external things is expressed in
this: What can I do with it? What is its relation to me? The
sensation goes over into thought, the thought into action. Thus the
impression of the object is built into the little universe of his mind.
The object and the action it implies are closely associated. As more
objects are apprehended, more complex relations arise, but the primal
condition remains--What can I do with it? Sensation, thought,
action--this is the natural sequence of each completed mental process.
As volition passes over into action, so does science into art,
knowledge into power, wisdom into virtue.

By the study of realities wisdom is built up. In the relations of
objects he can touch and move, the child comes to find the limitations
of his powers, the laws that govern phenomena, and to which his actions
must be in obedience. So long as he deals with realities, these laws
stand in their proper relation. "So simple, so natural, so true," says
Agassiz. "This is the charm of dealing with Nature herself. She
brings us back to absolute truth so often as we wander."

So long as a child is lead from one reality to another, never lost in
words or in abstractions, so long this natural relation remains. What
can I do with it? is the beginning of wisdom. What is it to me? is the
basis of personal virtue.

While a child remains about the home of his boyhood, he knows which way
is north and which is east. He does not need to orientate himself,
because in his short trips he never loses his sense of space direction.
But let him take a rapid journey in the cars or in the night, and he
may find himself in strange relations. The sun no longer rises in the
east, the sense of reality in directions is gone, and it is a painful
effort for him to join the new impressions to the old. The process of
orientation is a difficult one, and if facing the sunrise in the
morning were a deed of necessity in his religion, this deed would not
be accurately performed.

This homely illustration applies to the child. He is taken from his
little world of realities, a world in which the sun rises in the east,
the dogs bark, the grasshopper leaps, the water falls, and the relation
of cause and effect appear plain and natural. In these simple
relations moral laws become evident. "The burnt child dreads the
fire," and this dread shows itself in action. The child learns what to
do next, and to some extent does it. By practice in person