California Regional acility /7l^^ ^.^'V^.^w^^.^v PRACTICAL EDUCATION: Br MARIA EDGEWORTH, AUTHOR OF LETTERS FOR LITERARY LADIES, AND THE PARENT'S ASSISTANT; AND BY RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH, F.R.S. and M.R.I. A. VOL. I. LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL's CHVRCH-YARD. 1798. ■*a C PREFACE. We fhall not imitate the invidious example of feme authors, who thin'i it neceflary to deftroy the edifices of others, in order to clear the way for their own. We have no peculiar fyftem to fup- port, and, confequently, we have no temptation to attack the theories of others ; and we have chofen the title of Praftical Edu- cation, to point out that we rely entirely upon pra6lice and ex- perience. To make any progrefs in the art of education, it muft be pa- |l tiently reduced to an experimental fcience ; we are fully fenfible of the extent and difficulty of this undertaking, and we have not the arrogance to imagine, that we have made any confiderable pro- grefs in a work, which the labours of many generations may, per- A haps. VI PREFACE. hdps, be infufficient to complete ; but we lay before the public the refult of our experiments, and in many inftances the experi- ments themfelves. In purfuing this part of our plan, we have fometimes defcended from that elevation of ftyle, which the reader might expedl in a quarto volume ; we have frequently been obliged to record fads concerning children which may feem trifling, and to enter into a minutenefs of detail which may ap- pear unneceffary. No anecdotes, however, have been admitted without due deliberation ; nothing has been introduced to gratify the idle curiofity of others, or to indulge our own feelings of do- meftic partiality. In what we have written upon the rudiments of fcience vrc have purfued an oppofite plan ; fo far from attempting to teach them in detail, we refer our readers to the excellent trcatifes on the different branches of fcience, and ou the various faculties of the hum.an mind, which are to be found in every language. The chapters that we have introduced upon thefe fubje(3:s, are intended merely as fpecimens of the manner in which we think young chil- dren fliould be taught. We have found from experience, that an early knowledge of the firfl principles of fcience may be given in converfation, and may be infenfibly acquired from the ufual in- cidents of life: if this knowledge be carefully affociated with the technical terms which common ufe may preferve in the memory, 3 much PREFACE. vu much of the difficulty of fubfequent iuftrudtlon may be avoided. The fketches we have hazarded upon thefe fubjedls may to fome appear too flight, and to others too abftrufe and tedious. To thofe who have explored the vaft mines of human knowledge, fmall fpecimens appear trifling and contemptible, whilll: the lefs accuftomed eye is fomewhat dazzled and confufed by the ap- pearance even of a imall coUeftion : but to the moft enlightened minds new combinations may be fuggeited by a new arrangement of materials, and the curiofity and enthufiafm of the inexperienced may be awakened, and excited to accurate and laborious r&- fearches. With refpedl to what is commonly called the education of the heart, we have endeavoured to fuggeft the eafieft means of in- ducing ufeful and agreeable habits, well regulated fympathy and benevolent affeftions. A witty writer fays, " II eft permis d'en- *' nuyer en moralites d'ici jufqu' a Conftantinople." Unwilling to avail ourfelves of ihis permiffion, we have feduloufly avoided declamation, and, wherever we have been obliged to repeat ancient maxims, and common truths, we have at leaft thought it becoming to prefent them in a new drefs. On religion and politics we have been filent, becaufe we have A 2 no riii PREFACE. no ambition to gain partlzaus, or to make profelytes, and becaufe we do not addrefs ourielves exclufively to any fe<£t or to any party. The fcrutiuizing eye of criticllm, ia looking over our table of contents, will alfo, probably, obferve that there are no chapters on courage and chaflity. To pretend to teach courage to Britons would be as ridiculous as it is unneceflary ; and, except amongft thofe who are expofed to the contagion of foreign manners, we may boaft of the fuperior delicacy of our fair countrywomen ; a delicacy acquired from domeftic example, and confirmed by public approbation. Our opinions concerning the female charadler and underftanding have been fully detailed in a former publication * ; and, unwilling to fatigue by repetition, we have touched but flightly upon thefc fubjefts in our chapters on Temper, Female Accomplifliments, Prudence, and Economy. We have warned our readers not to expedl from us any new theory of education, but they need not apprehend that we have written without method, or that we have thrown before them a heap of defultory remarks and experiments, which lead to no general conclufions, and which tend to the eftablifhment of no ufeful principles. We aflure them that we have worked upon a regular plan, and where we have failed of executing our defign, it has not been for want of labour or attention. Convinced that it is * Letters for Literary Ladies. the PREFACE. ix the duty and the Interefl of all who write, to inquire what others hav» faid and thought upon the fubje£t of which they treat, we have examined attentively the works of others, that we might collecl whatever knowledge they contain, and that we might neither arrogate inventions which do not belong to us, nor weary the pubVc by repetition. Some ufeful and ingenious elTays may probably hxve efcaped our notice, but we flatter ourfelves, that our readers will not find reafon to accufe us of negligence, as we have perufed with diligent attention every work upon education, that has obtained tbq fandlion of time or of public approbation, and, though we havt never bound ourfelves to the letter, we hope, that we have beer faithful to the fpirit of their authors. With- out incumbering oarfelves with any part of their fyftems which has not been authorized by experience, we have fteadily attempted immediately to apply to praftice fuch of their ideas as we have thought ufeful ; but vvhilft we have ufed the thoughts of others, we have been anxious to avoid mean plagiarifm, and wherever wc have borrowed, the debt has been carefully acknowledged. The firll: hint of the chapter on Toys was received from Dr. Beddoes ; the Iketch of an introduftion to cheraiflry for children was given to us by Mr. Lovell Edgeworth ; and the refl of the work was refumed from a defign formed and begun twenty years ago. When a book appears under the name of two authors, it ig natural to inquire what fhare belongs to each of them. All that relates X PREFACE. relates tD the art of teaching to read in the chapter on Tafks, the- chapters on Grammar and Claffical Literature, Geography, Chro- nology, Arithmetic, Geometry, and Mechanics, were writtm by Mr. Edgeworth, and the reft of the book by Mifs EdgeA'orth. She was encouraged and enabled to write upon this irrportant fubjed, by having for many years before her eyes the caidud of a judicious mother in the education of a large family. The chapter ;J on Obedience was written from Afrs. Edgeworth's ixjtes, and was exemplified by her fuccefsful pradlice in the management of her children ; the whole manufcript was fubmitted W her judgment,, and flie revifed parts of it in the laft ftage of a fital difeafco CONTENTS. CONTENTS. Chap. Page I. Toyi 1 \l.rafks 37 III. On Attention 75 IV. Servants 119 V. Acquaintance 135 VI. On Temper 155 VII. On Obedience 1 73 Till. On Truth 191 IX. On Rewards and Puni/hments 227 X. On Sympathy and Senjibility 265 XI. On Faulty, Pride, and Ambition 299 XII. Books 317 XIII. On Grammar, and Clajfical Literature 387 XIV. On Geography and Chronology 417 XV. On Arithmetick 425 XVI. Geometry 447 XVII. On Mechanicks 453 XVIII. Chemifiry 489 XIX. On Public and Private Education 499 XX. On Female AccompUJhments, Majhrs, and Governejffes 519 XXI. Memory and Invention 553 XXII. Tojtc and Imagination 603 XXIII. TFit and Judgment 647 XXIV. Prudence and Economy ^89 XXV. Summary ']l'^ APPENDIX. Holes, centaining convsrfations and anecdites of childrtn ,.,.,. • JfjJ MATERIAL ERRATA, Page line 32 — 13 for divert, read dired 60— 8 & II, hefore/ather, infert his 88 — 17 for exerted, T. excited J 09 — 10 for thefe were^ r. this was 120 — 1 1 for danger, r. dinner 135 — 19 for affedion, r. attention 161 — 21 inftead of a period after the word will, infert a comma J 79 — 16 -iixex fuch and, infert fuch 183 — 14 {ox 'That in the difficulty in which our minds are Jlopped or put in motion, there is fomething analogous to the vis-injita of body, r. the difficulty with which our minds are (topped or put in motion refembles the vis-inertise of body. 204-— 13 for the noife was not heard, r. before the noife was heard. 304 — laft line but two, for opium, r. opinion 349 — 9 for with, r. without 418 — I J for artificers, r. artifices 442 — 23 after twenty, add apples 4g^ — 27 for children leji they, r. a child left he 496 — 16 before by fire, inl'ert it 506 — laft line but one, for chain, r. chance 508 — 17 for arithmetick, r. prudence ^33 — 18 for many, r. marry 537 — 14 for rf/««>yf, r. recourfe 557 — 8 for worth, r. worthy The reader is requefted to read nor for or in the pages marked in the errata at the end of the vol. and for leffer errata and cor- rections fee the end of the volume. PRACTICAL PRACTICAL EDUCATION, CHAPTER 1. TOYS. *' VV HY don't you play with your playthings, niy dear? I am *' fuie that I have bought toys enough for you ; why can't you *' divert yourfelf with them, inftcad of breaking them to pieces ?" fays a mother to her child, who flands idle and miferable, furround- ed by disjointed dolls, maimed horfes, coaches and one-horfe chairs without wheels, and a namelefs wreck of gilaed lumber. A child in this fituation is furely more to be pitied than blamed, for is it not vain to repeat, " Why don't you play with your play- *' things," unlefs they be fuch as he can play with, which is very feldom the cafe ; and is it not rather unjuft to be angry with him for breaking them to pieces, when he can by no other device ren- der them fubfervient to his amufement ? He breaks them, not from B the 2 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. '-^. the love of mifchief, but from the hatred of idlenefs ; either he wifhes to fee what his playthings are made of, and how they arc made, or whether he can put them together again if the parts be once feparated. All this is perfe\^ly innocent ; and it is a pity that his love of knowledge and his fpirit of aftivity (hould be reprefled by the undiftinguKbing correction of a nurfery maid, or the un- ceafing reproof of a French governefs. The more natural vivacity and ingenuity young people poflefs, the lefs are they likely to be amufed with the toys which are iifually put into their hands. They require to have things which exercife their fenfes or their imagination, their imitative, and in- ventive powers. The glaring colours, or the gilding of toys, may- catch the eye, and pleafe for a few minutes, but unlefs fome ufe can be made of them, they will, and ought to be foon difcarded. A boy, who has the ufe of his limbs, and whofe mind is untainted with prejudice, would in all probability prefer a fubftantial cart, in which he could carry weeds, earth, and ftones, up and down hill, to the fineft frail coach and fix that ever came out of a toyfhop : for what could he do with the coach after having admired, and fucked the paint, but drag it cautioufly along the carpet of a drawing- room, watching the wheels, which will not turn, and Teeming to fympathize with the juft terrors of the lady and gentleman within, •who are certain of being overturned every five minutes. When he is tired of this, perhaps, he may fet about to unharnefs horfes which were never meant to be unharneffed j or to currycomb their woollen manes and tails, which ufually come off during the firft attempt. That fuch toys are frail and ufelefs may, however, be confidered TOYS. 3 as evils comparatively fmall : as long as a child has fenfe and cou- rage to deftroy the toys, there is no great harm done ; but, in ge- neral, he is taught to fet a value upon them totally independent of all ideas of utility, or of any regard to his own real feelings. Either be is conjured to take particular care of them, becaufe they coft a great deal of money ; or elfe he is taught to admire them as minia- tures of fome of the fine things on which fine people pride them- felvcs : if no other bad confequence were to enfue, this iingle cir- cumftance of his being guided in his choice by the opinion of others is dangerous. Inflead of attending to his own fenfations, and learning from his own experience, he acquires the habit of eftimat- ing his pleafures by the tafte and judgment of thofe who happen to be near him. " I liked the cart the bed:," fays the boy, " but mamma and " ^very body faid that the coach was the prettiefi: ; fo I chofe the *' coach " — Shall we wonder if the fame principle afterwards go- verns him in the choice of " the toys of age." A little ^irl, prefiding at her baby tea-table, is pleafed with the notion that fhe is like her mamma ; and, before flic can have any Idea of the real pleafures of converfation and fociety, fhe is con- firmed in the perfuafion, that tattling and vifiting are fome of the moll enviable pri^'ileges of grown people ; a fet of beings whom flic believes to be in pofleflion of all the fvveets of happinefs. Dolls, befide the prefcrlptive right of ancient ufage, can boafl: of fuch an able champion in Roufleau, tiiat it requires no common fhare of temerity to attack them. As far as they are the means of infpiring girls with a tafl:e for neatnefs in drefs, and with a defire B 2 to 4 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. to make thofe things for themfelves, for which women are ufually dependent upon milliners, we mufl: acknowledge their utility ; but a watchful eye {hould be kept upon the child to mark the firfl lymptoms of a love of finery and fafliion. It is a fenfible remark of a late female writer, that whilft young people work, the mind will follow the hands, the thoughts are occupied with trifles, and the induftry is Simulated by vanity. Our objeiflions to dolls are offered with great fubmiffion and due hefitation. With more confidence we may venture to attack baby- houfes ; an unfurniflied baby-houfe might be a good toy, as it would employ little carpenters and fempftrefles to fit it up ; but a completely furnifhed baby-houfe proves as tirefome to a child as a finifhed feat is to a young nobleman. After peeping, for in ge- neral only a peep can be had into each apartment, after being tho- roughly fatisfied that nothing is wanting, and that confequently there is nothing to be done, the young lady lays her doll upon the ftate bed, if the doll be not twice as large as the bed, and falls faft afleep in the midft of her felicity. Before dolls, baby-houfes, coaches, and cups and faucers, there comes a fet of toys, which are made to imitate the a6tions of men and women, and the notes or noifes of birds and hearts. Many of thefe are ingenious in their conftruiflion, and happy in their effeft, but that efFeCl unfortunately is tranfitory. When the wooden wo- man has churned her hour in her empty churn ; when the ftiff- backed man has hammered or fawed till his arms are broken, or till his employer's arms are tired ; when the gilt lamb has ba — ad, the obftinate pig fqueaked, and the provoking cuckoo cried cuck — 00, till no one in the houfe can endure the noife ; what re- 6 mains TOYS. 5 mains to be done ? — Woe betide the unlucky little philofopher, who fiiould think of inquiring why the woman churned, or how the bird cried cuckoo ; for it is tea to one that in profecuting fuch an inquiry, juft when he is upon the eve of difcovery, he fnaps the wire, or perforates the bellows, and there enfue " a " death-like filence, and a dread repofe." The grief which is felt for fpoiling a new plaything might be borne, if it were not increafed,as it commonly is, by the reproaches of friends ; much kind eloquence, upon thefe occafions, is fre- quently difplayed, to bring the fufFerer to a proper fenfe of his folly, till in due time the contrite corners of his mouth are drawn down, his wide eyes fill with tears, and, without knowing what he means, he promifes never to be fo filly any more. The future fafety of his worthlels playthings is thus purchafed at the expence of his underflanding, perhaps of his integrity : for children fel- dom fcrupuloufly adhere to promifes, which they have made to efcape from impending punifhment. We have ventured to obje£l to fome fafliionable toys ; we are bound at leaft: to propofe others in their place ; and we fhall take the matter up foberly from the nurfery. The firfl toys for infants fliould be merely fuch things as may be grafped without danger, and which might, by the difference of their fizes, invite comparifon : round ivory or wooden fticks fhould be put into their little hands ; by degrees they will learn to lift them to their mouths, and they will diftinguifh their fizes : fquare and circular bits of wood, balls, cubes, and triangles, with holes of different fizes made in them, to admit the flicks, fhould be their play- »6 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. playthinos. No greater apparatus is neceflary for the amufment of the firft months of an infant's life. To eafe the pain which they feel from cutting teeth, infants generally carry to their mouths whatever they can lay their hands upon ; but they foon learn to diftino-uifh thofe bodies which relieve their pain, from thofe which gratify their palate ; and, if they are left to themfelves, they will always choofe what is painted in preference to every thing elfe ; nor muft we attribute the look of delight with which they felze toys that are painted red, merely to the pleafure which their eye takes in the bright colour, but to the love of the fweet tafte which they fuck from the paint. What injury may be done to the health by the quantity of lead which is thus fwallowed, we will not pretend to determine, but we refer to a medical name of high au- thority*, whofe cautions probably will not be treated with neg- le£l. To gratify the eye with glittering objeils, if this be necef- fary, may be done with more fafety by toys of tin and polifhed 'iron : a common fteel button is a more defirable plaything to a young child than many expenfive toys ; a few iuch buttons tied together, fo as to prevent any danger of their being fwallowed, would continue for fome time a fource of amufemenr. When a nurfe wants to pleafe or to pacify a child, (he fluns its ear with a variety of noifes, or dazzles its eye with glaring colours or Simulating light. The eye and the ear are thus fatigued with- out advantage, and the temper is hufhed to a tranfient calm by ex- pedients, which in time muft lofe their effeft, and which can bave no power over confirmed fretfulnefs. The pleafure of exer- cifing their fenfes is in itfelf fufficient to children without any fac- *Dr. FothergiU. titious TOYS. 7 tltious ftimulus, which only exhaufts their excitability, and ren- ders then:i incapable of being amufed by a variety of common ob- jects, which would naturally be their entertainment. We do not here fpeak. of the attempts made to footh a child who is ill ; " to " charm the fenie of pain," fo far as it can be done by diverting the child's attention from his own fufTerings to outward objefts, is humane and reafonable, provided our compaflion does not induce in the child's mind the expectation of continual attendance, and that impatience of temper which increafes bodily fuffering. It would be in vain to read leflures on philofophy to a nurfe, or to expeft ftoicifm from an infant ; but perhaps, where mothers pay attention themfelves to their children, they will be able to prevent many of the confequences of vulgar prejudice and folly. A nurfe's wifli is to have as little trouble as pollible with the child committed to her charge, and at the fame time to flatter the mother, from whom fhe expeds her reward. The appearance of extravagant fondnels for the child, of incefl'ant attention to its humour, and abfurd lubmiflion to its caprices, (he imagines to be the fureft me- thod of recommending herfelf to favour. She is not to be impofed upon by the faint and affeded rebukes of the fond mother, who exclaims, " Oh, nurfe, indeed you do fpoil that child fadly ! — Oh, " nurfe, upon my word (he governs you entirely ! — Nurfe, you " muft not let her have her own way always. — Never mind her *' crying, I beg, nurfe." Nurfe fmiles, fees that (he has gained her point, and promifes what (he knows that it is not expeded fhe (hould perform. Now if, on the contrary, (he perceived that the mother was neither to be flattered nor pleafed by thefe means^ one motive tor fpoiling the child would immediately ceafe : ano- ther (Irong one would, it is true, flill remain. A nurfe wi(hes to fave herfelf trouble, and (he frequently confults her own conveni- ence. 8 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. eiice when (he humours an infant. She huflbes it to deep, that fhe may leave it lately ; flie flops it from crying, that (he may not hear an irritating noile, that flie may relieve herlelf as loon as pof- fible from the painful weaknefs of compaflion, or that flie may avoid the danger of being interrogated by the family as to the caufe of the difturbance. It is lefs trouble to her to yield to caprice and ill-humour than to prevent or cure it, or at leaft flie thinks it is fo. In reality it is not ; for a humoured child in time plagues its attendant infinitely more than it would have done with realonable management. If it were polhble to convince nurles of this, they would facrifice perhaps the convenience of a moment to the peace of future hours, and they would not be eager to quell one florm, at the hazard of being obliged to endure twenty more boifterous; the candle would then no more be thruft almoft into the infant's eyes to make it take notice of the hght through the mift of tears, the eternal bunch of keys would not dance and jingle at every peevifli fummons, or would the roarings of paflion be overpowered by infulting fongs, or foothed by artful carefles ; the child would then be carelTed and amufed when he looks fmilin^ and g;ood-hu- moured, and all parties would be much happier. Pradical education begins very early, even in the nurfery ; ■without the mountebank pretence, that miracles can be performed by the turning of a ftraw, or the dictatorial anathematizing tone, which calls down vengeance upon thofe who do not follow to an iota the injundlions of a theorift. We may fimply obferve, that parents would fave themfelves a great deal of trouble, and their children lome pain, if they would pay fonie attention to their early education. The temper acquires habits much earlier than is ufu- ally apprehended ; the firft impreffions which infants receive, and the TOYS. 9 the firft habits which they learn from their nurfes, influence the temper and difpofition long after the flight caufes which produced them are forgotten. More care and judgment than ufually fall to thefliare of a nurfe are neceflary, to cultivate the difpofition which Infants (hew to exercife their fenfes, fo as neither to fuffer them to become indolent and torpid from want of proper objects to occupy their attention, nor yet to exhauft their fenfes by continual exci- tation. By ill-timed refl:raints, or injudicious Incitements, the nurfe frequently renders the child obfl:inate or paflionate. An in- fant fliould never be interrupted in its operations ; whilft it wifhes to ufe its hands, we fliould not be impatient to make it walk, or when it is pacing with all the attention to its centre of gravity that is exerted by a rope-dancer, fuddenly arrefh its progrefs, and infift upon its pronouncing the fcanty vocabulary which wc have compelled it to learn. When children are bufily trying experi- ments upon objeds within their reach, we fliould not, by way of faving them trouble, break the courfe of their ideas, and totally pre- vent them from acquiring knowledge by their own experience. When a foolifli nurfe fees a child attempting to reach or lift any thing, flie runs immediately, " Oh, dear love, it can't do it, it can't ! — rU do it for it, fo I will !" — If the child be trying the difference between pufliing and pulling, roUing or Aiding, the powers of the wedge or the lever, the officious nurfe hafl:ens in- ftantly to difplay her own knowledge of the mechanic powers ; " Stay, love, fl:ay ; that is not the way to do it — I'll ftiew it the " right way — See here — look at me, love." Without inter- rupting a child in the moment of a6lion, proper care might previ- oufly be taken to remove out of its way thofe tilings which can re- ally hurt it, and a juft: degree of attention muft be paid to its firft experiments upon hard and heavy, and more cfpecially upon fliarp, C brittle. 10 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. brittle, and burning bodies ; but this degree of care (hould not de- generate into cowardice ; it is better that a child (hould tumble down or burn its fingers, than that it (hould not learn the ufe of its limbs and its fenles. We (hould for another reafon take care to put all dangerous things efFe£lually out of the child's reach, inftead of faying perpetually, " Take care, don't touch that! — •' don't do that ! — let that alone !" — The child, who fcarcely un- derftands the words, and not at all the reafon of thefe prohibi- tions, is frightened by the tone and countenance with which they are uttered and accompanied, and he either becomes indolent or cunning ; either he defifts from exertion, or feizes the moment to divert himfelf with forbidden objedts, when the watchful eye that guards them is withdrawn. It is in vain to encompafs the reftlefs prifoner with a fortification of chairs, and to throw him an old al- manack to tear to pieces, or an old pincu(hion to explore ; the en- terprizing adventurer foon makes his efcape from this barricade, leaves his goods behind him, and prefently is again in what the nurfe calls mifchief. Mifchief is with nurfes frequently only another name for any fpecies of activity which they find troublefome ; the love whict| children are fuppofed to have for pulling things out of their places, is in reality the defire of feeing things in motion, or of putting things into different fituations. They will like to put the furniture in a room in its proper place, and to arrange every thing in what we call order, if we can make thefe equally permanent fources of aftive amufement J but when things are once in their places, the child has nothing more to do, and the more quickly each chair ar- rives at its deflined fituation, the fooner comes the dreaded ftate of idlenefs and quiet. 7 A tjurfery, TOYS. 11 A nurfeiy, or a room in which young children are to live, Ihould never have any furniture in it which they can fpoil ; as few things as poffible fhould be left within their reach which they are not to touch, and at the fame time they fhould be provided with the means of amufing themfelves, not with painted or gilt toys, but with pieces of wood of various fhapes and fizes, which they may build up and pull down, and put in a variety of different forms and pofitions ; balls, pulleys, wheels, firings, and flrong lit- tle carts, proportioned to their'age, and to the things which they want to carry in them, fhould be their playthings. Prints will be entertaining to children at a very early age ; it would beendlefs to enumerate the ufes that may be made of them > they teach accuracy of fight, they engage the attention, and em- ploy the imagination. In J 777 we faw L , a child of two years old, point out every piece of furniture in the French prints of Gil Bias ; in the print of the Canon at Dinner, he diflinguifhed the knives, forks, fpoons, bottles, and every thing upon the table; the dog lying upon the mat, and the bunch of keys hanging at Jacintha's girdle; he told, with much readinefs, the occupation of every figure in the print, and could fupply from his imagination what is fuppofed to be hidden by the foremofl parts of all the ob- jeds. A child of four years old was afked, what was meant by fomething that was very indiftindly reprefented as hanging round the arm of a figure in one of the prints of the London Cries. He faid it was a glove, though it had as little refemblance to a glove as to a ribbon or a purfe. When he was afked how he knew that it was a glove, he anfwered, " that it ought to be a " glove, becaufe the woman had one upon her other arm, and *' none upon that where the thing was hanging." Having feea C 2 the la PRACTICAL EDUCATION. the gown of a female figure in a print hanging obliquely, the fame child faid, " The wind blows that woman's gown back." Wc mention thefe little circumftances from real life, to fhew how- early prints may be an amulement to children, and how quickly things unknown are learnt by the relations which they bear to what vvas known before. We fhould at the fame time obferve, that children are very apt to mdke ftrange miftakes, and hafty con- clufions, when they begin to reafon from analogy. A child having alked what was meant by fome marks in the forehead of an old man in a print ; and having been told upon fome occafion, that old people were wifer than young ones, brought a print containing feveral figures to his mother, and told her that one, which he point- ed to, was wifer than all the refl ; upon inquiry, it was found that he had formed this notion from feeing that one figure vvas wrinkled, and that the others were not. Prints for children fhould be chofen with great care ; they fhould reprcfent ob]e(5ls which are familiar, the refemblances fhould be ac- curate, and the manners fhould be attended to, or at leaft the ge- neral moral that is to be drawn from them. The attitude of Se- phora, the boxing lady in Gil Bias, muft appear unnatural to chil- dren who have not lived with termagant heroines. Perhaps, the firll ideas of grace, beauty, and propriety, are confiderably in- fluenced by the firfl piclures and prints which pleafe children. Sir Jofhua Reynolds tells us, that he took a child with him through a room full of pi£lures, and that the child flopped, with figns of averfion, whenever it came to any pidure of a figure in a con- flrained attitude. Children foon judge tolerably well of proportion in drawing, where TOYS. 13 where they have been ufed to fee the objeds which are reprefent- ed : but we often give them prints of objects, and of animals efpe- cially, which they have never feen, and in which no fort of propor- tion is obferved. The common prints of animals muft give chil- dren falfe ideas. The moufe and the elephant are nearly of the fame fize, and the crocodile and whale fill the fame fpace in the page. Painters, who put figures of men amongft their buildings, give the idea of the proportionate height immediately to the eye ; this is, perhaps, the beft fcale we can adopt ; in every print for children this (hould be attended to. Some idea of the relative fizes of the animals they fee reprelented would then be given, and the imagination would not be filled with chimeras. After having been accuflomed to examine prints, and to trace their refemblance to real objeds, children will probably wifh to try their own powers of imitation. At this moment no toy, which we could invent for them, would give them half lb much plcafure as a pencil. If we do not put a pencil into their hands before they are able to do any thing with it, but make random marks all over a Iheet of paper, it will long continue a real amufement and occupa- tion. No matter how rude their firft attempts at imitation may be ; if the attention of children be occupied, our point is gained. Girls have generally one advantage at this age over boys, in the ex» clufive pofHefiion of the fciffars : how many camels, and elephants with amazing trunks, are cut out by the induftrious fciffars of a bufy, and therefore happy little girl, during a winter evening, which pafTes fo heavily, and appears fo immeafurably long, to the idle. Modelling in clay or wax might probably be a ufeful amufe- ment 14 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. ment about this age, if the materials were fo prepared, that the children could avoid being every moment troublefome to others whilft they are at work. The making of bafkets, and the weaving of fafli line, might perhaps be employment for children ; with proper preparations, they might at leaft be occupied with thefe things; much, perhaps, might not be produced by their labours, but it is a great deal to give early habits of induftry. Let us do what we will, every perfon who has ever had any experience upon the fubjed-, muft know that it is fcarcely poffible to provide fufficient and fuitable occupations for young children : this is one of the firft difficulties in education. Thofe who have never tried the experi- ment, are aftonifhed to find it fuch a difficult and laborious bu- finefs as it really is, to find employments for children from three to fix years old. It is perhaps better, that our pupils fhould be en- tirely idle, than that they ffiould be half employed. " My dear, *' have you nothing to do ?" Ihould be fpoke in forrow rather than in anger. When they fee other people employed and happy, children feel mortified and miferable to have nothing to do. Count Rumford's was an excellent fcheme for exciting fym pathe- tic induftry amongft the children of the poor at Munich ; in the large hall, where the elder children were buly in fpinning, there was a range of feats for the younger children, who were not yet permitted to work ; thefe being compelled to fit idle, and to fee the bufy multitude, grew extremely uneafy in their own fitua- tion, and became very anxious to be employed. We need not ufe any compulfion or any artifice ; parents in every family, we fup- pofe, who think of educating their own children, are employed fome hours in the day in reading, writing, bufinefs, or converfa- tion ; during thefe hours, children will naturally feel the want of occupation, and will, from fympathy, from ambition, and from im- patience TOYS. 15 patience of Infupportable ennui, define with anxious faces, *' to *' have fomething to do." Inftead of loading them with play- things, by way of relieving their mifery, we fhould honeftly tell them, if that be the truth, " I am forry I cannot find any thing *' for you to do at prefent. I hope you will loon be able to em- ♦* ploy yourfelf. What a happy thing it will be for you to be able, *' by and by, to read, and write, and draw ; then you will never *' be forced to fit idle." The pains of idlenefs Simulate children to induflry, if they are from time to time properly contrafted with the pleafures of occu- pation.. We fliould affociate cheerfulnefs, and praife, and looks of approbation, with induftry ; and, whenever young people invent employments for themfelves, they fhould be affifted as much as poffible, and encouraged. At that age when they are apt to grow tired in half an hour of their playthings, whatever they may be, we had better give them playthings only for a very fhort time, at intervals, in the day; and, inftead of waiting till they are tired, we fhould take the things away before they are weary of them. Nor fliould we difcourage the inquifitive genius from examining into the flrudure of their toys, whatever they may be. The fame in- genious and active difpofitions, which prompt thele inquiries, will fecure children from all thofe numerous temptations to do mif- chief, to which the idle are expofed. Ingenious children are pleafed with contrivances which anfwer the purpofes for which they are intended, and they feel fincere regret whenever thefe are injured or deftroyed : this we mention as a further comfort and fecurity for parents, who, in the company of young mechanics, are apt to tremble for their furniture. Children who obfcrve, and who begin o to i6 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. to amufe themfelves with thought, are not fo a£tively hofllle in their attacks upon inanimate objefls. V We were once prefent at the difleftion of a wooden cuckoo, which was attended with extreme pleafure by a large family of children ; and it was not one of the children who broke the pre- cious toy, but it was the father who took it to pieces. Nor was it the deftrudion of the plaything which entertained the company, but the fight of the manner in which it was conflrudled. Many gueffes were made by all the fpeftators about the internal ftruc- ture of the cuckoo, and the aftonifhment of the company was univerfal, when the bellows were cut open, and the fimple con- trivance was revealed to view ; probably, more was learnt by this cuckoo, than was ever learnt from any cuckoo before. So far from being indifferent to the deftrudtion of her plaything, H , the little girl of four years old to whom it belonged, remembered, fe- veral months afterwards, to remind her father of his promife to repair the mifchief he had done. " Several toys, which are made at prefent, are calculated to *' give pleafure merely by exciting furprife, and of courfe give *' children's minds fuch a tone, that they are afterwards too fond *' oiftmilar ufelefs baubles* " This fpecies of delight is foon over, and is fucceeded by a defire to triumph in the ignorance, the cre- dulity, or the cowardice, of their companions. Hence that pro- penfity to play tricks, which is often injudicioufly encouraged by the fmiles of parents, who are apt to miftake it for a proof of wit and vivacity. They forget, that " gentle dullnefs ever loved a joke ;" * Dr. Beddoss. and TOYS. 17 and that even wit and vivacity, if they become troublcfome and mifchicvous, will be feared, and fliunned. Many juggling tricks and puzzles are highly ingenious ; and, as far as they can exercife the invention or the patience of young people, they are ufeful. Care, however, (hould be taken, to feparate the ideas of deceit and of ingenuity, and to prevent children from glorying in the mere pofl'eflion of a fecret. Toys which afFord trials of dexterity and adivity, fuch as tops, kites, hoops, balls, battledores and fliuttlecocks, ninepins, and cup and ball, are excellent ; and we fee that they are confeqiiently great and lafting favourites with children ; their fenfes, their un- derftanding, and their paffions, are all agreeably interefled and ex- ercifed by thefe amufements. They emulate each other ; but, as fome will probably excel at one game, and fome at another, this emulation will not degenerate into envy. There is more danger that this hateful paffion fhould be created in the minds of young competitors at thofe games, where it is fuppofed that fome knack or myflery is to be learned before they can be played with fuccefs.. Whenever children play at fuch games, we fhould point out to them how and why it is that they lucceed or fail : we may (hew them, that, in reality, there is no knack or myjiery in any thing, but that from certain caufes certain effefls will follow ; that, after trying a number of experiments, thecircumftances effential to luc- defs may be difcovered ; and that all the eafe and dexterity, which wc often attribute to the power of natural genius, is limply the confcquence of praftice and induftry. This fober leflbn may be taught to children without putting it into grave words, or without formal precepts. A gentleman once aftonifhed a family of chil- dren by his dexterity in playing at bilboquct : he caught the ball D nine i8 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. nine or ten times fucceflively with great rapidity upon the fpike ; this luccefs appeared miraculous, and the father, who obferved that it had made a great impreflion upon the little fpe6tators, took, that opportunity to (hew the ufe of fpinning the ball, to make the hole at the bottom afcend in a proper diredlion. The nature of centrifucral motion, and its effect in preferving the parallelifm of motion^ if we may be allowed the expreflion, was explained, not at once, but at different intervals, to the young audience. Only as much was explained at a time as the children could underftand, without fatiguing their attention, and the abftrufe fubjed was made familiar by the mode of illuftration that was adopted. It is furprifing how much children may learn from their play- things when they are judicioufly chofen, and when the habit of reflexion and obfervation is affociated with the ideas of amufement and happinefs. A little boy of nine years old, who had bad a hoop to play with, afked " why a hoop, or a plate, if rolled upon its *• edge, keeps up as long as it rolls, but falls as foon as it flops, *' and will not ftand if you try to make it fland flill upon its *' edge." Was not the boy's underftanding as well employed whilfl: he was thinking of this phaenomenon, which he obferved whilft he was beating his hoop, as it could poffibly have been by the moft learned preceptor ? When a pedantic fchoolmafter fees a boy eagerly watching a paper kite, he obferves, " What a pity it is that children cannot be " made to mind their grammar as well as their kites !" and he adds perhaps fome peevifli ejaculation on the natural idlenefs of boys, and that pernicious love of play againft which he is doomed to wage perpetual war. A man of fenfe will fee the fame fight witB TOYS. 19 with a different eye ; in this pernicious love of play he will difcern the fymptoms of a love of fcience, and, inflead of deploring the natural idlenefs of children, he will admire the adivity which they difplay in the purfuit of knowledge. He will feel that it is his bufinefs to dire£l this a£livity, to furnifh his pupil with materials for frefh combinations, to put him, or to let him put himfelf, in lituations where he can make ufeful obfervations, and acquire that experience which cannot be bought, and which no mailers can communicate. It will not be beneath the dignity of a philofophic tutor to con- fider the different effefts, which the mofl: common plays of children have upon the habits of the underflanding and temper. Whoever has watched children putting together a differed map, muft have been amufed with the trial between Wit and Judgment. The child who quickly perceives refemblances catches inftantly at the firft bit of the wooden map, that has a fingle hook or hollow that feems likely to anfwer his purpofe ; he makes perhaps twenty different trials before he hits upon the right ; whilfl: the wary youth, who has been accuftomed to obferve differences, cautioufly examines with his eye the whole outline before his hand begins to move ; and, having exaftly compared the two indentures, he joins them with fober confidence, more proud of never dlfgracln/ir 6 r>// O /^'y'/- /f/Otf i„A!OM>f d a« i SO' ///'J /. '/ /;// V -9 ea f'rff/// i ia /i/fff/ I 1© fj*/ /l/f>/l ie £/a/uW 01 ivirf I lift u/in/ft-af /" ../ TH lit/i^ft/f/ ba ca da fa o"a lia ja ka la ina 11a pa qua ra sa ta va w^a ya za 1 c,,rtH>d«Ja»/„ MS' Ic r/M i sh y/'/ I U12," ///f/iy I S soon"'"! as ^ ^undrd a« ^ A ft, J .j/ir BtHl /t,i///'// /o/if/ ' IV I / jfe. /lAy.tfr/- I tfe //' e«t:4l A> //A ( /'///r/r/A/'/f ei^llt /// //'At/rA/ 1 fi" ll ffir //fi/ .>f'/f// Af //'/f'/ifitt/trff'^ FeliiTriai'y is cold l)ut ttif" davs ai*e 16ii«*; A^ir is a vellow" oroeiis oonii'iig,' iip . «- b.^^. ,.^^. UnJ^n . {•tiHtffttd Jan-fi;^.ly.U,-hnj,-nS'r.H4/^ ihiurh 7anl. TASKS. 47 In the quotation from Mrs. Barbauld, at the bottom of the aU phabetical tables, there is a ilroke between the letters b and r in February, and between t and h in there, to fhew that thefe letters are to be founded together, fo as to make one found. The fame is to be obferved as to (ng) m the word long, and alfo as to the fy lia- ble 7«^, which in the table No. 4, column 4, is dircdled to be taught as one found. The mark (.) of obliteration is put under (y) in the word days, under e final in there, and alfo under one of the /'s, and the (w) m yellow, to fhew that thefe letters are not to be pronounced. The exceptions to this fcheme of art'culation are very few ; fuch as occur are marked with the number em- ployed in Walker's diflionary, to denote the exception, to which excellent work the teacher will of courfe refer. Parents, at the firft fight of this new alphabet, will perhaps tremble left they fhould be obliged to learn the whole of it before they begin to teach their children : but they may calm their ap- prehenfions, for they need only point out the letters in fucceflion to the child, and found them as they are founded in the words an- nexed to the letters in the table, and the child will foon by repeti- tion render the marks of the refpe£live letters familiar to the teach- er. We have never found any body complain of difficulty, who has gone on from letter to letter along with the child who was taught. As foon as our pupil knows the different founds of (a) com- bined in fucceflion with all the confonants, we may teach him the refl of the vowels joined with all the confonants, which will be a fhort and eafy work. Our readers need not be alai mcd at the apparent flownefs of this method : fix months, at the rate of four or five minutes each day, will render all thefe combinations perfectly fa- miliar. One of Mrs. Barbauld's lelTons for young children, care- 8 fully 48 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. fiiUy marked in the fame manner as the alphabet, fhould, when they are well acquainted with the founds of each of the vowels with each of the confonants, be put into our pupil's hands*. The found of three or four letters together will immediately be- come familiar to him, and when any of the lefs common founds of the vowels, fuch as are contained in the fecond table, and the terminating founds, tion, ly, &c., occur, they fhould be read to the child, and (hould be added to what he has got by rote from time to time. When all thcfe marks and their correfponding founds are learnt, the primer fhould be abandoned, and from that time the child will be able to read flowly the moft difficult words in the language. We muft obferve, that the mark of obliteration is of the greateft fervice ; it is a clue to the whole labyrinth of intri- cate and uncouth orthography. The word though, by the oblite- ration of three letters, may be as eafily read as the or that. It (hould be obferved that all people, before they can read flu- ently, have acquired a knowledge of the general appearance of moft of the words in the language, independently of the fyllables of which they are compofed. Seven children in the author's fa- mily were taught to read in this manner, and three in the com- mon method; the difference of time, labour, and forrow, between the two modes of learning, appeared fo clearly, that we can fpeak with confidence upon the fubjedl. We think that nine tenths of the labour and difguft of learning to read may be faved by this method, and that inftead of frowns and tears, the ufual harbingers * Some of tliefe lefTons, and others by the authors, will Shortly be printed, and marked according to this method, 7 of TASKS. 49 of learning, cheerfulnefs and fmiles may initiate willing pupils in the moft difficult of all human attainments. A and H, at four and five years old, after they had learned the alphabet, without having ever combined the letters in fyllables, were fet to read one of Mrs. Barbauld's little books : after being employed two or three minutes every day for a fortnight in making out the words of this book, a paper with a few raifins well con- cealed in its folds was given to each of them, with thefe words printed on the outfide of it, marked according to our alphabet : " Open this, and eat what you find in it." In twenty minutes they read it diftindly without any affiftance. The ftep from reading with thefe marks, to reading without them, will be found very eafy. Nothing more is neceflary, than to give children the fame books without marks, which they can read fluently with them. Spelling comes next to reading. New trials for the temper ; new perils for the underftanding ; pofitive rules and aribitrary ex- ceptions; cndlcfs examples and contradi£lions ; till at length, out of all patience with the ftupid docility of his pupil, the tutor per- ceives the abfolute necefTity of making him get by heart with all convenient fpeed every word in the language. The formidable columns in dread fucceffion arife a hoft of foes : two columns a day at lead may be conquered. Months and years are devoted to the undertaking ; but after going through a whole fpelling-book, per- haps a whole didtionary, till we come triumphantly to fpell Zeugma^ H we yo PRACTICAL EDUCATION. we have forgotten how to fpell Abbot, and we muft begin again with Abafement. Merely the learning to fpell fo many unconneded words without any affiftance from reafon or analogy, is nothing compared with the difficulty of learning the explanation of them by rote, and the ftill greater difficulty of underftanding the meaning of the explanation. When a child has got by rote '♦ Midnight, the depth of night ;" *' Metaphyfics, the fcience which treats of immaterial beings, ** and of forms in general abftraded from matter ;" has he acquired any very difl:in6t ideas either of midnight or of me- taphyfics ? If a boy had eaten rice pudding till he fancied himfelf tolerably well acquainted with rice, would he find his knowledge much improved by learning from his fpelling-book the words " Rice, a foreign efculent grain ?" yet we are furprifed to difcover, that men have fo few accurate ideas, and that fo many learned difputes originate in a confufed or im- proper ufe of words. ** All this is very true," fays a candid fchoolmafter ; " we fee ** the evil, but we cannot new model the language, or write a *' perfed philofophical didlionary ; and, in the mean time, we are *' bound to teach children to fpell, which we do with the lefs re- *' ludlance, becaufe, though we allow that it is an arduous tafk, we *' have found from experience that it can be accompliflied, and *' that the underftandings of many of our pupils furvive all the •' perils TASKS. 51 *' perils to which you thiak them expofed during the ope- *' ration." The underftandings may, and do furvive the operation ; but why (hould they be put in unnecefliiry danger ? and why (hould we early difguft children with literature by the pain and difficulty of their firft leflbns ? We are convinced, that the bufinefs of learn- ing to fpell is made much more laborious to children than it need to be : it may be ufeful to give them five or fix words every day to learn by heart, but more only loads their memory ; and we (hould at firfl felcifl words of which they know the meaning, and which occur mofl frequently in reading or converfation. The alphabet- ical lift of words in a fpelling book contains many which are not in common ufe, and the pupil forgets thefe as faft as he learns them. We have found it entertaining to children, to alk them to fpcll any fhort fentence as it has been accidentally fpoken. " Put *' this book on that table." Afkachild how he would fpell thofe words if he were obliged to write them down, and you introduce into his mind the idea that he muft learn to fpell, before he can make his words and thoughts underftood in writing. It is a good way to make children write down a few words of their own felec- tion every day, and correal the fpelling ; and alfo after they have been reading, whilft the words are yet frefti in their memory, we may afk them to fpell fome of the words which they have juft feen ; by thefe means, and by repeating at different times in the day thofe words which are moft frequently wanted, his vocabulary will be pretty well flocked without its having coft him many tears. We fhould obferve, that children learn to fpell more by the eye than by the ear, and that the more they read and write, the more likely they will be to remember the combination of letters in H 2 words 52 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. words which they have continually before their eyes, or which they feel it neceflary to reprefent to others. When young people beo^in to write, they firfl feel the ufe of fpelling, and it is then that they will learn it with moft eafe and precifion. Then the oreateft care fhould be taken to look over their writing, and to make them corredl eveiry word in which they have made a miftake ; becaufe bad habits of fpelling, once contraded, can fcarcely be cured : the underflanding has nothing to do with the bufinefs, and when the memory is puzzled between the rules of fpelling right, and the habits of fpelling wrong, it becomes a misfortune to the pupil to write even a common letter. The fhame which is an- nexed to bad fpelling excites young people's attention, as foon as they are able to underftand, that it is confidered as a mark of ig- norance and ill breeding. We have often obferved, that children liften with anxiety to the remarks that are made upon this fubjed in their prefence, efpecially when the letters or notes oi grown up people are criticifed. Some time ago, a lady, who was reading a ncwfpaper, met with a ftory of an ignorant magiftrate, who gave for his toafl at a public dinner the two Ks, for the King and Conftitution. " How very *' much afliamed the man muft have felt when all the people *' laughed at him for his miftake ! they, muft all have feen that *' he did not know how to fpcU ; and what a difgrace for a magif- " trate too !" faid a boy who heard the anecdote. It made a fe- rious impreflion upon him ; a few months afterwards, he was em- ployed by his father in an occupation which was extremely agree- able to him, but in which he continually felt the neceffity of fpel- ling corre6lly. He was employed to fend meflages by a tele- graph ; thefe meflliges he was obliged to write down haftily in lit- tle TASKS. 53 tie journals kept for the purpofe ; and as thefe were feen by feveral people when the bufinefs of the day came to be reviewed, the boy had a confiderablc motive for orthographical exaftnefs. He became extremely defirous to teach himfelf, and confequently his fuccefs was from that moment certain. As to the reft, we refer to Lady CarUfle's comprehenfive maxim, " Spell well if you can." It is undoubtedly of confequence to teach the rudiments of lite- rary education early, to get over the firfl difficulties of reading, writing, and Ipelling ; but much of the anxiety, and buftle, and labour of teaching thefe things may be advantageoufly fpared. If more attention were turned to the general cultivation of the un- derftanding, and if more pains were taken to make literature agreea- ble to children, there would be found lefs difficulty to excite them to mental exertion, or to induce the habits of perfcvering appli- cation. When we fpeak of rendering literature agreeable to children, and of the danger of afTociating pain with the fight of a book, or with the found of the word taji^ we fliould at the fame time avoid the error of thofe who in their firft leflbns accuftom their pupils to fo much amufement, that they cannot help afterwards feeling difgufted with the fobriety of inftrudion. It has been the fafliion of late to attempt teaching every thing to children in play, and in- genious people have contrived to infinuate much ufcfiil knowledge without betraying the defign to inftrudl ; but this fyftem cannot be purfued beyond certain bounds without many inconvcniencies. The habit of beins; amufed not onlv increafcs the defire for amufe- ment, but it lefiens even the relifh for pleafure ; fo that the mind becomes pafhve and indolent, and a courfe of perpetually increafing ftimulus 54- PRACTICAL EDUCATION. ftimulus is neceflliry to awaken attention. When diffipated habits are acquired, the pupil lofes power over his own mind, and, inftead of vigorous voluntary exertion, which he fhould be able to com- mand, he fhews that wayward imbecility, which can think fuc- cefsfully only by fits and ftarts : this paralytic ftate of mind has been found to be one of the greateft calamities attendant on what is called genius ; and injudicious education creates or increafes this difeafe. Let us not therefore humour children in this capri- cious temper, efpecially if they have quick abilities : let us give re- wards proportioned to their exertions with uniform juftice, but let us not grant bounties in education, which, however they may ap- pear to fucceed in efFefting partial and temporary purpofes, are not calculated to enfure any confequences permanently beneficial. The truth is, that ufeful knowledge cannot be obtained without Icbour, that attention long continued is laborious, but that without this labour nothing excellent can be accomplifhcd. Excite a child to attend in earneft for a fhort time, his mind will be lefs fatigued, and his underftanding will be more improved, than if he had exerted but half the energy twice as long : the degree of psin which he ma\ have felt will be amply and properly compenfated by his fuc- cefs ; this will not be an arbitrary variable reward, but one withia his own power, and that can be afcertained by his own feelings. Here is no deceit praftifed, no illufion ; the fame courfe of conduft may be regularly purfued through the whole of his education, and his confidence in his tutor will progreffively incrcafe. On the con- trary, if, to entice him to enter the paths of knowledge, we flrew them with flowers, how will he feel when he muft force his way- through thorns and briars ? There is a material difference between teaching children in play. -TASKS. 