HOW THE LITTLE CHILD LEARNS.

17

her in the art of making sounds, uttering words, and forming sentences. - Then we teach her to make known her wants, to express her emotions, to utter her notes of joy or of sorrow, to understand human language, and to receive and communicate human thoughts.

All this process of education takes place before the child is two years old. And a very great work it is to do it; but God has insured its being done in three ways: first, it gives the child such pleasure to learn and to do these things that she strives continually to improve herself; secondly, we love to see the little one in its artless attempt to imitate, so that it is a pleasure to instruct and aid it; and thirdly, that inexpressible love of which I have already spoken, which makes the mother forget herself and her fatigues, in the pleasure of instructing and drawing out the soul of her child.

Now the process of education has begun. And God has so ordered, in his wisdom, that all that is valuable shall cost in proportion to its value. If we want a beauti

B

18

LABOUR MAKES BEAUTIFUL.

ful tree for shade, or to produce us fruit, we must plant the seed, defend the germ, train the shrub, watch over the little thing till it grows into strength and beauty. We may have beautiful stones to sparkle and flash before the eye, but they must first be dug from the earth, then polished with immense care, and finally set with skill. Even then they are hideous, unless they adorn the person of the virtuous. We may take a pound of steel which is worth a few cents, and bestow labour and skill upon it, till it is made into springs for ladies' watches, and that one pound of steel is then worth forty thousand dollars! We may throw out the stones of a quarry, and they are almost worthless; but labour and skill lay them up into the walls of a palace, and ages hence they are admired and in use; and in the hands of the wonder-working artist, the rough block of marble becomes the beautiful statue. We take the hardest and the most gnarled trees that grow, and they become, under labour and skill, the beautiful ship that passes like a bird from continent to continent. The most beautiful rose that now adorns the

window or the garden was once the single wild-rose, possessing hardly any thing like beauty or fragrance. Cultivation has done all the rest; and many of our most nutritious vegetables were, in their wild state, both unsavoury and poisonous.

It is not surprising, then, that, in the arrangements of God's providence, it is a great as well as an important work, to educate one human being,-to train its body and its spirit so that it will eventually be and do all for which it is created. It is a great work, for ten thousand right impressions are to be made and fastened on the soul; ten thousand wrong impressions are to be counteracted and effaced. As years roll onward and the child grows, the work of education becomes more and more difficult. There must be the work of many years ere the child is in any measure fitted to take care of itself, and to be intrusted with its own interests. Slowly and carefully must the foundations of character be laid, and while many would think that the great anxiety of the parent would now be, How shall I feed and clothe and shelter my little daugh

18

LABOUR MAKES BEAUTIFUL.

ful tree for shade, or to produce us fruit, we must plant the seed, defend the germ, train the shrub, watch over the little thing till it grows into strength and beauty. We may have beautiful stones to sparkle and flash before the eye, but they must first be dug from the earth, then polished with immense care, and finally set with skill. Even then they are hideous, unless they adorn the person of the virtuous. We may take a pound of steel which is worth a few cents, and bestow labour and skill upon it, till it is made into springs for ladies' watches, and that one pound of steel is then worth forty thousand dollars! We may throw out the stones of a quarry, and they are almost worthless; but labour and skill lay them up into the walls of a palace, and ages hence they are admired and in use; and in the hands of the wonder-working artist, the rough block of marble becomes the beautiful statue. We take the hardest and the most gnarled trees that grow, and they become, under labour and skill, the beautiful ship that passes like a bird from continent to continent. The most beautiful rose that now adorns the

THE WORLD OF FANCY.

21

of another. And God has appointed your parents to this high trust. They may delegate their authority to others for a time, as they do in relation to the teacher of their child. But a great trust is theirs. An educated mind, then, has learned to submit to law, to order, and to such regulations at home, in the school, or in the state, as are for the best good of the community.

But now we come to the mind,—how is that to be trained? The little child lives in an ideal world. The boy has horses and cattle, menageries and armies, ships and rail-cars, all made of his little pile of blocks. And the little girl has her dolls, her visitors, her parties, and her housekeeping all in her little playhouse. They make visits and long journeys, receive and entertain an abundance of company, and all without going out of the room. Fancy is uncurbed and unchecked. But now we begin to take that curious thing called the mind, to train it. The first thing is to teach it to give attention. At first this is a very difficult task. The little creature looks at the letters or on the page of the book, draws the