Vg • UNIVERSITY O' ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN BOO : * w — r ^rv'S OF THE U N I VER.S ITY Of ILLINOIS M36eEt UNiveHSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMP' BOOKSTAr - The person charging this material is re¬ sponsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN l\ * THE EDUCATION or MOTHERS OF FAMILIES; OR, THE CIVILISATION OF THE HUMAN RACE BY WOMEN. BY M. AIME-M ARTIN. BEING THE WORK TO WHICH THE PRIZE OF THE FRENCH ACADEMY WAS AWARDED. TRANSLATED FROM THE THIRD PARIS EDITION, WITH REMARKS ON THE PREVAILING METHODS OF EDUCATION, AND TIIEIR INFLUENCE UPON HEALTH AND HAPPINESS, BY EDWIN LEE, Esq. MEMBER OF THE PRINCIPAL EUROPEAN -MEDICAL AND CHIRURGICAL SOCIETIES: AUTHOR OF “THE BATHS OF GERMANY,” A “TREATISE ON SOME NERVOUS DISORDERS,” &C. ‘' Les hommes seront toujours ce qu’il plaira aux femmes: si vous voulez qu’ils seient grands et vertueux, apprenez aux femmes ce que c’est grandeur ct vertu.” J. j. Rousseau. Emile. LONDON: WHITTAKER & Co., AVE-MARIA LANE; A. & C. BLACK, EDINBURGH. 1842 . * LONDON PRINTED BY G. J. PALMER, SAVOY STREET, STRAND, TO HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUCHESS OF KENT. Madam, I feel much pleasure in availing myself of the gracious permission to dedicate this translation to your Royal Highness, inasmuch as to no one could it have been more appropriately inscribed, than to a mother who has practically shown, in a manner which calls forth the gratitude of the nation, how fully she appreciates the importance of female education, in the extended sense of the term ; and, in fact, no better illustration of the benefits which it tends to confer, could be offered, than that of the love and devotedness with which the entire popula¬ tion (how much soever divided in opinion in other respects) regards our gracious Sovereign, whom nature has so liberally endowed with those qualities which, cultivated under the superintendence of your Royal Highness, contribute so materially to the happiness of her subjects. Let any one reflect for a moment upon the disastrous consequences likely to result in the present times, from the occupation of the throne of these realms by a Princess whose education had been conducted in a superficial man¬ ner, in order to form a due estimate of the advan¬ tages which we now enjoy ; and if the rule be more a 2 IV DEDICATION. especially applicable to those who are called upon to fill high and public stations, it likewise holds good when applied to the relations of private life. History presents but too many examples of the pernicious consequences which errors in the educa¬ tion of princes are calculated to produce upon society, as well as upon their own destiny. How fortunate, therefore, may not England esteem her¬ self, that, as regards the prince who, most probably, will one day reign over her, the virtues of his parents afford a sufficient guarantee that similar errors will be avoided, and lead us to indulge in the pleasing anticipations that “ This royal infant (heaven still move about him !) Though in his cradle, still now promises, Upon this land a thousand, thousand blessings, Which time shall bring to ripeness. God shall be truly known, and those about him, From him shall read the perfect ways of honour. And by those claim their greatness, not by blood. Our children’s children Shall see this, and bless Heaven.” Thus may posterity have reason to bless the memory of your Eoyal Highness, and to appreciate the lasting effects of maternal influence. I am, Madam, With sentiments of profound respect, Your Eoyal Highness’s most obedient And humble Servant, Edwin Lee. £_£ £ I V \ \ CONTENTS. » r'\ r\ Dedication .... Translator’s Preface . PAGE iii ix BOOK I. ? cy Chap. I.—Mission of Rousseau .... II.—Of the true governor of children III. —On the influence of women . IV. —Continuation of the same subject . V.—Of the education of girls according to Fleury and Fenelon ...... VI.—Of actual education and its insufficiency VII.—Social scale ..... VIII.—Education of the wife by the husband IX. —Of some modifications necessary in the education of girls ••••«• X.—Education of mothers of families—General plan of the work ...... X. —Of the physical education of children,and of its progress XI.—The father ...... XII.—Of public education, and of a mixed education 1 5 12 18 24 31 37 38 44 48 58 60 67 ji BOOK II. EDUCATION OF THE SOUL. PSYCHOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE MOTHER OF A FAMILY. Chap. I.—Study of the faculties of the soul . . .74 II.—Know thyself . . • • .79 III.—Of Instinct . . . • . .81 VI CONTENTS. Chap. page IV.—Of intelligence in animals . . . .85 V.—Of philosophical physiology . . .96 VI.