55 play, and making learning a talk ; in the one cafe we afTociate faiflitious pleafure, in the other faditious pain, with the objeft : both produce pernicious effe6ls upon the temper, and retard the na- tural progrefs of the underftanding. The advocates in favour of *' fcholaftic badinage" have urged, that it excites an interefi: in the minds of children fimilar to that which makes them endure a con- fiderable degree of labour in the purfuit of their amufements. Children, it is fnd, work hard at play, therefore we fliould let them play at work. Would not this produce effects the very re- verfe of what we defire ? The whole queftion muft at laft depend upon the meaning of the word play : if by play be meant every thing that is not ufually called a tafk, then undoubtedly much may be learned at play ; if, on the contrary, we mean by the expreflion todefcribe that {late of fidgetting idlenefs, or of boiftcrous aftivity, in which the intelle(5l:ual powers are torpid, or ftunned with un- meaning noife, the affertion contradids itfelf. At play fo defined children can learn nothing but bodily adlivity ; it is certainly true, that when children are interefted about any thing, whether it be about what we call a trifle, or a matter of confequence, they will exert themfelves in order to fucceed ; but from the moment the at- tention is fixed, no matter on what, children are no longer at idle play, they are at a£live work. S , a little boy of nine years old, was {landing without any \/ book in his hand, and feemingly idle ; he was amufing himfelf with looking at what he called a rainbow upon the floor : he beg- ged his fifter M to look at it ; then he faid he wondered what could make it ; how it came there. The fun {hone bright through the window ; the boy moved feveral things in the room, fo as to place them fometimes between the light and the colours which he faw 56 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. faw upon the floor, and fometimes in a corner of the room where the fun did not (bine. As he moved the things he faid, " This is *' not it ;" " Nor this ;" " This hasn't any thing to do with it." At laft he found, that when he moved a tumbler of water out of the place where it flood, his rainbow vanifhed. Some violets were in the tumbler; S — thought they might be the caufe of the co- lours which he faw upon the floor, or, as he exprefled it, *' Per- *' haps thefe may be the thing." He took the violets out of the water ; the colours remained upon the floor. He then thought that ** it might be the water." He emptied the glafs ; the colours re- mained, but they were fainter. S immediately obferved, that it was the water and glafs together that made the rainbow. " But," faid he, " there is no glafs in the fky, yet there is a rainbow, *' fo that I think the water alone would do, if we could but hold *' it together without the olafs. Oh I know how I can manage." DO O He poured the water flowly out of the tumbler into a bafon, which he placed where the fun fhone, and he faw the colours on the floor twinkling behind the water as it fell : this delighted him much ; but he afked why it would not do when the fun did not fhine. The fun went behind a cloud whilft he was trying his ex- periments : "There was light," faid he, "though there wasnofun- '* fhine." He then faid he thought that the different thicknefs of the glafs was the caufe of the variety of colours : afterwards he f^iid he thought that the clearnefs or muddinefs of the different drops of water was the caufe of the different colours, A rigid preceptor, who thinks that every boy mufl be idle who has not a Latin book confl:antly in his hand, v^^ould perhaps have reprimanded S for wafling his time at p/ay, and would have fummoned him from his rainbow to his ta/k ; but it is very ob- vious TASKS. 5/ vious to any perfon free from prejudices, that this child was not idle whihl: he was meditating upon the rainbow on the floor ; his attention was fixed ; he was realoning, he was trying experiments. We may call this play if we pleafe, and we may fay that Defcartes was at play, when he firfl: verified Antonio De Dominis bifliop ^ of Spalatro's treatife of the rainbow, by an experiment with a glafs globe * : and we ma v fay that Buffoii was idle, when his pleafed atten- tion was firft caught with a landfcape of green fliadows, when one evening at funfet he firft obferved that the fhadovvs of trees which fell upon a white wall were green, when he was firft delighted with the exaft reprefentation of a green arbour, which feemed as if it had been newly painted on the wall. Certainly the boy with his rainbow on the floor was as much amufed as the philofopher with his coloured fhadows ; and, however high founding the name of Antonio De Dominis, bifhop of Spalatro, it does not alter the bufinefs in the leaft j he could have exerted only his utmoji atten- tion upon the theory of the rainbow, and the child did the fame. We do not mean to compare the powers of reafoning, or the abili- ties of the child and the philofopher, we would only (hew that the fame fpecies of attention was exerted by both. To fix the attention of children, or, in other words, to intereft them about thofe fubjedls to which we wifh them to apply, muft be our firft objeft in the early cultivation of the underftanding. This we ftiall not find a difficult undertaking if we have no falfe af- fociations, no painful recoUedions to contend with. We can con- neft any fpecies of knowledge with thofe occupations which are * See PrielUcy's Hiilory of Vifion, vol, i. p. 51. I immediately •58 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. immediately agreeable to young people : for inftance, if a child is building a houfe, we may take that opportunity to teach him how bricks are made, how the arches over doors and windows are made, the nature of the keyftone and hutments of an arch, the manner in which all the different parts of the roof of a houfe are put toge- ther, &c. ; whilll he is learning all this he is eagerly and ferioufly attentive, and we educate his underftanding in the bed poffible method ; but if, miftaking the application of the principle, that li- terature fhould be made agreeable to children, we Ihould entice a child to learn his letters by a promife of a gilt coach, or by telling him that he would be the cleverefi: boy in the world if he could but learn the letter ^, we ufe falfe and foolifli motives ; we may pof- fibly by fuch means effect the immediate purpofe, but we fhall af- furedly have reafon to repent of fuch imprudent deceit. If the child reafons at all, he will be content after his firft leflbn with beingr " the clevereft boy in the world," and he will not on a future oc- cafion hazard his fame, having much to lofe, and nothing to gain ; befides, he is now mafter of a gilt coach, and fome new and larger reward muft be proffered to excite his induffry. Befides the difad- vantage of early exhaufting our ftock of incitements, it is dangerous in teaching to humour pupils with a variety of objedls by way of relieving their attention : the pleafureof //6;k/(7«^, and much of the profit, muft frequently depend upon our preferving the greateft poffible connexion between our ideas; thofe who allow themfelves to lliart from one objeft to another, acquire fuch diffipated habits of mind, that they cannot, without extreme difficulty and relu6tance, follow any connefted train of thought. You cannot teach thofe who will not follow the chain of your reafons ; upon the connexion of our ideas ufeful memory and reafoning muft depend. We will give you an inftance : arithmetic is one of the firft things that we attempt 4 TASKS. 59 attempt to teach children. In the following dialogue, which paflcd between a boy of five years old and his father, we may ob- ferve that till the child followed his father's train of ideas he could not be taught. o Father, S , how many can you take from one ? S . None. Father. None ! Think ; can you take nothing from one r S . None, except that one. Father. Except ! Then you can take one from one ? S . Yes, that otie. Father. How many then can you take from one ? »S . One. Father, Very true ; but now, can you take two from one ? S . Yes, if they were figures I could, with a rubber-out. (This child had frequently lums written for him with a black lead pencil, and he ufed to rub out his figures when they were wrong with Indian rubber, which he bad heard called rubber- out,) Father. Yes, you could ; but now we will not talk of figures, I 2 we 6o PRACTICAL EDUCATION. \ve will talk of things. There may be one horfe or two horfes, or one man or two men. S . Yes, or one coat or two coats. Father. Yes, or one thing or two things, no matter what they are. Now, could you take two things from one thing ? S . Yes, if there were three things I could take away two things, and leave one. Father took up a cake from the tea-table. Father. Could I take two cakes from this one cake ? S . You could take two pieces. Father divided the cake into halves, and held up each half fo that the child might diftindly fee them. Father. What would you call thefe two pieces ? S . Two cakes. Father. No, not two cakes. S . Two bifcuits. Father holding up a whole bifcult. What is this? S TASKS. 61 A thing; to eat. 'O Father. Yes, but what would you call it ? S . A bifcuit. Father broke it into halves, and ftiewed one half. Father. What would vou call this ? S was filent, and his fifter was applied to, who anfwered. "Haifa bifcuit." Father. Very well ; that's all at prefent. The father prudently flopped here, that he might not confufc his pupil's underftanding. Thofe only who have attempted to teach children can conceive how extremely difficult it is to fix their attention, or to make them feize the connexion of ideas, which it appears to us almoft impoffible to mifs. Children are well occupied in examining external obje£ls, but they muft alfo attend to words as well as things. One of the great difficulties in early inftrudion arifes from the want of words : the pupil very often has acquired the neceflary ideas, but they are not affociated in his mind with the words which his tutor ufes ; thefe words are then to him mere founds, which fuggeft no correfpondent thoughts. Words, as M. Condillac well obferves*, are elTential to our acquifition of knowledge ; they are the medium through which one fet of beings * " Art de Penfer." can 62 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. can convey the refult of their experiments and obfervations to ano- ther ; they are in all mental procefles the algebraic ligns which afiift us in folving the moft difficult problems. What agony does a foreioner, knowing himfelf to be a man of fenfe, appear to fuf- fer, when, for want of language, he cannot in converfation commu- nicate his knowledge, explain his reafoiis, enforce his arguments, or make his wit intelligible ? In vain he has recourfe to the lan- >, more legs than no horfe," replies the unwary child. " But," con- T 2 tinues I40 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. tinues the witty fophi ft, "ahorfe, furely, has but four legs; did you ever fee a horfe with five legs ?" " Never," fays the child; " no horfe has five legs.'" " Oh, Ho !" exclaims the entrapper, "I have you \ " now ! No horfe has five legs, you fay; then you muft acknow- " ledge that no horfe has more les;s than a horfe. Therefore, *' when I afked you which has moft legs, a horfe or no horfe^ your " anfwer, you fee, (hould have been, no horfe.""^ The famous dilemma of " you have what you have not loft ; you have not loft horns ; then you have horns ;" is much in the fame ftyle of reafoning. Children may readily be taught to chop ' logic, and to parry their adverfaries technically in this conteft of falfe wit ; but this will not improve their underftandings, though it may to fuperficial judges give them the appearance of great quicknefs of intelledl. We fhould not even in jeft talk nonfenfe to children, or fuffer them fi;^« to hear inaccurate language. Ifcon- fufed anfwers be given to their queftions, they will foon be con- tent with a confufed notion of things ; they will be fatisfied with bad reafoning, if they are not taught to diftinguifh it fcrupuloudy from what is good, and to rejedt it fteadily. Half the expreffions current in converfation have merely a nominal value ; they repre- fent no ideas, and they pafs merely by common courtefy : but the language of every perfon of fenfe has fterling value ; it cheats and puzzles nobody, and even when it is addrefled to children, it is made intelligible. No common acquaintance, who talks to a child merely for his own amufement, lele6ls his expreffions with any care ; what becomes of the child afterwards is no part of his con- cern, he does not confider the advantage of clear explanations to the underftanding, or would he be at the pains of explaining any thing thoroughly, even if he were able to do fo. And how iew people ACQUAINTANCE. 141 people are able to explain diftinftly, even when they moft wifti to make themfelves underftood ! The following converfation paffed between a learned do^lor, (formerly) of the Sorbonne, and a boy of feven years old. Do^or. So, Sir, I fee you are very advanced already in your ftudies. You are quite expert at Latin. Pray, Sir, allow me to alk you ; I fuppofe you have heard of Tally's Offices ? Boy. Tully's Offices ! No, Sir. Do^or. No matter. You can, I will venture to fay, folve me the following queftion. It is not very difficult, but it has puzzled fome abler cafuifts, I can tell you, though, than you or I ; but if you will lend me your attention for a very few moments, I flatter myfelf, I ftiall make myfelf intelligible to you. The boy began to ftiffen at this exordium, but he fixed himfelf in an attitude of anxious attention, and the do£lor, after having taken two pinches of fnuff, proceeded. " In the ifland of Rhodes there was once, formerly, a great *' fcarcity of provifions, a famine quite ; and fome merchants " fitted out ten fhips to relieve the Rhodians : and one of the *' merchants got into port fooner than the otliers ; and he took *' advantage of this circumftance to fell his goods at an exorbitant " rate, finding himfelf in pofleflion of the market. The Rhodians " did not know that the other fliips laden with provifions were to " be in the next day ; and they of courfe paid this merchant " whatfoever 142 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. *' vvhatfoever price he thought proper to demand. Now the ^' queftion is, in morality, whether did he a£t the part of an ** honeft man in this buiinefs by the Rhodiaiis ? Or fliould he not *' rather have informed them of the nine fliips which were ex- *' pe6^ed to come with provifions to the market the enfuing *' day?" The boy was (ilent, and did not appear to comprehend the ftory -or the queftion in the leaft. In telling his ftory, the dodor of the Sorbonne unluckily pronounced the words/hip and Jhips in fuch a manner, that the child all along miftook them iox Jheep zx\djheeps\ and this miftake threw everything into confufion. Befides this, a number of terms were made ufe of which were quite new to the boy. Getting into port — being in pofleflion of the market — felling goods at an exorbitant rate; together with the whole myftery of buying and felling, were as new to him, and appeared to him as difficult to be underflood, as the mofl abftrad metaphyfics. He did not even know what was meant by the fliips being expedted in the next day; and " aBing the part oi an honeft man," was to him an unufual mode of expreffion. The young cafuift made no hand of this cafe of confcience ; when at laft he attempted an an- fwer, he onlyexpofed himielf to the contempt of the learned doc- tor. When he was defired t© repeat the rtory, he made a ftiange jumble about fome people who wanted to get (ovnejheep, and about one man who got in his fheep before the other nine fheep ; but he did not know how or why it was wrong in him not to tell of the other (heep. Nor could he imagine, why the Rhodians could not get fheep without this man. He had never had any idea of a fa- mine. This boy's father, unwilling that he (hould retire to reft with his intelledts in this flate of confufion, as foon as the dodlor had ACQUAINTANCE, 143 had taken leave, told the ftory to the child in different words, to- try whether it was the words or the ideas that puzzled him. *' In the iEgean fea, which you faw the other day in the map, " there is an ifland, which is called the iflandof Rhodes. In telling '* my ftory, I take the opportunity to fix a point in geography in " your memory. In the ^gean fea there is an ifland which is called " the ifland of Rhodes. There was once a famine in this ifland, *' that is to fay, the people had not food enough to live upon, and " they were afraid that they fliould be ftarved to death. Now, fome " merchants who lived on the continent of Greece, filled ten fliips •' with provifions, and they failed in thefe veflels for the ifland of " Rhodes. It happened that one of thefe fliips got to the ifland *' fooner than any of the others. It was evening, and the captain *' of this (hip knew that the others could not arrive till the morn- *' ing. Now the people of Rhodes, being extremely hungry, were " very eager to buy the provifions which this merchant had " brought to fell ; and they were ready to give a great deal " more money for provifions than they would have done if they *' had not been almoft flarved. There was not nearly a fufficient *' quantity of food in this one (hip, to fupply all the people who •' wanted food ; and therefore thofe who had money, and who *' knew that the merchant wanted as much money as he could " get in exchange for his provifions, offered to give him a large •' price, the price which he aflied for them. Had thei'e people *' known that nine other fliips full of provifions would arrive *' in the morning, they would not have been ready to give fo " much money for food, becaufe they would not have been fo *' much afraid of being flarved ; and they would have known " that, in exchange for their money, they could have a greater " quantity 144- PRACTICAL EDUCATION. " quantity of food the next day. The merchant, however, did " not tell them that any (hips were expected to arrive, and he *' confequently got a great deal more of their money than he " would have done for his provifions, if he had told them the fatt *' which he knew, and which they did not know. Do you think " that he did right or wronsf ?" 'O'"- "' ...""Q The child, who now had rather more the expreflion of intelli- o'ence in his countenance, than he had when the iame queftion had been put to him after the former ftatement of the cafe, imme- diately anfwered, that he " thought the merchant had done *' wrong, that he Ihould have told the people that more fhips *' were to con:ie in the morning." Several ditTerent opinions were o^iven afterwards by other children, and grown people who were alked the fame queftion ; and what had been an unintelli- o-ible ftory, was rendered, by a little more (kill and patience in the art of explanation, an excellent leffon, or rather exercife, in rea- foning. *D' It is fcarcely poffible that a Granger, who fees a child only for a few hours, can guefs what he knows, and what he does not know ; or can he perceive the courfe of his thoughts, which depend upon aflbciations over which he has no command ; therefore, when a Granger, let his learning and abilities be what they will, attempts to teach children, he ufually puzzles them, and the confequences of the confufion of mind he creates lafl: fometimes for years : fonie- times it H)fluences their moral, fometimes their fcientific reafon- ing. " Every body but my friends," faid a little girl of fix years old, " tell me I am very pretty." From this contradidtory evidence what muft the child have inferred ? The perplexity which fome young ACQUAINTANCE. 145 young people, almofl: arrived at the years of difcretlon, have fliewti ill their firft notions of mathematics, has been a matter of aftoniflimeut to thofe who have attempted to teach them; this perplexity has been at length difcovered to arife from their having early con- founded in their minds the ideas of a triangle, and an ancle. In the moft common modes of expreflion there are often ftrangc inaccuracies, which do not ftrlke us, becaufe they are familiar to us; but children, who hear them for the firft time, detect their ab- furdity, and are frequently anxious to have fuch nhrafes explained. If they converfe much with idle vifitors, they will feldom be pro- perly applauded for their preclfion, and their philofophic curiofity will often be reprefled by unmeaning replies. Children, who have the habit of applying to their parents, or to fenfible preceptors, in 'fimilar difficulties, will be fomewhat better received, and will gain rather more accurate information. S (nine years old) was in a houfe where a chimney was on fire ; he faw a great buftle, and he heard the fcrvants, and people, as they ran backwards and for- wards, all exclaim, that " the chimney was on fire." After the fire was put out, and when the buflle was over, S faid to his father, " What do people mean when they fay the chimney is on ^^ fre? What is it that burns?" At this queftion a filly ac- quaintance would probably have laughed in the boy's face, would have exprefTed aftonifliment as foon as his vifit was over at fuch an inftance of ftrange ignorance in a boy of nine years old ; or, if civility had prompted any anfwer, it would perhaps have been, *' The chimney's being on fire, my love, means that the chim- -*' ney's on fire! Every body knows what's meant by ' the chim- '■'■ ney's on fire !' There's a great deal of Imoke, and fparks, and " flame, coming out at the top, you know, when the chimney's *' on fire. And it's extremely dangerous, and it would fet a houfe " on fire, or perhaps the whole neighbourhood, if it was not put U " out 146 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. *' out immeduitely. Many dreadful fires, you know, happen in •' towns, as we hear for ever in the newfpaper, by a chimney's " taking fire. Did you never hear of a chimney's being on tire ** before ? You are a very happy young gentleman to have lived *' to vour time of life, and to be flill at a lofs about fuch a thing. " What burns ? Why, my dear Sir, the chimney burns ; fire burns " in the chimney. To be fure fires are fad accidents ; many lives *' are loft by them every day. I had a chimney on fire in my *' drawing room laft year." Thus would the child's curiofity have been baffled by a number of words without meaning or connexion ; on tjie contrary, whea he applied to a father, who was interefted in his improvement, his fenfible queftion was liftened to with approbation. He was told that the chimney's being on fire, was an inaccurate common expref^ion^ that it was the foot in the chimney, not the chimney that burned; that the foot was fometimes fet on fire by fparks of fire, fome- times by flame, which might have been accidentally drawn up the chimney. Some of the foot which had been fet on fire was fliewu to him; the nature of burning in general, the manner in which the chimney draws, the meaning of that expreflion, and many other things conneded with the fubjeft were explained upon this occafion to the inquifitive boy, who was thus encouraged to think and fpeak accurately, and to apply in fimilar difficulties to the friend who had thus taken the trouble to underfland his fimple queftion. A random anfwer to a child's queftion does him a real injury ; but can we expecl that thofe, who have no intereft in education, fhould have the patience to correal their whole converfation, and to adapt it preclfely to the capacity of children ? This would indeed be un- reafonable ; all we can do is, to keep our pupils out of the way of thofe ACQUAINTANCE. 147 thofe who can do them no good, and who may do them a great deal of harm. We mufl prefer the permanent advantage of our pupils, to the tranfient vanity of exhibiting for the amulement of company their early wit or " lively nonfenfe." Children (hould never be introduced for the amufement of the circle; or yet (hould they be condemned to fit flock flill, holding up their heads and letting their feet dangle from chairs that are too high for them, merely that they may appear what is called weii before vifitors. Whenever any converfiuion is going forward which they can underftand, they fhould be kindly fummoned to partake of the pleafures of fociety, its pains and its follies we may fpare them. The manners of young people will not be injured by this arrangement; they will be at eafe in company, becaufe whenever they are introduced into it they will make a part of it, they will be intereftedand happy, they will feel a proper confidence inthemfelves, and they will not be intent upon their curtfies, their frocks, their manner of holding their hands, or turning out their toes, the pro- per placing of Sir, Madam, or your Ladylhip, with ail the other in- numerable trifles, which embarrafs the imagination, and con- fequently the manners, of thofe who are taught to think that they are to fit flill, and behave in company fome way differently from ^vhat they behave every day in their own family. We have hitherto only fpoken of acquaintance who do not at- tempt or defire to interfere in education, but who only carefs and talk nonfenfe to children with the bell: intentions pofiible : with thefe^parents will find it comparatively eafy to manage; they can contrive to employ children, or fend them out to walk; by cool referve they can readily difcourage fuch vifitors from flattering their children, aod by infifting upon becoming a party in'all con- U 2 verfations \ 148 PRACTICAL EDUCATION, verfations which are addreffed to their pupils, they can, in a great meafure, prevent the bad cffedls of inaccurate or imprudent con- verfation ; they can explain to their pupils what was left unin- tellio-ible, and they can counteradt falfe affociations, either at the moment they perceive them, or at fome well chofen opportunity. But there is a clafs of acquaintance with whom it will be more difficult to manage ; perfons who are perhaps on an intimate footing with the family, who are valued for their agreeable talents and eftimable qualities ; who are perhaps perfons of general informa- tion and good fenfe, and who may yet never have confidered the fubje6t of education ; or who, having partially confidered it, have formed fome peculiar and erroneous opinions. They will feel themfelves entitled to talk upon education as well as upon any other topic; they will hazard, and they will fupport, opinions; they will be eager to prove the truth of their al^ertions, or the fuperiority of their favourite theories. Out of pure regard for their friends, they will endeavour to bring them over to their own way of thinking in education ; and they will by looks, by hints, by inuendos, unreflrained by the prefence of the children, infinuate their advice and their judgment upon every domeftic occurrence. In the heat of debate people frequently forget that children have eyes and ears, or any portion of underftanding ; they are not aware of the quicknefs of that comprehenfion, which is excited by the motives of curiofity and felf love. It is dangerous to let chil- dren be prefent at any arguments, in which the management of their minds is concerned, until they can perfedlly underftand the whole of the fubjeft : they will, if they catch but a few words, or a few ideas, imagine perhaps, that there is fomething wrong, fome hardftiips, fome injuftice, pradifed againfl them by their friends ; yet they will not diftindly know, or will they perhaps ex- plicitly I ACQUAINTANCE. 149 plicitly inquire what it is. They fhould be fent out of the room before any fuch arguments are begun ; or, if the converfation be abruptly begun before parents can be upon their guard, they may yet, without offending againft the common forms of polite- nefs, decline entering into any difcuffion till their children are withdrawn. As to any dire£t attempt pra6lically to interfere with the children's education, by blame or praife, by prcfcnts, by books, or by converfation ; thefe fhould, and really muft, be re- folutely and fteadily refifted by parents ; this will require fome ftrength of mind. What can be done without it ? Many people, who are convinced of the danger of the interference of friends and acquaintance in the education of their children, will yet, from the fear of offending, from the dread of being thought fingular, fubmit to the evil. Thefe perfons may be very well received, and very well liked in the world : they mufl content themfelves with this reward ; they mufl not expeft to fucceed in education, for flrength of mind is ablblutely necef^ary to thofe who would carry a plan of education into effeft. Without being tied down to any one ex- clufive plan, and with univerfal toleration for different modes of moral and intelledual inflrudtion, it may be fafely afferted, that the plan which is mofl flcadily purfued will probably fucceed the befl. People, who are moved by the advice of all their friends, and who endeavour to adapt their fyflem to every fafhionable change in opinion, will inevitably repent of their weak complai- fance ; they will lofe all power over their pupils, and will be forced to abandon the education of their families to chance. It will be found impoflible to educate a child at home, unlefs all interference from vifitors and acquaintance is precluded. But it ^ is of yet more confequence, that the members of the family mufl entirely 350 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. entirely agree in their fentiments, or at leaft in the conduct of the children under their care. Without this there is no hope. Young people perceive very quickly, whether there is unanimity in their government ; they make out an alphabet of looks with unerring precifioh, and decipher with amazing ingenuity all that is for their interefl: to underftand. When children are blamed or pu- niflied, they always know pretty well who pities them, who thinks that they are in the wrong, and who thinks that they are in the right ; and thus the influence of public opinion is what ul- timately governs. If children find that, when mamma is difpleafed, grandmamma comforts them, they will confole themfelves readily under this partial difgrace, and they will fufpedl others of caprice, inflead of ever blaming themfelves. They will feel little confidence in their own experience, or in the aflertions of others ; they will think that there is always fome chance of elcape amongfl the mul- titude of laws and lawgivers. No tutor or preceptor can be au- iwerable, or ought to undertake to anjwer for meafures which he Joes not guide. Le Sage, with an inimitable mixture of humour and good itnk, in the fliort hiftory of the education of the robbers who fupped in that cave in which dame Leonardo offi- ciated, has given many excellent lefTons in education. Captain Rolando's tutors could never make any thing of him, becaufe, whenever they reprimanded him, he ran to his mother, father, and grandfather, for confolation; and from them conflantly received proteflion in rebellion, and commiferation for the wounds which he had inflifted upon his own hands and face, purpofely to excite compafiion, and to obtain revenge. It is obvioufly impoflible, that all the world, the ignorant and the well informed, the man of genius, the man of fafhion, and the man % ACQUAINTANCE. 151 man of bufinefs, the pedant and the philofopher, fhould agree in their opinion upon any fpeculative fubjeil ; upon the wide fubje£t of education they will probably differ eternally. It will therefore be thought abfurd to require this union of opinion amongft the in- dividuals of a family j but, let there be ever fo much difference in their private opinions, they can lurely difcufs any difputed point at leifure, when children are abfent, or they can in thefe arguments converfe in French, or in fome language which their pupils do not underfland. The fame caution fhould be obferved, as wejuftnow recommended, with refpe6t to acquaintance. It is much better, when any difficulties occur, to fend the children at once into another room, and to tell them that we do fo becaufe we have Ibmething to fay that we do not wifh them to hear, than to make falfe excules to get rid of their company, or to begin whifpering and difputing in their prefcnce. Thefe precautions are advifable whilfl our pupils are youngs before they are capable of comprehending arguments of this nature, and whilft their palfions are vehemently interefled on one fide or the other. As young people grow up, the greater variety of opi- nions they hear upon all fubjeds the better j they will then form the habit of judging for themlelvcs : whilft; they are very young they have not the means of forming correct judgments upon ab- Aradl fubjedls, or are thefe the fubjeds upon which their judg- ment can be properly exercifed : upon the fubjecfl of education they cannot be competent judges, becaufe they cannot till they are nearly educated have a complete view of the means, or of the end ; befidcs this, no man is allowed to be judge in his own cafe. Some parents allow their children a vafl deal of liberty whilfl: 6 they i-^i PRACTICAL EDUCATION. t^iey are young, and reftrain them by abfolute authority when their reafon is or ought to be a fufficient guide for their conduft. The contrary pradlicc will make parents much more beloved, and will make children both wifer and happier. Let no idle vifitor, no intrufive, injudicious friend, for one moment interfere to leflen the authority neceffary for the purpofes of education. Let no weak jealoufy, no unfeafonable love of command, reftrain young people after they are fufficiently reafonable to judge for themfelves. In the choice of their friends, their acquaintance, in all the great and fmall affairs of life, let them have liberty in proportion as they acquire reafon. Fathers do not commonly interfere with their fons amufements, or with the choice of their acquaintance, fo much as in the regulation of their pecuniary affairs ; but mothers, who have had any confiderable fliare in the education of boys, are apt to make miflakes as to the proper feafons for mdulgence and control. They do not watch the moments when dangerous pre- judices and tafles begin to be formed, they do not perceive how the flight converfations of acquaintance operate upon the ever opea ear of childhood ; but when the age of paffion approaches, and ap- proaches, as it ufually does, in florms and tempefl, then all their maternal fears are fuddenly roufed, and their anxiety prompts them to ufe a thoufand injudicious and ineffectual expedients. A modern princefs, who had taken confiderable pains in the education of her fon, made both herfclf and him ridiculous by her anxiety upon his introdu£tion into the world. She travelled about with him from place to place, to make him fee every thing worth feeing ; but he was not to ftir from her prefence ; fhe could not bear to have him out of fight or hearing. In all companies he was i Ijiiper one d hy his mother. Was he invited to a ball, fhe mufl be Invited ACC^AINTANCE. 153 invited alfo, or he could not accept of the invitation ; he mufl: go in the fame coach, and return in the fame coach with her. " I fhould *' like extremely to dance another dance," faid he one evening to 'his partner, '* but you fee I muft go ; my mother is putting on *' her cloak." The tall young man called for fome negus, and had the glafs at his lips, when his mamma called out in a flirill voice, through a vifta of heads, " Eh ! My fon no drink wine 1 *' My fon like milk and water !" The fon was at this time at years of difcretion. CHAPTER I ( ^55 ) CHAPTER VI. ON TEMPER. We have already, in fpcaking of the early care of infants, fug- •gefted that the temper fliouid be attended to from the moment of their birth. A negligent, a carelefs, a paflionate fervant, muft iieceflarily injure the temper of a child. The firft language of an in- fant is intelligible only to its nurfe ; (he can diftingui^h between the cry of pain and the note of ill-humour, or the roar of paffion. The cry of pain (hould be liftened to with the utmoft care, and every poflible means fhould be ufed to relieve the child's fufferings : but when it is obvious that he cries from ill-humour, a nurfe fhould not foothe him with looks of affection, thefe (he fliould referve for the moment when the ftorm is over. We do not mean that in- fants (hould be fuffered to cry for a length of time without being regarded ; this would give them habits of ill-humour : we only wiiTi that the nurfe would, as foon as poffible, teach the child that • what he wants can be obtained without his putting himfelf in a paflion. Great care (hould be taken to prevent occafions for ill- humour ; if a nurfe negleds her charge, or if (he be herfelf paf- fionatc, the child will fuffer fo much pain, and fo many difappoint- nients, that it muft be in a continual ftate of fretfulnefs. An ac- X 2 tive. 156 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. tlvc, cheerful, good-homourcd, intelligent nurle, will make a child good humoured by regular affectionate attendance, by endeavouring to prevent all unneceflary fuff^erings, and by quickly comprehend- ing its language of iigns. The beft humoured woman in the world, if flie is ftupid, is not fit to have the care of a child ; the child will not be able to make her iinderftand any thing lefs than vociferation. By way of amufing the infant, (he will fatigue him with her carefles ; without ever difcovering the real caufe of hi& woe, (he will fing one univerfal lullaby upon all occafions to pa- cify her charge^ It requires fome ingenuity to difcover the caufe and cure of thofe long and loud fits of crying, which frequently arife from imaginary apprehenfions. A little boy of two years old nfed to cry violently when he wakened in the middle of the night, and faw a candle in the room. It was obferved that the {hadovv of the perfon who was moving about in the room frightened him, and as foon as the caufe of his crying was found out, it was eafy to pacify him ; his fear of fhadows was efFe£lually cured by playfully fhewing him at dif- ferent times that fliadows had no power to hurt him, H , about nine months old when (he firft began to obferve the hardnefs of bodies, let her hand fall upon a cat which had crept unperceived upon the table ; (he was furprifed and terrified by the unexpected fenfation of foftnefs ; (he could not touch the cat, or any thing that felt like foft fur, without (hewing agitation, till (he was near four years old, though every gentle means were ufed to conquer her antipathy ; the antipathy was, however, cured at laft, by her having a wooden cat covered with fur for a play- thing. 3 A boy T E M P E R. 157 A boy between four and five years old, H , ufed to cry bit- terly when he was left alone in a room in which there were fom'3 old family pictures. It was found that he was much afraid of thefs pidtures : a maid, who took, care of him, had terrified him with the notion that they would come to him, or that they were looking at him, and would be angry with him if he was not good. To cure this child of his fear of pictures, a fmall fized portrait, which was not amongft the number of thofe which had frightened him, was produced in broad day light. A piece of cake was put upon this piflure, which the boy was defired to take; he took it, touched the pifture, and was (hewn the canvas at the back of it, which, as it happened to be torn, he could eafily identify with the painting : the pidure was then given to him for a plaything ; he made ufe of it as a table, and became very fond of it as foon as he was convince<^ that it was not alive, and that it could do him no fort of in- jury. By patiently endeavouring to difcover the caufes of terror in children, we may probably prevent their tempers from acquiring many bad habits. It is fcarcely poffible for any one, who has not conftantly lived with a child, and who has not known the whole rife and progrefs of his little charader^ to trace the caufes of thefe flrange apprehcnfions ; for this reafon a parent has advantages in the education of his child which no tutor or fchoolmaftcr can- have. A little boy was obferved to fliew figns of fear and diflike at hear- ing the found of a drum ; to a ftranger fuch fear muft have feemcd unaccountable, but thofe who lived with the child knew from what it arofe. He had been terrified by the figlit of a merry-andrew in a mafk, 158 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. f a mafk, who had played upon a drum ; this was the firft time that he had ever heard the found of a drum ; the found was afibciated with fear, and continued to raife apprehenfion in the child's mind after he had forgotten the original caufe of that apprehenfion. We arc well aware that we have laid ourfelves open to ridicule, by the apparently trifling anecdotes which have juft been men- tioned ; but if we can fave one child from an hour's unneceflary mifery, or one parent from an hour's anxiety, we fhall bear the laugh, we hope, with good humour. Young children, who have not a great number of ideas, per- liaps for that reafon affociate thofe which they acquire with te- nacity ; they cannot reafon concerning general caufes ; they expert that any event, which has once or twice followed another, will always follow in the fame order ; they do not diftinguifh between proximate and remote caufes, between coincidences and the regular connexion of caufe and effect ; hence children are fubjeft to feel hopes and fears from things which to us appear matters of indiffe- rence. Suppofe, for inffance, that a child is very eager to go out to walk, that his mother puts on her gloves and her cloak, thefe beino- the ufual fignals that fhe is going out, he inftantly expedls, if he has been accuftomed to accompany her, that he Ihall have the pleafnre of walking out ; but if fhe goes out, and forgets him, he is not only difappointed at that moment, but the difappointment, or, at leaft, fome indiftinfl apprehenfion, recurs to him when he is in a fimilar fituation : the putting on of his mother's cloak and gloves are then circumftances of vaft: importance to him, and create anxiety, perhaps tears, whilft to every other fpeftator they are matters of total indifference. Every one, who has had any expe- rience I TEMPER. 159 n'ence in the education of fuch children as arc apt to form flrongaf- fociations, muft be aware that many of thole fits of crying, which appear to arife folely from ill-humour, are occafioned by aflbciation. When thefe are fuffered to become habitual, they are extremely difficult to conquer ; it is therefore bed to conquer them as foon as pofTible. If a child has, by any accident, been difpofed to cry at particular times in the day, without any obvious caufe, we fliould at thofe hours engage his attention, occupy him, change the room he is in, or by any new circumftance break his habits. It will require fome penetration to diftinguifh between involuntary tears^ and tears of caprice ; but even when children are really crofs, it is not, whilft they are very young, prudent to let them wear out their ill-humour, as fome people do, in total negle£t. Children,, when they are left to weep in folitude, often continue in woe for a confiderable length of time, till they quite forget the original caufe of complaint, and they continue their convulfive fobs, and whining note of diftrefs, purely from inability to flop themfelves. Thus habits of ill-humour are contrafted ; it is better, by a little ■well-timed excitation, to turn the courfe of a child's thoughts, and to make him forget his trivial miferies. " The tear forgot as foon *' as fhed" is far better than the peevirti whine, or fuUen lowering brow, which proclaims the unconquered fpirit of difcontent. Perhaps, from the anxiety which we have exprefled to prevent the petty misfortunes, and unneceflary tears of children, it may be fuppofed that we are difpofed to humour them ; far from it. We know too well that a humoured child is one of the moft un- happy beings in the world ; a burthen to hlmfclf, and to his friends ; capricious, tyrannical, paflionate, peevifh, luUen, and felfifh. 6 An a6o PRACTICAL EDUCATIOIvr. An only child runs a dreadful chance of being fpoited. He is ()orn a perfon of confequence ; he foon difcovers his innate m^rit ; every eye is turned upon him the moment he enters the room ; iiis looks, his drefs, his appetite, are all matters of daily concern to a whole family ; his wifhes are e made to appear the efFe£ls of chance ? This method, of making things appear to be what they are not, we cannot too of- ten reprobate ; it will not have better fuccefs in the education of the temper, than in the management of the underftanding; it will ruin one or the other, or both : even when promiies are made with perfedl good faith to young people, the ftate of fufpenfe which they create is not ferviceable to the temper, and it is ex- tremely difficult to promife proper rewards *. The celebrated Se- rena furely eftabliflied her reputation for good temper without any very fevere trials. Our ftandard of female excellence is evidently changed fince the days of Grifelda ; but we are inclined to think that, even in thefe degenerate days, public amufements would not fill the female imagination, if they were not early reprefented as fuch charming things, fuch great rewards, to girls, by their im- prudent friends. The temper depends much upon the underflanding, and when- ever we give our pupils, whether male or female, falfe ideas of pleafure, we prepare for them innumerable caufes of difcontent. •' You ought to be above fuch things ! You ought not to let your- *' felf be vexed by fuch trifles !" are common exprefiions, which do not immediately change the irritated perfon's feelings. You mufl alter the habits of thinking, you mufl: change the view of the objeft, before you can alter the feelings. Suppofe a girl has from the converfation of all her acquaintance learned to imagine, that there is fome vaft pleafure in going to a mafquerade : it is in vain to tell her, in the moment that flie is difappointed about her mafquerade drefs, that " it is a trifle, and fhe ought to be above V. Chapter on Rewards and Punifliments. *' trifles." TEMPER., 171 *' trifles." She cannot be above them at a moment's warning ; but if (he had never been infpired with a violent defire to go to a mafquerade, the dilappointment would really appear trifling. We may calculate the probability of any perfon's mortification by ob- ferving the vehemence of their hopes ; thus we are led to obferve, that the imagination influences the temper. Upon this fubjedt wc fliall fpeak more fully when we treat of Imagination and Judg- ment. To meafure the degrees of indulgence which may be fafe for any given pupils, we muft attend to the effect produced by plea- fure upon their imagination and temper. If a fmall diminution of their ufual enjoyments difturbs them, they have been rendered not too happy, but too fufceptible. Happy people, who have refources in their own power, do not feel every flight variation in external circumflances. We may fafely allow children to be as happy as they pofhbly can be without facrificing the future to the prefent. Such profperity will not enervate their minds. We make this aflertion with fome confidence, becaufe experi- ence has in many inftanccs confirmed our opinion. Amongft a large family of children, who have never been tormented with ar- tificial trials of temper, and who have been made as happy as it was in the power of their parents to make them, there is not one ill-tempered child. We have examples every day before us of dif- ferent ages from three years old to fifteen. Before parents adopt either Epicurean or Stoical doflrines in the education of the temper, it may be prudent to calculate the proba- bilities of the good and evil, which their pupils are likely to meet Z 2 with 172 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. with in life. The Sybarite, whofe night's reft was difturbed hy a doubled rofe leaf, deferves to be pitied almoft as much as the young man who, when he was benighted in the fnow, was reproached by his fevere father for having colledted a heap of fnow to make him- felf a pillow. Unlefs we could for ever enfure the bed of rofes to our pupils, we fhould do very imprudently to make it early neceflary to their repofe ; unlefs the pillow of fnow is likely to be their let, we need not inure them to it from their infancy. k CHAPTER T *• 1 CHAPTER VII. ON OBEDIENCE. Obedience has been often called the virtue of childhood. How far it is entitled to the name of virtue we need not at prefent flop to examine ; obedience is expelled from children long before they can reafon upon the juftice of our commands ; confequently it muft be taught as a habit. By aflbciating pleafure with thofe things which we firft defire children to do, we fhould make therri iiecefl'arily like to obey ; on the contrary, if we begin by ordering them to do what is difficult and difagreeable to them, they mufl diflike obedience. The poet feems to underfland this fubjedl when he fays, " Or bid her wear your necklace rowed with pearl, " You'll find your Fanny an obedient girl*." The tafte for a necklace rowed with pearl is not xhefrji taftc even in girls that we fliould wifh to cultivate ; but the poet's j6r/«- ciple is good, notwithftanding. Bid your child do things that are agreeable to him, and you may be fure of his obedience. Bid a hungry boy cat apple pye. Order a fhivering urchin to warm * Elegy on an old Beauty. Parnell. himfelf 174 PRACTICAL EDUCATION, himfelf at a good fire ; defire him to go to bed when you fee him yawn with fatigue, and by fuch feafonable commands you will foon form affociations of pleafure in his mind, with the voice and tone of authority. This tone (hould never be threatening, or alarming ; it fhould be gentle, but decided. Whenever it becomes neceflary that a child (hould do what he feels difagreeable, it is bet- ter to make him fubmit at once to necefiity, than to create any doubt and ftruggle in his mind by leaving him a poflibility of re- fiflance. Suppofe a little boy wifhes to fit up later than the hour at which you think proper that he fhould go to bed, it is mofl: prudent to take him to bed at the appointed time without faying one word to him, either in the way of entreaty or command. If you entreat, you give the child an idea that he has it in his power to refufe you : if you command, and he does not inflantly obey, you hazard your authority, and you teach him that he can fuccefs- fuUy fet his will in oppofition to yours. The boy wifhes to fit up ; he fees no reafon, in the moral fitnefs of things, why he ihould go to bed at one hour more than at another, all he perceives is, that fuch is your will. What does he gain by obeying you ? Nothino- ; he lofes the pleafure of fitting up half an hour longer. How can you then expeft, that he fhould in confequence of thefe reafonings give up his obvious immediate intereft, and march off to bed heroically at the word of command ? Let him not be put to the trial ; when he has for fome time been regularly taken to bed at a fixed hour, he will acquire the habit of thinking that he muft o-o at that hour : affociation will make him expe£l it, and if his experience has been uniform, he will, without knowing why, think it necefiary that he fhould do as he has been ufed to do. When the habit of obedience to cuftomary neceffity is thus formed, we may without much riik engraft upon it obedience to the voice of authority. OBEDIENCE. 175 authority. For inftance, when the boy hears the clock ftrike, the ufual fignal for his departure, you may, if you fee that he is ha- bitually ready to obey this fignal, aflbciate your commands with that to which he has already learned to pay attention. " Go ; it *' is time that you (hould go to bed now," will only feem to the child a confirmation of the fentence already pronounced by the clock ; by degrees, your commands, after they have been regularly repeated, when the child feels no hope of evading them, will, even in new circumftauces, have from aflbciation the power of compelling obedience. Whenever we dcfire a child to do any thing, we fliould be per- fedly certain, not only that it is a thing which he is capable of doing ; but alfo, that it is fomething we can, in cafe it comes to that ultimate argument, force him to do. You cannot oblige a child to ftand up, if he has a mind to fit down ; or to walk, if he does not choofe to exert his mufcles for that purpofe : but you can abfolutely prevent him from touching whatever you defire him not to meddle with,"by your fuperior ftrenglh. It is beft then to begin with prohibitions, with fuch prohibitions as you can, and will fteadily perfevere to enforce : if you are not exad in requiring obedience, you will never obtain it either by perfuafion or autho- rity. As it will require a confiderable portion of time and unremit- ting attention, to enforce the punctual obfervance of a variety of prohibitions, it will, for your own fake, be moft prudent to iflue as few edicts aspoflible, and to be fparing in the ufe of the imperative mood. It will, if you calculate the trouble you muft take day after day to watch your pupil, coft you lefs to begin by arranging every circumftance in your power, fo as to prevent the necefhty of trufting to laws what ought to be guarded againft by precaution. 6 Do 176 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. Do you, for inftance, wifh to prevent your fon from breaking a beautiful china jar in your drawing room ; inftead of forbidding him to touch it, put it out of his reach. Would you prevent your foti from talking to fervants, let your houfe, in the firft place, be lb ar- ranged, that he fhall never be obliged to pafs through any rooms Avhere he is likely to meet with fervants ; let all his wants be gra- tified without their interference ; let him be able to get at his hat without afking the footman to reach it for him, from its inacceflible height *. The fimple expedient of hanging the hat in a place where the boy can reach it, will fave you the trouble of continually repeating, '' Don't afk William, child, to reach your hat ; can't you come and afk me?" Yes, the boy can come and alk you; but if you are bufy, you will not like to go in queft of the hat ; your re- iutflance will polTibly appear in your countenance, and the child, who underftands the language of looks better -than that of word?, will clearly comprehend that you are difpleafed with him at the very inftant that he is fulfilling the letter of the law. A lady, who was fond of having her houfe well arranged, dif- <:overed, to the amazement of her acquaintance, the art of making all her fervants keep every thing in its place. Even in the kitchen, from the mofl minute article to the mofl unwieldy, every thing was invariably to be found in its allotted flation j the fervants were thought miracles of obedience ; but, in faft, they obeyed becaufe it was the eafiefl thing they could poflibly do. Order was made more convenient to them than diforder, and, with their utmofl ingenuity to fave themfelves trouble, they could not invent places for every thing more appropriate than thofe which had been afligned by * Rouffeau. their OB EDIENCE. ^11 their miflrefs's leglflative oeconomy. In the fame manner wc may fecure the orderly obedience of children without exhaufting their patience or ourovvn. Rouffeau advifes, that children (hould be governed iolely by the ncceffity of circumftances ; but there arc one and twenty excellent objedions to this fyftem, the firlt being that it is impoffible : of this RoufTeau muft have been fenfible in the trials which he made as a preceptor. When he had the ma- nagement of a refra£lory child, he found himielf obliged to in^ vent and arrange a whole drama, by artificial experience to con- vince his little pupil, that he had better not walk out in the ftreets of Paris alone; and that, therefore, he fhoold wait till his tutor could conveniently accompany him. RouiTeau had prepared the neighbours on each fide of the flrcet to make proper fpeeches as his pupil pafied by their doors, which alarmed and piqued the boy effedually. At length the child was met, at a proper time, by a friend who had been appointed to watch him ; and thus he was brought home fubmiffive. This fccne, as Roufleau obferves, was admirably well performed * ; but what occafion could there be for fo much contrivance and deceit ? If his pupil had not been uncom- monly deficient in penetration, he would foon have difcovercd his preceptor in fome of his artifices ; then adieu both to obedience and confidence. A falfe idea of the pleafures of liberty mifled Roufleau. Children have not our abflraft ideas of the pleafures of liberty, they do not, until they have fuffered from ill judged re- llraints, feel any ftrong defire to exercife what we call free will ; liberty is, with them, the liberty of doing certain fpecific things which they have found to be agreeable ; liberty is nut the general idea of pleafurc, in doing whatever they will to do. Roufleau \ * Emilius, vol. i. page 23. A a dcfires. ■1 178 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. defires, that ive Jhould not let our pupil know that in doing our will he is obedient to us. But why ? Why fhould we not let a child know the truth ? If we attempt to conceal it, we (hall only get into endlels abfurdities aiid difficulties. Lord Kames tells us, that he was acquainted with a couple, who in the education of their family purfued as much as poffible Roufleau's plan. One evening, as the father was playing at chefs with a friend, one of his chil- dren, a boy of about four years old, took a piece from the board, and rail away to play with it. The father, whofe principles would not permit him to alTert his right to his own cheflman, began to bargain for his property with his fon. " Harry," faid he, " let " us have back the man, and there's an apple for you." The ap- ple was foon devoured, and the child returned to the chefs board, and kidnapped another chefTman. What this man's ranfom might be we are not yet informed ; but Lord Kames tells us, that the father was obliged to fufpend his game at chefs till his fon was led away to his fupper. Does it feem juft, that parents (hould be- come flaves to the liberties of their children ? If one fet of beings or another ftiould facrifice a portion of happinefs, furely, thofe who are the moft ufeful, and the mofl capable of increafing the knowledge and the pleafures of life, have fome claim to a preference ; and when the power is entirely in their own hands, it is moft pro- bable that they will defend their own interefts. We fliall not, like many who have fpoken of Roufleau, fteal from him after having abufed him ; his remarks upon the abfurd and tyrannical reftraints which are continually impofed upon children by the folly of nurfes and fervants, or by the imprudent anxiety of parents and precep- tors, are excellent ; whenever Roufleau is in the right, his elo- quence is irrefiflible. To OBEDIENCE. 