cts to be grouped by the child are presented to his
notice. A child under the guidance of Nature, receives and retains its
impressions of objects in a natural and simple order. When it witnesses
a scene, the group of objects, or actions formed and pictured on the
mind by the imagination, is exactly as they were seen, the one
circumstance following the other in natural and regular order. In
telling a story therefore to a child, and more especially in composing
lessons for them to read, this part of Nature's plan should be carefully
studied and acted upon. The elements of which the several groupings are
composed, or the circumstances in the narrative to be related, should be
presented in the order in which the eye would catch them in Nature, or
the order in which they occurred, that there may be no unnecessary
retrogression of the mind, no confounding of ideas, no fear of losing
the links that connect and bind together the minor groupings of the
story. In the history of Cain and Abel, for example, the child is not to
be required to paint upon his imagination, a deadly struggle between two
persons of whom as yet he knows nothing; and then, retiring backwards
in the story, be made acquainted with the circumstances connected with
their several offerings to God; and last of all, their parentage, their
occupations, and their characters. The minds of the young and
inexperienced would be perplexed and bewildered by such a plan of
proceeding; and the irregularity would most probably be the cause of
their losing the whole story. The opposite of this plan is no doubt
frequently adopted in works of fiction prepared for adults, and for the
sake of effect; but every one must see that it is unnecessary in simple
history, and is not at all adapted for the instruction of the young.
When Nature's method is adopted, the child collects and groups the
incidents as he proceeds, and paints, without effort, the whole living
and moving scene on his imagination, as if he himself had stood by, and
been an eye-witness of the original events.

The ascertained benefits of these modes of imitating Nature, are
literally innumerable; and it is happily within the power of every
parent or teacher, in a single hour, to test them for himself. We shall
merely advert to one or two instances which occurred in the recorded
experiments, where their effects, in combination with the other
principles, were conspicuous.

In the experiment upon the prisoners in the