SECTION II 



To comprehend the laws of nature is the grand 

 object of intellectual culture. The fatal error in the 

 educational schemes of all ages has been the futile 

 attempt to ornament the mind without informing it. 

 Hence the world has but just discovered even the 

 existence of those laws, whose daily violation for 

 ages past has rendered a world of surpassing beauty 

 and perfection a great sepulchre for the premature 

 dead, and an abode of suffering for millions who 

 linger through maturer years. Of all systems of 

 education that is the best which furnishes the most 

 perfect guidance to complete living. A right mode 

 of teaching contravenes none of nature's tendencies ; 

 but it excites the activity of the mind in accordance 

 with the laws which control its spontaneous develop- 

 ment, and thus co-operates with nature in her plan of 

 unfolding the faculties. There can be no success when 

 we contravene nature's laws, whether we deal with 

 tangible objects or with human minds. Overlook her 

 laws in inanimate material, and the awful wreck of 

 life and property in the downfall of the Pemberton 

 Mills is an example of the penalty. Ignore her 