179 To determine what degree of obedience it is jufl: to require from children, we muft always confider what degree of reafon they poflefs : whenever we can ufe reafon, we (hould never ufe force ; it is only whilft children are too young to comprehend reafon*, that we fliould exped from them implicit fubmiflion. The means which have been pointed out for teaching the habit of obedience, mull: not be depended upon for teaching any thing more than the mere habit. When children begin to reafon, they do not ad: merely from habit ; they will not be obedient at this age, unlefs their underftanding is convinced that it is for their advantage to be fo. Wherever we can explain the reafons for any of our requefts, we (hould now attempt it ; but whenever thefe cannot be fully ex- plained, it is better not to give a partial explanation ; it will be beft to fay fteadily, " You cannot underfland this now, you will *' perhaps underftand it fome time hence." Whenever we tell children, that we forbid them to do fuch and things for any par- ticular reafon, we muft take care that the reafon affigned is adequate, and that it will in all cafes hold good. For inftance, if we forbid a boy to eat unripe fruit becaiife it will make him illy and if afterwards the boy eat fome unripe goofeberries without feeling ill in confequence of his difobedience, he will doubt the truth of the perfon who prohibited unripe fruit ; he will rather truft his own partial experience than any aflertions. The idea of hurting his '^ health is a general idea, which he does not yet comprehend. It is more prudent to keep him out of the way of unripe goofeberries, ^/ than to hazard at once his obedience and his integrity. We need not expatiate farther ; the inftance we have given may be readily applied to all cafes in which children have it in their power to * Vol. i. page 59. A a 2 difobey .i8o PRACTICAL EDUCATION. difobey with immediate impunity, and, what is ftill more dangerous, with the certainty of obtaining immediate pleafure. The gra- tification of their fenfes, and the defire of bodily exercife, ought never to be urmeceffarily reftrained. Our pupils fhould diflinftly ■perceive, that we wifh to make them happy, and every inftance, in which they difcover that obedience has really made them happier, will be more in our favour, than all the le£lurcs we could preach. From the pad they will judge of the future ; children, who have for many years experienced, that their parents have exaded obe- dience only to fuch commands as proved to be ultimately wife and beneficial, will furely be difpofed from habit, from gratitude, and yet more from prudence, to confult their parents in all the material adions of their lives. We may obferve, that the fpirit of contradidlion, which fome- times breaks out in young people the moment they are able to a£t for themfelves, arifes frequently from flight caufes in their early education. Children, who have experienced, that fubmiflion to the will of others has conflantly made them unhappy, will necef- farily, by reafoning inverfely, imagine, that felicity confifts in follow- ing their own free will. The French poet Boileau was made very unhappy by neglect and reftraint during his education ; when he grew up, he never would agree with thofe who talked to him of the pleafures of childhood*. " Pent on," difoit ce poete amoureux de I'inde- pendance, " ne pas regarder comme un grand malheur le chagrin * Hiftoirc des Membres de I'Academie, par M. d'Alembert. Tome troineme, p. 24. *' continuel OBEDIENCE. i8i '* continuel et partlculier a cet age de ne jamais faire fa vo- •' lonter" It was in vain, continues his biographer, to boaft to him of the advantages of this happy conftraint, which faves youth from fo many follies. " What fignifies our knowing the value " of our chains when we have ftiaken them off, if we feel nothins: " but their weight whilft we wear them?" the galled poet ufed to reply. Nor did Boileau enjoy his freedom, though he thought with fuch horror of his flavery. He declared, that if he had it in his choice, either to be born again upon the hard conditions of again going through his childhood, or not to exift, he would rather not exift : but he was not happy during any period of his exigence ; he quarrelled with all the feafons of life ; " all feemed to him cqual- *' ly difagreeable ; youth, manhood, and old age, are each fubjed, *' he obferved, to impetuous paffions, to care, and to infirmities." Hence we may conclude, that the feverity of his education had not fucceeded in teaching him to fubmit philofophically to necef- fity, or yet in giving him much enjoyment from that liberty which he fo much coveted. Thus it too often happens, that an imaginary value is fet upon the exercife of the free will by thofe, who during their childhood have fuffered under injudicious reftric- tions. Sometimes the love of free will is fo uncontrollably ex- cited, even during childhood, that it breaks out, unfortunately, both for the pupils and the preceptors, in the formidable Ihape of ob- fliinacy. Of all the faults to which children are fubjeft, there is none which is more difficult to cure, or more eafy to prevent, than ob- ftinacy. As it is early obferved by thofe who are engaged in edu- cation, it is fometimes fuppofed to be inherent in the temper ; but, fo far from being naturally obflinate, infants (how thofe ftrong propcnfities j82 practical education. propenfities to fympathy and imitation, which prepare them for an oppofite charadler. The folly of the nurfe, however, makes an intemperate ufe of thefe happy propenfities. She perpetually tor- ments the child to exert himfelf for her amufement, all his fenfes and all his mufcles flie commands. He muft fee, hear, talk, or be filent, move or be ftill, when (he thinks proper ; and often with the defire of amufing her charge, or of fhewing him off to the company, (lie difgufts him with voluntary exertion. Before young children have completely acquired the ufe of their limbs, they cannot perform feats of activity or of dexterity at a moment's warn- ing. Their mufcles do not inllantaneoufly obey their will ; the efforts they make are painful to themfelves ; the awkwardnefs of their attempts is painful to others j the delay of the body is often njiflaken for the reluctance of the mind, and the impatient tutor pronounces the child to be obftinate, whilft all the time he may be doing his utmoft to obey. Inftead of growing angry with the helplefs child, it would be furely more wife to affift his feeble and inexperienced efforts. If we prefs him to make unfuccefsful at- tempts, we Ihall affociate pain both with voluntary exertion and with obedience. Little W (a boy of three years, old) was one day afked by his father to jump. The boy flood flock flill. Perhaps he did not know the meaning of the word jump. The father, inflead of preffing him farther, afked feveral other children who happened to be in the room to jump, and he jumped along with them ; all this was done playfully. The little boy looked on filently for a fhort time, and feemed much pleafed. " Papa jumps !" he ex- claimed. His brother L lifted him up two or three times ; and he then tried to jump, and fucceeded : from fympathy he learned the 6 OBEDIENCE. 183 the command of the mufcles which were necefTary to his jump- ing, and to his obedience. If this boy had been importuned, or forced to exert himfelf, he might have been thus taught obftinacy, merely from the imprudent impatience of the fpedlators. The re- luftance to flop when a child is once in motion, is often miftaken for obfiiinacy : when he is running, fmging, laughing, or talking, if you fuddenly command him to ftop, he cannot inftantly obey you. If we refledt upon our own minds, we may perceive, that we cannot without confiderable effort turn our thoughts fuddenly from any fubjedt on which we have been long intent. If we have been long in a carriage, the noife of the wheels founds in our ear, and we feem to be yet going on after the carriage has flopped. We do not pretend to found any accurate reafoning upon analogy, but we may obferve, that in the difficulty in which our minds are flopped or put in motion, there is fomething analogous to the vis Infita of body. W (three years old) had for fome minutes vociferated two or three words of a fong, till the noife could be no longer patiently endured ; his father called to him, and defnxd that he would not make fo much noife. W paufed for a moment, but then went on finging the fame words. His brother faid, Hufh ! W pauled for another fecond or two ; but then went on with his roundelay : in his countenance there was not the flighteft ap- pearance of ill-humour. One of his fifters put him upon a board which was lying on the floor, and which was a little unfteady; as he walked cautioufly along this board, his attention was occu- pied, and he forgot his fong. This inability fuddenly to defift from any occupation may eafily grow / r84 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. grow into obftinacy, becaufe the pain of checking themfelves will 'be great in children, and this pain will be aflbciated with the com- mands of thofe who govern them ; it is better to flop them by prefenting new objects to their attention, than by the ftimiilus of a peremptory voice. Children fhould never be accufed of ob- ftinacy ; the accufation cannot cure, but may fuperinduce the dif- eafe. If, unfortunately, they have been fuftered to contrail a dif- pofition to this fault, it may be cured by a little patience and good temper. We have mentioned how example and fympathy may be advantageoufly ufed ; praife and looks of affedlion, which natural- ly exprefs our feeling when children do right, encourage the flight- eft efforts to obey ; but we muft carefully avoid fhowing any triumph in our vidory over yielding flubbornnefs. *' Aye, I knew that you would do what we defired at laft, *' you might as well have done it at firft," is a common nurfery- maid's fpeech, which is well calculated to pique the pride of a half fubdued penitent. When children are made afhamed of fub- mifTion, they will become intrepid, probably unconquerable, re- bels. Neither rewards nor punifhments will then avail; the pupil per- ceives, that both the wit and the flrength of his mafter are fet in competition with his ; at the expence of a certain degree of pain he has the power to refift as long as he thinks proper, and there is fcarcely any degree of pain that a tutor dares to inflidl, which an obftinate hero is not able to endure ; with the fpirit of a martyr be fuftains reproaches and torture. \'^, at length, the mafter changes his tone, and tries to foften and win the child to his pur- pofe, his rewards are confidered as bribes : if the boy really thinks that OBEDIENCE. 185 that he is in the right to rebel, he muft yield his fenfe of honour to the force of temptation when he obeys. If he has formed no fuch idea of honour, he perhaps confiders the reward as the price of his fubmiflion ; and upon a future occafion he will know how- to raife that price by prolonging his fiiew of rcfiftance. Where the child has formed a falfe idea of honour, his obflinacy is only miftaken refolution ; we fhould addrefs ourfelves to his under- ftanding, and endeavour to convince him of his error. Where the underftanding is convinced, and the habit of oppofition ftill continues, we fhould carefully avoid calling his falfe aflbciations into a£lion ; we fliould not afk him to do any thing for which he has acquired an habitual averfion ; we fhould alter our manner of fpeaking to him, that neither the tones of our voice, the words, or the looks, which have been his cuftomary fignals for refiftance, may recal the fame feelings to his mind ; placed in new circum- flances, he may acquire new habits, and his old aflbciations will iu time be forsjotten. Sufficient time muft however be allowed ; we may judge when it is prudent to try him on any old dangerous fubjeds by many fymptoms : by obferving the degree of alacrity with which he obeys on indifferent occafions ; by obferving what degree of command he has acquired over himfelf in general; by obferving in what manner he judges of the conduct and temper of other children in fimilar circumftances ; by obferving whether the confcioufnefs of his former felf continues in full force. Children often completely forget what they have been. Where obflinacy arifes from principle, if we may ufe the expref- fion, it cannot be cured by the fame means which are taken to cure that fpecies of the difeafe which depends merely upon habit. B b The i86 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. The fame courage and fortitude which in one cafe we repro- bate, and try to conquer with all our might, in the other we ad- mire and extol. This (hould be pointed out to children, and if they adt from a love of glory, as foon as they perceive, they will follow that courfe which will fecure to theni the prize. Charles XII, whom the Turks, when incenfed by his dif- obedience to the grand feignior, called Demir-bafti, or head of iron y fhewed early fymptoms of this headflrong nature ; yet in his child- hood, if his preceptor* named but glory, any thing could be ob- tained from Charles. Charles had a great averfion to learning Latin, but when he was told that the kings of Poland and Den- mark underftood it, he began to ftudy it in good earneft. We do not mean to infer, that emulation with the kings of Poland and Denmark was the beft pofTible motive which Charles theTwelfth*s preceptor could have ufed, to make the young prince conquer his averfion to Latin ; but we would point out, that where the love of glory is conneded with obftinate temper, the paffion is more than a match for the temper. Let us but enlighten this love of glory, and we produce magnanimity in the place of obftinacy. Examples in converfation and in books of great charadlers, who have not been a(hamed to change their opinions, and to acknowledge that they have been miftaken, will probably make a great impreflion upon young people ; they will from thefe learn to admire candour, and will be taught that it is mean to perfifl: in the wrong. Exam- ples from books mufl: however be alfo uniformly fupported by examples in real life ; preceptors and parents mull pradife the vir- * Voltaire's Hifl. Charles XII, p. 13. tues OBEDIENCE. 187 tues which they preach. It Is faid, that the amiable Fenelon ac- quired the mod permanent influence over his pupil by the candour with which he always treated him. Fenelon did not think that he could leffen his dignity by confefiing himfelf in the wrong. Young people who have quick abilities, and 'who happen to live ■with thole who are inferior to them either in knowledge or in ca- pacity, arc apt to become pofitive and felf willed ; they meafure all the world by the individuals with whom they have meafured them- felves; and, as they have been convinced that they have been in the right in many cafes, they take it for granted that their judgment muft be always infallible. This difeafe may be eafily cured ; it is only neceflary to place the patient amongft his fuperiors in intel- ledl, his own experience will work his cure : he liked to follow his will, becaufe his judgment had taught him that he might trufl more fecurely to the taH. of his own underftanding, than to the dccifion of others; as foon as he difcovers more fenfe in the ar- guments of his companions he will liflen to them, and if he finds their reafon fuperior to his own, he will fubmit. A preceptor, who wilhes to gain afcendancy over a clever pofitive boy, muft reafoa with all poffible precifion, and muft always ftiew that he is willing to be decided by the ftrongeft arguments which can be produced. If he ever prophefies, he fets his judgment at ftakcj therefore he {hould not prophefy about matters of chance, but rather in affairs where he can calculate with certainty. If his prophecies are fre- quently accompliftied, his pupil's confidence in him will rapidly increafe; and if he defires that confidence to be permanent, he will not afFctS myftery, but he will honeftly explain the circumftanccs by which he formed his opinions. Young people who are -ac- cuftomcd to hear and to give reafotis for their opinions, will not B b 2 be i88 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. be violent and pofitive in aflertions ; they will not think that the truth of any aflertion can be manifefted by repeating over the fame words a thoufand times ; they will not afk how many people are of this or that opinion, but rather what arguments are produced on each fide. There is very little danger, that any people, whether young or old, fhould continue to be pofitive, who are in the habit of exercifing their reafoning faculty. It has been often obferved that extremely good humoured com- plaifant children, when they grow up, become ill tempered ; and young men who are generally liked in fociety as pleafant com- panions, become furly tyrannical maflers in their own families, pofitive about mere trifles, and anxious to fubjugate the ijuUls of aU who are anywife dependent upon them. This charadter has been nicely touched by De Boifly in his comedy called " Dehors trom- *' peurs." We mufl: obferve, that whilft young people are in company, and under the immediate influence of the excitements of novelty, numbers, and diflipation, it is fcarcely poffible to form a jufl: efti- mate of the goodnefs of their temper. Young men who are the moft ready to yield their inclinations to the humour of their com- panions, are not therefore to be confidered as of really compliant difpofitions ; the idle or indolent, who have no refources in their own minds, and no independent occupations, are vidlims to the yawning demon of Ennui the moment they are left in folitude. They confequently dread fo heartily to be left alone, that they readily give up a portion of their liberty to purchafe the plea- fures and mental fupport which fociety affords. When they give np their wilhes, and follow the lead of the company, they in fadt give OBEDIENCE. 189 give up but very little J their obje£l is amufement, and this obtain- ed, their time is facrificed without regret. On the contrary, thofe who are engaged in literary or profeflional purfuits fet a great value upon their time, and feel confiderable reluctance to part with it without fome adequate compenfation ; they muft con- fequently be lefs complaifant companions, and by the generality of fuperficial obfervers would be thought perhaps lefs complying in their tempers than the idle and diffipated. But when the idle man has paft the common feafon for diflipation, and is fettled in domeftic life, his fpirits flag from the want of his ufual excite- ments ; and, as he has noamufements in his own family to purchafe by the polite facrifice of his opinion or his will, he is not inclined to complaifance ; the pleafures of exercifing his free will becomes important in his eyes, he has few pleafures, and of thofe few he is tenacious. He has been accuflomed to fubmit to others in fociety, he is proud to be mafter at home ; he has few emotions, and the emotion caufed by the exertion of command becomes agreeable and necefliiry to him. Thus many of the fame caufes which make a young man a pleafant companion abroad, tend naturally to make him a tyrant at home. This perverfity and pofitivenefs of temper ultimately arife from the want of occupation, and from deficient energy of mind. We may guard againfl thefe evils by education ; when we fee a playful adive child, we have little fear of his tem- per. " Oh, he will certainly be good tempered, he is the moft " obedient complying creature in the world, he'll do any thing " you alk him." But let us cultivate his underftanding, and give him taftes which fliall occupy and intereft him agreeably through life, or elfe this fweet complying temper will not lait till he is thirty? An 190 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. An ill cured obftinacy of temper, when it breaks out after young people are arrived at years of difcretion, is terrible. Thofe who at- tempt to conquer obftinacy in children by bodily pain, or by fevere puniihments of any kind, often appear to fucceed, and to have en-r tirely eradicated, when they have merely fupprefled the difeafe for a time. As foon as the child that is intimidated by force or fear is relieved from reftraint, he will refume his former habits : he may change the mode of (hewing it, but the difpofition will continue the fame. It will appear in various parts of the conduct, as the limbs of the giant appeared unexpectedly at different periods, and in different parts of the Caftle-of Otranto. CHAPTER ( 191 ) CHAPTER VIII. ON TRUTH. It is not neceffary here to pronounce a panegyric upon truth ; its ufe and value is thoroughly underftood by all the world ; but we (hall endeavour to give fome pra6tical advice, which may be of fervice in educating children, not only to the love, but to the ha- bits, of integrity. Thefe are not always found, as they ought to be, infeparable. RoufTeau's eloquence, and Locke's reafoning, have fufficiently reprobated, and it is to be hoped have exploded, the fyftem of lec- turing children upon morality ; of giving them precepts and ge- neral maxims which they do not underftand, and which they can- not apply. We fhall not produce long quotations from books which are in every body's hands *. There is one particular in which Roufleau elpecially, and mofl: other authors who have writ- ten upon education, have given very dangerous counfel ; they have counfelled parents to teach truth by falfehood. The privilege of * We rfefer to Locke's Thoughts concerning Education, and Roufleau's Emi- lius, vol. i. ufing 192 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. uluiwcoutrivauce, and ingenious deceptions, has been uniformly re- ferved for preceptors ; and the pupils, by moral delufions, and the theatric efFedl of circumftances treacheroufly arranged, are to be duped, furprifed, and cheated, into virtue. The dialogue between the o-ardener and Emilius about the Maltefe melon feed is an in- ftance of this method of inftrudion. Honeft Robert, the gardener, in concert with the tutor, tells poor Emilius a feries of lies, prepares a f^arden, " choice Maltefe melon-feed," and " worthlefs beans," all to cheat the boy into juft notions of the rights of property, and the nature of exchange and barter. Part of the artificial courfe of experience in that excellent work on education, Adele and Theodore, is defedlive upon the fame principle. There fhould be no moral delufions ; no artificial cowv^c of experience ; no plots laid by parents to make out the truth; no lifiening fathers, mothers, or governeffes ; no pretended confi- dence, or perfidious friends ; in one word, no falfehood fhould be praflifed. That magic which cheats the fenfes, at the fame time confounds the underftanding. The fpells of Profpero, the flrange- nefTes of the Ifle, perplex and confound the fenfes and underftand- ino- of all who are fubjecled to his magic, till at length, worked by force of wonders into credulity, his captives declare that they will believe any thing; " that there are men dewlapt like bulls ;" and *' what elfe does want credit," fays the Duke Anthonio, " come *' to me, and I'll be fworn 'tis true." Children, whofe fimplicity has been praftifed upon by the fabling morality of their preceptors, begin by feeling fomething like the im- plicit credulity of Anthonio ; but the arts of the preceptors are quick- ly fufpefted by their fubjeds, aiid the charm is for ever reverfed. When TRUTH. 193 When once a child deteds you in falfchood, you lofe his confi- dence ; his increduhty will then be as extravagant as his former be- lief was gratuitous. It is in vain to exped', by the moft eloquent manifeftoes, or by the moft fecret leagues offenfive and defenfive, to conceal your real views, fentiments, and adlions, from children. Their intereft keeps their attention continually awake ; not a word, not a look, in which they are concerned, efcapes them ; they fee, hear, and combine, with fagacious rapidity ; if falfehood be in the wind, detedion hunts her to difcovery. Honefty is the befl: policy, mufl be the maxim in education, as well as in all the other affairs of life. We muft not only be exadl: in fpeaking truth to our pupils, but to every body elfe ; to acquaint- ance, to fervants, to friends, to enemies. It is not here meant to enter any overftrained protefl againfl the common phrafes and forms of politenefs ; the current coin may not be pure, but when once its alloy has been afcertained, and its value appreciated, there is no fraud, though there may be fome folly, in continuing to trade upon equal terms with our neighbours, with money of high nominal, and fcarcely any real, value. No fraud is committed by a gentle- man's faying that he is not at home, becaufe no deception is intend- ed; the words are filly, but they mean, and are underflood to mean, nothing more than that the perfon in queflion does not choofe to fee the vifltors who knock at his door. " I am, Sir, *' your obedient and humble fervant," at the end of a letter, does not mean that the perfon who figns the letter is a fervant, or humble, or obedient, but it fimply exprcfTes that he knows how- to conclude his letter according to the ufual form of civility. Change this abfurd phrafe, and welcome ; but do not let us, in the fpirit of Draco, make no diftin(5tion between errors and crimes. The C c foibles 194 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. foibles of fiHiion or folly are not to be treated with the detefta- tion due to hypocrify and falfehood ; if fmall faults are to incur fuch grievous punifliments, there can, indeed, be none found luf- ficiently fevere for great crimes ; great crimes, confequently, for want of adequate punifliment, will increafe, and the little faults, that have met with difproportionate perfecution, will become ami- able and innocent in the eyes of commiferating human nature. It is not difficult to explain to young people the real meaning, or ra- ther the nonfenfe, of a few complimentary phrafes ;. their integrity will not be increafed or diminifhed by either faying, or omitting to fiiv, " I am much obliged to you," or " I fliall be very happy to " fee you at dinner," &c. We do not mean to include in the harmlefs lift of compliments any exprellions which are meant to deceive ; the common cuflom of the country, and of the fociety in which we live, fufficiently regulates the ftyle of complimentary lano-uage, and there are few fo ignorant of the world as ferioufly to milimderfland this, or to miftake civility for friendfliip. There is a ftory told of a Chinefe mandarin, who paid a vifit to a friend at Paris, at the time when Paris was the feat of polite- nefs. His well-bred hofl, on the firfl: evening of his arrival, gave hirn a handfome fupper, lodged him. in the beft bedchamber, and when he wifhed him a good night, amongft other civil things, faid he hoped the mandarin would, during his flay at Paris, con- fider that houfe as his own. Early the next morning the polite Pa- rifian was wakened by the found of loud hammering in the man- darin's bedchamber ; on entering the room, he found the man- darin and fome mafons hard at work throwing down the walls of the houfe. " You rafcals, are you mad r" exclaimed the French- man to the mafons. " Not at all, my dear friend," faid the Chi- nefe TRUTH. 195 nefe man, foberly, "I fet the poor fellows to work, this room is " too fmall for my tafte ; you fee I have loft no time in availing " myfelf of your goodnefs. Did not you defire me to ufe this *' houfe as if it were my own, during my ftay at Paris ?" "A{^ *' furedly, my dear friend, and fo I hope you will," replied the French gentleman, " the only misfortune here is, that / did not *' underftand Chinefe, and that / had no interpreter." They found an interpreter, or a Chinefe didionary, and when the Parifiaii phrafe was properly tranflated, the mandarin, who was an honeft man, begged his polite hoft's pardon for having pulled down the partition. It was rebuilt j the mandarin learned French, and the two friends continued upon the beft terms poflible with each other during the remainder of the vifit. The Chefterfieldian fyftem of endeavouring to pleafe by dilTimu- lation, is obvioufly diftinguifhable by any common capacity from the ufual forms of civility. There is no hope of educating young people to a love of integrity in any family where this practice is adopted ; if children obferve that their parents deceive common acquaintance, by pretending to like the company, and to efteem the chara£lers, of thofe whom they really think difagreeable and contemptible, how can they learn to refpe£t truth ? how can chil- dren believe in the praife of their parents, if they detedl them in continual flattery towards indifferent people ? It may bethought, by latitudinarians in politenefs, that we are too rigid in expeding this ftridl adherence to truth from people who live in fociety ; it may be faid, that in Pradlical Education no fuch Utopian ideas of perfedlion ihould be fuggefted. If we thought them Utopian, we certainly (hould not waflc our time upon them ; but we do not here fpeak theoretically of what may be done, we fpeak of what C c 2 has 196 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. has been done. Without the afFeftation of ufing a more fanftified language than other people, without departing from the common forms of fociety, without any painful, awkward efforts, we believe that parents may, in all their converfation in private and in pub- lic, fet their children the uniform example of truth and in- tegrity. We do not mean that the example of parents can alone produce this eifedl ; a number of other circumftances muft be combined. Servants muft have no communication with children, if you with to teach them the habit of fpeaking truth. The education, and cuf- tom, and fituation of fervants, are at prefent fuch, that it is mo- rally impoffible to depend upon their veracity in their intercourfe with children. Servants think it good-natured to try to excufe and conceal all the little faults of children, to give them fecret indul- gences, and even pofitively to deny fads, in order to fave them from blame or punifhment. Even when they are not fond of the chil- dren, their example mull be dangerous, becaufe fervants do not icruple to falfify for their own advantage ; if they break any thing, what a multitude of equivocations ! if they negle(£l any thing, what a variety of excufes ! What evafions in adion, or in words, do they continually invent ! It may be fald, that as the Spartans taught their children to detefl: drunkennefs, by (hewing them intoxicated Helots, we can make falfehood odious and contemptible to our pupils, by the daily ex- ample of its mean deformity. But if children, before they can perceive the general advantage of integrity, and before they can underftand the utility of truth, fee the partial immediate fuc- cefs of falfehood, how can they avoid believing in their own expe- ,6 rience ? TRUTH. 197 rience ? If they fee that fervants efcape blame, and fkreen them- felves from punifliment, by telling falfehoods, they not only learn that falfehood preferves from pain, but they feel obliged to thofe who praftife it for their fakes; thus it is conne(£led with the feel- ings of affeftion and of gratitude in their hearts, as well as with a fenfe of pleafure and fafety. When fervants have exaded pro- mifes from thtiv proteges, thofe promifes cannot be broken with- out treachery ; thus deceit brings on deceit, and the ideas of truth and falfehood become confufed, and contradiftory. In the chapter upon fervants we have expatiated upon this fubjefl, and have en- deavoured to point out how all communication between children and fervants may be moft effedlually prevented. To that chapter, without further repetition, we refer. And now that we have ad- jufted the preliminaries concerning parents and fervants, we may proceed with confidence. When young children firft begin to fpeak, from not having a fufficient number of words to exprefs their ideas, or from not hav- ing annexed precife ideas to the words which they are taught to ufe, they frequently make miflakes, which are attributed to the defire of deceiving. We fhould not precipitately fufpecl them of falfehood ; it is fome time before they perfe(0;ly underftand what we mean by truth. Small deviations fliould not be marked with too much rigour ; but whenever a child relates exatlly any thing which he has feen, heard, or felt, we (hould liften with attention and pleafure, and we fliould not fhew the Icaft doubt of his vera- city. Rcufleiu is perfeftly right in advifing, that children fhould never be queftioned in any circumftances in which it can be their intereft to deceive. We 'hould, at Icafl, treat children with the fame degree of wife lenity, which the Englilh law extends to all wha 198 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. vho have arrived at years of difcretlon. No criminal is bound to accule himielf. If any mifchlef has been committed, we fhould never, when we are uncertain by whom it has been done, either diredtly accufe, or betray injurious fufpicions. We fliould neither lay to the child, " I believe you have done this," nor " I believe - *' vou have not done this ;" we fliould lay nothing ; the mifchief is done, we cannot repair.it : becaufe a glafs is broken, we need not fpoil a child ; we may put glailes out of his reach in future. If it (hould, however, happen, that a child voluntarily comes to us with a hiftory of an accident, may no love of goods or chattels, cf windows, of china, or even of looking- glafles, come in compe- tition with our love of truth ? An angry word, an angry look, may intimidate the child, who has fummoned all his little courage to make this confeffion. It is not requifite that parents fliould •pretend to be pleafed and gratified with the def]:ru(flion of their furniture, but they may, it is to be hoped, without difTimulation, fhew that they fet more value upon the integrity of their children, than upon a looking-glafs, and they will " keep their temper flill, *' though china fall." •J H , one day when his father and mother were abfent from home, broke a looking-glafs. As foon as he heard the found of the returning carriage, he ran and ported himfelf at the hall door. His father, the moment he got out of the carriage, beheld his ereft figure, and pale, but intrepid countenance. *' Father," faid the boy, " 1 have broke the beft looking-glafs in your houfe !" His father alTured him, that he would rather all the looking- glafles in his houfe fliould be broken, than that one of his children fliould at- tempt to make an excufe. H was mofl: agreeably relieved from his anxiety by the kindnefs of his father's voice and manner, and fliU TRUTH. ^99 ftlll more fo, perhaps, by perceiving that he rofe In his efteem. When the glals was examined, it appeared that the boy had neglected to produce all the clrcumftances in his own favour. Before he had begun to play at ball, he had had the precaution to turn the back of the looking-glafs towards him ; his ball, however, accidentally ftruck againfl the wooden back, and broke the glafs. H did not make out this favourable ftate of the cafe for himfelf at firft ; he told it limply after the bufmefs was fettled, feeming much more Inte- refted about the fate of the glafs, than eager to exculpate himfelf. V There is no great danger of teaching children to do mlfchlef by this indulgence to their accidental misfortunes. When they break, or wafte any thing, from pure careleffnefs, let them, even when they fpeak the truth about it, fuffer the natural confequences of their careleffnefs; but at the fame time praife their integrity, and let them dlftindtly feel the difference between the flight inconvenience to which they expofe themfelves by fpeaking the truth, and the great dlfgrace to which falfehood would fubje*ft them. The plea- fure of being efteemed, and trufted, is early felt, and the confci- oufnefs of deferving confluence is delightful to children ; but their young fortitude and courage fhould never be expofed to fevere temptations. It Is not fufficlent to excite an admiration of truth by example, by eloquent praife, or by thejuft rewards of eftcemand affedion ; we muft take care to form the habits at the fame time that we infpire the love of this virtue. Many children admire truth, and feel all the fliame of telling falfchoods, who yet, either from habit or from fear, continue to tell lies. We mufl obferve, that though the tafle for praife is flrong In childhood, yet it is not a match for any of the bodily appetites, when they are flrongly ex- cited. Thofe children, who are reftrained as to the choice, or the quantity. 200 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. quantity, of their food, ufually think that eating is a matter of vaft coiifequence, and they are ftrongly tempted to be difhoneft to gratify their appetites. Children do not underiland the prudential maxims concerning health, upon which thefe reftraints are found- ed ; and if they can " by any indiredion" obtain things which gratify their palate, they will. On the contrary, young people, who are regularly let to eat and drink as much as they pleale, can have no temptation from hunger and thirft to deceive ; if they par- take of the ufual family meals, and if there are no whimfical dit- tinitions between wholefome and unwholefome diOies, or epicurean diftindlions between rarities and plain food, the imagination and the pride of children will not be roufed about eating. Their pride is piqued if they perceive, that they are prohibited from touching whit grown up people are privileged to eat ; their imagina- tion is fet to work by feeing any extraordinary difference made by judges of eating between one fpecies of food and another. In fa- milies where a regularly good table is kept, children accuftomed to the fight and tafi:e of all kinds of food, are feldom delicate, ca- pricious, or difpofed to exceed ; but in houfes where entertain- ments are made from time to time with great buftle and anxiety,, fine clothes, and company-manners, and company-faces, and all that politenefs can do to give the appearance of feflivity, deceive children at leaft, and make them imagine that there is fome ex- traordinary joy in feeing a greater number of difhes than ufual upon the table. Upon thefe occafions, indeed, the pleafure is to them fubftantial ; they eat more, they eat a greater variety, and of things that pleafe them better than ufual ; the pleafure of eat- ing is affociated with unufual cheerfulnefs, and thus the imagina- tion, and the reality, confpire to make them epicures. To thefe children the temptations to deceive about fweetmeats and dainties are TRUTH. 201 are beyond meafure great, efpecially as ill-bred flraiigers com- monly fhew their affeftion for them by preffing them to cat what they are not allowed to fay " jfyoupkafc'' to. Rouffeau thinks all children are gluttons. All children may be rendered gluttons, but few, who are properly treated with refpecl to food, and who have any literary tafles, can be in danger of continuing to be fond of eating. We therefore, without hefitation, recommend it to pa- rents never to hazard the truth and honour of their pupils by pro- hibitions, which feldom produce any of the effefts that are ex- pedled. Children are fometimes injudicioufly reftrained with regard to exercife ; they are required to promife to keep within certain boun- daries when they are fent out to play ; thefe promifes are often broken with impunity, and thus the children learn habits of fuc- cefsful deceit. Inftead of circumfcribing their play grounds, as they are fometimes called, by narrow inconvenient limits, we fhould allow them as much fpace as we can with convenience, and at all events exadl no pioniifes. We fhould abfolutely make it impof- fiblc for them to go without detedtion into any place which we forbid. It requires fome patience and activity in preceptors to take all the neceflary precautions in ifluing orders, but thefe precautions will be more ufeful in preferving the integrity of their pupil?, than the moft fevere punifliments that can be devifed. We are not fo 'vuireafonable as to expect, with fome theoretic writers on educa- tion, that tutors and parents fhould facrifice the whole of their time to the convenience, amufement, and education of their pu- pils. This would be putting one fet of beings '■'■ fadly over the *' head of another C but if parents would, as much as poflible, mix their occupations and recreations with thofc of their children, be- D d fides 202 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. fides many other advantages which have been elfewhere pornted out with refped to the improvement of the underftanding, they would fecure them from many temptations to falfehood. They fhould be encouraged to talk freely of all their amufements to their parents, and to afk them for whatever they want to complete their little inventions. Inftead of banilhing all the freedom of wit and humour, by the auflerity of his prefence, a preceptor, with fuperior talents, and all the refources of property in his favour, might ea- fily become the arbiter deliciarum of his pupils. When young people begin to tafte the pleafures of praife, and to feel the ftrong excitations of emulation and ambition, their in- tegrity is expofed to a new fpecies of temptation. They are tempt- ed, not only by the hope of obtaining " well-earned praife," but by the defire to obtain praife v/ithout the labour of earning it. In large fchools, where boys afllft each other in their literary exercifes, and in all private families where mafters are allowed to fhew off the accomplishments of young gentlemen and ladies, there are fo many temptations to fraudulent exhibitions, that we defpair of guarding againfl their confequences. The bell: pofTible method is to in- fpire children with a generous contempt for flattery, and to teach them to judge impartially of their own merits. If we are exadl in the meafure of approbation which we beftow, they will hence form a fcale by which they can eflimate the fincerity of other people. It is faid * that the preceptor of the duke of Burgundy fucceeded fo well in infpiring him with difdaiii for unmerited praife, that when the duke was only nine years old, he one day called his tu- * V. The Life of the Duke of Burgundy in Madame de la File's agreeable and in- flrudive work for children, " Contes, Drames et Entretiens, &c.'* tor TRUTH. 203 tor to account for having concealed fome of his chilJini faults ; and when this promifing boy, and Angular prince, was alkcd " why he difliked one of his courtiers," he anfwered, ♦' Becaufe " he flatters me." Anecdotes fuch as thefe will make a ufeful im- preffion upon children. The life of Cyrus, in the Cyropaedia ; feveral paflages in Plutarcli's Lives; and the lively, intereftino- pic- ture which Sully draws of his noble-hearted mafter's love of truth willftrongly command the admiration of young people, if thev read them at a proper time of life. We muft, however, wait for this proper time ; for if thefe things are read too early, they lofe all their effedl. Without any leftures upon the beauty of truth, we may, now and then in converlation, when occurrences in real life naturally lead to the fubjedl, exprefs with energy our efteem for integrity. The approbation which we beftow upon thofe who o-ive proofs of integrity, fliould be quite in a different tone, in a much higherflyleofpraife,than any commendations fortriding accomplifti- mcnts; hence children will become moi'e ambitious to obtain a re- putation for truth, than for any other lefs honourable and lefs ho- noured qualification. We will venture to give two or three flight inftances of the un- affecled truth and fimplicity of mind, which we have feen in chil- dren educated upon thefe principles. No good-natured reader will fufpedt, that they are produced from oftentation : whenever the children, who are mentioned, fee tfiis in print, it is ten to one that they will not be furprifed at their own good deeds. They will be a little furprifed, probably, that it fliould have been thought worth while to record things, which are only what they fee and feel everyday. It is this charader of every-day goodnefs which we wifli to reprefent; not any fine thoughts, fine fcntiments, or fine D d 2 adions, 204 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. anions, which come out for holiday admiration. We wifh that parents, in reading any of thefe little anecdotes, may never ex- claim, " Oh that's charming, that's furprifing yor a c^7^;" but we vvifh that they may fometimes fmile, and fay, " That's very •' natural ; I am fure that is perfe(5lly true ; my little boy, or my " little girl, fay and do juft fuch things continually." I March 1792. We were at Clifton ; the river Avon ran clofe under the windows of our houfe in Prince's Place, and the children ufed to be much amuled with looking at the veffels which came up the river. One night a fliip, that was failing by the windows, fired fome of her guns ; the children, who were looking out of the windows, were alked '* why the light was ittxi when the guns " were fired; the noife was not heard?" C , who at this time was nine years old, anfwered, " Becaufe light comes quicker " to the eye, than found to the ear." Her father was extremely pleafed with this anfwer :' but juft as he was going to kifs her, the little girl faid, " Father, the reafon I knew it was, that L " (^her elder brother) juft before had told it to me." There is, it is ufually found, moft temptation for children to de- ceive when they are put in competition with each other, when their ambition is excited by the fame objed ; but if the tranfient glory of excelling in quicknefs, and abiUties of any fort, be much inferior to the permanent honour which is fecured by integrity, there is even in competition no danger of unfair play. March 1792. One evening called the children round the tea-table, and told them the following fl:ory, which he had juft met with in *' The Curiofities of Literature." When TRUTH. 205 When the queen of Sheba went to vifit king Solomon, fhe one day prefented herfelf before his throne with a wreath of real flowers in one hand, and a wreath of artificial flowers in the other hand; the artificial flowers were made fo exadly to refemble nature, that at the diftance at which they were held from Solomon it was fcarcely pofiible that his eye could diftingulfh any difference be- tween [i^them and the natural flowers ; or could he, at the dif- tance at which they were held from him, know them afunder by their fmell. " Which of thefe two wreaths," demanded the queen of Sheba, " is the work of nature ?" Solomon reflefted for fome minutes, and how did he difcover which was real ? S— (five years old) replied, " Perhaps he went out of the room •' \cTy Joftly, and if the woman fl;ood near the door, as he went *' near her, he might y^^ better,^* Father. But Solomon was not to move from his place. S . Then he might wait till the woman was tired of hold- ing them, and then perhaps flie might lay them down on the ta- ble, and then perhaps he mighty?^ better. Father. Well, C , what do you fay ? I think he might have looked at the ftalks, and have feen which looked fliff like wire, and which were bent down by the weight of the natural flowers. Father. Well, H ? H 2o6 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. H (ten years old). I think he might fend for a great pair of bellows, and blow, blow, till the real leaves dropped off. Father. But would it not have been fomewhat uncivil of So- lonnon to blow, blow, with his great pair of bellows, full in the queen of Sheba's face ? H (doubting). Yes, yes. Well, then he might have fent for a telefcope, or a magnifying glafs, and looked through it ; and then he could have feen which were the real flowers, and which were artificial. Father. Well, B , and what do you fay ? B (eleven years old). He might have waited till the queen moved the flowers, and then, if he liftened, he might hear the ruflling of the artificial ones. *o Father. S , have you any thing more to fay ? S repeated the fame thing that B had faid ; his atten- tion was diflipated by hearing the other children fpeak. During this paufe, whilft S was trying to collect his thoughts, Mrs. E whifpered to fomebody near her, and accidentally faid the word animals loud enough to be overheard. Father. Well, H , you look as if you had fomethin_g to fay? H . T R U T R 207 H . Father, I heard my mother fay fomething, and that made me think of the reft. Mrs. E ftiook hands with H , and praifed him for this inftance of integrity. H then faid that " he fuppofed Solo- " mon thought of fome animal which would feed upon flowers, *' and fent it to the two nofegays ; and then the animal would ftay " upon the real flowers." Father. What animal ? H . A fly. Father. Think again. H . A bee. Father. Yes, The ftory fays that Solomon, feeing fome bees hover about the window, ordered the window to be thrown open, and watched upon which wreath of flowers the bee fettled. Auguft I ft, 1796. S (nine years old), when he was read- ing in Ovid the fable of Perfeus and Andromeda, faid that he won- dered that Perleus fought with the monfter, he wondered that Perfeus did not turn him into ftone at once with his Gorgon ftiield. We believe that S fav/ that his father was pleafed with this obfervafion. A few days afterwards fomebody in the family re- collected Mr. E 's having faid, that when he was a boy he thought 2o8 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. thought Perfeus a fimpletou for not making ufe of the Gorgon's head to turn the monfter into ftone. Wc were not fure whether S had heard Mr. E fay this or not ; Mr. E alked him whether he recollefted to have heard any fuch thing. S anfwered, without hefitation, that he did remember it. When children have formed habits of fpeaking truth, and when we fee that thefe habits are grown quite eafy to them, we may ven- ture to queftion them about their thoughts and feelings ; this muft, however, be done with great caution, but without the appearance of anxiety or fufpicion. Children are alarmed if they fee that you are very anxious and impatient for their anlwer, they think that they hazard much by their reply ; they hefitate, and look eagerly in your face, to difcover by your countenance what they ought to think and feel, and what fort of anfwer you expeft. All who are governed by any fpecies of fear are difpofed to equivocation. Amongft the lower clafs of Irifli labourers, and under-tenants, a clafs of people who are much opprefTed, you can fcarcely meet with any man who will give you a dired: anfwer to the moft indifferent quertion ; their whole ingenuity, and they have a great deal of ingenuity, is upon the qui vive with you the inftant you begin to fpeak -, they either pretend not to hear, that they may gain time to think, whilft you repeat your queftion, or they reply to you vsith a frefh queftion, to draw out your remote meaning ; for they, judging by their own habits, always t{iink you have a remote meaning, and they never can believe that your words have no in- tention to enfnare : fimplicity puzzles them much more than wit. For inflance, if you v^-ere to afk the moil dire£t and harm- lefs queftion, as, *' Did it rain yefterday ?" the firft anfwer would probably be, " Is it yefterday you mean :" "Yes." "Yefterday! 6 ■ ** No, T R U T H. 209 No, pleafe your honour, I was not at the bog at all yefterday. Wasn't I after fettiiig my potatoes ? Sure I did not know your honour wanted me at all yefterday. Upon my confcience there's not a man in the country, let alone all Ireland, I'd fooner ferve than vour honour any day in the year, and they have belied me that went behind my back to tell your honour the contrary. If your honour fent after me, fure I never got the word, I'll take my affidavit, or I'd been at the bog." " My good friend, I don't know what you mean about the bog, I only aik you whether it rained yefterday." " Pleafe your honour, I couldn't get a car and horfe any way, to draw home my little ftraw, or I'd have had the houfe thatched long ago." " Cannot you give me a plain anfwer to this plain queftion ? Did it rain yefterday r" " Oh fure, I wouldn't go to tell your honour a lie about the matter. Sarrah much it rained yefterday after twelve o'clock, barring a few ftiowers ; but in the night there was a great fall of rain any how ; and that was the rea- fon prevented my going to Dublin yefterday, for fear the miftrefs's band-box fhould get wet upon my cars. But, pleafe your honour, if your honour's difpleafed about it, I'll not be waiting for a load- ing, I'll take my car and go to Dublin to-morrow for the flates, if that be what your honour means. Oh, fure I would not tell a lie for the entire price of the flates ; I know very well it didn't rain to call rain yefterday. But after twelve o'clock, I don't fay I no- ticed it one way or other." In this perverfe and ludicrous method of beating about the bufh, the man would pcrfift till he had fairly exhaulled your patience ; and all this he would do partly from cunning, and partly from that apprehenfion of injuftice which he has been taught to feel by hard experience. The efFedts of the example of their parents is early E c and 2IO PRACTICAL EDUCATION. and mod ftrikins;!/ vifible in the children of this clafs of people la Ireland. The children, who are remarkably quick and intelligent^ are univerfally addifted to lying : we do not here fcruple or he- fitate in the choice of our terms, becaufe we are convinced that this unqualified affertion would not fhock the feelings of the par- ties concerned ; thefe poor children are not brought up to think falfehood a difgrace ; they are praifed for the ingenuity with which they efcape from the crols examination of their fuperiors ; and their capacities are admired in proportion to the acutenefs, or, as their parents pronounce it, *cutenefs of their equivocating replies. Sometimes (the ^«;t-6«*) the little boy of the family is diipatch- ed by his mother to the landlord's neighbouring bog or turf rick, to bring home, in their phrafeology, in ours to fleal, a few turf: if upon this expedition the little Spartan be detected, he is tolerably- certain of being whipped by his mother, or Ibme of his friends, upon his return home. " Ah, ye little brat ! and what made ye " tell the gentleman when he met ye, ye rogue, that ye were ' going to the rick? And what bufinefs had ye to go and belie me to his honour, ye unnatural piece of goods ! I'll teach ye to make mifchief through the country ! So I will. Have ye got " no better fenle and manners at this time o'day, than to behave, *' when one trufts ye abroad, fo like an innocent ?" An innocent in Ireland, as formerly in England, (witnefs the Rape of the Lock) is fynonimous with a fool. " And fools and innocents (hall ftili " believe." The affociations of pleafure, of pride, and gaiety, are fo ftronc in the minds of thefe well educated children, that they fometimes * Pronounced goflbon. 6 exped 5 t< TRUTH. 