—Of the “ Treatise on Sensations” . . .98 VII.—Of the true faculties of the soul . . .99 VIII.—First line of demarcation . . . .104 IX. —Of the instinct of man, and the impossibility of de¬ fining the faculties of the soul . . .104 X. —The moral sense—a faculty of the soul. . .106 XI.—Sense of the beautiful—a faculty of the soul . 107 XII.—Sense of infinity—a faculty of the soul . . 108 XIII. —Reason—a faculty of the soul . . .110 XIV. —Conscience—a faculty of the soul . . .113 XV.—Conclusions from the five preceding chapters . 115 XVI.—Of the internal antagonism of man . .116 XVII.—The development of the faculties of the soul leads us to the presence of God . . . .118 XVIII.—Of physical and moral memory and will . . 120 XIX.—Union of the moral and intellectual faculties . 124 XX.—Of the true source of virtue . . .126 XXI.—Of moral liberty ..... 126 XXII.—Of the immortality of the soul . . . 129 XXIII.—Of the source of genius and virtue . .132 XXIV.—Development of the great and beautiful by the study of great models . . . .140 XXV.—Of the harmony between the intellectual and moral faculties . . . . . .143 XXVI.—What constitutes intellect separated from the soul 148 XXVII.—Of the danger of separating the faculties of the soul 150 XXVIII.—Of the soul of nations . . . .151 XXIX.—Progress ...... 154 XXX.—Of the education of the soul . . .157 XXXI.—Of the deviations of the sentiment of infinity . 162 XXXII.—Development of reason on the earth . .165 ✓ BOOK III. EDUCATION OF THE SOUL. MORAL AND POLITICAL STUDIES OF MOTHERS OF FAMILIES. Chap. I.—Of a great duty imposed upon mothers . . 170 II.—Of error and truth . . . . .174 CONTENTS. Yll Chap. fage III. —Search after truth in logical reasonings . .178 IV. —Search after truth on the authority of the doctors . 181 V.—Search after truth on the authority of the human race 189 VI.—Of divine reason ..... 193 VII.—Of the unity of God . . . .194 VIII.—Influence of a single truth upon the world . .196 IX.—Of some attributes of the Divinity . . .201 X.—Study of God in the works of nature . . 209 XI.—Search after truth in the laws of nature . .218 XII.—Of the sentiment of the divinity . . . 222 XIII. —Of sociability.228 XIV. —Of the love of country and of humanity . . 234 XV.—Of the love of humanity .... 236 XVI.—Of love ...... 238 XVII.—Of maternal love ..... 245 XVIII.—Of some other laws of nature . . . 249 XIX.—No object contains within itself the first cause of its existence ...... 250 XX.—Of the division of earthly duties between man and woman ...... 251 XXI.—Reaction equal to action .... 254 XXII.—Man always inclines to the great and beautiful . 261 XXIII.—Of the perfectibility of the human race . . 268 XXIV.—First appearance of political liberty on the earth . 275 XXV.—First prevalence of the idea of the Unity . .278 XXVI.—Man only complete when in freedom . . 280 XXVII.—Of labour—a law which establishes the right ofproperty 284 XXVIII.—Of life and death ..... 288 XXIX.—Death not a punishment .... 292 XXX.—Application of the laws of nature to the laws of man 300 XXXI.—Of war according to the law of nature . . 305 XXXII.—Appreciation of the laws of Crete, Sparta, Athens, and Rome, by the laws of nature . . .311 XXXIII.—Of the hopes of the future .... 315 XXXIV.—Recapitulation . . . . .321 Remarks on the prevailing modes of education, and their influence on health and happiness . . , . .327 On female education ...... 356 . ■ ‘ V . . . '\i . J r . ■ . . . . . ■ ; ■ *», >■ - - TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. “ I think I may say that of all the men we meet with, nine parts out often are what they are, good or evil, useful or not, by their edu¬ cation.”— Locke. The long period which elapses between the birth of man and that of his arriving at maturity, would seem to be designed to afford ample time for the cultivation of those faculties with w r hich he is peculiarly endowed; and as upon the manner in which education is conducted depends in great measure the individual and national well-being, it has ever been the object of much attention and solicitude on the part of the public, and of governments, in civilised countries. There can, therefore, scarcely be a subject more universally important than this; and in proportion to the more general diffusion of knowledge, and to the progress of the human mind, is there a greater degree of interest excited respecting it, and alterations in accordance with f this progress are more imperatively called for. A number of works treating of education (particularly of female edu¬ cation) have consequently been published within the last few years, and the demand for these works affords a suf¬ ficient