should principally aim at those which suit our particular station or profession in society, and at those also which are calculated efficiently to improve our faculties. This is the most certain way of being happy ourselves and useful to others. The first of these two objects is based on the second; for we can be truly happy only in so far as we have it in our power to serve others. "The predominance of philanthropic and generous ideas," said Napoleon," ought to be the character of the age.” †

The period of education being, for the great majority of young persons, restricted within narrow limits, it becomes the more indispensable, in a rational system of public instruction, to

* A. Pope. An Essay on Criticism.

† Réponse à une Députation du Corps Législatif. 12 Pluv. an. 13.

confine the objects of study to such branches of knowledge as best discipline the intellect and are of practical utility through life. The information most required by individuals varies indefinitely with their diversified pursuits in social life; but that which offers the best prospect of being useful in all situations, and which should have the precedence over the others is, we think, an acquaintance with the laws of nature. True knowledge is, in fact, nothing but the interpretation of nature. In nature may be found all the elements of our ideas, all the principles of our sciences, all the models of our arts, and endless sources of moral and religious sentiments.

The physical sciences, which have for their object the investigation of the natural laws, are suitable to the different periods of youth, and are useful to all classes of people; they exercise the perceptive powers, enrich the memory with facts and words, excite and gratify imagination to the highest degree, prompt to investigation, and inspire a taste for learning. Although they are not, perhaps, the best calculated for making profound reasoners, they are far from materialising instruction, as affirmed by some persons; they cultivate effectively the moral and the intellectual faculties; no literary composition engages the moral feelings and religious sense more vividly than the grandeur and perfection of the material world; none exercises the judgment more usefully than the application of analysis and induction to the phenomena of nature.

Secular Instruction ought chiefly to consist in initiating a child into the natural laws, showing him their relation to his being, and teaching him to obey them and avail himself of them in order to secure his happiness and usefulness. George Combe, in his work, "The Constitution of Man," has forcibly demonstrated and illustrated the relations in which we stand to external nature. He has shown that, while the natural laws act independently of each other, there is in their combined action a pervading principle to reward virtue and punish vice, and that the world is, throughout its constitution, framed in perfect adaptation to the faculties of man as a moral, pious, and intelligent being. The study of nature, presenting endless illustrations of the sacred volume, renders instruction the hand-maid of religion.

The lower animals, under the influence of instinct, blindly follow the course which unerring Wisdom has marked out for them; man alone has the discretionary power of conforming to