211 expect the very people, who fufFer by their difhonefty, fhould fym- pathile in the lelf-complaccncy they feel from roguerv. A gen- tleman riding near his own houfe in Ireland, faw a cow's head and fore feet appear at the top of a ditch through a gap in the hedge by the road's fide, at the fame time he heard a voice alternately threat- ening and encouraging the cow : the gentleman rode up clofer to thefcene ofadtion, and he faw a boy's head appear behind the cow. *• My good boy," faid he, " that's a fine cow." " Oh, faith, that fhe *' is," replied the boy, " and I'm teaching her to get her own living, *' pleafe your honour." The gentleman did not precifely underftand the meaning of the expreffion, and had he direftly alked for an ex- planation, would probably have died in ignorance ; but the boy, proud of his cow, encouraged an exhibition of her talents : fhe was made to jump acrofs the ditch feveral times, and this adroitnefs in breaking through fences was termed " getting her own living." As foon as a cow's education is finifhed flie may lie fent loofe into the world to provide for herfelf ; turned to graze in the poorefl paflure, flic will be able and willing to live upon the fat of the land. It is curious to obferve how regularly the fame moral caufes produce the fame temper and charafler ; we talk of climate, and frequently attribute to climate the different difpofitions of different nations: the climate of Ireland, and that of the Weft Indies, are not precifely fimilar, yet the following defcription, which Mr. Ed- wards, in his hiftory of the Weft Indies, gives of the propenfity to falfehood amongft the negro flaves, might ftand word for word for a chara£ler of that clafs of the Irifli people who, till \txy lately, aiflually, not metaphorically, called themfelves paves, E e 2 "If 212 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. *' If a neo-ro is aiked even an indifferent queftion by his mafter, *' he Icldom gives an immediate reply ; but affeding not to un- " derftand what is faid, compels a repetition of the quertion, that " he may have time to confider, not what h the true anfwer, but *' what is the moft politic one for him to give.'* Mr. Edwards affures us, that many of thefe unfortunate negroes learn cowardice and falfehood after they become flives ; when they firft come from Africa many of them fnew * " a frank and fear- " lefs temper ;" but all diftindlion of charadler amongft the native Africans is foon lofl under the levelling influence of flavery. Op- preflion and terror neccffarily produce meannefs and deceit in all climates, and in all ages ; and wherever fear is the governing mo- tive in education, we muft expe(£t to find in children a propenfity to diffimulation, if not confirmed habits of falfehood. Look at the true born Briton under the government of a tyrannical pedagogue, and lifteu to the language oi inborn truth ; in the whining tone, in the pitiful evafions, in the ftubborn falfehoods which you hear from the fchoolboy, can you difcover any of that innate dignity of foul which is the boafted national charafteriftic ? Look again ; look at the fame boy in the company of thofe who infpire no terror ; in the company of his fchoolfellows, of his friends, of his parents ; would you know him to be the fame being ? his coun- tenance is open, his attitude ere£l, his voice firm, his language free and fluent, his thoughts are upon his lips, he fpeaks truth without effort, without fear. Where individuals are opprefled, or where they believe that they are oppreffed, they combine againft * Edwards's Hiftory Weft Indies, vol. ii. their TRUTH. 213 their oppreflbrs, and oppofe cunning and fairehood to power and force; they think, themfelves releafed from the compaft of truth with their mafters, and bind themlelves in a ftri£t league with each other ; thus fchoolboys hold no faith with their fchoolmafter, though they would think it ftiameful to be dishonourable amongfi: one another. We do not think that thefe maxims are the peculiar growth of fchools ; in private families the fame feelings are to be found under the fame (pecies of culture : if preceptors or parents are unjuft or tyrannical, their pupils will contrive to conceal fromi them their actions and their thoughts. On the contrary, in fami~ lies where fincerity has been encouraged by the voice of praife and affedtion, a generous freedom of converfation and countenance ap- pears, and the young people talk to each other, and to their pa- rents, without diftinftion or referve ; without any diflindlion but fuch as fuperior efteem and refpedl diftate : thefe are feelings to- tally diftindl from lervile fear, thefe feelings infpire the love of truth, the ambition to acquire and to preferve charadler. The value of a charader for truth (hould be diflinftly felt, by- children in their own family : whilfl: they were very young we advifed that their integrity fhould not be tempted; as they grow ■up truft (hould by degrees be put in them, and we fhould diltinftly explain to them that our confidence is to be de- ferved before it can be given : our belief in any perfon's truth is not a matter of affection, but of experience and neceffity ; we cannot doubt the afl'ertions of any perfon whom we have found to fpeak uniformly the truth ; we cannot believe any peribn, let uS' wifti to do it ever fo much, if we have dete£led him in falfehoods. Before we have had experience of a perfon's integrity, we may hope, or take it for granted, that he is perfe6lly fincere and honeft: j but we cannot feel more than belief upon truji^ till we have adually leeu 214 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. -feen his integrity tried. We fhould not pretend that we have faith in our pupils before we have tried them ; we may hope from their habits, from the examples they have feen, and from the ad- vantageous manner in which truth has always been reprefented to them, that they will aft honourably ; this hope is natural and jufi:, but confidence is another feeling of the mind. The firft time v/e truft a child, we fhould not fay, " I am fure you will not deceive me ; I can truft you with any thing in the world." This is flattery or folly ; it is paying beforehand, which is not the way to get bu- finefs done; why cannot we, efpecially as we are teaching truth, fay the thing that is. *' I hope you will not deceive me. If I find *' that you may be trufted, you know I fhall be able to truft you " another time : this muft depend upon you, not entirely upoa *' me." We muft make ourfelves certain upon thefe occafions, how the child conducts himfelf ; nor is it neceflliry to ufe any ar- tifice, or to affeft from falfe delicacy any fecurity that we do not feel ; it is better openly to fay, " You fee, I do you the juftice to *' examine carefully, how you have conduced yourfelf ; I wifh to " be able to truft you another time." It may be faid, that this method of ftrict inquiry reduces a truft to no truft at all, and that it betrays fufpicion. If you ex- amine evidently with the belief that a child has deceived you, cer- tainly you betray injurious fufpicion, and you educate the child very ill) but if you feel and exprefs a ftrong defire to find that your pupil has conduced himfelf honourably, he will be glad and proud of the ftrifteft fcrutiny ; he will feel that he has earned your future confidence, and this confidence, which he clearly knows how he has obtained, will be more valuable to him than all the belief upon truft which you could aifedl to feel. By degrees, after your pupil has TRUTH. alp- has taught you to depend upon him, your confidence will prevent the neceility of any examination into his condii6l. This is the jufl: and delightful reward of integrity ; children know how to feel and underftand it thoroughly ; befides the many reftraints from which our confidence will naturally relieve them, thry feel the pride of being trufted, the honour of having a charafter for integrity : nor can it be too ftrongly impreffed upon their minds, that this cha- rader mufl be prelerved, as it was obtained, by their own conduit. If one link in the chain of confidence be broken, the whole is de-> ftroyed. Indeed, where habits of truth are early formed, we may fafely depend upon them ; a young pcrfon who has never deceived would fee, that the firft ftep in fallchood cofts too much to be ha- zarded. Let this appear in the form of calculation rather than of fentiment : to habit, to enfhufialm, we owe much of all our virtues, to reafon more ; and the more of them we owe to reafon the better : habit and enthufiafm are fubjeil to fudden or gradual changes, but reafon continues for ever the fame. As the under- {landing unfolds we flio'uld fortify all our pupil's good habits, and virtuous enthufiafm, by the convidtion of their utility, of their being eflential to the happuiefs of lociety in general, and conducive im- mediately to the happinefs of every individual : pofleffed of this convidlion, and provided with fubftantial arguments in its fupport, young people will not be expofed to danger, either from ibphiftry or ridicule. Ridicule certainly is not the teft of truth; but it is a tefl: which truth lometimes find it difficult to ftand. Vice never " bolts her ** arguments" with more fuccefs, than when (he alTumes the air of raillery, and the tone of gaiety. All vivacious young people are fond of wit ; we do not mean children, for they do not underftand it; 2j6 practical education. it ; thofe who have the beft capacities, and the flriclefl: habits of veracity, often appear to common obfervers abfoiutely flupid, from their averfion to any play upon words, and from the literal fimpUcity with which they believe every thing that is aflerted. A remarkably intelligent little girl of four years old, but who had never in her own family been ufed to the common phrafes which fometimes pafs for humour, happened to hear a gentleman fay, as he looked out of the window one rainy morning, " It rains cats *' and dogs to day:" the child with a furprifed, but believing look, immediately went to look out of the window to fee the. phaenomenon. This extreme fimplicity in childhood is fome- times fucceeded in youth by a flrong tafte for wit and humour : young people are, in the firft place, proud to (hew that they under- fland them, and they are gratified by the perception of a new in- telle(£lual pleafure. At this period of their education great atten- tion muft be paid to them, leil: their admiration for wit and frolic Ihould diminifh their reverence and their love for fober truth. In many engaging charadlers in fociety, and in many entertaining books, deceit and diflionefly are aflbciated with fuperior abilities, with eafe and gaiety of manners, and with a certain air of frank careleflhefs which can fcarcely fail to pleafe. Gil Bias *, Tom Jones, Lovelace, Count F'athom, are all of this clafs of charaders; they fhould not be introduced to our pupils till their habits of in- tegrity are thoroughly formed, and till they are fufficiently fkilfu in analyfing their own feelings, to diftinguifh whence their approbation and pleafure in reading of thefe characters arife. In books we do not adually fufFer by the tricks of rogues, or by the lies they tell ; hence their truth is to us a quality of no value f * See Mrs. Macaulay's Letters on Education. bu TRUTH. 217 but their wit, humour, and the ingenuity of their contrivances, are of great value to us, becaufe they afford us entertainment : the mofl: honeft man in the univerfe may not have had half fo many adventures as the greateft rogue ; in a romance, the hiftory upon oath of all the honeft man's bargains and fales, lavvfuits and lofles, nay, even a complete view of his ledger, and day-book, together with the regular balancings of his accounts, would probably not af- ford quite fo much entertainment, even to a reader of the moft ua- blemifhed integrity and phlegmatic temper, as the adventures of Gil Bias, and Jonathan Wild, adorned with all the wit of Le Sage, and humour of Fielding. When Gil Bias lays open his whole heart to us, and tells us all his fins, unwhipt of juftice, we give him credit for making u^ his confidant, and we forget that this fincerity, and thefe liberal confeflions are not charadteriftic of the hero's dif- pofition, but eflential only to the novel. The novel writer could not tell us all he had to fay without this dying confeflion, and in- confiftent opennefs from his accompliftied villain ; the reader is rcadv enough to forgive, having never been duped. When young people can make all thefe refle<£tions for themfelves, they may read <;il Bias with as much fafety as the life of Franklin, or any other the moft moral performance. *' Tout eft fain aux fains *," as Madame do Sevigne very judicioufly obferves in one of her letters upon the choice of books for her grand-daughter. We refer for more detailed obfervations upon this fubjedl to the chapter upon liooks. But we cannot help here reiterating our advice to precep- tors, not to force the deteftable characters, which are fometimes held up to admiration in ancient and modern hiftory, upon the * Every thing is healthful to tlic licakhy. F f common 2i8 PRx^CTICAL EDUCATION". common fenfe, or, if they pleafe, the moral feeVingsof their pupils. The bad aftions of great charaders fliould not be palUated by elo- quence, and fraud and villany fliould never be explained away by the hero's or warrior's code ; a code which confounds all juft ideas of right and wrong. Boys, in reading thr-. clalfics, rauft read of a variety of crimes, but that is no reafon that they fliould approve of them, or that their tutors fliould undertake to vindicate the caufe of falfehood and treachery. A gentleman, who has taught his fons Latin, has uniformly purlued the pra(5lice of abandoning to thejuft and prompt indignation of his young pupils all the ancient heroes who are deficient in moral honefty : his Ions, in readijig Cornelius Nepos, could not abfolutely comprehend, that the treachery of Themiftocles or of Alcibiades could be applauded by a wife and poliflied nation, Xenophon has made an eloquent attempt to ex- plain the nature of military good faith ; Cambyfes tells his Ion, that, in taking advantage of an enemy, a man rauft be " crafty, deceit- *' ful, a diflembler, a thief, and a robber." Oh Jupiter ! exclaims the young Cyrus, what a man, my father, you fay I muft be! And he very fenfibly alks his father, why, if it be necefTary in fome cafes to enfnare and deceive men, he had not in his child- hood been taught by his preceptors the art of doing harm to his fellow-creatures, as well as of doing them good. " And why," fays Cyrus, " have I always been puniflied whenever I have been dif- " covered in pradiling deceit ?" The anfwers of Cambyfes are by no means fatisfaiftory upon this fubjed : nor do we think that the converfation between the old general and Mr. Williams* could * See Mr. Williams's Ledtures on Education, where Xenophon is quoted, page 1 6, Sec. vol. ii. — alfo p. 31. have TRUTH. ig have made the matter perfedlly intelligible to the young gentleman, whofe fciupulous integrity made him objedl to the military pro- feffiou. It is certain, that many perfons of ftrift honour and honefty in fome points, on others are utterly inconfiftent in their principles : thus it is faid, that private integrity and public corruption fre- quently meet in the fame character ; thus fome gentlemen are jockies, and they have a convenient latitude of confcience as joc- kies, whilft they would not for the univerfe cheat a man of a gui- nea in any way but in the fale of a horfe : others in gambling, others in love, others in war, think all ftratagems fair. We endea- vour to think that thefe are all honourable men ; but we hope, that we are not obliged to lay down rules for the formation of fuch moral prodigies in a fyftem of praftical education. We are aware that with children *, who are educated at public fchools, truth and integrity cannot be taught precifely in the fame manner as in private families; becaufe u (hers and fchoolmafters cannot pay the fame hourly attention to each of their pupils, nor liave they the command of all the neceflary circumftances. There are, however, fome advantages attending the early commerce which numbers of children at public feminaries have with each other ; they find that no i'ociety can fubfifl without truth ; they feel the utility of this virtue, and, however they may deal with their maf- ters, they learn to fpeak truth towards each other. This partial ipecies ot honefty, or rather of honour, is not the very beft of its kind, but it may eafily be improved into a more rational principle of * Vide Williams. F f 2 a«£lioii. 220 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. sidlion. It is illiberal to affert, that any virtue is to be taught only by one procefs of education: many different methods of educa- tion may produce the fame etFedis. Men of integrity and honour have been formed both by private and public education ; neither fyfl:em (hould be exclufively lupported by thofe, who really wifh well to the improvement of mankind. All the errors of each fyftem fliould be impartially pointed out, and fuch remedies as may moft ealily be adopted with any hope of fuccefs fhould be pro- pofed. We think, that if parents paid fufficient attention to the habits of their children, from the age of three to feven years old, they would be properly prepared for public education ; they would not then brhig with them to public fchools all that they have learned of vice and falfehood in the company of fervants*. We have purpofely repeated all this in hopes of impreffing it ftrongly. May we fuggeft to the mafters of thefe important feminaries, that Greek and Latin, and all the elegance of claffical literature, are matters but of fecondary coufequence compared with thofe habits of truth, which are effential to the charafter and happinefs of their pupils ? By rewarding the moral virtues more highly than the mere difplay of talents, a generous emulation to excel in thefe virtues may with certainty be excited. Many preceptors and parents will readily agree, that Bacon, in his " general diftribution of human knowledge," was perfedly right not to omit that branch of philofophy, which his lordrtiip terms " The doBr'ine of r'lfing in the world.''' To this art integri- ty at length becomes neceffary; for talents, whether for bufinefs or for oratory, are now become fo cheap, that they caimot alone en- "* V. Servants and " Public and Private Education." fure TRUTH. 221 Aire preeminence to their poffeflbrs. The public opinion, which in England beftovvs celebrity, and neceflarily leads to honour, is intimately conneded with the public contidence. Public con- fidence is not the fame thing as popularity j the one may be won, the other muft be earned. There is amongft all parties, who at prefent aim at political power, an unfiuisfied demand for honeft men. Thofe who fpeculate in this line for their children, will do wifely to keep this fail in their remembrance during their whole education. We have delayed, from a full confcioufnefs of the difficulty of the undertaking, to fpeak of the method of curing either the habits or the propenfity to falfehood. Phyficians, for mental as well as bodily dileafes, can give long hiflories of maladies ; but are fur- pnfingly concife when they come to treat of the method of cure. With patients of different ages, and different temperaments, to fpeak with due medical folemnity, we fliould advife different re- medies. With young children we fhould be moft anxious ta break the habits; with children at a more advanced period of their education, we fhould be moft careful to redlify the principles. Children, before they reafon, a6l merely from habit, and without having acquired command over themfelves, they have no power to break their own habits ; but when young people reflect, and de- liberate, their principles are of much more importance than their habits, becaufe their principles, in facft, in moil: cafes govern their habits ; it is in conlequmce of their deliberations and refledions that they aft, and before we can change their way of acting, we muft change their way of thinking. To break habits of falfehood in young children, let us begin by 322 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. by removing the temptation, whatever it may be. For inflancc, if the child has the habit of denying that he has feen, heard, or done things which he has feen, heard, and done, we muft not, upon any account, either queflion about any of thefe particulars, but we fhould forbear to give him any pleafure which he might hope to obtain by our faith in his afl'ertions. Without eiTtering into any explanations, we fliould abfolutely * difregard what he fays, and with looks of cool contempt turn away without liftening to his fal- fities. A total change of occupations, new objedls, elpecially fuch as excite and employ the fenfes, will be found highly advantage- ous. Sudden pleafure, from flrong expreffions of afFeiliori, or elo- quent praife, whenever the child fpeaks truth, will operate power- fully tn breaking his habits of equivocation. We do notadvife pa- rents to try fudden pain with children at this early age, neither do we advife bodily corredlion, or lading penitences^ meant to excite Ihame, becaufe thefe deprefs and enfeeble the mind, and a pro- penfity to falfehood ultimately arifes from weaknefs and timidity. Strengthen the body and mind by all means ; try to give the pupils command over themfelves upon occafions where they have no op- portunities of deceiving : the fame command of mind and courage, proceeding from the confcioufnefs of ftrength and fortitude, may, when once acquired, be exerted in any manner we diredl. A boy who tells a falfehood to avoid lome trifling pain, or to procure fome trifling gratification, would perhaps dare to fpeak the truth, if he were certain that he could bear the pain, or do without the grati- fication. Without talking to him about truth or falfehood, we Ihould begin by exercifing him in the art of bearing and forbear- ing. The flighted trials are befl: for beginners, fuch as, their forti- tude can bear, for fuccefs is neceflfary to increafe their courage. * Rouffeau and Williams. Madame TRUTH. 223 Madame de Geulis, in her Adeleand Theodore, gives Theodore, 1 when he is about feven years old, a box of fugar-plums to take care of, to teach him to command his paflijns. Theodore produces the untouched treafure to his mother, from time to time, with great felf-complacency. We think this a good pradical leffon. Some years ago the experiment was tried, with complete fuccefs, upon a little boy between five and fix years old. This boy kept ralfins and almonds in a little box in his pocket, day after day, with- out ever thinking of touching them. His only difficulty was to remember at the appointed time, at the week's end, to produce them ; the raifins were regularly counted from time to time, and were, when found to be right, fometimes given to the child, but not always. When for feveral weeks the boy had faithfully exe- cuted his truft, the time was extended for which he was to keep the raifins, and every body in the family exprefled that they were now certain, before they counted the raifins, that they fhould find the number exa6l. This confidence, which was not pretended confidence, pleafed the child, but the reft he confidered as a mat- ter of courfe. We think fuch little trials as thefe might be made with children of five or fix years old, to give them early habits of exaclnefs. The boy we have juft mentioned has grown up with a more unblemiflied reputation for truth, than any child with whom •we were ever acquainted. This is the fame boy who broke the looking-glafs, page 198. When a patient far advanced in his childhood is yet to be cured of a propenfity to deceive, the bufinefs becomes formidable. It is dangerous to fet our vigilance in dired oppofition to his cunning, and it is yet more dangerous to truft, and give him opportunities of frefh deceit. If the pupil's temper is timid, fear has probably been 224 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. been his chief inducement to diffimuktion. If his temper is fan- t^uine, hope and fuccefs, and perhaps the pleafure of inventing fchemes, or of outwitting his fuperiors, have beeti his motives. Iii one cafe we fhould prove to the patient, that he has nothing to fear from fpeaking the truth to us ; in the other cafe we (hould demon- ftrate to him, that he has nothing to hope from telhng us falfehoods. Thofe who are pleafed with the ingenuity of cunning, fhould have opportunities of fhewing their ingenuity in honourable employ- ments, and the higheft praife fhould be given to their fuccefsful abilities whenever they are thus exerted. They will compare their feelings when they are the objefts of efteem, and of contempt, and theyiwill be led permanently to purfue what moft tends to their happinefs. We fhould never deprive them of the hope of eflablifli- ing a charafter for integrity ; on the contrary, we fhould explain difliiiflly to them, that this is abfolutely in their own power. Ex- amples from real life will ftrike the mind of a young perfon jufl -entering into the world, much more than any fidlitious charaflers, or moral flories ; and ftrong indignation, exprefled incidentally, will have more efFeft than any lectures prepared for the purpofe. We do not mean, that any artifice fhould be ufed to make our lefTons imprefTive ; but there is no artifice in feizing opportunities, which mufl occur in real life, to exemplify the advantages of a good cha- radler. The opinions which young people hear exprefTed of ac- tions in which they have no fliare, and of chara(5lers with whom they are not connected, make a great impreffion upon them. The horror which is fhewn to falfehood, the fhame which over- whelms the culprit, they have then leifure to contemplate ; they lee the effefts of the florm at a diflance; they dread to be expofed to its violence, and they will prepare for their own fecurity. When any fuch ftrong impreflion has been made upon the mind, we fhould " feize TRUTH. 225 feize that moment to conneft new principles with new habits of aftion : we fhould try the pupil in fome fituation in which he has never been tried before, and where he confequently may feel hope of obtaining reputation, if he deferves it, by integrity. All re- proaches upon his former condu6l fliould now be forborn, and he fliould be allowed to feel, in full fecurity, the pleafures, and the honours, of his new character. We cannot better conclude a chapter upon Truth, than by ho- neftly referring the reader to a charming piece of eloquence, with which Mr. Godwin concludes his effiy upon Deception and Frank- nefs *. We are fenfible how much we fhall lofe by the compari- fon : we had written this chapter before we faw his eflay. V. The Enquirer, p. ioi» G g CHAPTER ( 227 ) CHAPTER IX. ON REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. To avoid, in education, all unnecefTary feverity, and all danger- ous indulgence, we mufl: form juft ideas of the nature and ufe of rewards and punifliments. Let us begin with confidering the na- ture of punirtiment, fince it is bed to get the moft dilagreeable part of our bufinefs done the firft. Several benevolent and enlightened authors * have endeavoured to explain the ufe of penal laws, and to correft the ideas which for- merly prevailed concerning public juftice. Punidiment is no longer confidered, except by the ignorant and fanguinary, as vengeance from the injured, or expiation from the guilty. We now diftindly underftand, that the greateft poflible happinels of the whole fociety muft be the ultimate objed of all juft Icgiflation ; that the partial evil of punifhment is coiifequently to be tolerated by the wife and humane le^iflator, only fo far as it is proved to be neceflary for the general good. When a crime has been committed, it cannot be undone by all the art, or all the power of man ; by vengeance the * Beccaria, Voltaire, Blackftone, &c, G g 2 moft 228 PRACTICx^L EDUCATION. moft fanguinary, or remorfe the mofl: painful. The paft is irre- vocable ; all that remains is to provide for the future. It would be abfurd, after an offence has already been committed, to increafe the fum of mifery in the world by infliding pain upon the offender, •unlefs that pain were afterwards to be productive of happinefs to focietv, either by preventing the criminal from repeating his of- fence, or by deterring others from fimilar enormities. With this •double view, of reftraining individuals, by the recollecftion of pafl: fuf- ferings, from future crimes, and of teaching others, by public ex- amples, to expe<5l, and to fear, certain evils as the necellary con- fequences of certain actions hurtful to fociety, all wife laws are fram.ed, and all juft punifhments are inflifted. It is only by the convidlion that certain punifhments are efTential to the general fe- curity and happinefs, that a perfon of humanity can, or ought, to fortify his mind againfl the natural feelings of compaflion. Thefe feelings are the moft painful, and the moft difficult to refift, when, as it fometimes unavoidably happens, public juftice requires the total facrifice of the happinefs, liberty, or perhaps the life, of a fel- low-creature, whofe ignorance precluded him from virtue, and whofe negle6led or depraved education prepared him, by inevitable degrees, for vice and all its miferies. How exquifitely painful muft be the feelings of a humane judge in pronouncing fentence upon fuch a devoted being! Rut the law permits of no refined metaphyseal difquifitions : it would be vain to plead the necefli- tarian's dodrine of an unavoidable connexion between the paft and the future, in all human ad^ions; the fame necefTity compels the punifliment, that compelled the crime j nor could, nor ought, the mofl eloquent advocate, in a court of juftice, to obtain a criminal's acquittal by entering into a minute hiftory of the errors of his edu- cation. It REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 229 It is the bufuiefs of education to prevent crimes, and to prevent all thofe habitual propenfities which neceflarily lead to their com- miflion. The legiflator can confider only the large interefts of fo- ciety, the preceptor's view is fixed upon the individual interefts of his pupil. Fortunately both muft ultimately agree. To fecure for his pupil the greateft pofiible quantity of happinefs, taking ia the whole of life, muft be the wifh of the preceptor : this includes every thing. We immediately perceive the connexion between that happinefs, and obedience to all the laws on which the prof- perity of lociety depends. We yet further perceive, that the pro- bability of our pupil's yielding not only an implicit, but an habitual, rational, voluntary, happy obedience, to fuch laws, muft arife from the connexion which be believes, and feels that there exifts, be- tween his focial duties and his focial happinefs. How to induce this important belief is the queftion. It is obvious, that we cannot explain to the comprehenfion of a child of three or four years old all the truths of morality ; or can we demonftrate to him the juftice of punlfhments, by (hewing him that we give prefent pain to enfure future advantage. But though we can- not demonftrate to the child that we are jull, we may fiitisfy our- felves upon this fubjedl, and we may condudl ourfelves during his non-age of underflanding with the Icrupulous integrity of a guar- dian. Before we can govern by reafon, we can, by aflbciating pain or pleafure with certain adlions, give habits, and thefe habits will be either beneficial or hurtful to the pupil : we muft, if they be hurtful habits, conquer them by frefli puniftiments, and thus we make the helplefs child fuffer for our negligence and miftakes. Formerly in Scotland there exifted a law, which obliged every far- rier, who through ignorance or drunkennefs pricked a horfe's foot ia 230 PRACTICAL EDUCATION". in (hoeing him, to depofit the price of the horfe till he was found, to furnifh the owner with another, and in cafe the horfe could not be cured, the farrier was doomed to indemnify the injured owner. At the fame rate of punifhment, what indemnification ftiould be demanded from a carelefs or ignorant preceptor ? When a young child puts his finger too near the fire, he burns himfelf ; the pain immediately foUovvs the a£lion, they are aflbci- ated together in the child's memory ; if he repeat the experiment often, and conftantly with the fame refult, the aflbciation will be fa ftrongly formed, that the child will ever afterwards expert thefe two things to happen together : whenever he puts his finger into fire, he will expe£t to feel pain ; he will yet further, as thefe things regularly follow one another, learn to think one the caufe, and the other the efFedt. He may not have words to exprefs thefe ideas ; or can we explain how the belief that events, which have happened together, will again happen together, is by experience in- duced in the mind. This is a fadt, which no metaphyficians pre- tend to difpute, but it has not yet, that we know of, been accounted for by any. It would be rafh to aflert, that it will not in future be ex- plained, but at prefent we are totally in the dark upon the fub- jetl. It is fufficient for our purpofe to obferve, that this aflbciation of fa61:s, or of ideas, affedls the aftions of all rational beings, and of many animals who are called irrational. Would you teach a dog or a horfe to obey you ? Do you not aflbciate pleafure, or pain, with the things you wifh that they fhould pradife, or avoid ? The im- patient and ignorant give infinitely more pain than is neceflary to the animals they educate. If the pain, which we would aflbciate with any adion, do not immediately follow it, the child does not underftand us ; if feveral events happen nearly at the fame time, it REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 231 it is impoflible that a child can at firft diftinguifli which are caufes and which are effeifts. Suppofe, that a mother would teach her little fon, that he rriuft not put his dirty Ihoes upon her clean fofa : if fhe frowns upon him, or fpeaks to him in an angry tone, at the inftant that he fets his foot and fhoe upon the fofa, he defifts ; but he has only learned, that putting a foot upon the fofa, and his mother's frown, follow each other ; his mother's frown, from former affociations, gives him perhaps fome pain, or the expectation of fome pain, and confequently he avoids repeating the aftion which immediately preceded the frown. If, a (hort time afterwards, the little boy, forgetting the frown, ac- cidentally gets upon the fofa without his Jhoes, no evil follows ; but it is not probable, that he can by this fuigle experiment difcover, that his fhoes have made all the difference in the two cafes. Chil- dren are frequently fo much puzzled by their confufed experience of impunity and punifhment, that they are quite at a lofs how to conduft themfelves. Whenever our punifhments are not made in- telligible, they are cruel ; they give pain, without producing any future advantage. To make punifhment intelligible to children, it muft be not only immediately, but repeatedly and tiniformly^ affociated with the adlions which we wifli them to avoid. When children begin to reafon, punifhment affefts them in a In fad, ieverity is itldom necefiary in a well conducted education. The fmalleft poffible degree of pain, wliich can in any cafe produce H h 2 the 236 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. the required efFe6l, is indifputably the juft meafure of the punifh- ment which ought to be inflicled in any given cafe. This (imple axiom will lead us to a number of truths, which immediately de- pend upon or reiult from it. We muft attend to every circum- ftancc which can diminish the quantity of pain, without lefl'ening the efficacy of punifliment. Now it has been found from expe- rience, that there areieveral circumftances which operate uniformly to this purpofe. We formerly obferved, that the effecl of punilh- ment upon the minds of children, before they reafon, depends much upon its tmmediately iucceeduig the fault, and alfo upon its being certainly repeated whenever the fame fault is committed. After children acquire the power of reafoning, from a variety of new motives, thele laws with refpedl to punifhment derive ad- ditional force. A trifling degree of pain will anfwer the purpofe, if it be made inevitable ; whilft the fear of ati enormous propoitioa of uncertain punifhment will not be found lufficient to govern the mind. The contemplation of a dillant punifhment, however fe- vere, does not aftecS the imagination with much terror, becaufe there is fliU a fecret hope of eicape in the mind. Hence it is found from experience, that the mofl: languinary penal laws have always been inefFedual to reftrain from crimes *. Even if detedion be inevitable, and confequent punifhment equally inevitable, if punifhment be not inflicted as loon as the criminal is convicled, it has been found, that it has not, either as a preventative, or a pub- lic example, the fame power upon the human mind. Not only fhould the punifliment be immediate after conviction, but de- teflion fhould follow the offence as fpeedlly as poflible. Without enterin * V. An Inc^uiry into the Principles of Taxation, p. 37, publiflied In 1790 ficer REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 241 ficer went after him, and after him the fupervifor ; and they had table-books, and gauging-rods, and dockets, and permits, permits for fellers, and permits for buyers, and permits for foreign fpirits, printed in red ink, and permits for Britifli fpirits, in black ink ; and they went about night and day with their hydrometers, to afcertaiu the ftrength of fpirits ; and with their gauging-rods, to meafure ivajh. But the pertinacious diftiller was fl:ill flourifliing; permits were forged ; concealed pipes were fabricated ; and the proportion between the wafh znAfphits was feldom legal. The commiffioners complained, and the legiflators went to work again. Under a penalty of j(^ioo diftillers were ordered to paint the words d'ljtiller, dealer in fpirits, over their doors ; and it was further enaded, that all the diftillers ihould furnidi, at their own expence, any kind of locks, and faftenings, which the revenue officers fhould require for locking up the doors of their own furnaces, the heads of their own flills, pumps, pipes, &c. Firft fufpicions fell upon the public dif- tiller for exportation, then his utenfils were locked up ; after- wards the private diftiller was fufpefted, and he was locked up : then they fet him and his furnaces at liberty, and went back in a paffion to the public diftiller. The legiflature condefcended to in- terfere, and with a new lock and key, precifely defcribed in an adl of parliament, it was hoped all would be made fecure. Any per- fon being a diftiiler, who fhould lock up his furnace or pipes with a key conftrufled differently from that which the acl defciibed,or any perfon making fuch illegal key for faid dilliller, was lubje6t to the forfeiture of ;^ioo. The padlock was never fixed upon the mind, and even the lock and key, prefcribed by ^Qi of parlia- ment, were found inefficacious. Any common blackfmith, with a picklock in his pofleflion, laughed at the combined Ikill of the two houfes of parliament. I i This 242 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. This dlgreffioa from the rewards and punlfhments of children to the diftilleiy laws, may, it is hoped, be pardoned, if the ufeful moral can be drawn from it, that where there are great tempta- tions to fraud, and continual opportunities of evafion, no laws, how- ever ingenious, no punifhments, however exorbitant, can avail. The hiftory of coiners, venders, and utterers, of his majefty's coin, as lately detailed to us by refpetftable authority*, may afford further illuftration of this principle. There is no imminent danger of children's becoming either coin- ers or fraudulent diftillers, but an ingenious preceptor will not be much puzzled in applying the remarks that have been made to the lubjeft of education. For the anticlimax in defcending from the legiflation of men to the government of children, no apology is attempted. The -fewer the laws we make for children, the better. What- ever they may be, they (hould be diflinftly expreffed ; the letter and fpirit fhould both agree, and the words fhould bear but one fignifi- cation clear to all the parties concerned. They fliould never be fubjeil to the ex poft fafto interpretation of an angry preceptor, or a cunning pupil ; no loofe general terms fliould permit tyranny, or encourage quibbling. There is faid-f to be a Chinefe law, which decrees, that whoever does not fliew proper reJpeSi to the fovereign is to be punilhed with death. What is meant by the words proper * Colquhoun. On the Police of the Metropolis, t V. The Grand Inftruftions to the commiflioners appointed to frame a new code of laws for the Ruffian empire, p. 183, faid to be drawn up by the late Lord Manf- field. re/pe^ REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 243 refpeSi is not defined. Two perfons made a mlftake in feme ac-' count of an infignificant affair in one of their court sfazettes. It was declared, that to he in a court gazette is to be wanting in pro- per reJpeB to the court. Both the carelefs fcribes were put to death. One of the princes of the blood inadvertently put fome mark upon a memorial, which had been figned by the emperor Bogdo Chan. This was conftrued to be a want oi proper refpe£l\o Bogdo Chan the emperor, and a horrible perfecution hence arofe againft the fcrawl- ing prince and his whole family. May no fchoolmafters, ufliers, or others, ever (even as far as they are able) imitate Bogdo Chan, and may they always define to their fubjedls what they mean by proper refpe^ 1 There is a fort of mlftaken mercy fometimes Ihewn to children, ■which is, in reality, the greatefl: cruelty. People, who are too angry to refrain from threats, are often too indolent, or too com- panionate, to put their threats in execution. Between their words and aftJons there is hence a manifeft contradidlion ; their pupils learn, from experience, either totally to difregard thefe threats, or. elfe to calculate, from the various degrees of anger which appear in the threatener's countenance, what real probability there is of his be- ing as good or as bad as his word. Far from perceiving that puniHi- ment, in this cafe, is pain given with the reafonahle hope of making hifu wifer or happier, the pupil is convinced, that his mafter puniflies him only to gratify the paflion of anger, to which he is unfortu- nately lubjedl. Even fuppoilng that threateners are exadt in ful- filling their threats, and that they are not paifionate, but fimply wifh to avoid giving pain ; they endeavour to excite the fears of their pupils as the means of governing them with the leaft pofll- ble pain. But with fear they excite all the pafllons and habits I i 2 which 24+ PRACTICAL EDUCATION. which are couneded with that mean principle of aflion, and they extinguifli that vigorous fpirit, that independent energy of foul, which is efl'ential to all the adtive and manly virtues. Young peo- ple, who find that their daily pleafures depend not fo much upon their own exertions as upon the humour and caprice of others, be- come abfolute courtiers ; they pradife all the arts of perfuafion, and all the crouching hypocrify which can deprecate wrath, or pro- pitiate favour. Their notions of right and wrong cannot be en- larged ; their recolle(fl:ion of the rewards and punifhments of their childhood are al way conneded with the ideas of tyranny and flavery > and when they break their own chains, they are impatient to im« pofe fimilar bonds upon their inferiors. An argument has been ufed to prove, that in fome cafes anger is part oi the ju/iice of punifhment, becaufe " mere reprmfy with- " out fufficient marks of Sfpleafure and emotion, affe<£ls a child " very little, and is foon forgotten*." It cannot be doubted, rhat the exprefTion of indignation is a jufl: confequence of certain faults, and the general indignation with which thefe are fpoken of before young people mufl: make a ftrong and ufeful impreffion upon their minds. They refleft upon the adtions of others ; they fee the ef- fe6ls which thefe produce upon the human mind; they put them- felves in the fituation alternately of the perfon A'ho exprelfes indig- nation, and of him who fuffers fliame ; they meafure the fault and its confequences, and they refolve to condudl themleives fo as to avoid that jufl: indignation of which they dread to be the obiedt. Thefe are the general conclufions which children draw when they * V. Dr. Prieftley's Mifcellaneovis Obfervations relating to Education, feS. vii. of corre£tion, p. 67. 6 are REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 245 are impartial fps^i at or s ; but where they are themfelves concerned, their feehags and their reafonings are very different. If they have done any thiiiiij which they know to be wrong, they expedt, and are fenfible that they delerve, dilpleafure and indignation ; but if any precife penalty is annexed to the fault, the perlon who is to inflidt it appears to them in the charafter of a judge, who is bound to reprefs his own feelings, and coolly to execute juflice. If the judge both reproaches and punilhes, he doubles the punlfh- nnent. Whenever indignation is exprefied, no vulgar trivial penal- ties (hould accompany it ; the pupil (hould feel that it is indigna- tion againft his fault, and not againft himfelf; and that it is not ex- cited in his preceptor's' njind by any petty perfonal conliderations, A child diflinguilhes between anger and indignation very exidlly;. the one commands his refpecl, the other raifes his contempt as loon as his fears fubfide. Dr. Prieftley leems to think, that " it is not ** poflible to exprefs difpleafure with fulficient /orc£', efpecially to ** a child, when a man is pert"c6lly cool." May we not reply to this, that it is Icarcely poffible to exprels difpleafure with fufficient propriety, efpecially to a child, when a man is in a paflion. The propriety is in this cafe of at leaft as much confequcnce as the force of the reprimand. The effed which the preceptor's difpleafure will produce muft be in fome proportion to the erteem which his pupil feels for him. If he cannot command his Irafcible paffions, his pupil cannot continue to cfteem him, and there is an end of all that fear of his di (approbation, which was founded upon efteem, and which can never be founded upon a ftronger or a better bafis. We thouki further confider, that the opinions of all the byftanders, efpfcially if they be any of them of the pupil's own age, have great influence upon his mind : it is not to be expeded, that they fhould all iympalhife equally with the angry preceptor ; and we know, that 2+6 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. that whenever the indignation cxpreffed againfl: any fault appears in the leaft to pafs the bounds of exad juftice, the fympathy of the fpedators ioimediately revolts in favour of the culprit ; the fault is forgotten or excufed, and all join in fpontaneous compafllon. In public fchools this happens fo frequently, that the mailer's difplea- fure feldom affects the little community with any forrow ; com- bined with one another, they make each other amends for public punifhments by private pity or encouragement. In families which are not well regulated, that is to fay, in which the interefts of all the individuals do not coalefce, the fame evils are to be dreaded. Neither indignation woi Jhame can affedl children in fuch fchools, or fuch families ; the laws and manners, public precept and private opinion, contradid one another. In a variety of inftances in fociety, we may obferve, that the beft laws and the beft principles are not fufficient to refifl the combination of numbers. Never attempt to affix infamy to a num- ber of people at once, fays a philofophic legiflator * : this advice fliewed, that he perfedly underfliood the nature of the paffion of fhame. Numbers keep one another in countenance, they form a fociety for themfelves ; and fometimes by peculiar phrafes, and an appropriate language, confound the eftabliftied opinions of virtue and vice, and enjoy a fpecies of felf-complacency independent of public opinion, and often in direft oppofition to their former con- Jcience. Wherever any fet of men want to get rid of the fhame annexed to particular a£lions, they begin by changing the names and epithets which have been generally ufed to exprefs them, and which they know arc afibciated with the feelings of fhame ; * V. Code of Ruffian laws. thefe REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 247 thefe feelings are not awakened by the new language, and by de- grees they are forgotten, or they are fuppofed to have been merely prejudices and habits, which /onwifr methods of /peaking taught peo- ple to reverence. Thus the moft difgraceful combinations of men, who live by violating and evading the laws of fociety, have all a peculiar phrafeology amongft themlelves, by which jocular ideas are aflbciated with the moft dilreputable a£lions. Thofe who live by depredation on the river Thames do not call themfelves thieves, but lumpers and mudlarks. Coiners give re- gular mercantile names to the different branches of their trade, and to the various kinds of falfe money which they circulate. Such asjlafs, or Jigs, ox fgthings. Unlicenfed lottery wheels are called little goes ., and the men who are lent about to public houfes to entice poor people into illegal lottery infurances, are called Morocco-men ; a fet of villains, hired by thefe fraudulent lottery keepers to refift the civil power during the drawing of the lottery, call themfelves bludgeon men ; and in the language of robbers, a receiver of ftolen goods is laid to htjiaunch, when it is believed that he will go all lengths rather than betray the fecrets. of a gang of highwaymen *. Since words have fuch power in their turn over ideas, we mufl in education attend to the language of children as a means of judg- ing of the ftate of their minds ; and whenever we find, that 111 their converfation with one another they have any flang, which turns moral ideas into ridicule, we may be certain that this muft have amen from feme defedl in their education. The power of * CoI> As young people grow up, and perceive the confequences of their own aclions, and the advantages of credit and charadtcr, they become extiemely folicitous to preferve the good opinion of thofe whom they love and efteem. They are now capable of taking the future into their view as well as the prefent ; and at this K k period 250 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. period of their education the hand of authority ftiould never be haftily ufed; the voice of reafon will never fail to make herfelf heard, efpecially if reafon fpeak with the tone of afFeclion. Du- ring the firft years of childhood, it did not feem prudent to make any punifhment lafting, becaufe young children quickly forget their faults, and having little experience, cannot feel how their paft conduft is likely to afFed their future happinefs. But as foon as they have more enlarged experience, the nature of their punidi- ments (hould alter ; if we have any reafon to efteem or love them lefs, our contempt and difpleafure fliould not lightly be dilfipated. Thofe who refle6l are more influenced by the idea of the duration, than of the intenfity of any mental pain. In thofe calculations which are conftantly made before we determine upon adlion or forbearance, fome tempers eflimate any evil which is likely to be but of fliort duration, infinitely below its real importance. Young men of fanguine and courageous difpolitions hence frequently ait imprudently ; the confequences of their temerity will, they think, foon be over, and they feel that they are able to fupport evil for a fhort time, however great it may be. Anger, they know, is a Ihort- lived paflion, and they do not fcruple running the hazard of ex- citing anger in the hearts of thofe they love the beft in the world. The experience of lafling, fober difapprobation, is intolerably irk- fome to them ; any inconvenience which continues for a length of time wearies them exceffively. After they have endured, as the confequence of any alliens, this fpecies of punifhment, they will long remember their fufFerings, and will carefully avoid incurring in future fimilar penalties. Sudden and tranfient pain appears to be moft efFedual with perfons of an oppofite temperament. Young people of a torpid, indolent temperament are much under REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 251 under the dominion of habit ; if they happen to have contraded any difagreeable or bad habits, they have feldom fufficient energy to break them. The ftimiilus of fuddeii pain is neccrzy in this cafe. The pupil may be perfedlly convinced, that fuch a habit ought to be broken, and may wiHi to break it mod fincerely ; but may yet be incapable of the voluntary exertion requifite to ob- tain fuccefs. It would be dangerous to let the habit, however in- fignificant, continue vidlorious, becaufe the child would hence be difcouraged from all future attempts to battle with himfelf. Either we fhould not attempt the conqucft of the habit, or we fliould per- fift till we have vanquiflied. The confidence, which this fenfe of fuccefs will give the pupil, will probably in his own opinion be thought well worthy the price. Neither his reafon nor his will was in fault ; all he wanted was ftrength to break the diminutive chains of habit ; chains which, it feems, have power to enfeeble their captives exadly in proportion to the length of time they are worn. Every body has probably found from their own experience how difficult it is to alter little habits itn manners, {)ronunciation, &c. Children are often teafed with frequent admonitions about their habits of fitting, ftanding, walking, talking, eating, fpeaking, &c. Parents are early aware of the importance of agreeable, graceful manners; every body who fees children can judge, or think that they can judge, of their manners; and from anxiety that children fhould appear to advantage in company, parents folicitoufly watch all their gcflures, and correft all their attitudes according to that image of the " beau ideal" which happens to be moft fafliionable. The moft convenient and natural attitudes are not always the mofl approved ; the conftraint which children fuffer from their obe- K k 2 diencc ZS2 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. dieiice obliges them at length to reft their tortured mufcles, and to throw themlelves for relief into attitudes the very reverfe of thofe which they have prailifed with fo much pain. Hence they ac- quire oppolite habits in their manners, and there is a continual ftruggle between thefe. They find it itripoffiblc to correal in- ftantaneoufly the awkward tricks which they have acquired, and they learn ineffedually to attempt a conqueft over themfelves ; or elfe, which is moft commonly the cataftrophe, they learn to hear the exhortations and rebukes of all around them, without being Simulated to any degree of exertion*. The fame voices which lofe their power on thefe trifling occafions, lofe at the fime time much of their general influence. More power is wafted upon trifling defeats in the manners of children, than can be imagined by any who have not particularly attended to this fubje6t. If it be thought indifpenfably neceflary to fpeak to children eternally about their manners, this irritating and difagreeable office ftiould devolve upon fomebody whofe Influence over the children we are not anxious to preferve undiminifhed. A little ingenuity in contriving the drefs, writing delks, reading defks, &c. of children who are any way defedive in their fhape, might fpare much of the anxiety which is felt by their parents, and much of the bodily and mental pain which they alternately endure themfelves. For thefe patients would it not be rather more fafe to confult the philofophic phy- fician-t, than the dancing mafter who is not bound to underftand either anatomy or metaphyfics ? * See the judicious Locke's obfervations upon the fubjedl of manmrs, § 67 of his valuable Treatife on Education. t See vol. ii. of Zoonomia, Every REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 255 Every preventative which is difcovered for any defei^k, either ia manners, temper, or underftanding, dimiaifhes the neceflity for puniniment : puiiifhments are the abrupl, brutal re fource of igno- rance, frequently *, to cure the efFcdls of former negligence. With, children who have been realbnably and affcdlionately educated, fcarcely any punifhments are requifite. This is not an afTertion hazarded without experience ; the happy experience of leveral years, and of feveral children 'of ditFerent ages and tempers, julli- fies this aflertion. As for corporal punifhments, they may be ne- cefl'ary where boys are to be drilled in a given time into fcholars ; but the lansuafie of blows need feldom be ufed to reafonable crea- tures. The idea that it is diigraceful to be governed by force fhould be kept alive in the minds of children ; the dread of fhame is a more powerful motive than the fear of bodily pain. To prove the truth of this, we may recolleft that few people have ever been known to deftroy themfelves in order to efcape from bodily pain ; but numbers, to avoid fhame, have put an end to their exiftence. It has been a quefliion, whether mankind are moft governed by hope or by fear, by rewards or by punifhments. This queftion, like rnany others which have occafioned tedious debates, turns, chiefly upon words. Hope and fear are fometimes ufed to denote mixed and fometimes unmixed pafTions. Thofe who fpeak of them as unmixed paffions, cannot have accurately examined their own feelings f. The probability of good produces hope; the probability of evil excites fear ; and as this probability appears lefs or greater, more remote or nearer to us, the mind fludluates between the oppofite paffions. When the probability increafes on either fide. * We believe this is Williams's idea. PaflTions. t Hume's Diflertation on the fo 254 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. i"o does the correfponding paflion. Since thefe paffions feldom exifl: in abfolute feparation from one another, it appears that we cannot philolbphically fpeak of either as an independent motive : to the queftion therefore, " which governs mankind the moft, " hope or fear?" we cannot give an exphcit anlwer. When we would determine upon the probabihty of any good or evil, we are infenfibly influenced, not only by the view of the cir- cumftances before us, but alfo by our previous habits; we judge not only by the general laws of human events, but alfo by our own individual experience. If we have been ufually fuccelsful, we are inclined to hope ; have we been accuftomed to misfortunes, we are hence difpofed to fear. " Csefar and his fortune are on " board," exclaimed the confident hero to the mariners. Hope excites the mind to exertion ; fear reprefles all adlivity. As a pre- ventative from vice you may employ fear; to reftrain the exceflesof all the furious paflions it is ufeful and neceflary : but would you roufe the energies of virtue, you mufl: infpire and invigorate the foul with hope. Courage, generofity, induftry, perfeverance, all the ma- proved both in fenfe and language. ' This unmerited lofs of their late gratuitous allowance of fympathy ufually operates unfavoura- bly upon the temper of the fufferers ; they become fhy and filent, and referved, if not fullen ; they withdraw from our capricious fo- ciety, and they endeavour to confole themfelves with other plea- fures. It is difficult to them to feel contented with their own lit- tle occupations and amufement^, for want of the fpedlators and the audience which ufed to be at their command. Children of a timid temper, or of an indolent difpofition, are quite difpiritcd and be- reft of all energy in thefc circumftances ; others, with greater vi- vacity, and more voluntary exertion, endeavour to fupply the lofs of univerfal fympathy by the invention of independent occupa- tions ; but they feel anger and indignation, when they are not re- warded with any fmiles or any praife for their " virtuous toil." They naturally feck for new companions, either amongft children of their own age, or amongft complaifant fervants. Immediately all the bufinefs of education is at a ftand, for neit'ier thefe fer- " vao^T, nor thefe playfellows, are capable of becoming their inftruc- tors ; nor can tutors hope to fucceed, who have transferred their power over the plcafures, and confcquently over the alreilions, of their 372 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. their pupils. Sympathy now becomes the declared enemy of all the conftituted authorities. What chance is there of obedience or of happinefs, under fuch a government ? Would it not be more prudent to prevent, than to complain, of thefe evils ? Sympathy is our firft, beft friend, in education, and ty judicious management might long continue our faithful ally. Tndead of lavifhing our fmiles and our attention upon young children for a fhort period juft at that age when they are amufing playthings, fhould not we do more wifely if we referved fome portion of our kindnefs a few years longer ? By a proper economy our fympathy may lafl; for many years, and may continually con- tribute to the moft ufeful purpofes. Inftead of accuftoming our pupils early to fuch a degree of our attention as cannot be fupport- ed lon£l the anecdote of the child mentioned by de Tott *. The baron de Tott bought a pretty toy for a prefent for a little Turkifli friend, but the child was too proud to feem pleafed with the toy ; the child's grandfather came into the room, favv, and was delighted with the toy, fat down on the carpet, and played with it till he ■broke it. We like the fecond childhood of the grandfather better than the premature old age of the grandfon* The felf-command which the fear of difgrace Infures can pro- duce either great virtues, or great vices. Revenge and generofity are, it is faid, to be found in their highefl: ftate amongft nations and individuals charaderized by pride. The early objeds which are af- fociated with the idea of honour in the mind are of great confe- quence ; but it is oC yet more confequence to teach pro\id minds early to bend to the power of reafon, or rather to glory in being governed by reafon. They fhould be inftruded, that the only pof- fible means of maintaining their opinions amongft perfons of fenfe is to fupport them by unanfwerable arguments. They fhould be taught that, to fecure refpcd, they muft deferve it ; and their fclf-denial, or felf-command, fhould never obtain that tacit admi- ration which they moft value, except where it is exerted for ufeful and rational purpofes. The conftant cuftom of appealing, in the Lift refort, to their own judgment, which diftinguifhes the proud * V. De Tott's Memoirs, p. 138, a note. from jio PRACTICAL EDUCATION. from the vain, makes it peculiarly neceflary that the judgment, to which fo much is truftcd, fhould be highly cultivated. A vain man may be tolerably well conduded in life by a fenlible friend ; a proud man ought to be able tocondud himfelf perfectly well, be- caufe he will not accept of any affiltance. It feems that fome proud people confine their benevolent virtues within a fmal'er fphere than others ; they value only their own relations, their friends, their country, or whatever is connecled with themfelves. This fpecies of pride may be corrected by the fame means which are ufed to increafe fympathy *. Thofe, who either from tem- perament, example, or accidental circum(l:ances, have acquired the habit of reprefling and commanding their emotions, muft be care- fully diftinguifhed from the felfifh and infenfible. In the prefent times, when the affedlation of fenfibility is to be dreaded, we fhould rather encourage that fpecies of pride which difdains to difplay the affetftions of the heart. " You Romans triumph over your tears, "and call it virtue ! I triumph in my tears," fays Caradacus : his tears were refpedable, but in general the Roman triumph would command the moft fympathy. Some people attribute to pride all exprefTions of confidence in onefelf : thefe may be ofFenfive to common fociety, but they are fometimes powerful over the human mind, and where they are ge- nuine, mark fomewhat fuperior in character. Much of the efFed of lord Chatham's eloquence, much of his tranfcendant influence in public, mufl be attributed to the confidence which he fliewed in his own fuperiority. " 1 trample upon impoffibilities !" was an exclamation which no inferior mind would dare to make. Would V. Sympathy. the VANITY, PRIDE, AND AMBITION. 