proof of the inefficiency of the ordinary methods, of which the prejudicial results are every year becoming more severely felt. The great influence which women are called X translator’s preface. upon to.exert on society, has in fact not been of late suf¬ ficiently considered; hence their education is too often conducted in a manner but little calculated to promote their happiness, and that of those connected with them by the nearest ties. What was formerly said by one of our poets, is still not inapplicable to some of the modes of education adopted at the present day. “ We slight the precious kernel of the stone, And toil to polish its rough coat alone j A just deportment, manners graced with ease, Elegant phrase, and figure form’d to please, Are qualities that seem to comprehend Whatever parents, guardians, schools intend.”* Many persons, however, are now beginning to perceive that to the too partial cultivation of certain qualities, which are thought (though often erroneously) most likely to conduce to advancement in life, much of the unhappiness that exists is attributable; and a medical author of great experience, whom I have had occasion to quote, says, with reference to the influence of this exclusive cultivation in the production of mental diseases,—“ While cultivating the mind of child¬ hood, we should at the same time form the heart, and we should bear in remembrance that education consists less in # # ^ *— •* that which is learnt, than in the acquisition of good habits of thinking and feeling, and of the actions of life. If the education be neither religious nor moral; if the child meets with no obstacle to his will, to his caprices; if everything yields to his desires, how can he be expected to accom¬ modate himself to the contrarieties which he must meet with in life ? We should not force the springs of sensi- * Cowper. TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE. XI bility and of the intellect, by fatiguing the brain at an early age with too hard lessons; we should avoid the errors of regimen, which frequently from the most tender age pre¬ dispose to mental alienation; we should repress and direct the passions of young people,” &c.* “ It is a deplorable circumstance,” says the author of a recently published work, “ that the statistical data of hospitals and prisons of Europe demonstrate that infirmi¬ ties, mental aberration, and crimes, have increased with increased instruction and the pretended progress of en¬ lightenment. Governments would, I think, obtain a diame¬ trically opposite result, if they attached themselves to cause all the faculties of man to be cultivated in a harmonious manner; if, while his limbs were becoming more vigorous, they were gradually to develope his sentiments with his intelligence, taking for a fixed point the religious element, the only firm basis of morality and of a solid education. “ The rule,” continues this author, “ which is applicable to individuals, likewise applies to nations,—those great families primitively united by the same beliefs, the same interests, the same customs. From the time that the links which constituted their power are broken, and each indi¬ vidual erecting his own doctrines into a law, makes for himself a religion of egotism, of intemperance, of luxury or of cupidity, their approaching decline, or their retrogra- dation towards a state of barbarism may be confidently looked for, unless Providence, always merciful even when chastising, should send some destructive scourge which constrains them to revert to pure and generous senti¬ ments.” f * Esquirol, Des Maladies Mentales. t Dr. Descuret, La Medecine des Passions. Paris, 1842. Xll translator’s preface. The English may with truth, be said to possess col¬ lectively a greater share of blessings than any other people; and there are certainly none who are naturally more pre¬ eminently gifted, with the combination of corporeal advan¬ tages, and of those qualities of heart and mind which, properly directed, are most conducive to happiness and greatness. It is, however, a melancholy fact that, after the period of childhood, Tidbit and example , those two great powers in education, by which the harmonious culti¬ vation of these qualities might be rendered easy, are too often the means by which its purposes are counteracted. Hence the reason why children blest with the happiest dis¬ positions, are so frequently altered for the worse; or be¬ come vicious and egotistical as they grow up ; but let the above-mentioned principle be more attended to, and we should see the beneficial results in the more universal pre¬ valence of a conduct and tone of manners conformable to the precepts, which as