144   HISTORIC GROWTH OF MAN.

CRITERION OF TRUTH.   145

successively, higher organs come into prominent activity. In the home or common school the children under ten years of age form three groups or classes; those of art, home and commerce. The youths from ten to thirteen form the groups of letters, familism and wealth. Those from thirteen to twenty form the groups of science, culture, marriage, ambition and industry.

As some children develop much faster than others of the same age, this limit of years must be varied somewhat to suit the different cases. The children are grouped as far as possible according to their characters. Those with the ambitious faculties dominant are placed in the group of rulership ; those with large reasoning organs form the group of science, and so of the rest.

The gradation of studies is not a difficult matter, yet it is a thing of some importance. There are truths which belong to the higher faculties which are yet so simple that a child of five or seven can understand them without difficulty. There are other truths which make a vivid impression through their natural symbols and ceremonies. It is chiefly through these that the higher faculties of the child must at first. be cultivated. We must remember that analogies belong with the fixed laws of nature, and we have no more right to violate the figures of speech than we have to misuse the figures of arithmetic. The symbols of religion may impress a child at three years. At seven he may form some idea of his relations to the human family by those which he bears to his brothers, sisters and parents. The community itself is only an extension of the family, as the history of our race

abundantly teaches. The laws of sex would be understood first from the study of flowers and fruits.

ENTERING MANHOOD. At the age of fifteen years the character and tastes of the youth have been well studied by his teachers; he has learned the use of various tools in the workshop or on the farm, and hence he is ready to choose his occupation for life. So far the studies have been similar.for all the pupils. They have included facts and principles, such as all classes of persons will find useful and necessary as they pass through life.

There are truths in chemistry which are of value to us, no matter in what employment we may be engaged. The laws of health must be understood by us all or we shall be constantly liable to fall a prey to disease. Each one must take care of his own body. The laws of dynamics enter into almost every pursuit of civilization. There are many tools which every child should learn to use. The laws of society require a constant obedience from its members, hence these laws must be learned.

A SERIES OF TEXT-BOOKS could cover these essential parts of universal knowledge. They would not be so elaborate but that they might be mastered by every pupil in the course of study and the amount of time allotted in the common school. These textbooks would include separate treatises on geometry, spacics, arithmetic, chemistry, cosmology, dynamics, mental science, physiology, botany, language, aesthetics and handcraft. These books should all be planned with reference to each other. The separate treatises might be written out by authors who were skilled in each branch.