2^1 the houfe of commons have permitted any one but lord Chatham to have anfwered an oration by " Tell me, gentle fhepherd, where ?" The danger of flulinc;, the ha-zard that he runs of becomincr ridi- culous wha verges upon the moral fublime, is taken into our ac- eount when we judge of the adtion, and we pay involuntary tri- bute to courage and luccefs : but how miferable is the fate of the man who miftakes his own powers, and upon trial is unable to fupport his alTumed fuperiority ; mankind revenge themfelves with— eut mercy upon his ridiculous pride, eager to teach him the differ^ ence between infolence and magnanimity. Young people inclined to overrate their own talents, or to undervalue the abilities of others, fhould frequently have inflances given to them from real life of the mortifications and difgrace to which imprudent boafters expofe themfelves. Where they are able to demondrate their own abilities, they run no rillc in fpeaking with decent confidence ; but where their fucccfs depends, in any degree, either upon fortune, or opinion, they ihould never run the hazard of prefumption. Mo- dcfly prepofll-fles mankind in favour of its pofleflbr, and has the advantage of being both graceful and fafe: this was perfe£lly un- derftood by the crafty UlyfTes, who neither raifed his eyes, nor flretched his fceptred hand, " when he firfl rofe to fpeak." We- do not, however^ recommend this artificial modefty ; its trick is. foon difcovered, and its famenefs of diffimulation prcfently dif- gufts. Prudence fhould prevent young people from hazardous boaftingi and good nature, and good fcnfe, which confl:itute real politenefs, will reftrain them from obtruding their merits to the mortification of their companions : but we do not expert from them: total ignorance of their own comparative merit. The affedationi efhumihty, when carried to the extreme, to which all affedatioa 312 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. ■is liable to be carried, appears full as ridiculous as troublefome, and ofFenfive as any of the graces of vanity, or the airs of pride. Youno' people are cured of prefumption by mixing with fociety, but they are not fo eafily cured of any fpecies of affedation. In the chapter on female accomplifhments we have endeavoured to point out, that the enlargement of underflanding in the fair fex, which mull rcfult from their increafing knowledge, ^ill ne- cefl'arily correft the feminine foibles of vanity and afFedlation. Strong, prophetic, eloquent praife, like that which the great lord Chatham beftowed on his fon, would rather infpire in a ge- nerous foul noble emulation, than paltry vanity. *' On this boy," faid he, laying his hand upon his fon's head, " defcends my man- *' tie, with a double portion of my fplrlt !" Philip's praife of his ion Alexander, when the boy rode the unmanageable horfe*, is another iaflance of the kind of praife capable of exciting am- bition. As to ambition, we muft: decide what fpecies of ambition we mean, before we can determine whether it ought to be encouraged or reprefled, whether it fhould be clafTed amongft virtues or vices; that is to fay, whether it adds to the happinefs or the mifery of hu-- man creatures. " The inordinate dedre of fame," which often deftroys the lives of millions when it is connected with ideas of military enthufiafm, isjuftly clafTcd amongfl: the " difeafes of vo- *' /iiion:" for its defcription and cure we refer to Zoonomia, vol. ii. Achilles will there appear to his admirers, perhaps, in a new light. * V. Plutarch. The VANITY, PRIDE, AND AMBITION. 31 j The ambition to rife in the world ufually implies a mean fordid defire of riches, or what are called honours, to be obtained by the common arts of political intrigue, by cabal to win popular favour, or by addrefs to conciliate the patronage of the great. The expe- rience of thofe who have been governed during their lives by this paflion, if paflion it may be called, does not fhew that it can con- fer much happinefs either in the purfuit, or attainment of its ob- jeds. See Bubb Doddington's Diary, a moft ufeful book, a journal of the petty anxieties, and conftant dependence, to which an ambiti- ous courtier is neceflarily fubjeded. See alfo Mirabeau'a " Secret '* Hiflory of the Court of Berlin" for a pitlure of a man of great abilities degraded by the fame fpecies of low unprincipled competi- tion. We may find, in thefe books, it is to be hoped, examples •which will ftrike young and generous minds, and which may in- fpire them with contempt for the obje£ls and the means of vulgar ambition. There is a more noble ambition, by which the enthu- fiaftic youth, perfeft in the theory of all the virtues, and warm with yet unextinguifhed benevolence, is apt to be feized ; his heart beats with the hope of immortalizing himfelf by noble adtions ; he forms extenfive plans for the improvement and the happinefs of his fellow-creatures; he feels the want of power to carry thefe into effedtj power becomes the objedl of his wifhes. In the purfuit, in the attainment of this objeft, how are his feelings changed ? Mr. Necker, in the preface to his work on French finance *, paints, with much eloquence, and with an appearance of perfedl truth, the feelings of a man of virtue and genius, before and after the at- tainment of political power. The moment when a minifler takes polTcflion of his place, furrounded by crowds and congratulations^ * Ncckcr de rAdminiftratlon des Finances de la France, vol. i. p. 98. Ss is 314 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. is well defcrlbed ; and the fucceeding moment, when clerks with immenle portfolios enter, is a ftriking contraft. Examples from romance can never have fuch a powerful efFeft upon the mind as thofe which are taken from real life ; but in proportion to the jufl; and lively reprefentation of fituations, and paflions refembling reality, hdions may convey ufeful moral leflbns. In the Cyro- paedia there is an admirable defcription of the day fpent by the viftorious Cyrus, giving audience to the unmanageable multitude after the taking of Babylon had accomplished the fulnefs of his ambition *. It has been obferved, that thefe examples of the infufficiency of the objeds of ambition to happinefs feldom make any lafting imprefiion upon the minds of the ambitious. This may arife from two caufes ; from the reafoning faculty's not having been fuf- ficiently cultivated, or from the habits of ambition being formed before proper examples are prefented to the judgment for com- parifon. Some ambitious people, when they realon coolly, ac- knowledge and feel the folly of their purfuits, but ftill from the force of habit they a Cyropaedia) Tolt ii. page 303. the VANITY, PRIDE, AND AMBITION. 315 the memory, and that they will influence the condudl through life. It fometlmes happens to men of a found underftanding, and * philofophic turn of mind, that their ambition decreafes with their experience. They begin with, perhaps, fome ardour an ambitious purfuit ; but by degrees they find the plealure of the occupation fufficient without the fame, which was their original objedt. This is the fame procefs which we have obferved in the minds of children with refpedt to the pleafures of literature, and the tafte for fugar-plums. Happy the child who can be taught to improve himfelf without the ftimulus of fvvectmeats ! Happy the man who can prefervc activity without the excitements of ambition I S s 2 CHAPTER I ( V7 ) CHAPTER XII. BOOKS. The nrfl books which are now ufually put into the hands of a child are Mrs. Barbauld's LefTons ; they are by far the bcft books of the kind that have ever appeared; thofe only who know the difficulty, and the importance of fuch compofitions in education, can fincerely rejoice, that the admirable talents of fuch a writer have been employed in fuch a work. We fliall not apologize for offering a few remarks on fome paflages in thefe httle books, be- caufe we are convinced that we fhall not offend. Leffons for children from three to four years old fliould, ,wc think, have been leffons for children from four to five years old ; few read, or ought to read, before that age. *' Charles fliall have a pretty new leffon." In this fentence the words pretty and new are affociated ; but they rcprcfent ideas which ought to be kept feparate in the mind of a child. The love of novelty is cheriflicd in the minds of chil- dren 3i8 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. dren by the common expreflions that we ufe to engage them to do what we defiie. " You (hall have a new whip, a new hat," are improper modes of expreffion to a child. We have feen a boy who had literally twenty new whips in one year, and we were prefent when his father, to comfort him when he was in pain, went out to buy him a new whip, though he had two or three fcattered about the room. The defcrlption, in the firft part of Mrs. Barbauld's Leflbns, of the naughty boy who tormented the robin, and who was after- wards fuppofed to be eaten by bears, is more objeftionable than any in the book: the idea of killing is in Itfelf very complex, and if explained, ferves only to excite terror ; and how can a child be made to comprehend why a cat Jhou/iJ catch mice, and not kill birds ? or why (hould this fpecies of honefty be expe£led from aa animal of prey ? n I want my dinner." Does Charles take it for granted, that what he eats is his own, and that he ««/? have his dinner ? Thefe and fimilar expreflions are words of courfe ; but young children fliould not be allowed to ufe them : if they are permitted to affume the tone of command, the feelings of impatience and ill temper quickly follow, and children, become the little tyrants of a family. Property is a word of which young people have general ideas, and they may with very little trouble be prevented from claiming things to which they have no right. Mrs. Barbauld has judicioufly cholen to introduce a little boy's daily hiftory in thefe books ; all children are extremely in- terefted for Charles, and they are very apt to expeft that every I thing BOOKS. 319 thing which happens to him is to happen to them; and they believe that everything he does is right ; therefore, his biographer fhould in another edition revife any of his expreflious which may miflead the future tribe of his httle imitators. *' Maid, come and drefs Charles.'* After what we have already faid with refpeft to fervants, we need only obferve, that this fentence for Charles fhould not be read by a child ; and that in which the maid is faid to bring home a gun, Sec. ; it is eafy to ftrike a pencil line acrofs it. All the paf- lages which might have been advantageoufly omitted in thefe ex- cellent little books, have been carefully obliterated before they were put into the hands of children, by a mother who knew the danger of early falfe aflbciations. *' Little boys don't eat butter.*' ** Nobody wears a hat in the houfe." This is a very common method of fpeaking, but it certainly 15 not proper towards children. Affirmative fentences (hould always exprefs real fads. Charles muft know that fome little boys do eat butter ; and that fome people wear their hats in their houfes. This mode of expreffion, *' Nobody does that !" " Every body does this !" lays the foundation for prejudice in the mind. This is the language of fafhion, which, more than confcience, makes cowards %}( xii all. ** I want fome win«," Would 320 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. Would it not be better to tell Charles m reply to this fpeech, that wine is not good for him, than to fay " Wine for little *' boys ! I never heard of fuch a thing !" If Charles were to be ill, and it fhould be neceffary to give him wine; or were he to lee another child drink it, he would lofe confidence in what was faid to him. We fhould be very careful of our words, if we expe6l our pupils to have confidence in us; and if they have not, we need not attempt to educate them. " The moon fliines at night, when the fun is gone to bed." When the fun is out of fight, would be more correal, though not fo pleafing, perhaps, to the young reader. It is very proper to teach a child, that when the fun difappears, when the fun is below the horizon, it is the time when moft animals go to reft ; but we fhould not do this by giving fo falfe an idea as that the fun is gone to bed. Every thing relative to the fyftem of the univerfe is above the comprehenfion of a child, we fhould, therefore, be care- ful to prevent his forming erroneous opinions. We lliould \Vait for a riper period of his underftanding before we attempt pofitive inftru6tion upon abftraft fubjeds. The enumeration of the months in the year, the days in the week, of metals, Sec. are excellent lefTons for a child whoisjufl beo-inning to learn to read. The claffification of animals into qua- drupeds, bipeds, &c. is another ufeful fpecimen of the manner in which children fhould be taught to generalize their ideas. The pathetic defcription of the poor timid hare running from the hun.- ters, will leave an impreflion upon the young and humane heart,, which may perhaps fave the life of many a hare. The poetic beauty BOOKS. 321 beauty, and eloquent fimplicity of many of Mrs. Barbauld's Lef- fons, cultivate the imagination of children, and their tafte, in the beft poffible manner. The defcription of the white fwan with her long arched neck, *' winning her eafy way" through the waters, is beautiful ; fo is that of the nightingale Tinging upon her lone bufh by moonlight. Poetic delcriptions of real obje£ls are well fuited to children ; apoftrophe and perfonification they underftand, but all allegoric poetry is difficult to manage for them, becaufe they miftake the poetic attributes for reality, and they acquire falfe and confufed ideas. With regret children clofe Mrs. Barbauld's little books, and pa- rents become yet more fenfible of their value, when they perceive that none can be found immediately to fupply their place, or to continue the courfe of agreeable ideas which they have raifed in the young pupil's imagination. *' Evenings at Home" do not immediately join to Leflbns for Children from three to four years old ; and we know not where to find any books to fill the interval properly. The popular charadcr of any book is eafily learned, and its general merit eafily afcertain- cd ; this may fatisfy carelefs, indolent tutors, but a more minute invef^igation is neceflary to parents who are anxious for the hap- pinefs of their family, or dcfirous to improve the art of education. Such parents will feel it to be their duty to look over every page of a book before it is trufled to their children ; it is an arduous tafk, but none can be too arduous for the enlightened energy of parental aftedion. We are acquainted with the mother of a family, who has never trufled any book to her children, without having firft T t examined 3^3 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. examined it herfelf with the raofl fcrupulous attention; her care has been repaid with that fuccefs in education, which fuch care can alone enfure. We have feveral books before us marked by her pencil, and volumes which, having undergone fome neceflary operations by her fciflars, would in their inutilated ftate (hock the fenfibility of a nice librarian. But (hall the education of a family be facrificed to the beauty of a page, or even to the binding of a book ? Few books can fafely be given to children without the previous ufe of the pen, the pencil, and the fci(rars. In the books which we have before us, in their corredted (late, we fee fome- times a few words blotted out, fometimes half a page, fometimes many pages are cut out. In turning over the leaves of " The " Children's Friend," we perceive, that the different ages at which different ftories (hould be read have been marked ; and we were furprifed to meet with fome ftories marked for fix years old, and fome for fixteen in the fame volume. We fee that different ftories have been marked with the initials of different names by this cau- tious mother, who confidered the temper and habits of her chil- dren, as well as their ages. As far as thefe notes refer peculiarly to her own family, they cannot be of ufe to the public ; but the principles which governed a judicious parent in her feledion mud be capable of univerfal ap- plication. It may be laid down as a firft principle, that we (hould preferve children from the knowledge of any vice, or any folly, of which the idea has never yet entered their minds, and which they are not necelfarily difpofed to learn by early example. Children who have never lived with fervants, who have never affociated with ill educated companions of their own age, and who in their own family BOOKS. 323 family have heard nothing but good converfatlon, and feen none but good' examples ; will in their language, their manners, and their whole difpofrtion, be not only free from many of the faults com- mon amongft children, but they will abfolutely have no idea that there are fuch faults. The language of children, who have heard no language but what is good, muft be correal. On the contrary, children who hear a mixture of low and high vulgarity before their own habits are fixed, mufl, whenever they fpeak, continually blunder; they have no rule to guide their judgment in their fe- leflion from the variety of dlaledls which they hear ; probably they may often be reproved for their miftakes, but thcfe reproofs will be of no avail, whilft the pupils continue to be puzzled be- tween the example of the nurfery, and of the drawing room. It will coft much time and pains to corre6t thefe defeats, which might have been with little difficulty prevented. It is the fame with other bad habits. Falfehood, caprice, dilhonefty, obftinacy, revenge, and all the train of vices which are the confequences of miftaken or neglcdled education, which are learned by bad exam- ple, and which are not infpired by nature, need fcarcely be known to children whofe minds have from their infancy been happily re- gulated. Such children fhould be feduloufly kept from contagion ; their minds are untainted ; they are fafe in that fpecies of igno- rance, which alone can deferve the name of blifs. No books fhould be put into the hands of this happy clafs of children, but fuch as prefent the befl models of virtue : there is no occafion to fliock them with caricatures of vice. Such caricatures they will not even underftand to be well drawn, becaufe they are unacquainted with any thing like the originals. Examples to deter them from faults to which they have no propenfity muft be ufelefs, and may be dan serous i for the fame reafon that a book written in bad o" T t 2 language 324 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. lano-uao-e fhould never be put into the hands of a child who fpeaks corredly, a book exhibiting inftances of vice fhould never be 5l the fum of the numbers which they want. There is a common rigmarole for teUing the number of days in each month in the year; thofc who have learned it by heart ufually repeat the whole of it before they can recolle£l the place of the month which they want ; and fometimes in running over the lines people mifs the very month which they are thinking of, or repeat its name without perceivino- that they have named it. In the fame manner, thofc who have learned hiftorical or chronological fa£ls in a technical mode, muft go through the whole train of their rigmarole aflbciations before they can hit upon the idea which they want. Lord Bolingbroke mentions an acquaintance of his, who had an amazing colledion of fads in his memory, but unfortunately he could never produce one of them in the proper moment ; he was always obliged to go back to fome fixed landing place from which he was accuftomcd to take his flight. Lord Bolingbroke ufed to be afraid of alking him a queftion, becaufe when once he began, he went off like a larum, and could not be flopped ; he poured out a profufion of things which had nothing to do with the point in queftion ; and it was ten to one but he omitted the only circumftance that would have been really ferviccable. Many people who have tenacious memo- ries, and who have been ill educated, find thcmfelves in a fimilar condition, with much knowledge baled up, an incumbrance to themfelves and to their friends. The great difference which ap- pears in men of the fame profeffion, and in the fame circumftances, Y y 2 dcpencjs 348 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. depends upon the application of their knowledge more than upon the quantity of their learning. With refpedl to a knowledge of hiflory and chronologic learn- in«r, every body is now nearly upon a level ; this fpecies of infor- mation cannot be a great diftindion to any one : a difplay of fucb common knowledge is confidered by literary people, and by mea, of genius efpecially, as ridiculous and offenfive. One motive, there- fore, for loading the minds of children with hiftoric dates and fa£ts, is likely, even from its having univerfally operated, to ceafe to operate in future. Without making it a laborious tafk to young people, it is eafy to give them fuch a knowledge of hiflory as will preferve them from the ftiame of ignorance, and put them upon a footing with men of good fenfe in fociety, though not perhaps with men who have fludied hiftory for the purpofe of fhining in con- verfation. For our purpofe, it is not neceffary early to ftudy volumi- nous philofophic hiftories j thefe fhould be preferved for a more a\lvanced period of their education. The firft thing to be done, is to feize the moment when curiofity is excited by the accidental mention of any hiftoric name or event. When a child hears his father talk of the Roman emperors, or of the Roman people, he naturally inquires who thefe people were ; fome fhort explanation may be given, fo as to leave curiofity yet unfatisfied. The prints of the Roman emperors heads, and Mrs. Trimmer's prints of the remarkable events in the Roman and Englifh hiftory, will enter- tain children. Madame de Silleri, in her Adela and Theodore, defcribes hiftorical hangings, which (he found advantageous to her pupils. In a prince's palace, or a nobleman's palace, luch hang- ings would be fuitable decorations, or in a public feminary of edu- cation BOOKS. 349 cation it would be worth while to prepare them ; private families would perhaps be alarmed at the idea of expence, and at the idea, that their houfe could not readily be furniftied in proper time for the inftruclion of children. As we know the effedl of fuch appre- henfions of difficulty, we forbear from infifting upon hiftorical hangings, efpecially as we think that children fhould not, by any great apparatus for teaching them hiftory, be induced to fet an ex- . orbitant value upon this fort of knowledge, and fhould hence be excited to cultivate their memories with reafoningor refleding. If any expedients are thought neceflary to fix hiftoric faifts early in the mind, the entertaining difplay of Roman Emperors, and Britifli Kings and Queens, may be made, as Madame de Silleri recom- mends, in a magic lanthorn, or by the Ombres Chinoifes. When thcfe are exhibited, there fhould be fome care taken not to intro- duce any falfe ideas. Parents fhould be prefent at the fpedlacle, and fhould anfwer each eager queftion with prudence. " Ha ! here *' comes queen Elizabeth !" exclaims the child ; " was fhe a good " woman?" A foolifh fliow-man would anfwer, " Yes, mafler, ** fhe was the greatefl queen that ever fat upon the Englifh *' throne !" A fenfible mother would reply, " My dear, I can- " not anfwer that queflion ; you will read her hiftory yourfelf, *' you will judge by her adlions whether fhe was, or was not, a " good woman." Children are often extremely impatient to let- tic the precife merit and demerit of every hiftorical pcrfonage, with whole names they become acquainted ; but this impatience fliould not be gratified by the fhoit method of referring to the charadcrs given of thefe perfons in any common hiftorical abridgment. We fhould advife all fuch charadcrs to be omitted in books for chil- dren ; let thofe who read form a judgment for themfelves : this will do more fervice to the underftanding, than can be done by learning o:> o PRACTICAL EDUCATION. learnlno- by rote the opinion of any hiftorian. The good and bad qualities ; the decilive, yet contradictory epithets, are fo jumbled totiether in thele charadters, that no diftin<£l notion can be left in the render's mind ; and the fame words recur fo frequently in the charadters of different kings, that they are read over in a monoton- ous voice, as mere concluding fentences, which come, of courfe, at the end of every reign. " King Henry the fifth was tall and " flender, with a long neck, engaging afpeft, and limbs of the " moft elegant turn. ********* His valour was fuch " as no danger could ftartle, and no difficulty could oppofc. He *' managed the diflenfions amongft his enemies with fuch addrefs ** as fpoke him confummate in the arts of the cabinet. He was *' chafte, temperate, modefl, and devout, fcrupuloufly juft in his " adminiftration, and feverely exadt in the difcipline of his army, *' upon which he knew his glory and fuccefs in a great meafure *' depended. In a word, it muft be owned that he was without *♦ an equal in the arts of war, policy, and government. His great *' qualities were, however, fomewhat obfcured by his ambition, *' and his natural propenfity to cruelty." Is it poflible that a child of feven or eight years old can acquire any diftindl, or any juft ideas, from the perufal of this charadter of Henry the fifth ? yet it is feledted as one of the beft drawn charac- ters from a little abridgment of the hiftory of England which is, in general, as well done as any we have feen. Even the leaft ex- ceptionable hiftoric abridgments require the corredlions of a patient parent. In abridgments for children the fadls are ufually inter- fperfed with what the authors intend for moral refledlions, and eafy explanations of political events, which are meant to be fuited to tie meanejl capacities, Thefe refledlions and explanations do much harmj BOOKS. 351 harm ; they inftll prejudice, and they accuftom the young un- fufpicious reader to fvvallovv abfurd reafoning, merely becaufe it is often prefented to them. If no hiftory can be found entirely free from thefe defefts, and if it be even impoffible to correal any com- pletely, without writing the whole over again, yet much may be done by thofe who hear children read. Explanations can be given at the moment when the difficulties occur. When the young reader paufes to think, allow him time to think, and kiffer him to quef- tion the aflertions which he meets with in books with freedom, and that minute accuracy which is only tirelome to thofe who cannot reafon. The fimple morality of childhood is continually puzzled and fhocked at the reprefentation of the crimes and the virtues of hifloric heroes. Hiffory, when divefled of the graces of eloquence, and of that veil which the imagination is taught to throw over antiquity, prefents a difgufling, terrible lift of crimes and calamities ; murders, afTaffinations, battles, revolutions, are. the memorable events of hiftory. The love of gloiy atones for military barbarity j treachery and fraud are frequently dignified with the names of prudence and policy; and the hiftorian, de- firous to appear moral and fentimental, yet compelled to produce fa£ls, makes out an inconfiflent, ambiguous fyflcm of morality. A judicious and honeft preceptor will not, however, imitate the falfe tendernefs of the hiflorian for the dead, he will rather confider what is mofl advantageous to the living; he will perceive, that it is of more confequence that his pupils fhould have diflind notions of right and wrong, than that they fhould have perfeflly by rote all the Grecian, Roman, Enghfh, French ; all the fifty volumes of the Univerfal Hiflory. A preceptor will not lurely attempt, by any fophiflry, to juftify the crimes which fometimes obtain the name of heroifm ; when his ingenuous indignant pupil verifies the aftonifhinj 'S. 352 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. aftonifliing numeration of the hundreds and thoufands that were put to death by a conqueror, or that fell in one battle, he will al- low this aftonifhment and indignation to be juft, and he will re- joice that it is {Irongly felt and expreffed. Befides the falfe chara6:ers which are fometimes drawn of indi- viduals in hiftory, national characters are often decidedly given in a few epithets, which prejudice the mind, and convey no real in- formation. Can a child- learn any thing but national prepoffeffion from reading in a chara6ler of the Englifli nation, that " boys, be- *' fore they can fpeak, difcover that they know the proper guards *' in boxing with their fifts ; a quality that, perhaps, is peculiar " to the Englifh, and is feconded by a ftrength of arm that few •' other people can exert. This gives their foldiers an infinite fu- *' periority in all battles that are to be decided by the bayonet fcrew- *' ed upon the mulket*?" Why fliould children be told that the Italians are naturally revengeful ; the French naturally vain and per- fidious, " exceflively credulous and litigious ;" that the Spaniards are naturally jealous and haughty -j- ? The patriotifm of an en- larged and generous mind cannot, furely, depend upon the early contempt infpired for foreign nations. We do not fpeak of the education neceffary for naval and military men, with this we have nothing to do ; but furely it cannot be neceffary to teach national prejudices to any other clafs of young men. If thefe prejudices are ridiculed by fenfible parents, children will not be mifled by partial authors ; general affertions will be of little confequence to thofe * V. Guthrie's Geographical, Hiftorical, and Commercial Grammar, p. i86. t Ibid, p 398. who BOOKS. 353 who are taught toreafoti; they will not be overawed by nonfcale wherever they may meet with it, Tlie words whig and tory occur frequently in Englifh hiftorv, and liberty and tyranny are talked of — the influence of the crowa — the rights of the people. What are children of eight or nine years old to underfland by thefe expreffions ? and how can a tutor explain them, without inlpiring political prejudices ? We do not mean here to enter into any political difcuifion ; we think, that children fliould not be taught the principles of their preceptors, whatever they may be ; they fhould judge for themfelves, and till they are able to judge, all difcuflion, all explanations, fhould be fcrupuloufly avoided. WhilO; they are children, the plaineft chro- nicles are for thetn the bed hiftories, becaufe they exprefs no po- litical tenets and dogmas. When our pupils grow up, at whatever age they may be capable of underftanding them, the bsft authors who have written on each fide of the queftion, the befl: works, without any party confiderations, fhould be put into their hands; and let them form their own opinions from fads and arguments, uninfluenced by paflion, and uncontrolled by authority. As young people increafe their colledion of hifloric facts, fome arrangement will be necefTary to preferve thefe in proper order in the memory. Prieftley's Biographical Chart is an extremely in- genious contrivance for this purpofe ; it fhould hang up in the ^ room where children read, or rather where they live, for we hope no room will ever be dilmally confecrated to their ftudies. When- ever they hear any celebrated name mentioned, or when they meet with any in books, they will run to fearch for thefe names in the biographical chart ; and thofe who are ufed to children will per- Z z ceive. 354 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. ceive, that the plealure of this fearch, and the joy of the difcovery, will fix biography and chronology eafily in their memories. Mor- tiiner's Student's Didionary, andBrookes's Gazetteer, fliould, in a library or room which children ufually inhabit, be always within the reach of children. If they are always confiilted at the very mo- ment they are wanted, much may be learned from them ; but if there be any difficulty in getting at thefe didionaries, children for- pet, and lofe all interefl: in the thinais which thev wanted to know. But if knowledge becomes immediately ufeful, or entertaining to them, there is no danger of their forgetting. Who ever forgets Shakfpeare's hitl:orical plays ? The arrangements contrived and executed by others do not always fix things fo firmly in our remem- brance, as thofe which we have had fome (hare in contrivinsf and cxecutinsT ourfelves. One of our pupils has drawn out a biographical chart upon the plan of Prieftley's, inferting fuch names only as he was well ac- quainted with ; he found, that in drawing out this chart, a great portion of general hiflory and biography was fixed in his memory. Charts, in the form of Prieftley's, but without the names of the heroes, &c. being inferted, would, perhaps, be uleful for fchools and private families. There are two French hiftorical works, which we wiHi were well tranflated for the advantage of thofe who do not underftand French. The chevalier Meheghan's Tableau de I'Hifiroire Moderne, which is fenfibly divided into epochs ; and Condillac's View of Univerfal HiftoryjCompi ifed in five volumes, in his " Cours d'Etude " pour rinrtrudlion du Priiicede Parme." This hiftory carries on, along with the records of wars and revolutions, the hiftory of the progrefs BOOKS. 355 progrefs of the human mind, of arts, and fciences ; the view of the different governments of Europe is full, and concife ; no preju- dices are inftilled, yet the manly and rational eloquence of virtue gives life and fpirit to the work. The concluding addrefs, from the preceptor to his royal pupil, is written with all the enlighten- ed energy of a man of truth and genius. We do not recommend ConJillac's hifloryasan elementary work, for this it is by no means fit ; but it is one of the bell hiflories that a young man of fifteen or fixteen can read. It is fcarcely poflible to conceive, that feveral tratifes on gram- mar, the art of reafoning, thinking, and writing, which are con- tained in M. Condillac's courfe of ftudy, were defigned by him for elementary books, for the inflrudion of a child from feven to ten years old. It appears the more furprifing that the abbe fhould have (b far miftaken the capacity of childhood, becaufe in his judicious preface he feems fully lenfible of the danger of premature cultiva- tion, and of the abfurdity of fubftitutiiig a knowledge of words for a knowledge of things. As M. Condillac's is a work of hi^h re- putation, we may be allowed to make a few remarks upon its practical utility, and this may, perhaps, afford us an opportunity of explaining our ideas upon the ufe of metaphyfical, poetical, and critical works, in early education. We do not mean any invidious criticifm upon Condillac, but in " Practical Education" we wifh to take our examples and illuflrations from real life. The abbe's courfe of fludy, for a boy of feven years old, begins with metaphy- fics. In his preface he aflcrts, that the arts of Ipeaking, reafonino-, and writing, differ from one another only in degrees of accuracy, and in the more or Icfs pcrfcdl connexion of ideas. He obferves, that attention to the manner in which we acquire, and in which Z z 2 wc 350' PRACTICAL EDUCATION. we arrano"e our knowledge, is neceflary equally to thofe who would learn, and to thofe who would teach, with fuccefs. Thefe remarks are juft ; but does not he draw an erroneous conclufion from his own principles, when he infers, that the firft leflbns, which we (hould teach a child, ought to be metaphyfical. He has given us an abilrad of thofe which he calls preliminaiy leflbns ; on the operations of the foul, on attention, judgment, imagination, &c. he adds, that he thought it ufelefs to give to the public the conver- fations and explanations which he had with his pupil on thefe fub- jefts. Both parents and children muft regret the fuppreflion of thefe explanatory notes ; as the leflbns appear at prefent, no child of feven years old can underftand, and few preceptors can or will make them what they ought to be. In the flrfl leflbn on the dif- ferent fpecies of ideas the abbe fays, *' The idea, for Inflance, which I have of Peter, is Angular, or " individual; and as the idea of man is general relatively to the ♦' ideas of a nobleman and a citizen, it is particular as it relates to " the idea of animal*." " Relatively to the ideas of a nobleman and a citizen." What a long explanation upon thefe words there mufl: have been between the abbe and the prince ? The whole view of fociety muft have been opened at once, or the prince muft have fwallowed prejudices and metaphyfics together. To make thefe things familiar to a child, Condillac fays, that we muft bring a {ew or many exam- * L'idee, par exemple, que j'ai de Pierre, eft finguliere ou individuelle, et comme I'idee d'liomme eft generale par rapport aux idees de noble et de roturier, elle eft par- ticuliere par rapport a I'idee d' animal. Lemons Preliminaires, vol. i. p. 43. pies ; BOOKS. 357 pies ; but where fliall we find examples ? VVIiere (hall we find proper words to exprefs to a child ideas of political relations mincrled with metaphyfical fubtleties ? Through this whole chapter, on particular and general ideas, the abbe is fecretly intent upon a difpute begun or revived in the thir- teenth century, and not yet finifhed, between the Nominalifts and the Realifts; but a child knows nothing of this. In the article " On the Power of Thinking," an article which •he acknowledges to be a little difficult, he obferves, that the o-reat point is to make the child comprehend what is meant by attention *' for as foon as he underftands that, all the reft," he afliires us " will be eafy." Is it then of lefs confequence, that the child Ihould learn the habit of attention, than that he (hould learn the meaning of the word t Granting, however, that the definition of this word is of confequence, that definition fhould be made pro- portionably clear. The tutor, at leaft, muft underftand it, before he can hope to explain it to his pupil. Here it is ; (( * * * when amongft many fenfations which you experience ♦' at the fame time, t/jc dire&ion of the organs makes you take notice ** of one, fo that you do not obferve the others any longer, this " fenfation becomes what we call attention^-,''* * Ainfilorfque.dcplufieurs fenfations qui fe font en meme temps fur vous, la direc- tion des organcs vous en fait rcmarquer uiie, dc manicrc que vous ne rcmarquez. plus les autres, cette fcnCition devient ce que nous appcllons attention. Lemons Prcliminaires, p. 46. This 358 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. This is not accurate ; it is not clear whetlicr the diredlion of the oro-ans be the caufe, or the efFed, of attention ; or whether it be only a concomitant of the fenfation. Attention, we know, can be exercifed upon abftradl ideas ; for this objedion M. Condillac has afterwards a provifional claufe, but the original definition remains defedive, becaufe the diredion of the organs is not, though it be ftated as fuch, eflential : befides, we are told only that the fenfa- tion defcribed becomes (devient) what we call attention. What attention adually is, we are ftill left to difcover. The matter is made yet more difficult ; for when we are juft fixed in the belief, that attention depends " upon our remarking one fenfation, and " not remarking others which we may have at the fame time," we are in the next chapter given to underfland, that "in comparifon we " may have a double attention, or two attentions, which are only two *' fenfations, which make themfelves be taken notice of equally, *' and confequently comparifon confifts only of fenfations*." The dodrine of fimultaneous ideas here glides in, and we con- cede unawares all that is neceflary to the abbe's favourite fyftem, " that fenfation becomes fucceflively attention, memory, com- ** parifon, judgment, and reflexion f; and that the art of reafon- " ing is reducible to a feries of identic propofitions." Without, at prefent, attempting to examine this fyftem, we may obferve, * " La comparaifon n'eft done qu'une double attention. Nous venons de voir que " I'attention n'eft qu'une fenfntion qui fc fait remarquer. " Deux attentions ne font " done que deux icnfations qui fe font remarquer egalement ; et par confcquent il n'jr *' a dans la comparaifon que des fenfations." Lecons Preliminaires, p. 47. t v. Art de Penfer, p. 324. that BOOKS. 359 that in ediication it is more neceffary to preferve the mind from prejudice, than to prepare it for the adoption of any fyftem. Thofe' who have attended to metaphyfical proceedings know, that if a few apparently trifling conceHions be made in the beginning of the bufi- nefs, a man of ingenuity may force us, in the end, to acknow- ledge whatever he pleafes. It is impoffible that a child can forefee thefe confequences, nor is it probable that he fhould have paid luch accurate attention to the operations of his own mind, as to be able to deteft the fallacy, or to feel the truth, of his tutor's afler- tions. A metaphyfical catechilm may readily be taught to chil- dren ; they may learn to anfwer almoft as readily as Trenck an-, fwered in his deep to the guards who regularly called to him every night at midnight. Children may anfwer expertly to the quel^ tious, " What is attention ? What is memory r What is imagi- " nation ? What is the difference between wit and judgment ? " How many forts of ideas have you, and which be they ?" But when they are perfect in their refponfes to all thefe queftions, how much are they advanced in real knowledge ? Allegory has mixed with metaphyfics almoft as much as with poetry ^ perfonifications of memory and imagination are familiar to us ; to each have been addrcfl'ed odes and fonnets, fo that we al- moft believe in their individual exirtence, or at leaft we arc become jealous of the feparate attributes of thefe ideal beings. This meta- phyfical mythology ipay be ingenious and elegant, but it is better adapted to the pleafures of poetry than to the purpofes of reafon- in2. Thofe who have been accuftomed to refpeft and believe in it, w ill find it difficult foberly to examine any argument upon ab- ftracl I'ubjccts ; their fivouritc prejudices will retard them when they attempt to advance in the art of rcafoning. All accurate me- 3 taphyfical 360 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. taphyfical reafoners have perceived, aTid deplored, the difficulties which the prepolTeffions of education have thrown in their way ; and they have been obliged to wafle their time and powers in fruitlefs attempts to vanquifli thefe in their own minds, or in thofe of their readers. Can we wifh in education to perpetuate flmilar errors, and to tranfmit to another generation the lame artificial im- becility ? Or can we avoid thefe evils, if with our prefent habits of thinking and fpeaking we attempt to teach metaphyfics to children of feven years old ? "" A well educated, intelligent young man, accuftomed to accu- rate reafoning, yet brought up without any metaphyfical prejudices, would be a treafure to a metaphyfician to crofs examine : he would be eager to hear the unprejudiced youth's evidence, as the monarch, who had ordered a child to be fhut up, without hearing one word of any human language, from Infancy to manhood, was im- patient to hear what would be the firft vi^ord that he uttered. But though we wifh extremely well to the experiments of metaphy- ficians, we are more intent upon the advantage which our unpre- judiced pupils would themfelves derive from their judicious educa- tion : probably they would, coming frefh to the fubjeft, make fome difcoveries in the fcience of metaphyfics : they would have no paces * to (hew, perhaps they might advance a ftep or two on this difficult ground. When we objed to the early initiation of novices into metaphy- fical myfleries, we only recommend it to preceptors not to teach; let pupils learn whatever they pleafe, or whatever they can, with- * V, Dunciad. out BOOKS. 361 out reading any metaphyfical books, and without hearing any- opi- nions, or learning any definitions by rote, children may refledl upon their own feelings, and they (hould be encouraged to make accurate obfervations upon their own minds. Senfible children will foon, for inftance, obferve the efFe6t of habit, which enables them to repeat actions with eafe and facility, which they have fre- quently performed. The affociation of ideas, as it aflifts them to remember particular things, will foon be noticed, though not, per- haps, in fcientific words. The ufe of the aflbciation of pain or pleafure, in the form of what we call reward and punifhment, may probably be early perceived. Children will be delighted with thefe difcoveries if they are fufFered to make them, and they will apply this knowledge in their own education. Trifling daily events will recall their obfervations, and experience will confirm, or cor- real, their juvenile theories. But if metaphyfical books, or dogmas, are forced upon children in the form of leflbns, they will as fuch be learned by rote and forgotten. To prevent parents from expeding as much as the abbe Con- dillac does from the comprehenfion of pupils of fix or feven years old upon abftraft fubjeds, and to enable preceptors to form fome idea of the perfe6t fimplicity in which children unprejudiced upon me- taphyfical queftions would exprefs themfelves, we give the fol- lowing little dialogues, word for word, as they pafled. < 1780. Father. Where do you think ? A . (Six years and a half old.) In my mouth. 3 A Ho——, 362 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. Uo . (Five years and a half old.) In my ftoraach.. Father. Where do you feel that you are glad, or forry I A . In my ftomach. Ho . In- my eyes. Father, What are your fenfes for I Ho . To know things. Without any previous converfation, Ho (ffve years and a half old) faid to her mother, " I think you will be glad my right " foot is fore, becaufeyou told me I did not lean enough upon my " left foot." This child feemed, on many occafions, to have formed an accurate idea of the ufe of puni(hment, confidering it al- ways as pain given to cure us of fome fault, or to prevent us frona fufFering more pain in future. April, 1792. H , a boy nine years and three quarters old, as he was hammering at a work-bench, paufed for a fhort time, and. then faid to his fifter, who was in the room with him, " Sifter, " I obferve that when I don't look at my right hand when I ham- " mer, and only think where it ought to hit, I can hammer much " better than when I look at it. I don't know what the reafoii. ** of that is ; unlefs it is becaufe I think in. my head." M . I am not fare, but I believe that we do think in our heads. H . BOOKS, . 363 I T Then perhaps my head is divided into two parts, and that one thinks for one arm, and one for the other; fo that when I want to ftrike with my right arm, I think where I want to hit the wood, and then, without looking at it, I can move my arm in the right diredlion ; as when my father is going to write, he fomctimes Iketches it. M . What do you mean, my dear, by (ketching it ? H . Why, when he moves his hand (flourifhes) without touching the paper with the pen. And at firfl:, when I want to do any thing, I cannot move my hand as I mean ; but after being ufed to it, then I can do much better. 1 don't know why. After going on hammering for fome time, he flopped again, and faid, " There's another thing I wanted to tell you. Sometimes I ** think to myfclf that it is right to think of things that are fen- ** fible, and then when I want to fet about thinking of things that are fenfible, I can not, I can only think of that over and over «( *' again." M . You can only think of what ? H . Of thofe words. They feem to be faid to me over and over again, till I'm quite tired, *' That it is right to think of things *' that have fome fenfe." The childifli expreflions in thefe remarks have not been altered, becaufe we wifhed to fhew exadtly how children at this age exprefs their thoughts. If M. Condillac had been ufed to converfc with 3 A 2 children, 364 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. children, he furely would not have expedled, that any boy of feveu years old could have underftood his definition of attention, and his metaphyfical preliminary leflbns. After thefe preliminary leflbns, we have a {ketch of the prnice of Parma's fubfequent ftudies. M. Condillac fays, that his royal highnefs (being not yet eight years old) was now " perfeflly well " acquainted with the fyftem of intelledtual operations. He com- " prehended already the produ6tion of his ideas ; he faw the " origin and the progrefs of the habits which he had contracted, •' and he perceived how he could fubftitute juft ideas for the falfe " ones which had been given to him, and good habits inftead of *' the bad habits which he had been fufFered to acquire. He had " become fo quickly familiar with all thefe things, that he re- " traced their connexion without effort, quite playfully*." This prince muft have been a prodigy ! After having made him refle£l upon his own infancy, the abbe judged that the infancy of the world would appear to his pupil " the moft curious fubjeift, " and the moft eafy to ftudy," The analogy between thefe two infancies feems to exift chiefly in words ; it is not eafy to gratify a child's curiofity concerning the infancy of the world. Extrafts from L'Originedes Loix, by M. Goguet, with explanatory notes, * Motif des etudes qui ont ete faites apres les Lemons Preliminaires, p. 67. Le jeune prince connoiflfoit deja le fyfteme des operations de fon ame, il compre- noit la generation de fes idees, il voyoit I'origine et le progres des habitudes qu'il avoit contra6lees, et il concevoit comment il pouvoit fubftituer des idecs juftes aux idees faufllsqu'on lui avoit donnees, et de bonnes habitudes aux mauvail'es qu'on lui avoit laifle prendre. II s'etoit familiarie fl promptement avec toutcs ces chofes, qu'il s'en rctra^oit la fuite fans effort, et commc en badinant, were BOOKS. 