of grammatical analysis is certainly a preparation for logic, as logic is a preparation for the various branches of philosophy.  Again some preliminary exercises in definition, and any work of the like kind which gives precision in the use of language, or clear ideas of the meanings of words, is preparatory work which trains the mind in the right direction.  In the same way the elements of natural science may at least set the thoughts and inquiries of children on the right track for what will later on be shown to them as the “disciplines” of cosmology and pyschology.

To make preparatory subjects serve such a purpose it is obviously required that the teachers of even young children should have been themselves trained in these studies, so far at least as to know what they are aiming at, to be able to lay foundations which will not require to be reconstructed.  It is not the matter so much as the habits of mind and work that are remotely prepared in the early stages, but without some knowledge of what is coming afterwards this preparation cannot be made.  In order of arrangement it is not possible for the different branches to be taught to girls according to their normal sequence; they have to be adapted to the capacity of the minds and their degree of development.  Some branches cannot even be attempted during the school-room years, except so far as to prepare the mind incidentally during the study of other branches.  The explanation of certain terms and fundamental notions will serve as points of departure when opportunities for development are accessible later on, as architects set “toothings” at the angles of buildings that they may be bonded into later constructions.  By this means the names of the more abstruse branches are kept out of sight, and it is emphasized that the barest elements alone are within reach at present, so that the permanent impression may be—­not “how much I have learned,” but “how little I know and how much there is to learn.”  This secures at least a fitting attitude of mind in those who will never go further, and increases the thirst of those who really want more.

The most valuable parts of philosophy in the education of girls are:—­

1.  Those which belong to the practical side—­logic, for thought; ethics, for conduct; aesthetics, for the study of the arts.

2.  In speculative philosophy the “disciplines” which are most accessible and most necessary are psychology, and natural theology which is the very crown of all that they are able to learn.

General metaphysics and cosmology, and in pyschology the subordinate treatises of criteriology and idealogy are beyond their scope.

Logic, as a science, is not a suitable introduction, though some general notions on the subject are necessary as preliminary instructions.  Cardinal Mercier presents these under “propaedeutics,” even for his grown-up scholars, placing logic properly so called in its own rank as the complement of the other treatises of speculative philosophy, seen in retrospect, a science of rational order amongst sciences.