uch a state of society will, as their
first step, seek to obtain a clear and comprehensive view of the work they
propose to accomplish, and will then seek to adopt the most judicious
means to reach the end proposed. They will adapt their methods of teaching
to the nature of the object to be taught and to the order in which the
faculties of the human mind naturally unfold themselves, for true
education is the natural unfolding of the intellectual germ. In order to
obtain the knowledge necessary of the object to be taught, the true
teacher turns to nature as his guide, for the voice of nature is the voice
of God, and in reading her statutes we read that grand volume in which He
has left an impress of Himself. The science of nature is nothing more
than the ability to read and interpret correctly the lessons taught. There
was a period when mankind knew very little of the planet upon which they
lived and moved and had their being; _there was_ a time when they knew
almost nothing; and there _will_ come a time when they will know almost
every thing that can be known by finite man. The earth is our _mother_,
and _nature_ is our teacher, and if we listen to her voice, she will lead
us higher and higher until we will stand the master and the king in the
glorified temple of wisdom. To reach results so grand and a position so
exalted, our natures must unfold in exact harmony with all the laws and
forces which surround and control us from the time our existence commences
until its close.

From the period of conception until birth the child draws to itself all
the essential elements required for the organization of a human being; the
capabilities and powers of the parent are taxed and called upon to
contribute their material to enable nature to reproduce itself.

The child is born, and then, in a higher and more enlarged and more
independent state of existence, commences drawing to itself the materials
and substances necessary for its growth and unfolding. It draws in its
mother's milk, it draws in the air, and it builds up in itself the unseen
forces of life. Nature, true to her mission, goes on unfolding the child,
and teaches it daily and hourly the lessons best adapted to its condition.
In a few days after it is born, its powers of observation begin to show
signs of life and action, and it can distinguish light from darkness; in
a few weeks its mother and nurse are known--in a few months quickened
intelligence displays itself in