365 were put into the prince's hands, to inform hlna of what happened in the commencement of fociety. Thefe were his evening iludies. In the mornings he read the French poets, Boileau, Moliere, Cor- fieille, and Racine. Racine, as we are particularly informed, was, in the fpace of one year, read over a dozen times. Wretched prince ! Unfortunate Racine ! The abbe acknowledges, that at firfl: thefe authors were not underftood with the fame eafe as ths preliminary leflbns had been : every word flopped the prince, and it feemed as if every line were written in an unknown language. This is not furprifing, for how is it poffible that a boy of (even or eio-ht years old, who could know nothing of life and manners, could tafte the wit and humour of Moliere ; and, incapable as he muft have been of fympathy with the violent paffions of tragic he- roes and heroines, how could he admire the lofty dramas of Ra- cine ? We are willing to fuppofe, that the young prince of Parma was quick and well-informed for his age, but to judge of what is practicable we muft produce examples from common life, inftead of prodigies. S , a boy of nine years old, of whofe abilities the reader will be able to form fome judgment from anecdotes in the following pages, whole underftanding was not wholly uncultivated, when he was between nine and ten years old exprefled a wifti to read fome of Shakfpeare's plays. King John was given to him. After the book had been before him for one winter's evening, he returned it to his father, declaring that he did not underdand one word of the play, he could not make out what the people were about, and he did not wi(h to read any more of it. His brother H , at twelve years old, had made an equally ineffedual attempt to read Shak- fpeare ; he was alfo equally decided and honeft in exprelhng his diflike 366 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. difllke to it ; he was much furpiifed at feeing his fifter B , who was a year or two older than himfelf, reading Shakfpearewith great avidity, and he frequently afked what it was in that book that could entertain her. Two years afterwards, when H was between fourteen and fifteen, he made another trial, and he found that he underflood the language of Shakfpeare without any dif- ficulty. He read all the hiftorical plays with the greateft eager- nefs, and particularly feized the charadler of FalftafF. He gave a humorous defcription of the figure and drels which he fuppofed Sir John (hould have, of his manner of fitting, fpeaking, and walk- ing. Probably, if H had been prefTed to read Shakfpeare at the time when he did not underfland it, he might never have read thefe plays with real pleafure during his whole life. Two years increafe prodigioufly the vocabulary and the ideas of young people, and preceptors fliould confider, that what we call literary tafte can- not be formed without a variety of knowledge. The produftions of our ablefl: writers cannot pleafe, till we are familiarifed to the ideas which they contain, or to which they allude*. Poetry is ufually fuppofed to be well fuited to the tafte and ca- pacity of children. In the infancy of tafte and of eloquence rhe- torical language is conftantly admired ; the bold expreflion of flrong feeling, and the fimple defcription of the beauties of nature, are found to intereft both cultivated and uncultivated minds. To vinderftand defcriptive poetry no previous knowledge is required, be- yond what common obfervation and fympathy lupply ; the ana- * As this page was fent over to us for corredlion, we feize the opportunity of exprefling our wifli that " Botanical Dialogues, by a Lady," had come fooner to our hands ; it contains much that we think peculiarly valuable. "2 lories \ BOOKS. 367 logics and tranfitions of thought are flight and obvious ; no labour of attention is demanded, no adive effort of the mind is requifite to follow them. The pleafures of fimple fenfation are by defcrip- tive poetry recalled to the imagination, and we live over again our paft lives without increaflng, and without defiring to increafe, our flock of knowledge. If thefe obfervations be jufl, there mufl ap- pear many reafons, why even that fpecies of poetry, which they can underftand, fhould not be the early ftudy of children ; from time to time it may be an agreeable amufement, but it fhould not become a part of their daily occupations. We do not want to re- trace perpetually in their memories a few mufical words, or a few fimple fenfations ; our objedl is to enlarge the fphere of our pupil's capacity, to ftrengthen the habits of attention, and to exercile all the powers of the mind. The inventive and the reafoning facul- ties mufl: be injured by the repetition of vague expreflions, and of exaggerated defcription, with which mofi: poetry abounds. Child- hood is the feafon for obfervation, and thofe who obferve accu- rately will afterwards be able to defcribe accurately : but thofe, who merely read defcriptions, can prefent us with nothing but the pidures of pi£lures. We have reafon to believe that children, who have not been accuflomed to read a vafl deal of poetry, are not tor that reafon lefs likely to excel in poetic language. The reader will judge from the following explanations of Grav's Hymn to Ad- verfity, that the boy to whom they were addreTcd was not much accuflomed to read even the mofl: popular Englifli poetry ; yet this is the fame child, who a few months afterwards wrote the tranfla- tion from Ovid of the Cave of Sleep, and who gave the extempore defcription of a fummer's evening in tolerably good language. Jan. 1796. S (nine years old) learned by heart the Hymn to 3^8 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. to AdveiTity. When he came to repeat this poem, he did not re- peat it u ell, and he had it not perfedly by heart. His father fufped- ed that he did not underftand it, and he examined him with fomc care. Father. " Purple tyrants." Why purple ? S . Becaufe purple is a colour fomething like red and black ; and tyrants look red and black. Father. No. Kings were formerly called tyrants, and they wore purple robes : the purple of the ancients is fuppofed to be not the colour which we call purple, but that which we call fcarlet. " When firft thy fire to fend on earth *' Virtue, his darling child, defign'd, " To thee he gave the heavenly birth, •' And bade to form her infant mind." When S was afked who was meant in thefe lines by *' thy *' fire," he frowned terribly ; but after fome deliberation he dif- covercd, that " thy fire" meant Jove, the father, or fire of Adver- fity : ftill he was extremely puzzled with " the heavenly birth.'* Firfl he thought, that the heavenly birth was the birth of Adver- fity ; but upon recolledion the heavenly birth was to be trufled to Advcrfity, therefore (he could not be trufted with the care of her- ft!f. S at length difcovered, that Jove muft have had two daughters, and he faid he fuppofed that Virtue mufl: have been one of thefe daughters, and that fhe muft have been fifler to Adverfity, who was to be her nurfe, and who was to form her infant mind : 6 he I BOOKS. 369 he now perceived that the exprefllon, *' Stern, rugged nurfe," re- ferred to Adverfity ; before this he faid, he did not know who it meant, whofe " rigid lore" was alluded to in thefe two lines, or who bore it with patience. " Stem, rugged iiurfe, thy rigid lore " With patience many a year fhe bore." The following ftanza S repeated a fecond time, as if he did not underftand it. " Scared at thy frown, terrific fly " Self plcafing follies, idle brood, " Wild laughter, noifc, and thoughtlefs joy, " And leave us leifure to be good. " Light they dilperfe, and with them go " The fummer friend, the flattering foe ; " By vain profperity receiv'd, " To her they vow their truth, and are again bcliev'd.'* Father. Why does the poet fay wild laughter ? S . It means, not reafonable. Father. Why is it faid, " By vain profperity receiv'd, " To her they vow their truth, and are again bcliev'd ?" S . Becaufe the people, I fuppofr . when they were in prof- perity before, believed them Jbefore, but I think that feems coa- fufcd. 3 B "Oh 370 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. " Oh gently on thy fuppliant's head, " Dread goddefs, lay thy chaftening hand." S did not feem to comprehend the firfl: of thefe two lines ; and upon crofs examination it appeared that he did not know the meaning of the w oxdi /upp/ia?itf he thought it meant " a perfoa " who fuppUes us." " Not in thy Gorgon terrors clad, " Nor circled by the vengeful band, " As by the impious thou art feen." It may appear improbable, that a child who did not know the meaning of the word fuppliant, fhould underfland the Gorgon ter- rors, and the vengeful band, yet it was fo ; S underflood thefe lines diflin6lly, he faid, *' Goxgon terrors, yes, like the head of " Gorgon." He was at this time tranflating from Ovid's Meta- morphofes ; and it happened that his father had explained to him the ideas of the ancients concerning the furies ; befides this, feveral people in the family had been reading Potter's ^fchylus, and the furies had been the fubjeft of converfation. From fuch accidental circumftances as thefe, children often appear in the/ame inftant almoft, to be extremely quick, and extremely flow of comprehen- fion ; a preceptor who is well acquainted with all his pupil's pre- vious knowledge, can rapidly increafe his flock of ideas by turning every accidental circumftance to account : but if a tutor perfilts in forcing a child to a regular courfe of ftudy, all his ideas muii be col- le»fled, not as they are wanted in converfation or in real life, but as they are wanted to get through a leffon or a book. It is not fur- prifing, that M. Condillac found fuch long explanations ncceflary for BOOKS. 371 for his young pupil in reading the tragedies of Racine j he fays, that he was frequently obliged to tranflate the poetry into profe, and frequently the prince could gather only fome general idea of the whole dratr.a, without underllanding the parts. We cannot help regretting, that the explanations have not been publifhed for the advantage of future preceptors, they muft have been aloiofl as difficult as thofe for the preliminary leflbns. As we are con- vinced that the art of education can be beft improved by the re- giftering of early experiments, we are very willing to expofe fucli as have been made without fear of faftidious criticifm or ridi- cule. May ift, 1796. A little poem called " The Tears of Old May- *' day," publifhed in the fccond volume of the World, was read to S . Laft May-day the fame poem had been read to him ; he then liked it much, and his father wifhed to fee what effe61: it would have upon this fecond reading. The pleafure of novelty was worn off, but S felt new pleafure from his having during the laft year acquired a great number of new ideas, and efpccially fome knowledge of ancient mythology, which enabled him to under- ftand feveral allufions in the poem which had before been unintel- ligible to him. He had become acquainted with the mufes, the graces, Cynthia, Philomel, Aftrea, who are all mentioned in this poem ; he now knew fomcthing about the Hefperian fruit, Amal- thea's horn, choral dances, Libyan Ammon, Sec. which arc al- luded to in different lines of the poem : he remembered the expla- nation which his father had given him the preceding year, of a liqe which alludes to the ifland of Atalantis. 3 B 2 " Then 372 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. •' Then vanifhed many a fea-girt ifle and grove, " Their forefts floating on the wat'ry plain ; " Then famed for arts, and laws deriv'd from Jove,' " My Atalantis funk beneath the main. S , whofe imagination had been pleafed with the idea of the fabulous ifland of Atalantis, recollected what he had heard of it ; but he had forgotten the explanation of another ftanza of this- poem, which he had heard at the fame time. •' To her no more Augufta's wealthy pride, " Pours the full tribute from Potofi's mine ; ** Nor frefh blown garlands village maids provide, *' A purer offering at her rullic fhrine." S forgot that he had been told that London was formerly called Augufla ; that Potofi's mines contained filver ; and that pouring the tribute from Potofi's mines alludes to the cuflom of hanging filver tankards upon the May-poles in London on May- day ; confequently the beauty of this ftanza was entirely loft upon him. A few circumftances were now told to S which im- printed the explanation effeftually in his memory : his father told him that the publicans, or thofe who keep public houfes in Lon- don, make it a cuftom to lend their filver tankards to the poor chimney-fvveepers and milk-maids, who go in proceffion through the ftreets on May-day. The confidence that is put in the honefty of thcfe poor people pleafed S , and all thefe circumftances fixed the principal idea more firmly in his mind. The following lines could pleafe him only by their found the firft time he heard them. •' Ah! BOOKS. 373 " All ! once to fame and bright dominion born, " The earth and fmiling ocean faw me rife, *' With time coeval, and the ftar of morn, " The hrfl, the faireft daughter of the Ikies. " Then, when at heaven's prolific mandate fprung " The radiant beam of new created day, ♦'■ Celeftlal harps, to airs of triumph ftrung, " Hail'd the glad dawn, and angels called me May. *' Space in her empty regions heard the found^ " And hills and dales, and rocks and vallies rung; " The fun exulted in his glories round, •' And fhouting planets in their courfes fung." The idea which the ancients had of the mufic of the fpheres was here explained to S , and fome general notion was given to him of the harmonic iiumbers. What a number of new ideas this little poem ferved to in- troduce into the mind ! Thefc explanations being given precifely at the time when they were wanted, fixed the ideas in the me- mory in their proper places, and affociated knowledge with the pleafures of poetry. Some of the effed of a poem mult, it is true, be loft by interruptions and explanations ; but we muft confider the general improvement of the underftanding, and not merely the cultivation of poetic tafte. In the inftance which we havejufl given, the pleafure which the boy received from the poem feemed to increafe in proportion to the exadlnefs with which it was ex- plained. The fucceeding year, on May-day 1797, the fame poem was read to him for the third time, and he appeared to like it bet- ter than he had done upon the firft reading. \ii inftead of perufing 3 Racine 37+ PRACTICAL EDUCATION. Racine twelve times in one year, the yoiuig prince of Parma had read any one play or fcene at different periods of his education, and had been led to obferve the iucreafe of pleafure which he felt from beino- able to underftand what he read better each fucceeding time than before, he would probably have improved more rapidly in his tafte for poetry, though he might not have known Racine by rote quite fo early as at eight years old. We confidered parents almoft as much as children, when wc advifed that a great deal of poetry Ihould not be read by very- young pupils ; the labour and difficulty of explaining it can be known only to thofe who have tried the experiment. The Elegy in a country church-yard is one of the mofb popular poems, ■which is ufually given to children to learn by heart ; it cofl at leaft a quarter of an hour to explain to intelligent children, the youngeft of whom was at the time nine years old, the flrll ftanza of that elegy. And we have heard it aflerted by a gentleman not unacquainted with literature, that perfectly to underftand TAUegro and II Penferofo, requires no inconfiderable portion of ancient and modern knowledge. It employed feveral hours on different days to read and explain Comus, fo as to make it intelligible to a boy of ten years, who gave his utmoft attention to it. The explanations on this poem were found to be fo numerous and intricate, that we thought it beft not to produce them here. Explanations which are given by a reader can be given with greater rapidity and effed, than any which a writer can give to children : the exprefiion of the countenance is advantageous, the fprightlinefs of converfation keeps the pupils awake, and the connexion of the parts of the fub- jeft can be carried on better in fpeaking and reading, than it can be in written explanations. Notes are almofl: always too formal, or too' 6 obfcure ; < BOOKS. ^y^ obfcure; they explain what was underftood more plainly before any illuftration was attempted, or they leave us in the dark the mo- ment we want to be enlightened. Wherever parents or precep- tors can fupply the place of notes, and commentators, they need not think their time ill beftowed. If they cannot undertake thefe troublelome explanations, they can furely referve obfcure poems for a later period of their pupils education. Children, who are taught at feven or eight years old to repeat poetry, frequently get beautiful lines by rote, and fpeak them fluently, without in the leafl: underllanding the meaning of the lines. The bufinefsofa poet is to pleale the imagination, and to move the paflions : in pro- portion as his language is fublime or pathetic, witty or iathical, it muft be unfit for children. Knowledge cannot be detailed, or ac- curately explained in poetry ; the beauty of an allufion depends frequently upon the elliptical mode of exprelfion, which pafling imperceptibly over all the intermediate links in our allbciations, is apparent only when it touches the ends of the chain. Thofe who vvirti to inftru<5t muft purfue the oppofite fyftem. In Dodor Wilkins's eflay on Univerfal Language, he propofes to introduce a note limilar to the common note of admiration, to give the reader notice when any expreffion is uled in an ironical or in a metaphoric fenfe. Such a note would be of great advantage to children : in reading poetry they are continually puzzled be- tween the obvious and the metaphoric fenfe of the words *. The * In Dr. Franklin's pofthumous EfTays there is an excellent remark with refpeft to typography as coiinefted with the art of reading. Tiie note of interrogation fhould be placed at tlio hcginning as well as at tlie end of a qucftion; it is fomctimes fo far diftant as to be out of the reach of an unpractifed eye. defire 3;6 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. defire to make children learn a vaft deal of poetry by heart, for- tunately for the iinderflanding of the rifing generation, does not rage with fuch violence as formerly. Dr. Johnfon fuccefsfully laughed at infants lifping out, " Angels and miiiifters of grace, " defend us." His reproof was rather ill-natured, when he begged two children who were produced, to repeat fome lines to him, " Can't the pretty dears repeat them both together ?" But this reproof has probably prevented many exhibitions of the fame kind. Some people learn poetry by heart for the pleafure of quoting it in converfation ; but the talent for quotation, both in converfation and in writing, is now become fo common, that it cannot confer immortality *. Every perfon has by rote certain pafTages from Shakfpeare and Thomfon, Goldfmith and Gray ; thefe trite quotations fatigue the literary ear, and difguft the tafte of the pub- lic. To this change in the fafliion of the day, thofe who are much influenced by fafhion will probably liften with more eagernefs than to all the reafons that have been offered. But to return tothe prince of Parma. After reading Corneille, Racine, Moliere, Boileau, &c, the young prince's tafte was formed, as we are aflured by his pre- ceptor, and he was now fit for the ftudy of grammar. So much is due to the benevolent intentions of a man of learning and genius, who fubmits to the drudgery of writing an elementary book on o^rammar, that even a critic muft feel unwilling to examine it with feverity. M. Condillac, in his attempt to write a rational grammar, has produced, if not a grammar fit for children, a phi- lofoohical treatife, which a well educated young perfon will read * Young. with BOOKS. zn with great advantage at the age of feventeen or eighteen. All that is faid of the natural languasfe of fisins, of the languase of adion, of pantomimes, and of the inftitution of M. TAbbe I'Epee for teaching languages to the deaf and dumb, is not only amufuig and inrtruitive to general readers, but with flight altera- tions in the language might be perfe6lly adapted to the capacity of children. But when the AbbeCondillac goes on to " Your High- o o " nefs knows what is meant by a fyftem," he immediately for- gets his pupil's age. The reader's attention is prefently deeply en- gaged by an abftrad: difquifition on the relative proportion, repre- Icnted by various circles of different extent, of the wants, ideas, and language of favages, fliepherds, commercial and poliflied nations, when he is fuddenly wakened to the recoUe£lion, that all this is ad- drefled to a child of eight years old ; an ailufion to the prince's little chair completely roufes us from our reverie. " As your little chair is made in the fame form as mine, which *' is higher, fo the fyftcm of ideas is fundamentally the fame *' amongft favage and civilifed nations; it differs only in degrees of " extenfion, as after one and the fame model feats of different " heights have been made*." Such miflakes as thefe in a work intended for a child are fo ob- vious, that they could not have efcaped the penetration of a great * Comme votre petite chaise eft faite fur le mcme modele que la micnne qui eft plus elevee, ainfi le fyfteme des idces eft le memo pour lefondchezlespeuplesfauvages ct chcz les peuples civilifes, il ne difFere, qui paice qu'il eft plus ou moins etendu ; c' eft uii meme modele d' apres lequcl on. a fait dcs ficgcs dc diftcreiite hauteur. Giammaire, page 23. 3 C man. 378 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. man, had he known as much of the pra6lice as he did of the theory of the art of teaching. To analyfe a thought, and to fhew the conftruftion of language, M. Condillac, in this volume on grammar, has chofen for an exam- ple a pafi'age from an eloge on Peter Corneille, pronounced before the French academy by Racine, on the reception of Thomas Corneille, who fucceeded to Peter. It is in the French flyle of academical panegyric, a reprefentation of the chaotic ftate in which Corneille found the French theatre, and of the light and order which he diffufed through the dramatic world by his creative ge- nius. A fubjecl lefs interefting, or more unintelligible to a child, could fcarcely have been feledled. The lecture on the anatomy of Racine's thought lafts through fifteen pages ; according to all the rules of art the difTedlion is ably performed, but moft children will turn from the operation with difgufi:. The Abbe Condillac's treatife on the art of writing immediately fucceeds to his grammar: the examples in this volume are much better chofen : they are interefting to all readers ; thofe efpecially from Madame de Sevigne's letters, which are drawn from familiar lansuase and domeflic life. The enumeration of the figures of fpeech and the claffification of the flowers of rhetoric are judi- cioufly fupprefled ; the catalogue of the different forts of turns, phrafes proper for maxims and principles, turns proper for {tw^ timent, ingenious turns and quaint turns, fl:ifF turns and cafy turns, might perhaps have been fomewhat abridged. The obfer- vations on the efFeft of unity in the whole defign, and in all the * Condillac. Grammaire, p. 64. fubordinate 1 BOOKS. 379 fuborclinate parts of a work, though they may not be new, are ably ftated ; and the remark, that the utmofl: propriety of language, and the ftrongeft etFeft of eloquence and reafoning, refult from the greateft poflible attention to the connexion of our ideas, is im- preffed forcibly upon the reader throughout this work. How far works of criticifm in general are fuited to children, re- mains to be confidered. Such works cannot probably fuit their tafte, becaufe the tafte for fyftematic criticifm cannot arife in the mind till many books have been read, till the various fpecies of ex- cellence fuited to different forts of compofition have been perceiv- ed, and till the mind has made fome choice of its own. It is true, that works of criticifm may teach children to talk well of what they read ; they will be enabled to repeat what good judges have faid of books. But this is not, or ought not to be the objed:. After having been thus officioully afllfted by a connifleur, who points out to them the beauties of authors, will they be able afterwards to difcover beauties without his afliftance ? Or have they as much pleafure in being told what to admire, what to praife, and what to blame, as if they had been fufFered to feel and to exprefs their own feelings naturally ? In reading an interefting play, or beautiful poem, how often has a man of tafte and genius execrated the impertinent commentator, who interrupts him by obtruding his oftentatious notes. " The reader will obferve the beauty of this " thought." " This is one of the fineft pafiages in any au- *' thor ancient or modern." *' The fenfe of this line, which all " former annot^tors have miftaken, is obvioufly rcftored by the *' addition of the vowel i." &c. Deprived by thefe anticipating explanations of the ufe of his ^ C 2 own 380 PRACTICAL EDUC^ATION. own common fenfe, the reader detefts the critic, foon learns to difregaid his references, and to fkip over his learned truilms. Si- milar fenfations, tempered by duty or by fear, may have been fome- times experienced by a vivacious child, who, eager to go on with what he is reading, is prevented from feeling the effe£l of the whole by a premature difcuffion of its parts. We hope that no keen hunter of paradoxes will here exult in having detected us in a contradidlion ; we are perfe6tly aware, that but a few pages ago we exhibited examples of detailed explanations of poetry for chil- dren ; but thefe explanations were not of the criticising clafs, they were not defigned to tell young people what to admire, but fimply to affift them to underrtaiid before they admired. Works of criticifm are fometimes given to pupils, with the idea that they will inftrudt and form them in the art of writing ; but few things can be more terrific or dangerous to the young writer, than the voice of relentlefs criticifm. Hope ftimulates, but fear deprefles the a£live powers of the mind ; and how much have they to fear, who have continually before their eyes the miftakes and difgrace of others ; of others, who with fuperior talents have at- tempted and failed ! With a multitude of precepts and rules of rhetoric full in their memory, they cannot exprefs the fimpleft of their thoughts ; and to write a fentence compofed of members, which have each of them names of many fyllables, muft appear a mofl formidable and prefumptuous undertaking. On the con- trary, a child who, in books and in converfation, has been ufed to hear and to fpeak corredt language, and who has never been terri- fied with the idea, that to write, is to exprefs his thoughts in fome new and extraordinary manner, will naturally write as he fpeaks, and as he thinks. Making certain charaders upon paper to reprefent to others BOOKS. 381 others what he vviflies to fay* to them, will not appear to him a matter of dread and danger,- but of convenience and amufement, and he will write profe without knowing it. Amongft fome " praflical efTiys-f," litcly publlfhed, " to affifl " the excrtionb of youth in their literary purfuits," there is an eflay on ierter writing, which might deter a timid child from ever luidertaking fuch an arduous talk as that of writing a letter. So much is faid from Blair, from Cicero, from Quintilian ; fo many things are requifite in a letter; purity, neatnefs, fimplicity ; fuch caution muft be ufed to avoid " exotics tranfplanted from foreio-n " lantruages, or raifed in the hot-beds of afFeftation and conceit:" fuch attention to the mother tongue is prefcribed ; that the youno- nerves of the letter writer mufl: tremble when he takes up his pen. Beficics, he is told that " he fhould be extremely referved on the " head o*^ pleafantry," and that " as to lallies of wit, it is flill " more dangerous to let them fly at random ; but he may repeat " the fmart fayings of others if he will, or rehte part of fome " droll adventure to enliven his letter." The anxiety that parents and tutors frequently exprefs, to have their children write letters, and good letters, often prevents the pupils from writing during the whole courfe of their lives. Letter Vv'riting becomes a talk, and an evil to children ; whether they have any thing to fay or not, write they mufi, tbis port or next, with- out fail, a pretty letter to fome relation or fiiend, who has exacted from them the awful promile of punctual correfpondencc. It is no wonder that fchool boys and Ichool girls, in thefe circumftanc^s, * RoulTcau. f Milne's Well-bred Scholar. 382 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. feel that neceflity is fiot the mother of invention ; they are re- duced to the humiliating mifery of begging from fome old practi- tioner a beginning, or an ending, and ibmething to fay to fill up the middle. Locke humoroufly defcribes the mifery of a fchoolboy who is to write a theme, and having nothing to fay, goes about with the ufual petition in thefe cafes to his companions : " Pray give me a *' little fenfe." Would it not be better to wait till children have fenfe, before we exadl from them themes and difcourfes upon li- terary fubjedls ? There is no danger, that thofe who acquire a va- riety of knowledge and numerous ideas fhould not be able to find v/ords to exprefs them ; but thofe who are compelled to find words before they have ideas are in a melancholy fituation. To form a ftyle is but a vague idea ; praftice in compofitlon will certainly confer eafe in writing upon thofe, who write when their minds are full of ideas ; but the pradlice of fitting with a melancholy face, v/ith pen in hand, waiting for infpiration, will not much advance the pupil in the art of writing. We fhould not recommend it to a preceptor to require regular themes at flated periods from his pu- pils ; but whenever he perceives that a young man is flruck with any new ideas, or new circumflances, when he is certain that his pupil has acquired a fund of knowledge, when he finds in conver- fation that words flow readily upon certain fubjefts, he may with- out danger upon thefe fubjecfls excite his pupil to try his powers of writing. Thefe trials need not be frequently made ; when a young man has once acquired confidence in himfelf as a writer, he will certainly ufe his talent whenever proper occafions prefent themfelves. The perufiU of the befi: authors in the Englifh lan- guage will give him, if he adhere to thefe alone, fufficient powers of BOOKS. .383 of expreffion. The befl: authors in the Englifh language are Co well known, that it would be ufelefs to enunnerate them. Dr. Johnfon lays, that whoever would acquire a pure Englidi ftyle, muft give his days and nights to Addifon. We do not, however, feel this exclufive preference for Addifon's melodious periods ; his page is ever elegant, but fometimes it is too dlffufe. Hume, Black- ftone, and Smith, have a proper degree of llrength and energy combined with their elegance. Gibbon fays, that the perfed com- pofition and well-turned periods of Dr. Robertfon excited his hopes, that he might one day become his equal in writing ; but '* the calm philofophy, the carelefs inimitable beauties of his friend " and rival Hume, often forced me to clofe the volume with a *• mixed fenfation of delight and defpair." From this teftimony we may judge, that a limple flyle appears to the bell judges to be more difficult to attain, and more defirable, than that highly orna- mented didion to which writers of inferior tafte alpire. Gibbon tells us, with great candour, that his friend Hume adviled him to beware of the rhetorical ftyle of French eloquence. Hume ob- ferved that the Englifli language, and Englilh tafle, do not admit of this profufion of ornament. Without meaning to enter at large into the fubjed, we have of- fered thefe remarks upon ftyle for the advantage of thofe who are to dired the tafte of young readers ; what they admire when they read, they will probably imitate when they write. We objedted to works of criticilm for young children, but we (hould oblcrvc, that at a later period of education they will be found higiily advan- tageous. It would be ablurd to mark the preciie age ac which Blair's Leftures, or Condillac's Art d'Ecnre, ought to be read, becaufe this Ihould be decided by circumltances ; by the progrefs 6 , of 384- PRACTICAL EDUCATION. of the pupils in literature, and by the fubjedls to which their atten- tion happens to have turned. Of thefe preceptors, and the pupils themfelves, mufl: be the moil; competent judges. From the fame wifli to avoid all pedantic attempts to didate, we have not given any regular courfe of ftudy in this chapter. Many able writers have laid down extenfive plans of fludy, and have named the books that are eflential to the acquifition of different branches of know- ledge. Amongft others we may refer to Dr. Prieflley's, which is to be feen at the end of his Eflays on Education. We are fenfible that order is neceffary in reading, but we cannot think that the fame order will fuit all minds, or do we imagine that a young perfon cannot read to advantage unlefs he purfue a given courfe of ftudy. Men of fenfe will not be intolerant in their love of learned order. If parents would keep an accurate lift of the books which their children read, of the ages at which they are read, it would be of cffential fervice in improving the art of education. We might then mark the progrefs of the underftanding with accuracy, anddifcover, with fome degree of certainty, the circumftances on which the for- mation of the charafler and tafte depend. Swift has given us a lift of the books which he read during two years of his life ; we can trace the ideas that he acquired from them in his Laputa, and Gulliver's Travels. Gibbon's journal of his ftudies, and his ac- count of univerfities, are very inftruftive to young ftudents. So is the life of Franklin, written by himfelf. Madame Roland has left a hiftory of her education, and in the books ftie read in her early years we fee the formation of her charadler. Plutarch's Lives, (he tells us, firft kindled republican eathufiafm in her mind ; and file regrets that, in forming her ideas of univerfal liberty, (he 8 had BOOKS. 3S5 had only a partial view of affairs. She corrected thefe enthufiaftic ideas during the laft moments of her life in prifon. Had the im- prefiion which her ftudy of the Roman hiftory made upon her mind been known to an able preceptor, it might have been corred- ed in her early education. When fhe was led to execution, (he exclaimed, as (he pafled the flatue of Liberty, " Oh Liberty, what " crimes are committed in thy name * !" F.^rmerly it was wifely faid, " Tell mc what company a man *' keeps, and I will tell you what he is;" but fince literature has fpread a new influence over the world, we muft add, " Tell " me what company a man has kept, and what books he has *' read, and I will tell you what he is." * " Oh Liberie, (jue de fbrfkits on commet en ton nom '" V. Appel a I'lmgartielle Pofterite- 3 D CHAPTER PRACTICAL EDUCATION; Br MARIA EDGEWORTH, AUTHOR OF LETTiRS FOR LITERARY LADIES, AND THE PARENT'S ASSISTANT; AND BY RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH, F.R.S. and M.R.I. A. VOL. II. LONDON: FRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUl's CHURCH-YARD. 798. ( 337 ) CHAPTER XIII. ON GRAMMAR, AND CLASSICAL LITERATURE. As long as gentlemen feel a deficiency In their own education, when they have not a competent knowledge of the learned lan- guages, i'o long mufl: a parent be anxious, that his fon (hould not be expofed to the mortification of appearing inferior to others of his own rank. It is in vain to urge, that language's only the key to fcience ; that the names of things are not the things themfelvcs ; that inany of the words in our own language convey fcarcely any, or ;\t beft but imperfed ideas ; that the true genius, pronunciation, melody, and idiom of Greek, are unknown to the beit fchulars, and that it cannot reafonably be doubted, that if Homer or Xenophoa were to hear their works read by a profefTor of Greek, they would miftake iliem for the founds of an unknown Ian2;ua2:e. All this is true, but it i'-. not the ambition of a gentleman to read Greek like an ancient Grecian, but to underftand it as well as the generality of his contemporaries, to know whence the terms of moll: fci- ences are derived, and to be able, in fome degree, to trace the progrefs of mankind i;i knowledge and refinement, by examining the extent and combination of their different vocabularies. 3 D 2 hi 388 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. In fome profeffions Greek is necefiary, in all a certain proficiency in Latin is indifpennible ; how, therefore, to acquire this profici- ency in the one, and a fufficient knowledge of the other, with the leaft labour, the leaft wafte of time, and the leaft danger to the under franding, is the material queftion. Some fchoolmafters would add, that we muft expedite the bulinefs as much as poHible : of this we may be permitted to doubt. Fejlina lentc is one of the moft judicious maxims in education, andthofe who have fufficient ftrength of mind to adhere to it, will find themfelves at the goal, when their competitors, after all their buftle, are panting for breath, or lafh- ins their refrive fteeds. We fee fome untutored children flart for- ward in learning with rapidity : they feem to acquire knowledge at the very time it is wanted, as if by intuition ; whilft others, with whom infinite pains have been taken, continue in dull ignorance; or, having accumulated a mafs of learning, are utterly at a lofs how to difplay, or how to ufe their treafures. What is the reafon of this phenomenon ? and to which clafs of children would a parent wifh his fon to belong ? In a certain number of years, after hav- ing fpent eight hours a day in " durance vile," by the influence of bodily fear, or by the inflidion of bodily punifhment, a regiment of boys may be drilled by an indefatigable ufher into what are called fcholars ; but, perhaps, in the whole regiment not one fhall ever diftinguifh himfelf, or ever emerge from the ranks. Can it be neceffary to fpend io many years, fo many of the befi: years of life, in toil and mifery ? We fhall calculate the wafte of time which arifes from the fludy of ill-written, abfurd grammar, and exercife- books ; from the habits of idlenefs contraded by fchool- boys; and from the cuftom of allowing holidays to young flu- dents ; and we fhall compare the refult of this calculation with the time really neceflary for the attainment of the fame quantity of claflical GRAMMAR, AND CLASSICAL LITERATURE. 389 claffical knowledge by rational methods. We do not enter into this comparifon with any invidious intention, but fimply to quiet the apprehenfions of parents; to (hew them the poflibihty of their children's attaining a certain portion of learning vvitliin a given number of years, without the lacrifice of health, happinefs, or the general powers of the underflanding. At all events, may we not begin by Imploring the affiftance of fome able and friendly hand to reform the prefent generation of grammars and fchool- books ? For inftance, is it indilpenfably ne- ceflary that a boy of (even years old (hould learn by rote, that " relative fentences are independent , i. e. no word in a relative ** fentence is governed either of verb, or adjedlive, that flands iu " another fentence, or depends upon any appurtenances of the *' relative ; and that the Englifh word ' That' is always a relative *' when it may be turned into which in good {twit, which muft ■*' be tried by reading ovqr the Englifh fentence warily, and judg- *' ing how the fentence will bear it, but when it cannot be altered, *' falvo fenfu, it is a conjundion !" Cannot we, for pity's lake, to aflift the learner's memory, and to improve his intelleft, fubfti- tute fome fentences a little more conneded, and perhaps a little more ufeful, than the following ? " I have been a foldier — You have babbled — Has the crow ever " looked white ? — Ye have exercifed — Flowers have withered — We *' were in a paflion — Ye lay down — Peas were parched — The hons *'did roar a while ago." In 39° PRACTICAL EDUCATION. In a book of Latin exercifes*, the preface to which informs us, that *' it is intended to contain fuch precepts of morality and rehgion as " ou^ht moft induftrioufly to be inculcated into the heads of alt " learners, contrived fo as that children may, as it were, infenfibly *' fuck in fuch principles as will be of ufe to them afterwards iii " the manly condu-ft and ordering of their lives ;" we might ex^ pedl fomewhat more of pure morality, and fenfe, with rather more elegance of ftyle, than appear in the following fentences. " I ftruck my fifter with a ftick, and was forced to flee into the " woods; but when I had tarried there awhile, I returned to my " parents, and fubmittcd myfelf to their mercy, and they forgave *' me my offence." *' When my dear mother, unknown to my father, fhall fend me *' money, I will pay my creditors their debts, and provide a fup- *♦ per for all my friends in my chamber, without my brother's *' confent, and will make prefents to all my relations." So the meafure of maternal tendernefs is the fum of money, which the dear mother, unknown to her hufband, (hall fend to her fon ; the meafure of the fon's generofity is the fupper he is to f'ive to all his friends in his chamber, exclufive of his poor bro- ther, of whofe offence we are ignorant. His munificence is to be dii'played in making prefents to all his relations, but in the mean time he might pofTibly forget to pay his debts, for " juftice is a " flow-paced virtue, and cannot keep pace with generofity." * Garretfon's Exercifes, the tenth edition. A rea- GRAMMAR, AND CLASSICAL LITERATURE. 391 A reafonable notioa of punifliment, and a difinterefted love of truth, is well introduced by the following picture. " My mafter's ** countenance was greatly changed when he found his beloved '* fon guilty of a lie. Sometimes he was pale with anger, fome- *' times he was red with rage ; and in the mean time, he, poor boy, *' was trembling," (for what ?) " for fear of puniflimeiit." Could the ideas of punifhment and vengeance be more effedlually joined, than in this portrait of the mafter red with rage ? After truth has been thus happily recommended, comes honefhy. " Many *' were fellow foldiers with valiant Jafon when he flole the golden " fleece : many were companions with him, but he bore away the ** glory of the enterprize." Valour, theft, and glory, are here happily combined. It will avail us nothing to obferve, that the golden fleece has an allegori- cal meaning, unlefs we can explain fatisfadlorily the nature of an allegorical theft ; though to our claffical tafte this valiant Jafoa may appear a glorious hero, yet to the fimple judgment of chil- dren he will appear a robber. It is faftidious however to objeft to Jafon in the exercife-book, when we confider what children are to hear, and to hear with admiration, as they advance in their fludy of poetry and mythology. Leflbns of worldly wifdom are not forgotten in our manual, which profefles to teach " the manly condufl and ordering of I'tje* to the rifing generation. " Thofe men," we are told, "who have " the moft money, obtain the greateft honour amongft men." But then again, " A poor man is as happy without riches, «/ he can " enjoy contentednels of mind, as the richeft earl that coveteth *' greater honour." It may be ufcful to put young men upon their or- PRACTICAL EDUCATION. their guard agamft hypocrites and knaves, but is it necefTary to tell fchool-boys, that " it concerneth me, and all men, to look to *' ourklves, for the world is fo full of knaves and hypocrites, that " he is hard to be found that may be trufled." That " they ♦' who behave themfelves the mod: warily of all men, and that " live more watchfully than others, may happen to do fomething, " which (if it be divulged) may very much damnify their repu- " ration." A knowledge of the world may be eafily requifite, but is it not going too far to aflure young people, that " the nations *' of the world are at this time come to that pafs of wickednefs, " that the earth is like Hell, and many men have degenerated into " devils?" A greater variety of ridiculous paflages from this tenth edition of Garretfon's Exercife-book might be feledled for the reader's entertainment ; but the following fpecimens will be fufficient to latisfy him, that by this original writer natural hiilory is as well taught as morality. Man. *' Man is a creature of an upright body ; he walketh *' upright when he is in a journey ; and when night approacheth " he lieth flat, and fleepeth." Horfes. " A journey an hundred and fifty miles long tireth *' an horfe that hath not had a moderate feed of corn." Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. " The air is nearer the earth *' than the fire ; but the water is placed neareft to the earth, be- *' caufe thefe two elements compofe but one body." It GRAMMAR, AND CLASSICAL LITERATURE. 393 It is an eafy tafk, it will be obferved, to ridicule abfurdity. It is eafy to pull down what has been ill built; but if we leave the ruins for others to ftumble over, we do little good to fociety. Pa- rents may reafonably fay, if you take away from our children the books they have, give them better. They are not yet to be had, but if a demand for them be once excited, they will foon appear. Parents are now convinced, that the firft books which children read make a lading impreffion upon them ; but they do not feem to confider fpelling-books, and grammars, and exercife-books, as books, but only as tools for different purpofes : thefe tools are often very mifchievousj if we could improve them we fhould get our work much better done. The barbarous tranflations, which are put as models for imitation into the hands of fchool-boys, teach them bad habits of fpeaking and writing, which are fometimes in- curable. For inftance, in the fourteenth edition of Clarke's Cor- nelius Nepos, which the preface informs us was written by a man full of indignation for the common practices of grammar fchools, by a man who laments that youth fhould fpend their time " in *' tofTuig over the leaves of a didlionary, and hammering out fuch " a language as the Latin," we might expeft fome better tranf- lation than the following to form the young fludent's lliyle. *' Nobody ever heard any other entertainment for the ears at ** his (Atticus's) meals than a reader, which we truly think very *' pleafant. Nor was there ever a fupper at his houfe without *' fome reading, that their sucfts mi^ht be entertained in their " minds as well as their ftomachsj^or he invited thofe whofe " manners were not different from his own." " He (Atticus) likewife had a touch at poetry, that he might not 3 E " be 394 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. *' be unacquainted with this pleafure, we fuppofe. For he has *' related in verfes the hves of thofe who excelled the Roman *' people in honour, and the greatnefs of their exploits. So that *' he has defcribed under each of their images, their adions and " offices in no more than four or five verfes, which is fcarcely *' to be believed that fuch great things could be fo briefly de- *' livered." Thofc who in reading thefe quotations have perhaps exclaimed, *' Why mull we go through this farrago of nonfenfe ?" fhould re- fle£l:, that they have now wafted but a {&\v minutes of their time upon what children are doomed to ftudy for hours and years. If a few pages difguft, what muft be the efFeft of volumes in the fame flyle ! and what fort of writing can we expe(fl from pupils who are condemned to fuch reading ? The analogy of ancient and mo- dern languages diifers fo materially, that a literal tranflation of any ancient author can fcarcely be tolerated. Yet, in general, young fcholars are under a necefTity of rendering their Latin leffons into Enslifh word for word, faithful to the tafte of their didionaries, or the notes in their tranflations. This is not likely to improve the freedom of their Englifh ftyle; or, what is of much more con- fequence, is it likely to prefervc in the pupil's mind a tafte for literature. It is not the time that is fpent in poring over lexicons, it is not the multiplicity of rules learnt by rote, or yet is it the quantity of Latin words crammed into the memory, which can give the habit of attention or the power of voluntary exertion : without thefe you will never have time enough to teach, with them there will always be time enough to learn. One half hour's vigorous application is worth a whole day's conftrained and y7cvfi\n\gjiudy. If we compare what from experience we know can be don? by a child GRAMMAR, AND CLASSICAL LITERATURE. 395 child of ordinary capacity in a given time, with what he a£tually does in fchool-hours, we fhall be convinced of the enormous vvafte of time incident to the common methods of inftru(ftion. Tutors are lenfible of this; but they throw the blame upon their pupils. " You could have learned your leffon in half the time if you had *' chofen it." The children alfo arc fenfible of this, but they are not able or willing to prevent the repetition of the reproach. But exertion does not always depend upon the will of the boy; it de- pends upon his previous habits, and upon the ftrength of the im- mediate motive which a£ts upon liim. Some children of quick abilities, who have too much time allotted for their claffical ftudies, are (o fully fenfible themfelves of the pernicious efFeft this has upon their atSlivity of mind, that they frequently dcfcv geit /'fig their kjjhns to the lad moment, that they may be forced by a fufficient motive to exert themfelves. In cla/fes at public fchools, the quick and the flow, the aflive and indolent, the ftumbling and the fure- footed, are all yoked together, and are forced to keep pace with one another: ftupidity may fometimes be dragged along by the vigour of genius ; but genius is more frequently chained down by the weight of ftupidity. We are well aware of the difficulties with which the public preceptor has to contend ; he is often compelled by his fituation to follow ancient ufage, and to continue many cuftoms which he wifhes to fee reformed. Any reformation in the manner of infl:ru£lion in thefc public feminarics mufl be gra- dual, and will neceflarily follow the convidlion that parents may feel of its utility. Perhaps nothing can be immediately done, more practicably ufeful, than to fimplify grammar, and to lighten as much as pofTible the load that is laid upon the memory. With- out a multiplicity of mafters it would be impoffible to fuit in- flru CHAPTER XVIL ON MECHANIC KS. Parents are anxious that children fliould be converfant with Mechanicks, and with what are called the Mechanick powers. Cer- tainly no fpecies of knowledge is better fuited to the tafte and ca- pacity of youth, and yet it feldom forms a part of early inftru6tion. Every body talks of the lever, the wedge, and the pulley, but moft people perceive that the notions which they have of their refpedive ufes is unfatisfailory, and indiftin£l ; and many endeavour, at a late period of life, to acquire a fcientific and exadl knowledge of the effedls that are produced by implements which are in every body's hands, or that are abfolutely neceflary in the daily occupa- tions of mankind. An itinerant leflurer feldom fails of having a numerous and at- tentive auditory, and if he does not communicate much of that knowledge which he endeavours to explain, it is not to be attribut- ed cither to his want of fkill, or to the infufficiency of his appa- ratus, but to the novelty of the terms which he is obliged to ufe.. Ignorance of the language in which any fcience is taught, is an in- fuperable 454 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. fuperable bar to its being fudjenly acquired ; befides a precifc knowledge of the meaning of terms, we mufi have an inftanta- neous idea excited in our minds whenever they are repeated j and, as this can be acquired only by pradtice, it is impoflible that philo- fophical lectures can be of much fervice to thofe who are not fa- miliarly acquainted with the technical language in which they arc delivered ; and yet there is fcarcely any fubjcdl of human inquiry more obvious to the underflanding than the laws of mechanicks. Only a fmall portion of geometry is neceffary to the learner, if he even vv'iilies to become mafter of the more difficult problems which are ufually contained in a courfe of ledlures, and moft of what is praflically ufeful may be acquired by any perfon who is expert in common arithmetick. But we cannot proceed a fingle flep without deviating from common language ; if the theory of the balance, or the lever, is to be explained, we immediately Ipeak o^Jpace and time. To per- fons not verfed in literature it is probable, that thefe terms appear more fimple and intelligible than they do to a man who has read Locke, and other metaphyfical writers. The \.&vvn /pace, to the bulk of mankind, conveys the idea of an interval ; they confider the word time as reprefenting a definite number of years, days, or minutes ; but the metaphyfician, when he hears the words Jpace and time, immediately takes the alarm, and recurs to the abllradl notions which are aflbciated with thefe terms ; he perceives diffi- culties unknown to the unlearned, and feels a confullon of ideas which diftrads his attention. The lecturer proceeds with confidence, never fuppofing that his audience can be puzzled by fuch common terms. He means by Jpace the diftance from the place whence a body begins to fall to the pl.xe where its motion ceafes ; and by 8 time M E C H A N I C K S. 455 time he means the number of feconds, or of any determinate di- viilons of c/W/ time which elapfe from the commencement of any motion to its end ; or, in other words, the duration of any given motion. After this has been frequently repeated, any intelligent perfoi) perceives the (tnic in which they are ufed by the tenor of the diibourfe ; but in the interim the greatefi: part of what he has heard cannot have been underftood, and the premifes upon which every fubfequent demonflration is founded are unknown to him. If this be true, when it is affirmed of two terms only, what muft be the fituation of thofe to whom eight or ten unknown technical terms occur at the commencement of a lecfture ? A complete know- ledge, fuch a knowledge as is not only full, but familiar, of all the common terms made ufe of in theoretic and pra£lical mcchanicks, is, therefore, abfolutely neceffary before any perfon can attend pub- lic ledures in natural philofophy with advantage. What has been faid of public ledlures may, with equal propriety, be applied to private inftrudion ; and it is probable, that inatten- tion to this circuniflance is the reafon why fo few people have dif- tintSt notions of natural philofophy. Learning by rote, or even reading repeatedly definitions of the technical terms of any fcience, ' muft undoubtedly facilitate its acquirement ; but converfation, with the habit of explaining the meaning of words, and the llrudure of common domeftic implements to children, is the fure and ef- fe(Stual method of preparing the mind for the acquirement of j fcience. The ancients, in learning this fpecies of knowledge, had an ad- vantage of which we are deprived: many of their termi of fcience were the common names of familiar objects. How tew do we meet who 456 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. who have a diftiiiift notion of the words radius, angle, or valve ? A Roman peafant knew what a radius or a valve meant, in their ori- ginal fignification, as well as a modern profeffor ; he knew that a valve was a door, and a radius a fpoke of a wheel ; but an Eng- lifh child finds it as difficult to remember the meaning of the word angle, as the word parabola. An angle is ufually confounded, by thofewhoare ignorant of geometry and mechanicks, with the word triangle, and the long reafoning of many a laborious inn:ru6tor has been confounded by this popular miftake. When a glafs pump is fhewn to an admiring fpeftator, he is defired to watch the motion of the valves : he looks " above, about, and underneath ;" but, ig- norant of the word valve, he looks in vain. Had he been defired to look at the motion of the little doors that opened and fhut, as the handle of the pump was moved up and down, he would have fol- lowed the ledurer with eafe, and would have underftood all his fubfequent reafoning. If a child attempts to pu(h any thing hea- vier than himfelf, his feet flide away from it, and the objedl can be moved only at intervals, and by fudden ftarts ; but if 'he be defired to prop his feet againft the wall, he finds it ea(y to pufh what be- fore eluded his little ftrength. Here the ufe of a fulcrum, or fixed point, by means of which bodies may be moved, is diftiuiflly un- derftood. If two boys lay a board acrofs a narrow block of wood, or ftone, and balance each other at the oppofite ends of it, they acquire another idea of a center of motion. If a poker is refi:ed" againft a bar of a grate, and employed to lift up the coals, the fame notion of a center is recalled to their minds. If a boy fitting upon a plank, a fofa, or form, be lifted up by another boy applying his flrength at one end of the feat, whilll: the other end of the feat refts on the ground, it will be readily perceived by them that the point of reft, or center of motion, or fulcrum, is the ground, and 3 . that M E C H A N I C K S. 457 that the fulcrum is not, as in the firft inftance, between the force that lifts, and the thing that is Hfted ; the fulcrum is at one end, the force which is exerted acts at the other end, and the weight is in the middle. In trying thefe fimple experiments the ttrms ful- crum, center of motion, &c. (hould be conftantly employed, and in a very fhort time they would be as familiar to a boy of eight years old as to any philofopher. If for fome years the lame words fre- quently recur to him in the fame fenfe, is it to be fuppofed that a lecture upon the balance and the lever would be as unintelligible to him as to perfons of good abilities, who at a more advanced age hear thefe terms from the mouth of a ledurer ? A boy iii fuch cir- cumftances would appear as if he had a genius for mechaulcks, >vhen, perhaps, he might have lefs tafte for the fcience, and lefs capacity than the generality of the audience. Trifling as it may firfl: ap- pear, it will not be found a trifling advantage, in the progrefs of education, to attend to this circumftance. A diftind knowledge of a few terms affifts a learner in his firfl: attempts ; finding thefe fuccefsful, he' advances with confidence, and acquires new ideas without difficulty or difguft. Roufleau, with his ufual eloquence, has inculcated the neceflity of annexing ideas to words ; he de- claims againft the fplendid ignorance of men who fpeak by rote, and who are rich in words amidft the moft deplorable poverty of ideas. To ftore the memory of his pupil with images of things, he is will- ing to negledl, and leave to hazard, his acquirement of language. It requires no elaborate argument to prove that a boy, whofe mind was ftored with accurate images of external objedls, of experimental knowledge, and who had acquired habitual dexterity, but who was ■unacquainted with the ufual figns by which ideas are exprefTed, would be incapable of accurate reafoning, or would, at bed, reafon only upon particulars. Without general terms he could not ab- 3 N ftraa ; 458 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. ftratft ; he could not, till his vocabulary was enlarged, and familiar to him, reafon upon general topics, or draw conclufTon? from o-e- neral principles : in fliort, he would be in the iituation of thofe who, in the folution of difficult and complicated queftions rela- tive to quantity, are obliged to employ tedious and perplexed cal- culations, inftead of the clear and comprehenfive methods that un- fold themfelves by the ufe of ligns in algebra. It is not neccflary in teaching children the technical language of any art or fcience, that we (hould purfue the fame order that is re- quifite in teaching the fcience itfelf. Order is required in reafon- ing, becaufe all reafoning is employed in deducing propofitions. from one another in a regular feries ; but where terms are em- ployed merely as names, this order may be difpenfed with. It is, however, of great confequence to feize the proper time for intro- ducing a new term ; a moment when attention is awake, and when accident has produced Ibme particular intereft in the objeft. In every family opportunities of this fort occur without any prepara-^ tion, and fuch opportunities are far preferable to a formal ledlure and a fplendid apparatus for the firft leflbns in natural philofophy and chemiftry. If the pump belonging to the houfe is out of order, and the pump-maker is fet to work, an excellent opportunity pre- fents itfelf for variety of inftruftion. The center pin of the handle is taken out, and a long rod is drawn up by degrees, at the end of which a round piece of wood is feen partly covered with leather. Your pupil immediately aiks the name of it, and the pump-maker prevents your anfwer by informing little mafter that it is called a fucker. You (hew it to the child, he handles it, feels whether the leather is hard or foft, and at length difcovers that there is a hole through it which is covered with a little flap or door. This he 1 MECHANICKS. 