children we are taught to revere and act upon ; the acerbity of party would be lessened ; the spirit of sectarianism and of coterie would subside, and with it its at¬ tendant heart-burnings, isolation, and other reactions upon health; the amount of individual and general happiness, as well as of true religion, would increase with the increase of knowledge ; the national prosperity would rest upon a firmer basis ; and strong in union, with a calm reliance upon the Providence which has heretofore protected and so abun¬ dantly blessed our country, we might contemplate the clouds gathering around, feeling a confident assurance for the future, from the experience of past times, that “ Nought shall make us rue, If England to itself do rest but true.” translator’s preface. xm As in all probability I shall not again appear before the public in the character of an author, I may take the pre¬ sent opportunity of stating that it has been an object with me for several years past, to make more generally known in England such points relating to the treatment of dis¬ ease, or likely to be otherwise beneficial, with which my opportunities of investigating and appreciating peculiarities of practice during my travels, and the periods of my residence in different parts of the Continent, enabled me to make myself better acquainted. Meeting accidentally with the work of M. Aime-Martin, about two years ago, it struck me that an English translation was likely to effect much good, by presenting clearer views of the true end and aim of education, though at that time I had no thoughts of translating it myself. On a re-perusal, how¬ ever, some months afterwards, I determined to undertake the task, notwithstanding some of the sentiments ex¬ pressed by the author did not accord with my own; though conceiving that some parts not immediately bear¬ ing upon education, but relating to points of religion and politics, of a controversial nature, and having more ex¬ clusively reference to France, were less likely to interest or to profit English readers, I considered that it would be better to omit them, and to subjoin some remarks upon the methods of education most prevalent in England. I wish it to be understood, that the quotations which I have introduced are not the result of special searching or selec¬ tion upon the subject, but have presented themselves in the course of ordinary miscellaneous and professional reading; and I trust that those persons who may dissent from some of the opinions which I have expressed, will b XIV translator’s preface. do justice to the rectitude of my intentions ; for I consider it to be a duty on the part of the practitioner of medicine to endeavour to prevent, as far as lies in his power, the occurrence of disordered states of health, by pointing out the causes which may give rise to them, and that, as a philosophical writer observes, " II appartient a la medecine de seconder la morale dans le grand oeuvre de 1’ameliora¬ tion du sort des hommes.”* * Droz. Philosophic Morale. 170, North Street , Brighton, April, 1842. Napoleon said one day to Madame Campan, “ The old systems of education seem to be worth nothing. What is there yet wanting in order to train up young people properly in France!” “ Mothers!” replied Madame Campan. This word struck the Emperor. “Well,” said he, “ therein lies at once a complete system of education. It must be your endeavour, Madame, to form mothers who will know how to educate their children.” Introduction. THE EDUCATION- OF MOTHERS OF FAMILIES. BOOK I. CHAPTER I. MISSION OF ROUSSEAU. “ J’ai toujours pens6 qu’on reformeroit le genre huinain si l’on refor- moit Education de la jeunesse.” Leibnitz, Lettres a Placcius. The age of Louis XV. was a bad age : a king without power, a nobility without dignity, a clergy without virtue ; the loose manners of the regency mixed with the gothic prejudices of the middle ages; all the feudal race in embroidered coats ; princes, dukes, marquises, gentlemen, making an art of corruption, and a merit of debauchery ; noble by the grace of God, philosophers by the grace of Diderot; empty, foolish creatures, aspiring to profound thoughts, and taking refuge in incredulity on the faith of the B 2 MISSION OF ROUSSEAU. facetiae of Voltaire or of a tale of Voisenon ! Such was the age in which Rousseau appeared. Below this gilded troop there was a people which looked on—they had been forgotten there in the street; and not¬ withstanding they looked on, amused with this grand spectacle, the actors of which, stripped all at once of their coats of mail, and of their feudal appurtenances, began to appear a less pure and formidable race. Bowed down beneath the