All science must rest upon the basis now poirea out, but the arts have science itself for a basis; and soon after a child is in possession of the elements of the sciences, he begins to operate with, or upon, them in such a way as to produce what may be called the elements of the arts. He imitates sounds; he carves sticks, and moulds clay; he paints his face or clothes with berries; he builds houses with stones. or blocks; he makes figures in the sand; indeed, it is not difficult to trace in the plays of children the rude beginnings of many of the arts which have now, in civilized countries, reached such a high degree of perfection.

The first of our classes then includes the elements of knowledge, the elements of the sciences, and the elements of the arts. The discussion of each class of knowledge might embrace the elements upon which it rests; but as teaching must begin by imparting a knowledge of the elements of knowledge in general, without regard to the class to which they belong, the plan adopted is considered the best.

SECOND CLASS.-Language.-Language might be classed among the arts, since, like them, it is in part, at least, the product of human skill. It might be classed with the Empirical sciences, since, like them, many of the laws which govern it have been derived from observation and experiment. And, again, it might be classed with the Formal Sciences, since its laws are often identical with the laws of thought. Its great importance, in an educational point of view, however, determines me to consider it by itself.

The class is intended to embrace all those branches of instruction which relate to the acquisition of skill in the use of language, or which treat of language as a science.

THIRD CLASS.--The Formal Sciences.-Two sciences are designed to be included in this class-Mathematics and Logic. Mathematics gives precise expression to the relations of forms and numbers, and Logic gives precise expression to the laws of thought. Matter could not exist but for Mathematical conditions, and thought is known to us only under Logical conditions. Logic is the more general of the two sciences, for Mathematical reasoning itself is subject to its forms; but their relationship is sufficiently obvious.

FOURTH CLASS. The Empirical Sciences.-Laws learned by induction are called Empirical laws, and the sciences composed of systems of these laws have received the name of Empirical sciences. Or, the Empirical sciences are the sciences which are made up of that knowledge of which experience is the source. Among these sciences are Geography, Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, Physiology, Zoology, Botany, Geology, Astronomy, Psychology, &c.

FIFTH CLASs. The Rational Sciences.-The basis of the Rational sciences is the self-evident, necessary, and universal principles which can be directly apprehended by the reason without the intervention of any discursive process. Or, the Rational sciences are the sciences which are evolved from those ideas

of which experience is the occasion, but not the source. The term Metaphysics might be applied to the whole class; and of its subdivisions I will nanie but three: Philosophy, or the science of THE TRUE; Esthetics, or the science of THE BEAUTIFUL; and Ethics, or the science of THE GOOD.

SIXTH CLASS. The Historical Sciences.History collects the facts relating to the life of man upon the earth, and presents them in systematic narrations. In its higher departments it essays to solve the problem of man's condition and destiny. Into all calculations respecting the Historical sciences, the elements of a free-will and a superintending Providence enter, and these render it necessary to place the Historical sciences in a class by themselves.

Events cannot be recorded or accounted for before they have occurred, and hence History complements all other sciences, and cannot be finished until all the future becomes the past.

SEVENTH CLASS.-The Arts.-Art in its beginnings may precede science, but in its more advanced stages it must always follow it. Says Mill, "Art necessarily presupposes knowledge; art, in any but its infant state, presupposes scientific knowledge; and if every art does not bear the name of the science upon which it rests, it is only because several sciences are often necessary to form the groundwork of a single art." This explains sufficiently well the place occupied by "The Arts" in our classification of knowledge. The class will be divided into the Empirical arts and the Rational arts.

II. The Genesis of Knowledge.

It is proposed to inquire how the human race came into possession of the knowledge they now have? Volumes would be required to push the inquiry to its limits; but it is hoped that enough concerning the subject may be stated in a few pages to throw considerable light upon Methods of Instruction. The growth of knowledge in the individual mind must correspond to its historic growth in the mind of the race.

Sufficient has already been said, or will be said in other connections, concerning the genesis of the "Elements of knowledge," and hence this topic will be omitted in the present discussion. The order followed in the discussion of the other topics under this head will be that of the preceding classification

THE GENESIS OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGE.Several theories of the origin of language have been proven fallacious. It is now acknowledged that no ready-formed vocabulary could have been the gift of God. While some words, in all languages, are imitations of sounds heard in nature, the vast majority of them cannot be accounted for by any system of Onomatopoeia. Interjections are, doubtless, found in all languages, but that all other parts of speech are derived from these has never been proven, and is past belief. The most profound of modern Philologists have reached the conclusion that man was endowed by his Creator with the power of naming, and that he exercises this power in the same way as a bird sings. Multitudes of words were produced in the early ages which nerished, but

certain root-words, four or five hundred in number, survived the "struggle for life," and now form the basis of all languages. These root-words are the generous parents of whole tribes of other words, which, by being modified in meaning, compounded and inflected, swell the number of words in some languages to eighty or a hundred thousand.

But a teacher is not so directly interested in questions concerning the origin of language as he is in those concerning the manner in which children, in ordinary circumstances, acquaint themselves with human speech.

I do not doubt that the same speech-forming instinct or faculty exists now as in the early ages of the world's history, and that if the race were to lose all knowledge of the words they now use they would produce new ones. But children do not create a new language, they merely acquire the power to use one already in existence. How do they acquire it? First, they notice objects or actions. Then they hear certain verbal sounds associated with them, and finally learn to imitate these sounds. They are aided in the whole process by an innate desire to know and to speak. An English child learns English because he hears English words and English forms of expression. Other languages are learned in the same way. The words a child first learns are those that stand for objects or actions which are most prominently presented to him, or in which he feels most interest. Of this class are pa, ma, puss, dog, horse, door, hat, clock, bell, &c., &c., or run, walk, ride, burn, bark, sing, &c., &c. The same principle holds good with regard to the manner in which the ability