459 he learns from the workmen is called a clack. The child fliould now be permitted to plunge the p'ljlon (by which name it (hould now be called) into a tub of water ; in drawing it backwards and forwards he will perceive that the clack, which (hould now be called the valve, opens and fliuts as the pifton is drawn back-* wards and forwards. It will be better not to inform the child how this mechanifm is employed in the pump. If the names fucker and pifton, clack and valve, are fixed in his memory, it will be fufficient for his firft leflbn. At another opportunity he fliould be prefent when the fixed or lower valve of the pump is drawn up ; he will examine it, and find that it is fimilar to the valve of the pifton ; if he fees it put down into the pump, and fees the pifton put into its place, and fet to work, the names that he has learned will be fixed more deeply in his mind, and he will have fome o-e- neral notion of the whole apparatus. From time to time thefe names ftiould be recalled to his memory on fuitable occafions, but he ftiould not be alked to repeat them by rote. What has been laid is not intended as a leflbn for a child in mechanicks, but as a fketch of a method of teaching which has been employed with fuccefs. Whatever repairs are carried on in a houfe children fliould be permitted to fee : whilft every body about them feems interefted, they become attentive from fy mpathy ; and whenever aiflion ac- companies inftru£tion, it is fure to make an imprefilon. If a lock is out of order, when it is taken off fliew it to your pupil ; point out fome of its principal parts, and name them ; then put it into the hands of the child, and let him manage it as he pleafes.y Locks are full of oil, and black with duft and iron ; but if children have been taught habits of ncatnefs, they may be clock-makers and 3 N 2 whitefmiths, 46o PRACTICAL EDUCATION. whitefmiths, without fpoiling their clothes, or the furniture of a houfe. Upon every occafion of this fort technical terms rtiould be ■] made familiar ; they are of great ufe in the every-day bufinefs of Jife, and are peculiarly ferviceable in giving orders to workmen, who, when they are fpokep to in a language that they are ufed to, comprehend what is faid to them,^ and work with, alacrity. An early ufe of a rule and pencil, and eafy accefs to prints of machines, of architefture, and of the implements of trades, are of obvious ufe in this part of education. The machines publiihed by the Society of Arts in London ; the prints in Defaguliers, Emer- fon, le Spectacle de la Nature, Machines approuvees par 1' Aca- demic, Chambers's Di6lionary, Berthoud fur I'Horlogerie, Dic- tionaire des Arts et des Metiers, may, in fucceflion, be put into the hands of children. The moft fimple fhould be firft feleded, and the pupils fhould be accuftomed to attend minutely to one print be- fore another is given to them. A proper perfon fhould carefully point out and explain to them the firfl prints that they examine, they may afterwards be left to themfelves» To underfland prints of machines, a previous knowledge of what is meant by an elevation, a profile, a fedion, a perfpedlive view, and a (vue d'oifeau) bird's eye view, is necefTary. To obtain dif- tin£t ideas of feftions, a few models of comm.on furniture, as chefls of drawers^ bellows, grates, &c. may be provided, and may be cut afunder in different dlredions. Children eafily comprehend this part of drawing, and its ufes, which may be pointed out in books of architedture ; its application to the common bufuiefs of life is fo various and immediate, as to fix it for ever in the me- mory ; befides, tlie habit of abflraftion, which is acquired by , drawing M E C H A N I C K S. 461 drawing the feclions of complicated architedlure or machinery, is highly advantageous to the mind. The parts which we wifh to exprefs are concealed, and are fuggefted partly by the elevation or profile of the figure, and partly by the connexion between the end propofed in the conftrudion of the building, machine, &c. and the means which are adapted to effecH: it. A knowledge of perfpeftive is to be acquired by an operation of the mind dire£lly oppofite to what is neceffary in delineating the feftions of bodies ; the mind muft here be intent only upon the objcds that are delineated upon the retina, exactly what we fee ; it mufl forget or fufpend the knowledge which it has acquired from experience, and muft fee with the eye of childhood no farther than the furface. Every perfon, who is accuftomed to drawing in perfpec- tive, fees external nature, when he pleafes, merely as a pifture : y this habit contributes much to form a tafte for the fine arts; it may, however, be carried to excefs. There are improvers who- prefer the mofl: dreary ruin to an elegant and convenient manfion,. and who prefer a blafted ftump to the glorious foliage of the oak. Perfpeftive is not, however, recommended merely as a means of improving the tafte, but as it is ufeful in facilitating the know- j ledge of mechanicks. When once children are familiarly acquainted' with perfpedive, and with the reprefentations of machines by ele- vations, fedions, &c. prints will fupply them with an extenfive variety of information ; and when they fee real machines, their flrudure and uics will be eafily comprehended. The noife, the feeming confuGon, and the fize of feveral machines, make it diffi- cult to comprehend, and combine their various parts, without much time, and repeated examination ; the reduced fize of prints la^-S 462 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. lays the whole at once before the eye, and tends to facilitate not only comprehenfion, but contrivance. Whoever can delineate pro- greffively as he invents, faves much labour, much time, and the ha- zard of confufion. Various contrivances have been employed to fa- cilitate drawing in perfpe£live, as may be feen in ^' Cabinet de -" Servier, Me'moires of the French Academy, PhilofophicalTranf- " aftions, and lately in the Repertory of Arts." The following is fimple, cheap, ^nd portable. Plate i. Fig. i. ABC, three mahogany boards, two, four, and fix inches long, and of the fame breadth refpedively, fo as to double in the manner reprefented. Plate i. Fig. 2. The part A is fcrewed, or clamped to a table of a convenient heic^ht, and a Iheet of paper, one edge of which is put under the piece A, will be held fall to the table. The index P is to be fet (at pleafure) with its Hiarp point to any part of an object which the eye fees through E the eye-piece. The macbine is now to be doubled as in Fig. 2, taking care that the index is not difturbed; the point, which was before perpen- dicular, will then approach the paper horizontally, and the place to which it points on the paper mult be marked with a pencil. The machine muft be again unfolded, and another point of the objeft is to be afceitained in the fame manner as before ; the fpace be- tween M E C H A N I C K S. 463 tween thefe points may be then connedted with a line; frefh points fhould then be taken, marked with a pencil, and conne6l- ed with a line ; and To on lucccflively, till the whole objecl is de- lineated. Befides the common terms of art, the technical terms of fcience fhould, by degrees, be rendered familiar to our pupils. Amonglt thefe the words Space and Time occur, as we have obferved, the fooneft, and are of the greateft importance. Without exaft defini- tions, or abftraft reafonings, a general notion of the ufe of thefe terms may be inculcated by employing them frequently in conver- fation, and by applying them to things and circumftances which occur without preparation, and about which children are inte- refted, or occupied. " There is a great fpace left between the " words in that printing." The child underftands th^iX. fpace m this fentence meatic white paper between black letters. *' You- *' Ihouid leave a greater fpace between the flowers which vou are ** planting," — he knows that you mean tnore ground. *' There is *•• a great fpace between that boat and the ihip," — fpace of water. *' I hope the hawk will not be able to catch that pigeon, there is a. " great fpace between them," — fpace of air. " The men who are *' pulling that fack of corn into the granary, have raifed it throuo-h " half the fpace between the door and the ground," A child can- Dot be at any lofs for the meaning of the word fpace in thefe or any other pradical examples which may occur; but he fhould alfo be ufed to the word fpace as a technical cxprelfion, and then he will not be confufed or flapped by a new term when employed in me- chanicks. The word iiwe may be ufed in the fame manner upon numberlefs ° occafions 464 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. occafions to exprefs the duration of any movement which is per- formed by the force of men, or horfes, wind, water, or any me- chanical power. *♦ Did the horfes in the mill we faw yefterday go as faft as the *' horfes which are drawing the chaife ?" *' No, not as faft as the ** horfes go at prefent on level ground ; but they went as faft as *• the chaife-horfes do when they go up hill, or as faft as horfes '• draw a waggon." " How many times do the fails of that windmill go round in *' a minute ? Let us count ; I will look at my watch ; do you *• count how often the fails go round ; wait till that broken arm ** is uppermoft, and when you fay now I will begin to count the ** time ; when a minute has paft I will tell you.** After a few trials this experiment will become eafy to a child of eicyht or nine years old ; he may fometimes attend to the watch, and at other times count the turns of the fails ; he may eafily be made to apply this to a horfe, mill, or to a water-mill, a corn-fan, or any machine that has a rotatory motion ; he will be entertained with his new employment ; \\t will compare the vehcitiei of dif- ferent machines; the meaning of this word will be eafily added to his vocabulary. " Does that part of the arms of the wind-mill *' which is near the axle-tree^ or center, I mean that part which ♦' has no cloth or fail upon it, go as faft as the ends of the arms *' that are the fartheft from the center :" *• No, not nearly fo faft.** " But M E C H A N I C K S. 465 ** But that part goes as often round in a minute as the reft of the " fail." " Yes, but it does not go as faft.'* *« How fo r" *' It does not go foj^r round." " No, it does not. The extremities of the fails go through more *' /pace in the fame time than the part near the center." By converfations like thefe the technical meaning of the word velocity may be made quite familiar to a child much youncrer than what has been mentioned ; he may not only comprehend that ve- locity means time and fpace confidered together, but if he is fuf- ficifently advanced in arithmetick he may be readily taught how to exprefs and compare in numbers velocities compofed of certain por- tions of time and fpace. He will not inquire about the abftraifl meaning of the v^ovA fpace ; he has ictn fpace meafured on paper, on timber, on the water, in the air, and he perceives diftinftly that it is a term equally applicable to all diftances that can exift between objefts of any fort, or that he can fee, feel, or imagine. Momentum, a lefs common word, the meaning of which it is not quite fo eafy to convey to a child, may, by degrees, be ex- plained to him : at every inftant he feels the effc(ft of momentum in his own motions, and in the motions of every thing that ftrikes againft him ; his feelings and experience require only proper terms to become the fubjed of his converfation. When he begins to in- 3 ^ quire, 465 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. quire, it is the proper time to inftrudl him. For inftance, a boy of ten years old, who had acquired the meaning of fome other terms in fcience, this morning alked the meaning of the word momentum ; he was defned to explain what he thought it meant. He anfvvered, " Force." *' What do you mean by force ?" *' Effort." "Ofwhat?'* " Of gravity." ** Do you mean that force by which a body is drawn down to " the earth ?" ' « No." *' Would a feather, if it were moving with the greateft con- '* ceivable fwiftnefs or velocity, throw down a caftle ?" *' No* ?" •' Would a mountain torn up by the roots, as fabled in Milton, * When this queftion was fome time afterwards repeated to S— -, he obferved that tlie feather would throw down the caftle if its fwiftnefs were fo great as to make up for its want of weight. 7 "if M E C H A N I C K S. 467 *' if it moved with the lead conceivable velocity, throw down a «'caftle?'* ** Yes, I think it would." The difference between an uniform, and an uniformly accelerated motion, the meafure of the velocity of falling bodies, the compo- fition of motions communicated to the fame body in different di- reftions at the fame time, and the caufe of the curvilinear track of projediles, feem, at firfl, intricate fubjeds, and above the ca- pacity of boys of ten or twelve years old ; but by fhort and well- timed leffons they may be explained without confounding or fa- tiguing their attention. We tried another experiment whilfl: this chapter was writing, to determine whether we had affcrted too much upon this fubjedt. After a converfation between two boys upon the defcent of bodies towards the earth, and upon the meafure of the incrcafing velocity with which they fall, they were defircd, with a view to afcertain whether they underflood what was faid, to invent a machine which fhould Ihevv the difference between an uniform and an accelerated velocity, and in particular to fliew, by ocular demonftration, ♦' that if one body moves in a *' given time through a given fpace, with an uniform motion, and *' if another body moves through the fame fpace in the fame time *' with an uniformly accelerated motion, the uniform motion of ** the one will be equal to half the accelerated motion of the other." The eldeft boy, H , thirteen years old, invented and executed the following machine for this purpofe. Plate I, Fig. 3. b is a bracket 9 inches by 5, confifling of a back and two fides of hard wood : two inches from the back two 3 O 2 Hits 468 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. flits are made in the fides of the bracket half an inch deep, and an eighth of an inch wide, to receive the two wire pivots of a roller; which roller is compofcd of a cylinder, three inches long and half an inch diameter ; and a cone three inches long and one inch diame- ter in its largeft part or bafe. The cylinder and cone are not fe- parate, but are turned out of one piece ; a firing is faftened to the cone at its bafe a, with a bullet or any other fmall weight at the other end of it ; and another llring and weight are faflened to the cylinder at c ; the pivot p of wire is bent into the form of a handle ; if the handle is turned either way, the firings will be refpedively wound up upon the cone and cylinder ; their lengths fhould now be adjufled, fo that when the firing on the cone is wound up as far as the cone will permit, the two weights may be at an equal diflance from the bottom of the bracket, which bottom we fup- pofe to be parallel with the pivots ; the bracket fhould now be faflened againfl a wall, at fuch a height as to let the weights light- ly touch the floor when the firings are unwound : filk or bobbin is a proper kind of firing for this purpofe, as it is woven or plaited, and therefore is not liable to twifl. When the firings are wound up to their greateft heights, if the handle be fuddenly let go both the weights will begin to fall at the fame moment ; but the weight I, will defcend at firfl but flowly, and will pafs through but fmall fpace compared with the weight 2. As they defcend farther. No. 2 flill continues to get before No. i ; but after fome time. No. I begins to overtake No. 2, and at lafl they come to the ground together. If this machine is required to fhew exadly the fpace that a falling body would defcribe in given times, the cone and cylinder mufl have grooves cut fpirally upon their circumference to dire£t the firing with preciiion. To defcribe thefe fpiral lines be- came a new fubjed of inquiry. The young mechanicks were again eager M E C H A N I C K S. 469 eager to exert their powers of invention ; the eldeft invented a machine upon the fame principle as that which is ufed by the befc workmen for cutting clock fufees; and it is defcribed in Ber- thoud. The youngeft invented the engine delineated, Plate i, Fig. 4- The roller or cone (or both together), which it is required to cut fpirally, mufl: be furniflied with a handle, and a toothed wheel \v, which turns a fmaller wheel or pinion w. This pinion carries with it a fcrew s, which draws forward the puppet p, in which the graver or chifel g Aides without JJmke. This graver has a point or edge fhaped properly to form the fpiral groove, with a ftioulder to regulate the depth of the groove. The iron rod r, which is firmly fattened in the puppet. Aides through mortices at MM, and guides the puppet in a A:raight line. The reft of the machine is intelligible from the drawins:. A fimple method of fliewing the nature of compound forces was thought of at the fame time. An ivory ball was placed at the corner of a board fixteen inches broad, and two feet Ion"-; two other fimilar balls were let fall down inclined troughs ao-ainft the firft ball in different diredions, but at the fame time. One fell in a direflion parallel to the length of the board ; the other ball fell in a diredion parallel to its breadth. By raifino- the troughs, fuch a force was communicated to each of the falling balls as was lufficient to drive the ball that was at reft to that fide or end of the board which was oppofite, or at right angles, to the hne of its motion. Wh en 470 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. When both balls were let fall together they drove the ball that was at reft diagonally, fo as to reach theoppofite corner. If the fame board were placed as an inclined plane, at an angle of five or fix degrees, a ball placed at one of its uppermoft corners would fall with an accelerated motion in a direct line ; but if another ball were made (by defcending through an inclined trough) to ftrike the firft ball at right angles to the line of its former defcent, at the moment when it began to defcend, it would not, as in the former experiment, move diagonally, but would defcribe a curve. The reafon why it defcribes a curve, and why that curve is not a circular, was ealily vinderflood. Children who are thus in- duced to invent machines or apparatus for explaining and demon- Itrating the laws of mechanifm, not only fix indelibly thofe laws in their own minds, but enlarge their powers of invention, and pre- ferve a certain originality of thought, which leads to new dif- coveries. We therefore ftrongly recommend it to teachers, to ufe as few precepts as poffible in the rudiments of fcience, and to encourage their pupils to ufe their own underftandings as they advance. In mechanifm a general view of the powers and ufes of engines is all that need be taught ; where more is neceflary, fuch a foun- dation with the afliftance of good books, and the examination of good machinery, will perfcft the knowledge of theory and facilitate pradice. At firfl: we fhould not encumber our pupils with accurate demonftration. The application of mathematics to mechanics is undoubtedly of the higheft ufe, and has opened a fource of inge- nious M E C H A N I C K S. 471 ulcus and important inquiry. Archimedes, the greated: name r.mongfl: mechanic philofophers, fcorned the mere pradlical ap- phcation of his fubhme dilcoveries, and at the moment when the nioft ilupendous effeds were producing by liis engines, he was fo deeply abforbed in abftradt fpeculation as to be infenfible to the fear of death. We do not mean, therefore, to undervalue either the appUcation of ftridl: demonftration to problems in mechanics, or the exhibition of the moll: accurate machinery in philofophical ledlures ; but we wifli to point out a method of giving a general notion of the mechanical organs to our pupils, which (hall be im- mediately obvious to their comprehenfion, and which may ferve as a fure foundation for future improvement. We are told by a vul- gar proverb, that though we believe what we fee, we have yet a higher belief in what we. feel. This adage is particularly applica- ble to mechanics. When a perfon perceives the efiedt of his own bodily exertions with different engines, and when he can compare in a rough manner their relative advantages, he is not difpofcd to rejeft their afli fiance, or to expedt more than is reafonable from their application. The young theorift in mechanics thinks he can produce a perpetual motion ! When he has been accuflomed to refer to the plain didates of common fenfe and experience, on this, as well as on every other fubject, he will not eafily be led adray by vifionary theories. To bring the fenfe of feeling to our afliflancc in teaching the ufes of the mechanic' powers, the following apparatus was con- flru» PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDUCATION. 505 little tyrant of a family, will, it is true, be forced to fubmit to luperior ftrength or fuperior numbers at fchool* ; but does it im- prove the temper to pradlife alternately the habits of a tyrant and a flave? The leflbn which experience ufually teaches to the temper of a fchoolboy is, that fi:rength, and power, and cunning, will inevitably govern in fociety ; as to reafon, it is out of the queftion, it would be hifled or laughed out of company. With refpecft to focial virtues, they are commonly amongfl: fchoolboys fo much mixed with party fpirit, that they miflead even the befl: difpofitions. A boy at home, whofe pleafures are all immediately connected with the idea of felf, will not feel a fudden enlargement of mind from entering a public fchool. He will, probably, prcferve his felf- ifli charafter in his new fociety ; or, even fuppofe he catches that>. of his companions, the progrefs is not great in moral education from felfifhnefs to fpirit of party : the one is a defpicable, the other a dangerous principle of a<5lion. It has been obferved, that what we are when we are twenty, depends on what we were when we were ten years old. What a young man is at college, depends upon what he was at fchool ; and what he is at fchool, depends upon what he was before he went to fchool. In his fa- ther's houfe the firfl: important lefTons, thofc which decide his future abilities and character, mufl be learned. We have repeated this idea, and placed it in different points of view, in hopes that it will catch and fix the attention. Suppofe that parents educated their children well for the firfl eight or nine years of their lives, and then fent them all to public feminaries, what a difference this mufl immediately make in public education : the boys would be dif- poied to improve themfelves with all the ardour which the mofl: * V". Bame?'sE(r»y on public and private Education. Mancheftcr Society. 3 T fanguinc 5o6 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. fan"-uine preceptor could delire ; their tutors would find that there was nothing to be unlearned; no habits of idlenefs to conquer ; no perverfe ftupidity would provoke them; no capricious contempt of application would appear in pupils of the quickeft abilities. The moral education could then be made a part of the preceptor's care, with feme hopes of fuccefs ; the pupils would all have learned the firft neceffary moral principles and habits ; they would, con- fequently, be all fit companions for each other ; in each others fo- ' ciety they would continue to be governed by the fame ideas of light and wrong by which they had been governed all their lives; they would not have any new chara£ler to learn ; they would improve, by mixing with numbers, in the focial virtues, without learning •party fpirit; and though they would love their companions, they would not therefore combine together to treat their inflruftors as pedagogues and tyrants. This may be thought an Utopian idea of a fchool ; indeed it is very improbable, that out of the numbers of parents who fend their children to large fchools, many fhould fud- denly be much moved, by any thing that we can fay, to perfuade them to take ferious trouble in their previous inflruftion. But much may be efFeded by gradual attempts : ten well educated boys, fent , to a public feminary at nine or ten years old, would, probably, far furpafs their competitors in every refpe6l, they would infpire others with fomuch emulation, would do their parents and preceptors fo much credit, that numbers would eagerly inquire into the caufes of their fuperiority ; and thefe boys would perhaps do more good by their example, than by their adual acquirements. We do not mean to promife that a boy judicioufly educated (hall appear at ten years old a prodigy of Jearning ; far from it : we (hould not even efll- mate his capacity, or the chain of his future progrefs, by the quan- tity of knowledge flored in his memory, by the number of Latin lines PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDUCATION. 507 lines he had got by rote, by his expertnefs in repeating the rules of his grammar, by his pointing out a number of places readily in a nnap, or even by his knowing the latitude and longitude of all the capital cities in Europe ; thefe are all ufeful articles of know- ledge, thefe are not the tefls of a good education. We (hould ra- ther, if we were to examine a boy of ten years old, for the credit of his parents, produce proofs of his being able to rcafon accurately, of his quicknefs in invention, of his habits of induflry and appli- cation, of his having learned to generalife his ideas, and to apply his obfervations and his principles: if we found that he had learned all, or any of thefe things, we fhould be in little pain about grammar, or geography, or even Latin ; we fhould be tolerably certain that he would not long remain deficient in any of thefe ; we fhould know that he would overtake and furpals a competitor who had only been technically taught, as certainly as that the giant would overtake the panting dwarf, who might have many miles the ftart of him in the race. We do not mean to fay, that a boy {hould not be taught the principles of grammar, and fome knowledge of geogra- phy, at the fame time that his underftanding is cultivated in the moft enlarged manner : thefe objedls are not incompatible, and we particularly recommend it to parents ivho intend to fend their chil- dren tofchoo/y early to give them confidence in themfelves by fe- curing the rudiments of literary education ; otherwife their pupils, with a real fuperiority of undcrftanding, may feel dcprcfled, and may perhaps be defpifed, when they mix at a public fchool with numbers who will eftimate their abilities merely by their pro- ficiency in particular ftudies. Mr. Frend *, in recommending the fludy of arithmetic for * V. Mr. Freud's Principles of Algebra. 3 T 2 young 5o8 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. young people, has very fenfibly remarked, that boys bred op m public fchools are apt to compare themfelves \vit!i each other merely as claflical fcholars ; and, when they afterwards go into the world excellent Greek and Latin fcholars, are much aftonifhed to perceive, that many of the companions whom they had under- valued at fchool, get before them when they come to a£lual bu- finefs, and to adive life. Many in the purfuit of their claffical fludies have negledled all other knowledge, efpecially that of arithmetic, that ufeful effential branch of knowledge, without which neither the abftra£l fciences nor practical arts can be taught. The precifion which the habit of applying the common rules of arithmetic gives to the underftanding, is highly advantageous, par- ticularly to young people of vivacity, or, as others would fay, of genius. The influence which the habit of eftimating has upoa that part of the moral charadter called prudence, is of material con- fequence. We (hall further explain upon this fubjedl when we fpeak of the means of teaching arithmetic and reafoning to chil- dren ; we only mention the general ideas here, to induce intelligent parents to attend early to thefe particulars. If they mean to fend their children to public claffical fchools, it muft be peculiarly ad- vantageous to teach them early the rudiments of arithmetic, and to give them the habit of applying their knowledge in the common bufinefs of life. We forbear to enumerate other ufeful things, which might eafily be taught to young people before they leave home, becaufe we do not wifli to terrify with the apprehenfion, that a perplexing variety of things are to be taught. One thing well taught, is better than a hundred taught ioaperfedly. The effed of the pains which are taken in the firft nine or ten years of a child's life, may not be apparent immediately to the 7 view. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDUCATION. 509 view, but it will gradually become vifible. To carelefs obfervers, two boys of nine years old, who have been very differently educated, may appear nearly alike in abilities, in temper, and in the promife^ of future charadler. Send them both to a large public fchool, let them be placed in the fame new fituation, and expofed to the fame trials, the difference will then appear : the difference in a few years will be fuch as to ffrike every eye, and people will wonder what can have produced in fo ftiort a time fuch an amazing change. In the Hindoo art of dyeing, the fame liquors commu- nicate different colours to particular fpots, according to the feveral bafes previoufly applied ; to the ignorant eye no difference is dif- cernlble in the ground, nor can the defign be diftindlly traced till the air, and light, and open expofure, bring out the bright and permanent colours to the wondering eye of the fpedator. Befides beftowing fome attention upon early education, parents, who fend their children to fchool,. may much affiff the public pre- ceptor by judicious condu£l towards children during that portion of the year which is ufually fpent at home*. Miftaken parental fondncfs delights to make the period of time which children fpend at home as ftriking a contraft as poffible with that which they pafs at fchool. The holydays are made a jubilee, or rather refem- ble the Saturnalia. Even if parents do not wifti to reprefent a fchoolraafter as a tyrant, they are by no means difpleafed to ob- ferve, that he is not the friend or favourite of their children. They put themfelves in mean competition with him for their af- fcftion, inftead of co-operating with him in all his views for their advantage. How is it poffible, that any mafter can long retain the * V. Williams's Lcdlures oo Education. wi(h 5IO PRACTICAL EDUCATION. \vi(h or the hope of fucceeding iti any plan of education, if he per- ceives that his pupils are but partially under his government, if his influence over their minds be counteracted from time to time by the fuperior influence of their parents r An influence which he mufl: not \vi(h to dcftroy. To him is left the power to punifli, it is true ; but parents referve to themfelves the privilege to re- ward. The ancients did not fuppofe, that even Jupiter could govern the world without the command of pain and pleafure. Upon the vafes near his throne depended his influence over man- kind. And what are thefe holyday delights f And in what confifts parental rewards ? In dillipation and idlenefs. With thefe arc confequently aflbciated the idea of happinefs and the name of plea- lure ; the name is often fufficient, without the reality. During the vacation children have a glimpfe of what is called the world; and then are fent back to their prifon with heads full of vifions of liberty, and with a fecond-fight of the blefl'ed lives which they are to lead when they have left fchool for ever. What man of fenfe, who has ftudied the human mind, who knows that the fuccefs of any plan of education muft depend upon the concurrence of every perfon, and every circumftance, for years together, to the fame point, would undertake any thing more than the partial inftrudion of pupils, whole leading allbciations and habits muft be perpetually broken ? When the work of fchool is undone during the holy- days, what hand could have the patience perpetually to repair the web ? During the vacations fpent at home children may be made ex- tremely happy in the fociety and in the afFe6lions of their friends, 6 but PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDUCATION. 511 but they need not be taught that iJIenefs is pleafure : on the contrary, occupation fhould by all poflible methods be rendered agreeable to them ; their fchool acquifitions, their knowled<7e and tafte fhould be drawn out in converfation, and they fhould be made to feel the value of what they have been taught; by thcfe means there would be fome connexion, fome unity of dcfign, pre^- ferved in their education. Their fchoolmafters and tutors fhould never become the theme of infipid ridicule ; nor fhould parents ever put their influence in competition with that of a preceptor: on the contrary, his pupils fliould uniformly perceive that from his authority there is no appeal, except to the fuperior power of reafon,, which fhould be the avowed arbiter to which all fhould be fub- mitted. Some of the dangerous effefls of that mixed fociety at fchools, of which we have complained, may be counteraded by the judi- cious condu(£l of parents during the time which children fpend at home. A better view of fociety, more enlarged ideas of friend- fhip and of juftice, may be given to young people, and the vile principle of party fpirit may be treated with juft contempt and ri- dicule. Some flandard, fome rules may be taught to them, by which they may judge of chara6ler independently of prejudice, or childifh prepoflefhon. " I do not like you, Doilor Fell ; " The reafoii why I cannot tell: " But this I know full well, «' I do not like you, Doftor Fell"— is an exa61: fpecimen of the ufual mode of reafoning, of the ufual method in which an ill educated fchoolboy exprefTes his opinion 512 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. opinion and feelings about all perfons, and all things. *' The " reafon why," fhould always be inquired whenever children ex- prefs preference or averfion. To connefl the idea of childhood with that of inferiority and contempt, is unjuft and impolitic ; it (hould not be made a re- proach to young people to be young, nor fhould it be pointed out to them, that when they are fome years older they will be more refpefted ; the degree of refpedl which they really command, whether in youth or age, will depend upon their own condud, their knowledge, and their powers of being ufeful and agreeable to others. If they are convinced of this, children will not at eight years old long to be fifteen, or at fifteen to be one and twenty ; proper fubordination would be preferved, and the fcale of happi- ' nefs would not have a forced and falfe connexion with that of age. If parents did not firft excite foolifh wifhes in the minds of their children, and then imprudently promife that thefe wifhes (hall be ^ratified at certain periods of their exiftence, children would not be impatient to pafs over the years of childhood; thofe years which idle boys wifh to pafs over as quickly as poflible, men without oc- cupation regret as the happieft of their exiftence. To a child, who has been promifed that he (hall put on manly apparel on his next birth day, the pace of time is flow and heavy until that happy 2era arrive. Fix the day when a boy (hall leave fchool, and he wi(hes inftantly to mount the chariot, and la(h the horfes of the fun. Nor when he enters the world, will his reftlefs fpirit be fatisfied ; tlie firft ftep gained, he looks anxioufly forward to the height of manly elevation, " And the brifk minor pants for twenty-one." Thefc PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDUCATION. 513 Thefe juvenile anticipations diminifh the real happinefs of life ; thofewhoare in continual expe£lation never enjoy the prefent ; the habit of expectation is dangerous to the mind, it fufpends all iii- duliry, all voluntary exertion. Young men, who early acquire this habit, find exiftence infipid to them without the immediate iHmuli of hope and fear : no matter what the objedl is, they muft have fomething to figh for; a curricle, a cockade, or wi opera-dancer. Much may be done by education to prevent this boyifh reftlcfs- nefs. Parents fhould refrain from thofe imprudent promifes, and llight inuendoes which the youthful imagination always mifunder- flands and exaggerates. Never let the moment in which a young man quits a femmary of education, be reprelented as a moment in which all inflru£lion, labour, and reflraints, ceafe. The idea, that he muft reftrain and inftruct himfelf, that he muft complete his own education, fhould be excited in a young man's mind ; nor fhould he be fufFered to imagine that his education is finiflied, be- caufe he has attained to fome given age. When a common fchoolboy bids adieu to that fchool which he has been taught to confider as a prifon, he exults in his efcape from books and mafters, and from all the moral and intelleftual di(ci- pliliCj to which he imagines that it is the peculiar difgrace and mifery of childhood to be condemued. He is impatient to be thought a man, but his ideas of the manly charard ; nor are they ulually difpofed to think of marriage in any other light than as the laft defperate expedient to repair their injured fortuues. They fet their wits againft the fex in general, and con-- fider themfelves as in danger of being jockeyed into the matrimo- nial flate.. Some few, perhaps, who have not brought their imagi- nation fufficiently under the command of the calculating faculty, are caught by beauty and accomplilhments, and many agalnfl: the common rules of intcreft. Thele men are confidered with pity, or with ndlcu!,-, by their companions, as dupes who have fuffered themfelves to be taken in : others are warned by their fate ; and the future probability of fimilar^rror^, of courfe, muftbe diminifh- ed. The fafiiionable apathy, whether real or atfeded, with which young men lounge in public places, with fcarcely the appearance of attention to the fair exhibitors before them, fufficiently marks ■ the temper of the times ; and if the female fex have loft any thing of the refpecl and efteem which ought to be paid to them in fo- ciety, they can fcarcely expecl to regain their proper influence by conceflions to the falfe and vitiated tafte of thofe who combine to 6 treat 534 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. treat them with negled bordering upon infolence. If the fyrtem of female education, if the fyftem of female manners, confpire to fhew in the fair fex a degrading anxiety to attrafl vvorthlefs admi- ration, wealthy, or titled homage, is it furprifing that every young man, who has any pretenfions to birth, fortune, or faftiion, fliould confider himfelf as the arbiter of their fate, and the defpotic judge of their merit ? Women, who underftand their real interefts, per- ceive the caufes of the contempt with which the fex is treated by fafliionable coxcombs, and they feel fome indignatic^i at the meannefs with which this contempt, tacitly or openly expreffed, is endured. Women, who feel none of this indignation, and who, either from their education, or their circum fiances, are only folici- tous to obtain prefent amufement, or what they think the perma- nent advantages of a fortunate alliance, will yet find themfelves miftaken by perfifling in their thoughtlefs career ; they will not gain even the objects to which they afpire. How many accom- plifhed belles run the ufual round of diflipation in all public places of exhibition, tire the public eye, and after a feafon or two fade and are forgotten ! How many accomplifhed belles are there, who, having gained the objed of their own, or of their mother's ambition, find themfelves doomed to mifery for life ! Thofe une- qual marriages, which are fometimes called excellent matches, fel- dom produce much happinefs. And where happinefs is not, what h all the refl r If all, or any of thefe refleflions, fhould ftrike the heart, and convince the underflanding, of an anxious, but reafonable mother, (he will, probably, immediately determine upon her own conduct in the education of her dau'ghters : fhe will refolve to avoid the common errors of the frivolous or the interefled ; fhe will not be influenced I FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, &c, 535 influenced by the importunity of every idle acquaintance, who may talk to her of the neceffity of her daughter's being taken no- tice of in public, of the chznces of an advanfageous edAhViOnmentf of the good fortune of Mifs Y or lady Angelina X , in meeting with a coxcomb or a fpendthrift for a huiband ; or will fhe be moved with maternal emulation when flie is further told, that thefe young ladies owed their fuccefs entirely to the lupe- riority of their accomplilhments : flie will confider, for one mo- ment, what is meant by the word fuccefs; flie will, perhaps, not be of opinion that " 'tis beft repenting in a coach and fix ;" fhe will, perhaps, refleifl, that even the " foft founds" of titled gran- deur lofe their power to pleafe, and " falute the ear" almoft un- oblcrved. The happlnefs, the permanent happinefs of her child, will be the firft, the lafl: object of the good and the enlightened mother : to this all her views and all her efforts will tend ; and to this fhe will make every fafliionable, every elegant accomplifhment fubfervient. As to the means of acquiring thefe accomplifliments, it would be abfurd, and prefumptuous, to prefent here any vague precepts, or tedious details, upon the mode of learning drawing, dancing, and mufic. Thefe can be befl learned from the mafters who pro- fefs to teach them, as far as the technical part is neceffary. But fuccefs will not ultimately depend upon any technical infirrudioivs that a mailer can give : he may direft the efforts of induftry io as to fave much ufelcfs labour ; he may prevent his pupils from ac- quiring bad practical habits ; he may affift, but he cannot infpire, the fpirit of perfeverance. A mafter, who is not expedted, or in- deed allowed, to interfere in the general education of his pupils, can only dihgently attend to them whilft he is giving his leffons; he 536 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. be has not any power, except that pernicious motive, competition, •to excite them to excel; his inftrudions cannot be peculiarly adapt- ed to their tempers or their underflandings, becaufe with thefe he is unacquainted. Now a fenfible mother has it in her power to fup- ply all thefe deficiencies ; even if (he does not herfelf excel in any of the accomplishments which her daughters are learning, her knowledge of their minds, her tafle, her judgment, her affedion, her fuperintending intelligence, will be of ineflimable value to her children. If fhe has any fkill in any accomplifhment, fhe will, for the firft years of her daughters life, be undoubtedly the beft per- fon to inftrucl them. By Ikill, we do not mean fupcrior talents, or proficiency in mufic or drawing ; without thefe (he may be able to teach all that is neceffary in the early part of education. One of the befl: motives which a woman can have to cultivate her talents after (he marries, is the hope and belief, that {he may be effentially ferviceable in the inftrudion of her family. And that flie may be eflentially ferviceable, let no falfe humility lead her to doubt. She need not be anxious for the rapid progrefs of her little pupils ; fhe need not be terrified if fhe fee their equals in age furpafsthem under what (bethinks more able tuition ; (hemayfecurelyfatisfy herfelf, that if (he but infpires her children with a defire to excel, with the habits of attention and induftry, they will certainly fucceed, fooner or later, in whatever it is defirable that they (hould learn. The exad age at which the mufic, dancing, or drawing mafter, (hould becrin their inflrudions need not be fixed. If a mother (hould not be fo fituated as to be able to procure the befl: mafters for her daughters whilft they are yet children, (he need not be in defpair ; a rapid progrefs is made in a (hort time by well educated young people ; thofe who have not acquired any bad habits are eafily taught : it (hould therefore feem prudent, if the beft mafters cannot be FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, &c. 53; be procured at any given period of education, to wait patiently, than to hazard their firft imprelfions, and the firft habits which might be given by any inferior technical inftrudion. It is faid, that the celebrated mufician Timotheus, whofe excellence in his art Alexander the conqueror of the world was forced to acknow- ledge, when pupils flocked to him from all parts of the world, had the prudence to demand double entrance money from every fcholar who had had any other mufic mafter. Befides the advantage of being entirely free from other bad ha- bits, children who are not taught by inferior mafters, will not con- traft habits of liftlefs application. Under the eye of any indolent perfon children feldom give their entire attention to what they are about. They become mere machines, and without ufing their own underftanding in the leaft, have refource to the convenient mafter upon every occafion. The utmoft that children in fuch circumftances can learn, is all the technical part of the art which the mafter can teach. When the mafter is at laft difmifled, and her education completed, the pupil is left both fatigued and help- lefs. " Few have been taught to any purpofe, who have not ** been their own teachers," fays Sir Jofliua Reynolds. This re- flexion upon the art of teaching may perhaps be too general ; but thofe perfons, who look back upon their education, will in many refpefts allow it to be juft. They will perceive that they have been too much taught, that they have been wholly paffive under the dominion of tutors, and that they have learned every thing which they know as an art, and nothing as a fcieiice. Few peo- ple have lufficient courage to recommence their own education, and for this realon few people get beyond a certain point of medio- crity. It is eafy to them to pradile the leflbns which they have 3 Z learned, 5s8 PRACTICAL EDUCATION, learned, if they pracSlife them in intellectual darknefs ; but if yoit let in upon them one ray of philofophic light, you dazzle and con- found them, fo that they cannot even perform their cuftomary feats. A young man*, who had been blind from his birth, had learned to draw a crofs, a circle, and a fquare, with great accuracy ; when he was twenty his eyes were couched, and when he could fee perfeftly well, he was defired to draw his circle and fquare. His new fenfe of feeing, fo far from affifting him in this operation> was extremely troublefome to him ; though he took more pains than ufual, he performed very ill : confcunded by the new difficul- ty, he concluded that fight was ufelefs in all operations to be per- formed by the hand, and he thought his eyes would be of no ufe to him in future. How many people find their reafon as ufelefs and troublefome to them as this young man found his eye- fight ! Whilft we are learning any mechanical operation, or vvhilfl: we -are acquiring any technical art, the mind is commonly paffive. In the firft attempts, perhaps, we reafon or invent ways of abridging our own labour, and the awkwardnefs of the unpradifed hand is aflifted by ingenuity and refledtion ; but as we improve in manual dexterity, attention and ingenuity are no longer exerted ; we go on habitually without thought. Thought would probably inter- rupt the operation, and break the chain of affociated a£lions*. An artificer flops his hand the moment you afk him to explain what he is about : he can work and talk of indifferent objeds j but * V. Storia di quattro fratelli nati ciechl e guarjti coll' eftrazione delle cateratte. Di Francefco Buzzi. t V. Zoonomia. fr' if FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, Sec. 539 if he refle£ls upon the manner in which he performs certain flight of hand parts of his bufinefs, it is ten to one but he cannot go on with them. A man, who writes a free running hand, goes^ on without thinking of the manner in which he writes; fix his attention upon the manner in which he holds his pen, or forms his letters, and he probably will not write quite fo faft, or fo well, as ufual. When a girl firft attempts to drefs herfelf at a glafs, the glafs perplexes, inftead of adifting her, becaufe (he thinks, and reafons about every motion ; but when by habit (he has learned how to move her hands in obedience to the JIi/ge/-irmge*', vvhicb performs its exercife in the mirror, no farther thought is em- ployed. Make the child obferve that (he moves her left hand forward when the image in the glafs moves in a contrary manner, turn the child's attention to any of her own motions, and (he will make miftakes as (he did before her habits were formed. Many occupations, which are generally fuppofed to depend upon the underftanding, and which do probably depend in the firft in- flance upon the under/landing., become by praftice purely mecha- nical. This is the cafe in many of the imitative arts. A perfon unufed to drawing exerts a great deal of attention in copying any new objeft; but cuftom foon fupplies the place of thought. By cuftom-f-, as a great artift aflurcs us, he will become able to draw the human figure tolerably correctly with as little effort of the mind, as to trace with a pen the letters of the alphabet. We mud further obferve, that the habit of purfuing any occu- * This word is fometimes by miftakc fpeit/tf_frt.'-man. + Sir Jofhua Reynolds. 