weight of their long servitude, the people had * remained barbarous in the midst of civilisation, ignorant in I the midst of science, miserable in the midst of riches; they had been instructed neither in their rights nor in their duties, and they suddenly found themselves face to face with their masters, like a lion before its prey, free in his strength and in his ferocity. And what did power oppose to these imminent perils ? Where was the legislation which should protect the citizens, and the evangelical worship which was to reform the manners ? Power apprehended nothing, it went on as before, without thinking of the future; employing the Bastile to control the nobility, the Sorbonne to control the philosophers, and having neither strength to modify laws, which had remained barbarous amidst the progress of the age, nor yet to awaken the clergy, stupidly occupied with the miracles of St. Paris in the company of the ency¬ clopedists. One man, one man alone, at this juncture, thought of the future destinies of the country ; and this man was not even a Frenchman, he was the son of a poor watchmaker fof Geneva named Rousseau. Struck with the universal disorganization, he conceived one of those lucid ideas to which are attached, by imperceptible threads, the destinies of humanity. His aim was to give citizens to the country, while he appeared only to think of giving mothers to our MISSION OF ROUSSEAU. 3 children ! The mother’s milk shall be the milk of liberty ! Concealing the regeneration of France beneath the veil of an isolated education, he removes his pupil from the false¬ hoods of public education: in this plan, so vast, in which one saw merely the child and its tutor, the genius of Rousseau comprised all that might constitute a great people ; /lie knew that ideas of individual liberty do not fail speedily to become ideas of national liberty. While educating a man, he thought of forming a nation. \ And what would be the means of this great resolution ? Amidst so much vileness, who would dare to animate souls with the sacred love of truth ? There is in the heart of woman a something of republicanism which incites her to heroism and to self-sacrifice ; and it is there that Rousseau looks for support: it is there, also, that he finds the power. He does not come as a severe moralist to impose sad and importunate duties: it is a family fete A which he convocates ; it is a mother which he presents to the adoration of the world, seated near the cradle, a beau¬ tiful child on her bosom, her countenance beaming with joy beneath the tender looks of her husband. Delightful picture, which revealed to woman a divine power, that of rendering us happy by virtue. Never did the human voice fulfil a more holy mission; at the voice of Rousseau ' each woman again becomes a mother, each mother again becomes a wife, each child will be a citizen. Thus was the family to be regenerated, and by means of the family the nation. Thus woman worked, without knowing it, a universal regeneration. Rousseau had en¬ listed them on his side, without placing them in his con¬ fidence ; and while Europe thought that it only owed to him the happiness of the children, and the virtue of the mothers, he had laid the foundation of the liberty of the human race. b 2 4 MISSION OF ROUSSEAU. Such was the influence of Rousseau on woman, and later on the nation. All that he exacted from women he ob¬ tained ; they were wives and mothers. One step more, and by entrusting them with the moral education, as much as he had entrusted them with the physical education, of their children, he would have made of maternal love the most powerful promoter of the interests of humanity. Unfor¬ tunately he stopped short. He who, speaking of women ) had so well observed, “ What great things might be done with this lever,” dared not propose to them anything great; he only left to their tenderness the management of early childhood, and thought their mission accomplished. Something, then, remains to be done after Rousseau : the impulsion which he gave to moral studies wanted force* because it wanted an agent; and it is this agent which we must seek, not among the learned and philosophers* but in the very bosom of the family. I Men only educate those who have gold; one may buy a tutor. Nature is more munificent, she gives one to each child. Leave, then, the child under the protection of its mother; it is not without design that Nature has confided it at its birth to the only love which is always faithful, to the only devoted- ness which terminates but with life. / OF THE TRUE GOVERNOR OF CHILDREN. 