v4ii PREFACE. 



answer is, we do not propose to devote a large 

 portion of time to Natural History in ordinary 

 cases, and even this will be taken principally 

 during these early years when very little real pro- 

 gress is made in Greek or Latin. Every age has 

 its intellectual, as well as its moral claims ; and 

 though the stern discipline of early classical in- 

 struction may offer some advantages, still the 

 hours devoted to the abstractions of grammar, 

 and the puzzling out ideas which have no pro- 

 totype in the child's mind through the dark mist 

 of a language little akin to his maternal tongue, 

 present very meagre food to that understanding 

 they are supposed to strengthen. If the child 

 must lisp in Latin, let him do so ; let his first 

 Gradus ad Parnassum be through the quagmires 

 at its base ; the few choice spirits that mount the 

 summit may, perhaps, tread it with firmer step, 

 and enjoy the prospect with keener relish ; but 

 that step will not be the less firm, nor that relish 

 the less keen, because a daily hour was abstracted 

 for ' Lessons on Objects,' or ' Lessons on Shells.' 

 Not only are the sciences so linked together that 

 each gives each a double charm, but the faculties 

 of the mind are so constituted, as that the vigour 

 of each is promoted by the due developement of 

 the rest. And there is a harmony as truly ex- 

 isting in a properly educated mind, as in a well- 