3 Z 2 pation, 54© PRACTICAL EDUCATION. patiou, which requires no mental exertion, induces an indo- lence or incapacity of iotelled:. Mere artifts are connmonly as ftupid as mere artificers, and thefe are little more than ma- chines. The length of time which is required to obtain pradlical (kill and dexterity iu certain accompliftiments is one reafon, why there are fo few people who obtain any thing more than mechanical ex- cellence. They become the flaves of cuftom, and they become proud of their flavery. At firft they might have conlidered cuf- tom as a tyrant ; but when they have obeyed her for a certaia time, they do her voluntary homage ever after, as to a fovereiga by divine right. To prevent this fpecies of intelledual degrada- tion, we muft in education be careful to rank mere mechanical? talents below the exercife of the mental powers. Thus the am- bition of young people will be diretled to high objedls, and all in- ferior qualifications may be attained without contracting the un- derftanding. Praife children for patience, for perfeverance, for induftryj encourage them to reafon and to invent upon all fub- jeds, and you may diredl their attention afterwards as you think proper. But if you applaud children merely for drawing a flower neatly, or copying a landfcape, without exciting their ambition to any thing higher, you will never create fuperior talents, or a fuperior charadler. The proficiency that is made in any particular accomplifhment, at any given age, fhould not be confidered fo much, even by thofe who highly value accomplifhments, as the power, the energy, that is excited in the pupil's mind, from which future progrefs is enfured. The writing and drawing automaton performs its advertifed wonders to the fatisfli^ition of the fpedators; but the machine is not *' injina withfpiritj" you cannot exped from FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, &c, 541 from its pencil the Iketch of a Raphael, or from its pen the thoughts of a Shakfpeare. It is eafy to guide the hand, but who can transfufe a foul into the image ? It is not an uncommon thing to hear young people, who have been long under the tuition of mafters, complain of their own want of genius. They are fenfible that they have not made any great progrefs in any of the accomplifhments, which they have en- deavoured to learn ; they fee others, who have not perhaps had what they call iuch opportunities and advantages in their education,, fuddenly furpafs them ; this they attribute to natural genius, and they fay to themfelves in defpair, " Certainly 1 have no tafte for *' drawing, I have no genius for mufic, I have learned fo many *' years, I have had fo many leflbns from the beft mafters, and yet *' here is fuch and fuch a one, who has had no mafter, who has *' taught herfelf, and perhaps did not begin till late in life, has got " before me, becaufe (he has a natural s;enius for thefe things. She " muft have a natural tafte for them, becaufe ftie can fit whole " hours at thefe things for her own pleafure. Now I never would *' take a pencil in my hand from my own choice ; and I am glad, *' at all events, that the time for leflbns and mafters is over. My " education is finiflied, for I am of a2;e." The difguft and defpair, which are thus induced by an injudicious education, abfolutely defeat even its own trivial purpofes. So that, whatever may be the views of parents, whether they con- fider ornamental accompliftiments as effential to their daughter's fuccefs in the world, or whether they value them rather as fccon- dary objects, fubordinate to her happinefs ; whether they vvifti their daughter adtually to excel in any particular accompliftiment, 8 or 54* PRACTICAL EDUCATION. or to have the power of excelling In any to which circumftances may dire£t her, it is in all cafes advifable to cultivate the general power of the pupil's underflanding, inftead of confining her to tech- nical pradices and precepts, under the eye of any mafter, who docs not poffefs that which is xhefoul of every art. We do not mean any illiberal attack upon mafters, but in wri- ting upon education it is neceffary to examine the utility of dif- ferent modes of inftrudion, without fear of offending any clafs of men. We acknowledge, that it is feldom found that thofe can communicate their knowledge the beft, who poffefs the tnojiy efpecially if this knowledge be that of an artifl or a linguift. Be- fore any perfou is properly qualified to teach, he mull have the power of recollecting exadly how he learned; he muft go back ftep ' by ftep to the point at which he began, and he muft be able to condudl his pupil through the fame path without impatience or precipitation. He muft not only have acquired a knowledge of the procefs by which his own ideas and habits were formed, but he muft have extenfive experience of the varieties of the human mind. He muft not foppofe, that the operations of intellect are carried on precifely in the fame manner in all minds ; he muft not Imagine, that there is but one method of teaching, which will fuit all perfons alike. The analogies which ftrike his own mind, the arrangement of ideas, which to him appears the moft perfpicuous, to his pupil may appear remote and confufed. He muft not at- tribute this to his pupil's inattention, ftupidity, or obftinacy ; but he muft attribute it to the true caiifes; the different affociation of ideas in different minds, the different habits of thinking, which arife from their various tempers and previous education. He muft kt acquainted with the habits of all tempers : the flow, the quick, the FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, &c. 543 the inventive, the invefligating ; and he mufl: adapt his inftruc- tions accordingly. There is fomething more requilite : a mafter niuft not only know what he profeffes to teach of his own peculiar art or fcience, but he ought to know all its bearings and depen- dences. He muft be acquainted not only with the local topogra- phy of his own diftrifl, but he mufl have the whole map of hu- man knowledge before him ;, and whilft he dwells mod upon his own province, he muft yet be (ree from local prejudices, and muHj confider. himfelf as a citizen of the world. Children who ftudy geography in fmail feparate maps, underftand, perhaps, the view of each country tolerably well ; but we fee them quite puzzled when they are to connecft thefe maps in their idea of the world. They do not know the relative fize or fituation of England or France ; they cannot find London or Paris when they look for the firft time upon the globe, and every. country feems to be turned upfide down in their imagination. Young people who learn particular arts and fciences from mafters who have confined their view to the boundaries of each, without having given an enlarged idea of the whole, are much in the fame fituation with thefe unfortunate geographers. The perfifting to teach things feparately, which ought to be taught as a whole, muft prevent the progrefs of mental cultiva- tion *. The divifion and fubdivifion of different parts of educa- tion, which are monopolifed as trades by the mafters who profefs to teach them, muft tend to increafe and perpetuate error. Thefe intelleftual ca/^s are pernicious. * Condillac. It 544 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. It is faid, that the Perfians had mafters to teach their children each feparate virtue : one mafter to teach juftice, another fortitude, another temperance, and fo on. How thefe mafters could pre- ferve the boundaries of their feveral moral territories, it is not eafy to imagine, efpecially if they all infifted upon independent fovereign- ty. There muft have been fome danger, furely, of their difputing with one another concerning the importance of their refpedive profeffions, like the poor bourgeois gentilhomme's dancing mafter, mufic mafter, mafter of morality, and mafter of philofophy, who all fell to blows to fettle their pretenfions, forgetful of the prefeace of their pupil. Mafters, who are only expected to teach one thing, may be fincerely anxious for the improvement of their pupils in that particular, without being in the leaft interefted for their general charader or happinefs. Thus the drawing mafter has done his part, and is fatisfied if he teaches his pupil to draw well ; it is no concern of his what her temper may be, any more than what fort of hand (he writes, or how fhe dances. The dancing mafter, in his turn, is wholly indiff*erent about the young lady's progrefs ki drawing ; all he undertakes is, to teach her to dance. We mention thefe circumftanccs to fliew parents, that mafters, even when they do the utmoft that they engage to do, cannot educate their children; they can only partially inftru£l them in particular arts. Parents muft themfelves prefide over the educa- tion of their children, or muft entirely give them into the care of fome perfon of an enlarged and philofophic mind, who can fupply all the deficiencies of common mafters, and who can take advan- tage of all the politive good that can be obtained from exifting in- ftitutions. Such a preceptor or governefs muft poflefs extenfive knowledge, and that fuperiority of mind which fees the juft pro- portion FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, &c. 545 portion and value of every acquifition, which is not to be overawed by authority, or dazzled by fafhion. Under the eye of fuch per- fons, mafters will keep precifely their proper places; they will teach all they can teach, without inftilling abfurd prejudices, or inlpiring a fpirit of vain rivalfliip; nor will mafters be fuffered to continue their lefTons when they have nothing more to teach. Parents, who do not think that they have leifure, or feel that they have capacity to take the entire diredion of their children's education upon themielves, will trufl: this important office to a governefs. The inquiry concerning the value of female accom- pliHiments has been purpofely entered into before we could fpeak of the choice of a governefs, becaufe the eftimation in which theie are held will very much determine parents in their choice. If what has been faid of the probability of a decline in the pub- lic tafte for what are ufually called accomplifhments ; of their little utility to the happinefs of families and individuals j of the wafte of time, and wafte of the higher powers of the mind in acquiring them : if what has been obferved on any of thefe points is allowed to be juft, we (hall have little difficulty in purfuing the fame prin- ciples further. In the choice of a governefs we fhould not, then, confider her faflilonable accomplifliments as her beft recommenda- tions ; theie will be only fecondary objetSs. We fliall examine with more anxiety, whether fhe pofl'efs a found, difcriminating, and enlarged underftanding. Whether her mind be free from prejudice; whether (he has fleadinefs of temper to purfue her own plans ; and, above all, whether Ihe has that fpecics of integrity which will juftify a parent in trufting a child to her care. We /hall attend to her converfation, and obferve her manners, with 4 A fcrupulous 546 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. fdrupulous mlnutenefs. Children are imitative animals^ and they are peculiarly difpoled to imitate the language, manners, and gel- tures, of thole with whom they live, and to whom they look up with admiration. In female education too much care cannot be taken to form all thofe habits in morals and in manners, which are difiinguifhing charaderiftics of amiable women. Thefe habits muft be acquired early, or they will never appear eafy or graceful ; they will neceflarily be formed by thofe who fee none but good models. We have already pointed out the abfolute neceflity of union amongft all thofe who are concerned in a child's education. A governefs muft either rule, or obey, decidedly. If fhe do not agree with the child's parents in opinion, ftie muft either know how to convince them by argument, or flie muft with ftri(Sl integrity con- form her pradiice to their theories. There are few parents, who will choofe to give up the entire care of their children to any go- vernefs; therefore there will probably be fome points in which a difference of opinion will arife. A fenfible woman will never fub- mit to be treated, as governeffes are in fome families, like the fer- vant who was alked by his mafter what bufinefs he had to think ; or will a woman of {eniQ or temper infift upon her opinions without producing her reafons. She will thus enfure the refpe£l and the confidence of enlightened parents. It is furely the intereft of parents to treat the perfon who edu- cates their children with that perfeift equality and kindnefs, which will conciliate her atfeftlon, and which will at the fame time pre- ferve her influence and authority over her pupils. And it is with pleafure we obferve, that the ftyle of behaviour to governefles, in 8 ' well- FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, &c. 547 well-bred families, is much changed within thefe few years. A governefs is no longer treated as an upper fervant, or as an inter- mediate being between a fervant and a gentlewoman : (he is now treated as the friend and companion of the family, and fhe muft", confequently, have warm and permanent intereft la its profperity : (he becomes attached to her pupils from gratitude to their parents, from fympathy, from generofity, as well as from the RnQ. fenfe of duty. In fafliionable life there is, however, fome danger, that parents fhould go into extremes in their behaviour towards their governelTes. Thofe who difdain the idea of a(ruming fuperiority of rank and fortune, and who defire to treat the perfon who educates their children as their equal, adl with perfedl propriety ; but if they make her their companion in all their amufements they go a ftep too far, and they defeat their own purpofes. If a governefs at- tends the card table, and the affembly room ; if (he is to vifit, and be vifited, what is to become of her pupils in her abfence ? They muft be left to the care of fervants. There are fome ladies who will not accept of any invitation, in which the governefs of their children is not included. This may be done from a good motive, but, furely, it is unreafonable ; for the very ufe of a governefs is to fupply the mother's place in her abfence. Cannot this be managed better ? Cannot the mother and governefs both amufe themfelvcs at different times ? There would then be perfedl equality j the go- vernefs would be in the fame fociety, and would be treated with the fame refpeft, without negleding her duty. The reward which is given to women of abilities, and of unblcmifhed reputation, who devote themfelvcs to the fupcrintendence of the education of young ladies in the higher ranksof life, thedaughters of our affluent nobihtv, 4 A 2 ought 548 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. ought to be confiderably greater than what It is at prefeat : it ought to be fuch as to excite women to cultivate their talents, and their underflandings, with a view to this profeflion. A profefTioa we call it, for it ftiould be confidered as fuch, as an honourable profeflion, which a gentlewoman might follow without lofing any degree of the eftimation in which (he is held by what is called the world. There is no employment, at prefent, by which a gentlewoman caa maintain herfelf without lofing fomething of that refpe£t, fome- thing of that rank in fociety, which neither female fortitude nor male philofophy willingly foregoes. The liberal profeflions are open to men of fmall fortunes ; by prefenting one fimilar refourcc to women, we (hould give a flrong motive for their moral and in- telledual improvement. Nor does it feem probable, that they fliould make a difgraceful or imprudent ufe of their increafing influence and liberty in this cafe, becaufe their previous education mufl previoufly prepare them properly. The misfortune of women has ufually been, to have power trufted to them before they were educated to ufe it prudently. To fay that preceptrefTes in the higher ranks of life (hould be liberally rewarded, is but a vague expreflion ; fomething fpecific (hould be mentioned, wherever general utility is the ob- je£l. Let us obferve, that many of the firft dignities of the church are beftowed, and properly beftowed, upon men who have educated the highefl ranks of our nobility. Thofe who look with an evil eye upon thefe promotions do not fairly eftimate the na- tional importance of education for the rich and powerful. No pro- vifion can be made for women, who direfl the education of the daughters of our nobility, anyways equivalent to the provifion made for preceptors by thofe who have influence in the ftate. A pecuniary FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, &c. 549 pecuniary compenfation is in the power of opulent families. Three hundred a year, for twelve or fourteen years, the fpace of time which a preceptrefs muft probably employ in the education of a young lady, would be a iuitable compenfation for her care. With this provihon (he would be enabled, after her pupil's education was completed, either to fettle in her own family, or (he would in the decline of life be happily independent, fecure from the temptation of marrying for money. If a few munificent and enlightened in-- dividuals fet the example of liberally rewarding merit in this fitua- tion, many young women will probably appear with talents and> good qualities fuited to the views of the mofl fanguine parents.. With good lenle, and literary tafles, a young woman might in- ftru£t hcrfelf during the firft years of her pupil's childhood, and might gradually prepare herfelf with all the neceffary knowledge ;. according to the principles that have been fuggefted, there would be no necefHty for her being a mijlrefs of arts, a performer in mufic, a paintrefs, a linguift, or a poetefs. A general knowledge of literature is indifpenfable ; and yet farther, fhe muft have fuf- ficient tafte and judgment to diredl the literary talents of her pupils. With refpedl to the literary education of the female fex, the ar*. guments on both fides of the queftion have already been ftated^ with all the impartiality in our power, in another place * : without obtruding a detail of the fame arguments again upon the public, it will be fufBcient to profefs the diflindl opinion, which a longer coufideration of the fubjfCl has y^-t more fully confirmed,. That it wlU tend to the happinels of fociety in general, that womea * v.. Letters for Literary Ladies. ihould 550 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. fhould have their underftandings cultivated and enlarged as much as pofTible ; that the happinefs of domeftic life, the virtues and the powers of pleafing in the female fex, the yet more defirable power of attaching thofe worthy of their love and efteem, will be increafed by the judicious cultivation of the female underftanditig, more than by all that modern gallantry or ancient chivalry could devife in favour of the fex. Much prudence and ability are re- quifite to conduft properly a young woman's literary education. Her imagination muft not be raifed above the tafte for neceflary occupations, or the numerous fmall, but not trifling pleafures of { twelve years old) fpoke next. " I would tie *' an extinguifher to one end of a thread. I would put this firing *' through a pulley faftened to the ceiling; the other end of this *' firing fhould be faftened to the middle of another thread, which- *' fhould be ftrained between two pofts fet uprighton each fideof the *' candle, fo as that the latter firing may lean againft: the candle at ** any diflance ^oaivaw/ below the flame. When the candle burns ** down to this ftring, it will burn it in two, and the extinguifher ** will drop upon the candle." This is the exafl defcriptlon o^ the weaver i alarm, mentioned in the Philofophical Tranfatlions, which C had never feenor. heard of. Mr. now fhowed us the patent extinguifher, which was much approved of by all the rival inventors. It is very ufeful to give children problems which have already been folved, becaufe they can immediately compare their own imperfctfl ideas with fuccefsful inventions, which have a6lual- ly been brought into real ufe. We know beforehand what ideas are 592 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. are neceffary to complete the invention, and whether the pupil has all the neceffary knowledge. Though by the courtefy of poetry, a creative power is afcribed to inventive genius, yet wc muft be convinced, that no genius can invent without materials. Nothine can come of nothine. Invention is nothing more than the new combination of materials. We muft judge in general of the eafe or difficulty of any invention, either by the number of ideas neceffary to be combined, or by the diflimilarity or analogy of thofe ideas. In giving any problem to children, we (hould not only confider whether they know all that is neceffary upon the fubje<5l, but alfo, whether that knowledge is fufficxcntly Jami/iar to their minds, whether circumftances are likely to recall it, and whether they have a perfedly clear idea of the thing to be done. By confidering all thefe particulars, we may pretty nearly propor- tion our queftions to the capacity of the pupil j and we may lead his mind on flep by flep from obvious to intricate inventions. July 30th. 1796. L , who was jufl: returned from Edin- burc^h, and had taken down in two large volumes Dr. Black's ledures, ufed to read to us part of them, for about a quarter of an hour, every morning after breakfaff. He was frequently inter- rupted (which interruptions he bore with heroic patience) by Jvjr 's explanations and comments. When he came to the expanfive power of fleam, and to the defcription of the different fleam engines which have been invented, Mr. flopped to aflc B , C , and S , to defcribe the ffeam engine in their own words. They all defcribed it in luch a manner as to fhew, that they clearly underftood the principle of the machine. Only the general principle had been explained to them. L , after having read the defcription of Savary's and Newcomen's fleam en- sine. MEMORY AND INVENTION. 593 giiie, was beginning to read the defcription of that invented by Mr. Watt ; but Mr. flopped him,' that he might try whether any perfon prefent could invent it. Mr. E thus flated the difficulty. " In the old fleam engine cold water, you ** know, is thrown into the cylinder to condenfe the fleam ; but *' in condenfing the fleam the cold water at the fame time cools " the cylinder. Now the cylinder mufl be heated again before " it can be filled with fleam ; for till it is heated it will condenfe " the fleam. There is, confequently, a great wafle of heat and " fuel in the great cylinder. How can you condenfe the fleam " without cooling the cylinder r" S . *' Let down a cold tin tube into the cylinder when you " want to condenfe the fleam, and draw it up again as foon as ** the fleam is condenfed ; or, if yoa could, put a cylinder of ice *' up the great tube." Some of the company next afked, if an horizontal plate of cold metal, made to Aide up the infide of the cylinder, would condenfe the fleam. The edges of the plate only would touch the cylinder j the furface of the plate might condenfe the fleam. *' But," faid Mr. " how can you introduce and *' withdraw it ?" C (a girl of 12) then faid, *' I would put a cold vefTel to *' condenfe the fleam at the top of the cylinder." Mr. . " So as to touch the cylinder, do you mean?* 4 G ' C . 594 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. C . " No, not {o as to touch the cyUnder, but at fome " diftance from it." ]\Ir. . *' Then the cold air would rufli into the cyhnder " whilll the fleam was paffing from the cylinder to your con- *' denfer." C . " But I would cover in the cold veffel, and I would " cover in the paflage to it." Mr. . " I have the pleafure of informing you, that you *' have invented part of the great Mr. Watt's improvement on the *' ftcam engine. You fee how it facilitates invention, to begin by *• ftating the difficulty clearly to the mind. This is what every *' pradical inventor does when Jie invents in mechanics." L (fmiling.) *' And what /always do in inventing a ma- *' thematical demonftration." To the good natured reader we need ofFer no apology, to the ill natured we dare attempt none, for introducing thefe detailed views of the firft attempts of young invention. They are not exhibited as models, either to do honour to the tutor or his j-.unils ; but fimply to Ihew, how the mind may be led from the eafieft fteps, to what are fuppofed to be difficult in education. By imagining ourfelves to be in the fame fituation with children, we may guefs what things are difficult to them ; and if we can recollecl the courfe of our own minds in acquiring knowledge, or in inventing, 6 we MEMORY AND INVENTION. 595 we may by retracing the fame ftcps inftrud others. The order that is frequently followed by authors, in the divifion and fubdivi- fion of their elementary treatifes, is not always the beft for thofe who are to learn. Such authors are ufually more intent upon proving to the learned that they underllaad their fubjeft, than upon communicating their knowledge to the ignorant. Parents and tutors muft, therefore, fupply familiar oral inftruftion, and thofe fimple, but eflential explanations, which books difdaln, or negledl to give. And there is this advantage in all inftru£lion given in converfation, that it can be made interefting by a thou- fand little circumftances, which are below the dignity of didadlic writers. Gradually we may proceed from fimple to more com- plicated contrivances. The invention of experiments to determine a theory, or to afcertain the truth of an affertion, muft be particu- larly ufefulto the underftanding. Any perfon, who has attended to experiments in chemiflry and natural philofophy, muft know, that invention can be as fully and elegantly difplayed upon thefe fubjefls as upon any in the fine arts or literature. There is one great advantage in fcientiflc invention, it is not dependent upon capricious tafte for its reward. The beauty and elegance of a poem may be difputed by a thoufand amateurs ; there can be but one opinion about the truth of a difcovcry in fcicnce. Independent of all ambition, there is coniiderablc pleafure in the purfuit of experimental knowledge. Children efpecially, before they are yet fools to fame, enjoy this fubftantial pleafure. Nor arc we to fuppofe that children have not capacities for fuch purfuits ; they are peculiarly fuited to their capacity. They love to fee ex- 4 Ci 2 perimcnts 596 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. periments tried and to try therti. They Ihevv this difpotitron not only wherever they are encouraged, but wherever they arc permitted to fhew it ; and if we compare their method of reafon- ins with the reafonings of the learned, we fhall fometimes be fur- prifed. They have no prejudices, therefore they have the com- plete ufe of all their fenfes ; they have few ideas, but thofe few are diftindl ; they can be analyfed and compared with eafe ; chil- dren, therefore, judge and invent better in proportion to their know- ledge than moft grown up people. Do61:or Hooke obferves, that a fenfible man, in folving any phi- lofophical problem, fhould always lean to that fide which is oppo- fite to his favourite tafte. A chemift is difpofed to account for every thing by chemical means ; a geometrician is inclined to folvc every problem geometrically ; and a mechanic accounts for all the phaenomena of nature by the laws of mechanifm. This undue bias upon the minds of ingenious people has frequently rendered their talents lefs ufeful to mankind. It is the duty of thofe who educate ingenious children, to guard againft this fpecies of fcientific infanity. There are prejudices of another defcrlption, which are fatal to inventive genius ; fome of thefe are ufually found to attend igno- rance, and others fometimes adhere to the learned. Ignorant people, if they poffefs any degree of invention, are fo confident in their own abilities, that they will not take the pains to inquire what others have thought or done ; they difdain all general prin- ciples, and will rather fcramble through fome bye path of their own ftriking out, than condefcend to be (hewn the beft road by 7 - ^^^ MEMORY AND INVENTION. 597 the moft enlightened guide. For this reafon felf-taught geniufes, as they are called, feldom go beyond a certain point in their own education, and the praile we beftow upon their ingenuity is always accompanied with expreffions of regret : " It is a pity that fuch *' a genius had not the advantages of a good education." The learned on the contrary, who have been bred up in reve- rence for eftablifhed opinions, and who have felt in many inftances the advantage of general principles, are apt to adhere too pertina- cioufly to their theories, and hence they neglefl or defpife new ob- fervations. How long did the maxim, that nature abhors a va- cuum, content the learned ! And how many dilcoveries were re- tarded by this fingle falfe principle ! For a great number of years it was affiimed and believed, that all objedls were feen by the in- tervention of vifual rays, proceeding from the eye much in the fame manner as we feel any objeft at a diftance from us by the help of a flick*. Whilfl- this abfurd analogy fatisfied the mind, no difcoveries were made in vifion, none were attempted. A pre- poffefTion often mifleads the induflry of aftive genius. Do£lor Hooke, in (pite of the ridicule which he met with, was firm in his belief, that mankind would difcover fome method of failing in the air. Balloon.- have juflified his predidion ; but all his own induf- try in trying experiments upon flying was wafted, becaufe he per- fifled in tollowing a falfe analogy to the wings of birds. He made wings of various forts ; ffiU he took it for granted that he muji learn to fly by mechanical means : had he applied to che- miflry he might have fucceeded. It is curious to obferve, how nearly he once touched upon the difcovery, and yet, mifled by his * Prieftlcy on Vifion, vol. i. page 23. prepofTeffion, 598 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. prepoffeflion, quitted his hold. He obferved, that the air cells* of fiflies are filled with air which buoys them up in the water, and he kippofes that this air is lighter than common air. Had he purfued this idea, he might have invented balloons ; but ,he re- turned with fatal perfeverance to his old theory of wings. From fuch fads we may learn the power and danger of prejudice in the moll: ingenious minds, and we fliall be careful to preferve our pu- pils early from its blind dominion. The bell: prefervation againft the prefumption to which igno- rance is liable, and the bell: prefervative againft the felf-fufficieucy to which the learned are fubjeit, is the habit of varying our ftudies and occupations. Thole who have a general view of the whole mapof human knowledge, perceive how many unexplored regions are yet to be cultivated by future induftry ; nor will they implicitly fubmit to the reports of ignorant voyagers. No imaginary pillars of Hercules will bound their enterprizes. There is no prefump- tion in believing, that much more is poffible to fcience than ever human ingenuity has executed ; therefore young people fhould not be ridiculed for that fanguine temper, which excites to great inven- tions. They fliould be ridiculed only when they imagine, that they poflefs the means of doing things to which they are unequal. The fear of this deferved ridicule will Simulate them to acquire knowledge, and will induce them to eflimate cautioufly their own powers before they hazard their reputation. We need not fear that this caution fhould reprefs their activity of mind ; ambi- tion will fecure their perfeverance, if they are taught that every acquifition is within the reach of unremitting induftry. This is * V. Hooke's Poftliumous Works. not MEMORY AND INVENTION. 599 not an opinion to be artfully inculcated to ferve z particular pur- pofe, but it is an opinion drawn from experience; an opinion which men of the highefl: abilities and integrity, of talents and habits the mod: dilfimilar, have confirmed by their unitod tefli- mony. Helvetius maintained, that no great man ever formed a great defign, which he was not alio capable of executing. Even where great perfeverance is exercifed, the choice of the fubjects on which the inventive powers are employed determines in a great meaiure their value : therefore, in the education of in- genious children, we fhould gradually turn their attention from curious trifles to important objefts. Boverick *", who made chains ** to yoke a flea," mufl: have poflefied exquillte patience ; befides his chain of two hundred links, with its padlock and key, all weighing together lefs than the third part of a grain, this inde- fatigable minute artificer was the maker of a landau which opened and fhut by fpiings ; this equipage, with fix horfes harnefled to it, a coachman fitting on the box, with a dog between his legs, four infide and two ootfide pafi^engers, befides a poflillion riding one of the fore horfes, vvas drawn with all the eafe and fafety imaginable by a well trained flea ! The inventor and executor of this puerile machine befliowed on it, probably, as much time as would have fuflficed to produce Watt's fire engine, or Montgolfier's balloon. It did not, perhaps, cofl the marquis of Worcefter more exertion to drav out his celebrated century of inventions; it did not, per- haps, coil Newton more to svrite thofe queries, which Maclaurin faid he could never read without feeling his hair fland an end with adiViiration. * Hooke's Micrographia, page 62. Erebeuf, 6oo PRACTICAL EDUCATION. Brebeuf, a French wit, wrote a hundred and fifty epigrams upon a painted lady: a brother wit, fired with enaulation, wrote upon the fame fubjedl three hundred more, making in all four hundred and fifty epigrams, each with appropriate turns of their own. Probably, Pope and Parnell did not rack their invention fo much, or exercife more indufl:ry in completing " the Rape of the " Lock," or " the Rife of Woman." Thefe will Hve for ever ; who will read the four hundred and fifty epigrams ? The mofl effectual methods to difcourage in young people the tafle for frivolous ingenuity will be, never to admire thefe " labo- " rious nothings," to compare them with ufeful and elegant in- ventions, and to fhow that vain curiofities can be but the wonder and amufement of a moment. Children who begin with trifling inventions may be led from thefe to general principles, and with their knowledge their ambition will necefTarily increafe. It cannot be expe£led, that the mofl enlarged plan of education could early give an intimate acquaintance with all the faiences ; but with their leading principles, their general hiflory, their prefent ftate, and their immediate defiderata *, young people may and ought to be made acquainted. Their own induflry will afterwards collecfl more precife information, and they will never wafle their time in vain fludies and fruitlefs inventions. Even if the cultivation of the memory were our grand object, this plan of education will fucceed. When the Abbe de Longuerue, whofe prodigious memory we have formerly mentioned, was alked by the Marquis d'Argenfon, how he managed to arrange and retain in his head every thing that en- tered it, and to recolledl every thing when wanted, the Abbe anfwered, * Prieftlcy has ably given the defiJcrata of cle£lricity,vifion, &c. " Sir, MEMORY AND INVENTION. 6or *' Sir, the elements of every fcience muft be learned whilft wo " are very young; the firfl: principles of every language, the " a b c, as I may fay, of every kind of knowledge : this is not dif- " ficult in youth, efpecially as it is not necefTary to penetrate far; '* fimple notions are fufficient ; when once thefe are acquired, '* every thing we read afterwards finds its proper place." 4 H CHAPTER ( 6o3 ) CHAPTER XXIL TASTE AND IMAGINATION. Figurative language feems to have confounded the ideas of moft writers upon metaphyfics. Imagination, Memory, and Rea- fcn, have been long introduced to our acquaintance as allegorical perfonages, and we have infenfibly learnt to confider them as real beings. The " viewlefs regions" of the foul have been portioned out amongft thefe ideal fovereigns, but difputes have, neverthelefs, fometimes arifen concerning the boundaries of intelledlual pro- vinces. Amongft the difputed territories, thofe of Imagination have been moft frequently the feat of war ; her empire has been fubjedt to continual revolution, her dominions have been by potent inva- ders divided and fubdivlded. Fancy *, Memory •f, Ideal prefencej, and Conception §, have fhared her fpoils. By poets Imagination has been addrefled as the great parent of genius, as the arbiter, if not the creator, of our pleafures ; by phi- lofophers her name has been fometimes pronounced with horror; * Warton's ode to Fancy. f Gerard. J Lord Karnes. § Profeffor Stewart. 4 H 2 to 6o4 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. to her fatal delufions they have afcribed all the crimes and miferies- of mankind. Yet, even philofophers have not always agreed in their opinions : whilft fome have treated Imagination with con- tempt, as the irreconcilable enemy of Reafon, by others * (he has been confideredj with more refpedt, as Reafon's infeparable friend, as the friend who collecls and prepares all the arguments upon which Reafon decides, as the injured, mifreprefented power, who is often forced to fupply her adverfaries with eloquence, who is often called upon to prefide at her own trial, and to pronounce her own conderanatioii. Imagination is '* the power " wt are told, of '■'■ forming mages-" the word image, however, does not, flriclly fpeaking, exprefs any thing more than a reprefentation of an objeifl of fight ; but the power of. imagination extends to obje£b of all the fenfes. " I hear a voice you cannot hear, " Wiiich fays I muft not ftay. «• I fee a hand you cannot fee, " Which beckons me away^" Imaofination hears the voice, as well as fees the hand j by an eafy licenfe of metaphor, what was originally ufed to exprefs the opera- tion of one of our fenfes, is extended to them all. We do not pre- cifely fay, that Imagination forms images of paft founds, or taftes, or fmells ; but we fay that flie forms ideas of them ; and ideas, we are told, are mental images. It has been fuggefted by Dr. Dar- * V. An excellent effay of Mr. Barnes's on Imagination, Manchefter Society, Vol. i. win, TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 605 win, that all thefe analogies between images and thoughts have probably originated in our obferving the little pictures painted on the retina of the eye. It is difficult certainly, if not impofTible, to fpeak of the invifi— ble operations of the mind or body, without exprefling ourfelves in metaphor of fome kind or other ; and we are eafily mifled by allufions to fenfible objedts, becaufe when we comprehend the al- lufion, we flatter ourfelves that we underftand the theory which it is defigned to illuftrate. Whether we call ideas images in popular language, or vibrations, according to Dr. Hartley's fyftem, or modes of fenlatioii with Condillac, or motions of the lenforium, in the language of Dr. Darwin, may ieem a matter of indifference. But even the choice of names is not a matter of inditference to thofe who wifh to argue accurately ; when they are obliged to defcribe their feelings or thoughts by metaphoric expreffjons, they will pre- fer the fimplefl ; thole with which the fewefl extraneous aflbcia- tions are connedted. Words which call up a variety of heteroo'e- ncous ideas to our minds are unfit for the purpofes of fober rea- ibning; our attention is diftrddled by them,, and we cannot re- flrain it to the accurate comparifon of fimple proportions. We yield to plcafuig reverie, inflead of exerting painful voluntary at- tention. Hence it is probably ufeful in our attempts to reafon,, efpecially upon metaphyfical lubjedts, to change from time to time our nomenclature*, and to fubftitute terms which have no rela- tion to our old ailociations,, and which do not affed the prejudices * It is to be hoped that the foreign philofophcrs, who, it is faid, are now employed in drawing up a new metaphyfical nomenclature, will avail themfelves of the exten- five knowledge, and original genius of the author of Zoonomia. of 6o6 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. of our education. We are obliged to define with fome degree of accuracy the fenfe of new terms, and we are thus led to compare our old notions with more feverity. Our fuperftitious reverence for mere fymbols is alfo diffipated ; fymbols are apt to impofe even upon thofe who acknowledge their vanity, and who profefs to con- fider them merely as objeds of vulgar worfliip. When we call a clafs of our ideas, images and pidures, a tribe of aflbciations with painting comes into our mind, and we argue about Imagination as if flie were adlually a paintrefs, who has co- lours at her command, and who, upon fome invifible canvafs in the foul, pourtrays the likenefs of all earthly and celeftial objcfts. When we continue to purfue the fame metaphor in fpeaking of the moral influence of Imagination, we fay that her colouring de- ceives us, that her pi£lures are flattering and falfe, that (he draws objedls out of proportion, &c. To what do all thefe metaphors lead ? We make no new difcoveries by talking in this manner ; we do not learn the caufe or the cure of any of the difeafes of the mind, we only perfuade ourfelves that we know fomething, when we are really ignorant. We have feduloufly avoided entering into any metaphyfical dif- quifitions ; but we have examined with care the fyftems of theore- tic writers, that we may be able to avail ourfelves of fuch of their obfervations as can be reduced to pradice in education. With refpedl to the arts, imagination may be confidered pra6tically in two points of view, as it relates to our tafte, and as it relates to our talents for the arts. Without being a poet, or an orator, a man may have a fufficient degree of imagination to receive pleafure from the talents of others ; he may be a critical judge of the relpedive 3 merits TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 60; merits of orators, poets, and artifts. This fenfibility to the plea- fures of the imagination, when judicioufly managed, adds much to the happinefs of life, and it muft be peculiarly advantageous to thofe who are precluded by their flation in fociety from the ne- ceflity of manual labour. Mental exercife, and mental amufements, are effential to perfons in the higher ranks of life, who would efcape from the fever of diffipation, or from the lethargy of en- nui. The mere phyfical advantages which wealth can procure are reducible to the (hort fum of " meat, fire, and clothes^'' A nobleman of the higheft birth, and with the longeft line of an- ceftry, inherits no intuitive tafte, or can he purchafe it from the artift, the painter, or the poet ; the pofleflion of the whole Pinelli library could not infufe the flighted: portion of literature. Educa- tion can alone give the full power to enjoy the real advantages of fortune. To educate the tafte and the imagination, it is not ne- celTary to furround the heir of an opulent family with mafters and connoifleurs. Let him never hear the jargon of amateurs, let him learn the art " not to admire." But in his earlieft: childhood cul- tivate his fenfes with care, that he may be able to fee and hear, \.o feel and underftand, for himfelf. Vifible images he will rapidly collect in his memory; but thefe muft be feledled, and his firft af- fociations mud not be trufled to accident, Encouraoe him to ob- ferve with attention all the works of nature, but fhew him onlv the beft imitations of art; the firft objedls that he contemplates with delight will remain long aflbciated with pleafure in his imagination; you muft, therefore, be careful, that thefe early aflb- ciations accord with the decifions of thofe who have determined the national ftandard of tafte. In many inftances tafte is governed by arbitrary and variable laws ; the falhions of drefs, of decoration, of manner, change from day to day ; therefore no exclufive prejudices (hould .6d« practical education. ihould confine your pupil's underftanding. Let him know, as far as we know them, the general principles which govern mankind in their admiration of the fublime and beautiful ; but at the fame time give him that enlarged toleration of mind, which comprehends the poflibility of a tade different from our own. Shew him, and you need not go farther than the Indian Ikreen, or the Chinefe paper in your drawing room, for the illuftration, that the fublime and beautiful vary at Pekin, at London, on Weflminfter bridge, and on the banks of the Ganges. Let your young pupil look over a colledlon of gems or of ancient medals ; it is neceflary that his eye fliould be early accuftomed to Grecian beauty, and to all the claflic forms of grace. But do not fuffer him to become a bigot, though he may be an enthuiiaft in his admiration of the antique. Short kiTons upon this fubje TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 6i; inlly, and he afked his children to defcribe the evening juft as it appeared to them. " There were three bards in Oflian's poems," faid he, " who were fent out to fee what fort of a night it was ; ** they all gave different defcriptions upon their return ; you have *' never any of you read Offian, but you can give us feme defcrip- " tion of this evening ; try." B (a girl of 14). *' The clouds in the weft are bright with -^ *' the light of the fun which has juft fet ; a thick mift is feen in the " eaft, and thefmoke which had been heaped up in the day-time is *' now fpread, and mixes with the mift all round us ; the noifes are *' heard more plainly (though there are but few) than in the day- *' time ; and thofe which are at a diftance found almoft as near as ** thofe which are clofe to us ; there is a red mift round the •' moon." C (a girl of eleven years old). " The weftern clouds arc " pink with the light of the fun which has juft fet. The moon " ftiines red through the mift. The fmoke and mift makes it look *' dark at a diftance, but the few objedls near us appear plainer. If *' it was not for the light of the moon they would not be feen; but *' the moon is exceedingly bright, it ftiines upon the houfe and the ** windows. Every thing founds bufy at a diftance, but what is *' near us is ftlU." S (a boy between nine and ten years old). *' The fun has '* fet behind the hill, and the weftern clouds are tinged with light. " The mift mixes with the fmoke, which rifes from the heaps of •' weeds which fome poor man is burning to earn bread for his fami- " ly. The moon through the mift peeps her head, and fometimes 4 K " /he 6iS PRACTICAL EDUCATION. '* ihe goes back, retires into her bower of clouds. The few noifes *' that are heard are heard very plain — very plainly." We (hould obferve, that the children who attempted thefe lit- tle delcriptions had not been habituated to the poetic trade ; thefe were the only defcriptions of an evening which they ever made. It would be hurtful to exercife children frequently in delcnptive compofition ; it would give them the habit of exaft obfervation, it is true, but fomething more is neceffary to the higher fpecies of poetry. Words muft be feleded which do not reprelent only, but which fugged ideas. Minute veracity is eflential to fome forts of defcription ; but in a higher flyle of poetry, only the large features charadteriftic of the fcene muft be produced, and all that is fubor- dinate muft be fupprefled. Sir Joftiua Reynolds juftly obferves, that painters who aim merely at deception of the eye by exaft imitation, are not likely, even in their moft fuccefsful imitations, to roufe the imagination. The man who miftook the painted fly for a real fly, only bruftied, or attempted to brufh it away ; the exaft reprefentation of fuch a common objeft could not raifc any fublime ideas in his mind, and when he perceived the deception, the won- der which he felt at the painter's art was a fenfation nowife con- nected with poetic enthufiafm. As foon as young people have colle(fled a variety of ideas, we can proceed a ftep in the education of their fancy. We lliould fome- times in converfation, fometimes in writing or in drawing, fhow them how a few ftrokes, or a few words can fuggeft or combine various ideas. A finglc expreffion from Casfar charmed a mutinous army to inftant fubmiftion. Unlefs the words '* Roman Citizens .'" had fuggefted more than meets the ear, how could they have pro- duced 8 TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 619 c3uced this wonderful efFedt ? The works of Voltaire and Sterne abound with example of the fkilful ufe of the language of fuggel- tion ; on this the wit of Voltaire, and the humour and pathos of Sterne, fecurely depend for their fuccefs. Thus, corporal Trim's eloquence on the death of his young mafter owed its effccl upon the whole kitchen, including " the fat fcuUion, who was fcour- " ing a fi(h-kettle upon her knees," to the well-timed ufe of the mixed language of action and fuggeftion. " Are we not here now ?' continued the corporal (ftriking the *' end of his fiick perpendicularly upon the floor, fo as to give an " idea of health and ftabiUty), ' and are we not' (dropping his hat " upon the ground) ' gone in a moment r" " Are we not here now ? and gone in a moment r" continues Sterne, who, in this inftance, reveals the fecret of his own art. *' There was nothing in the fentence ; it was one of your felf- ** evident truths we have the advantage of hearing everyday; *' and if Trim had not trufted more to his hat than his head, he ** had made nothing at all of it." When we point out to our pupils fuch examples in Sterne, we hope it will not be underftood, that we point them out to induce fervile imitation. We apprehend, that the imitators of Sterne have failed, from not having difcovered that the interjedions and . da(hes of this author, are not in thcmfelves beauties, but that they afFeft us by fuggefting ideas. To prevent any young writers from the intemperate or abfurd ufe of interjedlions, we fhould {hew them Mr. Home Tooke's acute remarks upon this mode of embel- lifhmcnt. We do not, however, entirely agree with this author 4 K 2 in 620 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. in his abhorrence of interjedions. We do not believe that " where «' fpeech can be employed they are totally ufelefs ; and are always " infufficient for the purpofe of communicating our thoughts*." Even if we clafs them, as Mr. Tooke himfelf does-f, amongft " in- *' voluntary convulfions with oral found," fuch as groaning, (hriek- insf, &c., yet they may fuggeft ideas, as well as exprefs animal feelings. Sighing, according to Mr. Tooke, is in the clafs of in- terjeftions, yet the poet acknowledges the fuperior eloquence of lighs: " Perfuafive words, and mere perfuqftve fighs." *' I wifh,' faid Uncle Toby, with a deep figh (after hearing the *' ftory of Le Fevre), ' I wi(h,Trim, I was afleep." The figh here adds threat force to the wi(h, and it does not mark that Uncle Toby, from vehemence of paflion, had returned to the brutal ftate of a favao-e who has not learnt the ufe of fpeech ; but, on the contrary, it fuo-gefts to the reader, that Uncle Toby was a man of civilized humanity ; not one whofe compaflion was to be excited merely as an animal feehng by the zGiu^X /ight of a fellow-creature in pain, but rather by the defcription of the fufFerer's fituation. In painting, as well as in writing, the language of fuggeflion af- fe£ls the mind, and if any of our pupils (hould wifh to excel in this art, they muft early attend to this principle. The picture of Aga- memnon hiding his face at the facrifice of his daughter exprelTes little to the eye, but much to the imagination. The ufual figns of grief and joy make but flight impreflion ; to laugh and to weep are fuch common expreflions of delight or anguifh, that they can- * V. Epea Pteroenta, p. 88. f Chapter on Grammar. not TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 621 not be miftakeii, even by the illiterate ; but the imagination muit be cultivated to enlarge the fphere of fympathy, and to render a more refined language intelligible. It is faid that a Milanefe artifl painted two peafants, and two country-girls, who laughed fo hear- tily, that 710 one could look at them without laughing*. This is an in fiance of fympathy unconnefled with imagination. The fol- lowing is an inlfance of fympathy excited by imagination. When Porcia was to part from Brutus, juft before the breaking out of the civil war, " flie endeavoured," fays Plutarch, " as well as poffible, *' to conceal the forrow that oppreffed her ; but, notwithftanding *' her magnanimity, a pifture betrayed her diftrefs. The fubjedt *' \ya^ the parting of Hc<3:or and Andromache. He was repre- *' fented delivering his fon Aftyanax into her arms, and the Qyt% " of Andromache were fixed upon him. The refemblance that this " piiflure bore to her own diftrefs made Porcia burfl into tears the *' moment (he beheld it." If Porcia had never read Homer, An- dromache would not have had this power over her imagination and her ly mpathy. The imagination not only heightens the power of fympathy with the emotions of all the paflions which a painter would ex- cite, but it is likewife eflential to our tafte for another clafs ofplea- fures. Artirts, who like Hogarth would pleafe by humour, wit, and ridicule, mult depend upon the imagination of the fpe£lators to fupply all the intermediate ideas which they would fuggeft. The cobweb over the poor box, one of the happieft ftrokes of fatire that Hogarth ever invented, would probably fay nothing to the inat- tentive eye, or the dull imagination. A young perfon muft acquire the language before he can underft:and the ideas of fuperior minds. * V. Camper's Works, p. 126. ^ ' TJie 622 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. The tafte for poetry muft be prepared by the culture of the imagination. The united powers of mufic and poetry could not have triumphed over Alexander, unlefs his imagination had affiled ♦' the mighty mafter." " With dovvncaft looks the joylsfs vidlor fat, " Revolving ia his altered foul " The various turns of chance below ; " And now and then a figh he dole, " And tears began to flow." The figh and the tears were the confequences of Alexander's own thoughts, which were only recalled by kindred founds. We are well aware, that favage nations, or thofe that are imperfedlly civilized, are fubjeft to enthufiafm ; but we are inclined to think, that the barbarous clamour, with which they proclaim their de- light in mufic and poetry, may deceive us as to the degree in which it is felt: the fenfations of cultivated minds may be more exquifite, though they are felt in filence. It has been fuppofed, that ignorance is extremely fufceptible of the pleafures of wonder ; but wonder and admiration are different feelings : the admiration which a cultivated mind feels for excellence, of which it can fully judge, is furely a higher fpecies of pleafure, than the brute wonder expreffed by " a foolifh face of praife." Madame Roland tells us, that once, at a fermon preached by a celebrated Frenchman, (he was flruck with the earneft attention painted in the countenance of a young woman who was looking up at the preacher. At length the fair enthufiaft exclaimed, " My God, how he perfpires!" A different fort of admiration was felt by Caefar, when the fcroli dropped from his hand whilft heliftened to an oration of Cicero's. ' There TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 623 There are an infinite variety of affociations, by which the orator has power to roufe the imagination of a perfon of cultivated under- ftandingj there are comparatively few, by which he can amufe the fancy of illiterate auditors. It is not that they have lefs imagina- tion than others, they have equally the power of railing vivid images, but there are few images which can be recalled to them; the combinations of their ideas are confined to a fmall number, and words have no poetic or literary aflbciations in their minds: even amongft children this difference between the power we have over the cultivated and uncultivated mind early appears. A laurel leaf is to the eye of an illiterate boy nothing more than a fhrub with a Ihining, pale-green, pointed leaf: recal the idea of that flirub by the moft exa£b defcription, it will affed him with no peculiar plea- fure : but aflbciate early in a boy's mind the ideas of glory, of poe- try, of Olympic crowns, of Daphne and Apollo; by fome of thefe latent aflbciations the orator may afterwards laife his enthufiafm. We (hall not here repeat what has been faid* upon the choice of literature for young people, but (hall once more warn parents to let their pupils read only the beft authors, if they wifh them to have a fine imagination, or a delicate tafte. When their minds are awake and warm, (hew them excellence ; let them hear oratory only when they can feel it ; if the impreflion be vivid, no matter how tranfient the touch. Ideas which have onceftruck the ima- gination can be recalled by the magic of a word, with all their ori- ginal, all their afllbciated force. Do not fatigue the eye and ear of your vivacious pupil with the monotonous founds and con- fufed images i.f vulgar poetry. Do not make him repeat the fineft paflages of Shakfpeare and Milton ; the effed is loft by repetition ; * V. Chapter on Books. the 624 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. the words, the ideas are profaned. Let your pupils hear elo- quence from eloquent lips, and they will own its power. But let a drawling, unimpaflioned reader, read a play of Shakfpeare's, or an oration of Demofthenes, and if your pupil is not out of pa- tience, he will never tafte the charms of eloquence. If he feels a fine fentiment, or a fublime idea, paufe, leave his mind full, leave his imagination elevated. Five minutes afterwards, per- haps, your pupil's attention is turned to fomething elfe, and the fublime idea feems to be forgotten : but do not fear ; the idea is not obliterated ; it is latent in his memory ; it will appear at a proper time, perhaps a month, perhaps twenty years afterwards. Ideas may remain long ufelefs, and almoft forgotten in the mind, and may be called forth by fome correfponding aflbciation from their torpid ftate. Young people, who wifh to make themfelves orators or elo- quent writers, fliould acquire the habit of attending firft to the o-eneral imprefllon made upon their own minds by oratory, and afterwards to the caufe which produced the effed: ; hence they will obtain command over the minds of others, by ufing the know- ledge they have acquired of their own. The habit of confidering every new idea, or new fa£l, as a fubje£l for allufion, may alfo be ufeful to the young orator. A change from time to time in the nature of his ftudies will enlarge and invigorate his imagina- tion. Gibbon fays, that, after the publication of his firfl: volume of the Roman hiflory, he gave himfelf a fhort holiday, *' I in- *' dulled my curiofity in fome fludies of a very different nature : " a courfe of anatomy, which was demonftrated by Dr. Hunter, '* and fome leflbns of chymiftry, which were delivered by Dr. ♦' Higgins. The principles of thefe fciences, and a tafte for books 7 *' of TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 625 •• of natural hiftory, contributed to multiply my ideas and images ; " and the anatomift: and chymift may fomctimes track me in their " own fnow." Different degrees of cnthufiafm are requifite in different pro- feflions; but we are inclined to think; that the imagination might with advantage be cultivated to a much higher degree than is com- monly allowed in young men intended for public advocates. We have feen feveral examples of the advantage of a general tafte for the belles lettres in eminent lawyers * ; and we have lately feen an ingenious treatife called Deinology, or Infl:ru£lions for a Youno- Barrifler, which confirms our opinion upon this fubjed. An ora- tor, by the judicious preparation of the minds of his audience, may increafc the effeft of his befl arguments. A Grecian painter -j-, be- fore he would produce a picture which he had finifhed, reprefent- ing a martial enterprize, ordered martial mufic to be played, to raife the cnthufiafm of the affembled fpedators ; when their imagi- nation was fufRciently elevated, he uncovered the pidlure, and it was beheld with fympathetic tranfports of applaufe. It is ufually thought, that perfons of extraordinary imagination are deficient in judgment ; by proper education this evil might be prevented. We may obferve that perfons, who have acquired par- ticular facility in certain exercifes of the imagination, can by vo- luntary exertion either excite or fupprefs certain trains of ideas on which their cnthufiafm depends. An a