(x) They should also learn the general history of the world; its creation, its fall, its redemption, and its preservation by God up to the present day.
(xi) In addition, they should learn the most important facts of cosmography, such as the spherical shape of the heavens, the globular shape of the earth suspended in their midst, the tides of the ocean, the shapes of seas, the courses of rivers, the principal divisions of the earth, and the chief kingdoms of Europe; but, in particular, the cities, mountains, rivers, and other remarkable features of their own country.
(xii) Finally, they should learn the most important principles of the mechanical arts, both that they may not be too ignorant of what goes on in the world around them, and that any special inclination towards things of this kind may assert itself with greater ease later on.
7. If all these subjects have been skilfully handled in the Vernacular-School, the result will be that those youths who begin the study of Latin or who enter on agriculture, trade, or professional life will encounter nothing which is absolutely new to them; while the details of their trades, the words that they hear in church, and the information that they acquire from books, will be to them nothing but the more detailed exposition or the more particular application of facts with which they are already acquainted. They will thus find themselves all the fitter to use their understanding, their powers of action, and their judgment.
8. To attain this result we employ the following means:—
(i) All the children in the Vernacular-School, who are destined to spend six years there, should be divided into six classes, each of which, if possible, should have a classroom to itself, that it may not hinder the others.
(ii) Specially prepared books should be supplied to each class, and these should contain the whole subject-matter of the literary, moral, and religious instruction prescribed for the class. Within these limits no other books should be needed, and, by their aid, the desired