5 CHAPTER II. OF THE TRUE GOVERNOR OF CHILDREN. “Dansnos societes modernes les meres nous donnent nos premiers sentimens et nos premieres id6es; c’est la mere qui reconnoit le carac- tere et le genie de son enfant, applaudit a sa vocation, le soutient contre le mecontentement paternel, le console, le fortifie, et enfin le livre a la society.” Lerminier, Philosophic du Droit. Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs. Let us then follow the laws of nature: she consigns us, at our birth, neither to the care of a pedagogue, nor to the tutelage of a philosopher, but intrusts us to the love and the caresses of a young mother. She calls around our cradle the most graceful forms, the most harmonious sounds,—for the sweet voice of woman becomes still sweeter for childhood ; in fine, fall that is delightful on earth nature bestows upon us inSyur early age ; the bosom of a mother on which to repose, her sweet looks to guide, and her tenderness to instruct us. The governor par excellence is the being to whom our in¬ clinations lead us ; the pupil must understand the master ; in their relations all should be tenderness, suitableness, and conformity, and thus it is that nature adapts the. mother to the child. See with what care she brings the two beings together, by the combination of beauty, grace, youth, sprightliness of disposition, and, above all, by the heart. Iler patience replies to curiosity, and her sweetness to petu- OF THE TRUE GOVERNOR 5 lance ; the ignorance of the one is never cast down by the pedantry of the other: one would say that the reason of both grows at the same time, so much is the superiority of the mother softened down by love ; and then, the frivolity, the love for pleasure, the taste for the marvellous, which are blamed with so little reflection in women, is an additional link between the mother and child. Everything draws them near to each other; their likings and their contrasts ; and in the distribution which nature has made of gentle¬ ness, patience, and vigilance, she points out to us strongly and affectionately the being to whom she is desirous of confiding our weakness. (In general, it is not sufficiently observed that children only understand what they see, and comprehend only what they feel—sentiment in them always precedes intelligence ; therefore, to those who teach them to see, who awaken their tenderness, belong all the happiest influences. Virtue is not merely taught, it is inspired: the talent of women consists especially in the circumstance, that what they desire, they make us love— a delightful means of making us value it. J But a prince, a king, what can he learn from a woman l That which St. Louis learned from Blanche; Louis XII. from Marie de Cleves ; Henry IV. from Jeanne d’Albret. Out of sixty-nine monarchs who have worn the crown of France, only three have loved the people ; and, remark¬ able circumstance, all three were brought up by their mothers. You will say that the high thoughts of politics require more learned interpreters; that a Bossuet is not too much to instruct the great dauphin, and a Montausier to direct him. Be it so, if you can always find a Bossuet or a Montausier; and yet I am fearful of an education, which could inspire the prodigious “ Discours sur Vhistoire universelle” it seems to me that this sublime language would be likely to overpower the brain of so frail a crea- OF CHILDREN. 7 ture; and in reading these pages, which dazzle me and absorb my attention, I find myself regretting, for this child, the stories of Mademoiselle Bonne and Lady Sens£e. I)o you not think that after having been bowed down during several hours beneath the instructions of so powerful an intellect, the dauphin would not feel the desire to recreate himself with his valets ? A preceptor may descend without effort to the level of his pupil; he may form a religious heart, an honest man, a good citizen, and he will have done his all. And what is there in this mission which a woman would not be able to do ? Who better than a mother can teach us to prefer honour to fortune, to cherish our fellow-creatures, to re¬ lieve the unfortunate, to elevate our souls to the source of the beautiful and the infinite ? An ordinary preceptor counsels and moralizes; that which he offers to our memory, a mother ingrafts in our hearts : she makes us love that which he can at most but make us believe, and it is by love that she leads us to virtue. Struck by the little care generally bestowed upon the education of women, and by the irresistible influence which they exert, ,flie celebrated Sheridan conceived the idea of establishing Lor them in England a national education. He transmitted his plan to the queen, and invited her to place herself at the head of the institution.