History of the public school system of California.

INSTITUTE ADDRESSES. 137
objects would call into exercise faculties which are now scarcely
ever developed. One writer says that he has known boys of twelve
years of age who could recognize and refer to their proper class almost every object around them in nature, and gives it as his opinion
that a wide range of descriptive natural history may be imparted at
that age.
The world around us is fair and beautiful, and full of wonders;
it is always speaking to the heart of man, though the cares of life
may prevent him from hearing its voice. But it is in the morning of
life, when the heart is free from anxiety, when the spirits are light
and buoyant, when the senses are the most acute, the curiosity insatiable, and creation fresh and new, that its language finds a willing and a charmed ear.
How do the young enjoy the glories of sunrise, a lovely prospect,
a ramble through the woods, or along the sea-shore, and how much
quicker than their elders do they notice any little circumstance that
may occur! And what a pity it is to close upon them this broad
face of nature which God himself has spread before them for their
contemplation and delight, and shut them up within four walls,
where they are told to keep their eyes on their lessons, which are
some pages of a printed book? Cage the lark, tie up the forest
deer-and you do not act more against nature than has been done
in sentencing children to imprisonment six hours a day within the
blank walls of some penitentiary of a school-house.
Now, I know very well that geography, grammar, and arithmetic
are indispensable. They must be learnt, and well learnt. The
fundamental branches of a good English education must not be
neglected. But while I would not have these in the least interfered
with, I would urge it upon all connected with schools not to disregard the natural sciences. The study will, I am sure, contribute to
the pleasure and improvement of both teachers and scholars, and
promote, instead of retarding, the progress of the latter in their
other studies. These first books can be understood by any teacher
whose " heart is in her vocation;" in fact, such a teacher will be
delighted with them; and if she catches the true spirit of observation, she will be continually led to add facts of her own gathering
to those which the author has preserved.
It is certainly possible, during the seven or eight years spent in
the Grammar Schools, to pay some attention to the natural sciences.
Do not shut the children out from them during this the golden
period of their lives for studying them. Consider a few of the advantages to the discipline of the pupil's mind in pursuing these
sciences. How much are his powers of observation improved by
the study of nature! And this is no small thing. How few people
see things just as they are! How often do witnesses under oath
disagree with regard to material circumstances in relation to events
occurring before their eyes, and where all had equal opportunities
of seeing! Men are unwilling to trust their own senses in reference
to matters a little out of the line of their own business. They will
tell you they are no judges in such cases. Have not persons been
made believers in spiritualism and animal magnetism, because their
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