OF EDUCATION 6 1 



best description that can be made conveys to the mind 

 but a dim shadow of the reality. 



Can we describe the face of our most intimate as- 

 sociate so that a stranger would recognize him in 

 Broadway to-morrow? Do we know how Vesuvius 

 appeared to an observer after learning his descrip- 

 tion ? The object method is nature's method. Can 

 the rainbow be described so that a blind man who 

 has never received one of nature's object lessons on 

 colors can gain any correct idea of its splendor ? He 

 can gain no idea of the meaning of words expressive 

 of color* because object lessons on color are an im- 

 possibility with him. 



It is strange " folly " that would close the natural 

 inlets of knowledge — the senses, and refuse to teach 

 the child anything of the world we inhabit, until an 

 artificial method can be created. The artificial 

 method is never to be used as a substitute for the 

 natural one, but is to be employed to gain what 

 knowledge we can of' inaccessible things, and of 

 abstractions. 



Any intelligent person who knows what object 

 teaching is, can as readily see the superiority of that 

 method over all others as he can see the superiority 

 of the sun, for illuminating purposes, over the pine 

 knots and candles of the last generation. The boy 

 that thought the map was the reality, and stated that 



