start all intellectual (and other) progress from the beginnings which the child makes-inevitably and necessarily makes for itself, whenever the right conditions are present.

"It is life that educates," must be the foundation principle of all true education, i.e., such as is in harmony with Nature. The mere opening of the eyes, hearing of sounds, touching of things, and so on, are all educative processes; but they are not necessarily the best, or even a good, form of education. The educator is to the education of life, what the gardener is to the garden: he removes the weeds and all injurious things; and provides, as far as possible, every good and helpful condition for the fullest living and the best growth. But the growth and all that is produced is of the living organism; the man can only influence the growth and the products-towards perfection-by making the conditions the best possible.

Knowledge comes, through intuitions, in several different ways, viz., (1) By Accident, i.e., from any and every impression which may influence the individual as he goes through life. Knowledge so gained is, necessarily, more or less irregular, confused, of slow growth, and limited. (2) From Environment, i.e., the special conditions which immediately surround a person. This is largely determined by parents and teachers, and its value will depend upon their knowledge and skill in ordering and using the surroundings. (3) From Study, i.e., the self-directed search for knowledge. Perceptions thus gained are of the highest possible value in themselves, and will qualify us for self-education. (4) From Occupation, which gives us chiefly moral perceptions, or ideas of duty, virtue and justice. We are also much helped towards

clear ideas by knowledge gained in this way. (5) From Analogy and Reasoning, by which we are able to judge of the nature of things which have never directly acted upon our minds, by making a constructive (reasoned) use of the knowledge which we have gained from immediate impressions from things. We are able to get knowledge from knowledge; e.g., a child who has learned to observe with elementary accuracy only a few farmhouses, and accurately to express such observations in words, has thereby got to know the essential parts of architecture, and can apply his ideas to the understanding of buildings which he has never seen (How Gertrude Teaches).

Knowledge passes through several stages, viz., from confused to definite perceptions; from definite to clear perceptions; from clear perceptions to distinct ideas. This development in the perfecting of our ideas is brought about by grouping, separating and comparing the objects of perception. Objects often impress us in such a way that only some of their unimportant or accidental qualities become known to us. Thus we may

be led to form very wrong, or misleading, ideas about them; but by grouping objects which have the same. essential qualities, our insight into their real nature is made more complete and correct, and we are much less likely to be led astray by single impressions.

By separating and comparing objects we are able to arrive at the simplest elements of our perceptions—and the most complex perception can be thus reduced to its simplest elements-and so to raise our definite and clear conceptions to distinct ideas. There is no need to force all this on the learner, for the mind itself is so constituted that it involuntarily and irresistibly desires

thus to obtain distinct ideas. All that is required is that sufficient help should be given to enable the pupil to do this with the greatest certainty of success.

Since intuition is the foundation of all knowledge and, therefore, of the higher intellectual processes, viz., judgment and reasoning, it is most important that our intuitions should be accurate. No judgment or reasoning can be sound and complete unless the intuitions upon which it is founded are full and perfect. No higher step should, therefore, be attempted until the lower ones are thoroughly known. We must first get a complete mastery over the simple elements, and a facility in the use of them, before going forward to something more complex. We must proceed step by step; each step being only a very slight addition to the previous one.

Observation is the great instrument in the formation of perceptions [of external things]; and care must be taken to observe the best and most characteristic specimens of any class of things, i.e., such as will give a correct idea of the real thing and of its most important qualities. For example, a lame, one-eyed, or sixfingered man would not convey a proper idea of the human form. When a suitable specimen has been properly observed, there arises the necessity of naming it; after naming it we proceed to discover its parts and properties, and name these, i.e., describe the object; and, finally, from a clear description of it we draft a definition, i.e., an expression of the distinct idea of the object: accuracy and value of the definition will obviously depend upon the fulness and exactness of the observation and description; and these will, in turn, depend upon the vitality and wisdom of the method of training of the children to habits of observation.

The

Pestalozzi gives an emphatic warning against the great danger of substituting mere talks for real observations. He says: "It is a mere fallacy to conclude, or to pretend, that knowledge has been acquired from the fact that terms have been memorised, which, if rightly understood, convey the expression of knowledge. This condition if rightly understood, which is the most material, is the most generally overlooked. . . . To guard against an error of this kind, the first rule is to teach always by things rather than by words. Let there be as few objects as possible named to the child, unless you are prepared to show the objects themselves. Of objects which cannot be brought before the child in reality, pictures should be introduced (On Infants' Education).

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We should not, in the early stages, make use of any truths which are not the outcome of our own intuitions. Every truth which is presented to the learner through verbal forms, and is not based in its essential elements on his own perceptions, remains, so to say, in the airit has no means of really and truly connecting itself, in the child's mind, with that to which it relates. Endless truths so presented to the mind have far less educative influence on the development of thought than a single one based upon actual perception.

Pestalozzi sums up by saying that he found "that all our knowledge proceeds from three elementary powers: (1) from the power of making sounds: the origin of language; (2) from the indefinite, simple sense-power of forming images, out of which springs the consciousness of all forms; and (3) from the definite, but no longer mere sense-power, of imagination, from which must be derived the consciousness of unity, and therewith the ability

for calculating and reckoning.

The art of educating the race must be based upon the first and simplest results of these three foundation-powers: sound, form and number . . . recognised by Nature herself as the common starting-point of all instruction.

"In consequence of this recognition they must be incorporated in forms which, universally and harmoniously, arise from the results of the three elementary powers of our nature, and which tend, essentially and surely, to make all instruction a steady and unbroken development of these fundamental powers, used in common and regarded as equally important. Only in this way is it at all possible to lead us, in all three branches, from obscure to definite sense-impressions, from definite sense-impressions to clear images, and from clear images to distinct ideas. Here . . Here... I find the Art [of Education] . . . a common basis of all the methods and arts of instruction. . . . Through knowing the unity, and form, and name of any object, the knowledge of it becomes precise; by gradually learning its other attributes the knowledge of it becomes clear; and through consciousness of its totality the knowledge becomes distinct” (How Gertrude Teaches).

In building up complete perceptions-the results of complete sense-impressions of all the parts of an object -the following points should be observed: (1) The process should be very gradual, and each step completely and indelibly fixed in the mind. (2) All our perceptions should be related in our minds in a way exactly resembling the relation of the actual objects in nature. (3) All subordinates and non-essentials in real things should be represented in our minds by perceptions which are regarded as subordinates and non